Contingency theory suggests matching the best leader to a specific situation based on situational factors and the leadership style. The practical application of theory can be done in various ways. The workplace example is to determine the best candidate for a given set of requirements using the LPC score. Applying the model to determine a leader's ability to adapt in the scenario of a new project etc..
Fielder’s contingency theory matches the leader to the situations by using the Least Preferred Co-Worker (LPC) model. A leader can perform effectively in certain roles and exhibit weakness in different situations based on three variables defined in the earlier article which predicts the favorability of the situation, while the leader’s LPC score determines the ability to function in the required task.
One can make use of the contingency theory to determine the best candidate for a given set of job requirements for effectiveness of a person in that role as by measuring a leader’s LPC score and the three situational variables, one can predict whether the leader is going to be effective in a particular setting. By assessing these three situational variables, one can place any organizational context in one of the eight categories represented in previous article. Once the nature of the situation is determined, the fit between the leader’s style and the situation can be evaluated.
1. Contingency theory is grounded in research as many researchers have tested it and found it to be a valid and reliable approach to explaining how effective leadership can be achieved.
2. This theory considers the impact of situations on leaders and focuses on the relationship between the leader’s style and the demands of various situations.
3. Third, contingency theory has predictive power and based on conclusions from LPC scale and understanding the context of the workplace situation one can determine the probability of success for a given person in a given situation.
4. From an organizational perspective it supports identification of optimal roles based on individual leadership styles and placing leaders in charge of situations that are ideal for their leadership style.
Contingency theory has many applications in the organizational world:
1. Can be used to assess the effectiveness of an individual in a particular role and look at the reasons for one’s effectiveness or ineffectiveness.
2. Can be used to predict whether a person who has worked well in one position in an organization will be equally effective in another position having different situational variables when compared to the existing position based on the contingencies that make one’s style effective.
3. Can help in implementing changes in the roles and responsibilities that management might need to make to bring effectiveness to the role of the person leading the same.
Fiedler’s theory does not hold that leaders can adapt their styles to different situations as according to him personality is relatively stable. According to this model improving effectiveness involves changing the situation to fit the leader sometimes also referred to as “job engineering”.
As now we have more understanding of leadership and its challenges in the 21st century organizational context, contingency model might not be the best leadership model to use in most situations, but still can be a powerful tool to analyze a particular situation to determine whether to focus on tasks or relationships. This model sometimes can give an inaccurate picture of your leadership style as it relies heavily on the LPC scale, which has been questioned for its face validity and workability. Further this model does not fully explain how organizations can use the results of this theory in situational engineering and hence we recommend taking a cautious approach and using your own judgment to analyze the situation from all angles.
Burns Transformational Leadership Theory
Transformational leadership theory has been defined by James MacGregor Burns as a process where both leaders and followers mutually raise one another to higher levels of morality and motivation. The concept of transforming leader works with teams to garner trust, respect, and admiration while reaching to higher moral positions. The transformational theory of leadership was developed while studying political leaders and how they use charismatic methods to attract people to the values.
Rensis Likert studied the patterns and styles of managers and developed four management systems known as Likert's management systems. These styles developed by him are known as Likert management systems. System 1 - Exploitative Authoritative; System 2 - Benevolent Authoritative; System 3 - Consultative and System 4 - Participative.
Bass's Transformational Leadership Theory
Bass Transformational Leadership Theory is based on performance beyond expectations approach which defines four elements of transformational leadership. The 4 elements described by Bernard A. Bass in 1985 are Idealised Influence, Intellectual Stimulation, Individualised Consideration, and Inspirational Motivation. This study highlights four key insights about performance beyond expectations and associated criteria to measure it.
Jung first introduced his personality theory and explained that all humans have a natural impulse to relate meaningfully to the world through productive work and people through significant relationships. He used four psychological functions - thinking and feeling (rational functions) and sensation and intuition (irrational functions). He also used introversion and extraversion and its impact on appropriate leader behaviors.
The psychodynamic approach to leadership has its roots in the work done by Sigmund Freud. These involved psychological theories of personality development and explaining leadership using psychoanalytic concepts. It tries to define a person is in terms of personality traits. Personality structured into three parts (i.e., tripartite) - the id, ego, and superego.
There are four characteristics of leadership that help us to understand the character of leadership as a concept. 1. Leadership is a process, 2. Leadership involves influence, 3. Leadership always occurs in a group context and 4. Leadership involves goal attainment. These are the four components that make up the character of the 'leadership' term and help us to define the leadership concept. All of these components of leadership have common characteristics.
Behavioral Theories of Leadership
Behavioral Theory of leadership is a big leap from Trait Theory, as it was developed scientifically by conducting behaviour focused studies. The theory emphasizes that leadership capability can be learned, rather than being inherent. This theory is based on the principle that a leader's behaviors can be conditioned in a manner that one can have a specific response to specific stimuli.
Hawthorne Studies - Leadership
The Hawthorne studies were conducted on workers at the Hawthorne plant of the Western Electric Company by Elton Mayo and Fritz Roethlisberger in the 1920s. This study established the behavioral change that happened due to an awareness of being observed, resulting in active compliance with the supposed wishes of researchers, because of special attention received, or positive response to the stimulus being introduced.
The cognitive resource theory states the influence of the leader's resources on his or her reaction to stress. The cognitive resources of a leader are experience, intelligence, competence, and task-relevant knowledge. Stress is common in resource managing situations, and this cognitive theory emphasizes how intelligence and experience are each best under different stress situations. This theory is the reconceptualization of the Fiedler model.
Blake and Mouton Managerial Grid is a style leadership model that identified five manager styles based on two dimensions viz concern for people and the concern for production. Managerial Grid uses concern for production style which is largely based on McGregor's Theory X.
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