...Fiedler's Contingency Theory of Leadership is regarded by many as the first situational theory of leadership. He broke with the behavioral theorists of leadership and hypothesized that their is no one right way for a leaders to behave in all situations. He went on to state that situations could be classified as most, moderately and least favorable to leadership based on three dimensions -- leader-member relations, task structure and position power. Fiedler's Theory of Leadership is more complex than the behavioral theories of leadership. He said in took a pretzel shaped hypothesis to explain a pretzel shaped world. One of the contributions of his theory of leadership was the idea that not one form of leadership is appropriate for all situations. He continued to view most people as having a predisposition to be either task or relationship-oriented as a primary style of leadership. In addition, he recognized that people had a secondary style of leadership which they could use in low stress situations. For task-oriented leaders, their secondary style was relationship-oriented. For relationship-oriented, the secondary style is to look for new challenges. To understand the situation, Fiedler said that the following three factors had to be considered: Leader-member relations - Degree to which a leader is accepted and supported by the group members. Task structure - Extent to which the task is structured and defined, with clear goals and procedures. Position power - The ability...
Words: 3563 - Pages: 15
...INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SCHOLARLY ACADEMIC INTELLECTUAL DIVERSITY VOLUME 8 NUMBER 1 2004-2005 Comparison of Change Theories Alicia Kritsonis MBA Graduate Student California State University, Dominquez Hills ABSTRACT The purpose of this article is to summarize several change theories and assumptions about the nature of change. The author shows how successful change can be encouraged and facilitated for long-term success. The article compares the characteristics of Lewin’s Three-Step Change Theory, Lippitt’s Phases of Change Theory, Prochaska and DiClemente’s Change Theory, Social Cognitive Theory, and the Theory of Reasoned Action and Planned Behavior to one another. Leading industry experts will need to continually review and provide new information relative to the change process and to our evolving society and culture. T here are many change theories and some of the most widely recognized are briefly summarized in this article. The theories serve as a testimony to the fact that change is a real phenomenon. It can be observed and analyzed through various steps or phases. The theories have been conceptualized to answer the question, “How does successful change happen?” Lewin’s Three-Step Change Theory Kurt Lewin (1951) introduced the three-step change model. This social scientist views behavior as a dynamic balance of forces working in opposing directions. Driving forces facilitate change because they push employees in the desired direction. ...
Words: 2535 - Pages: 11
...CheckPoint: Contingency Theory of Leadership Resource: Ch. 6 of Introduction to Business Complete Appendix D by using figures 6.3 & 6.4 on pp. 182–183 as a guide. Base your answers on a real or hypothetical work environment. Describe the components of the contingency theory of leadership as it applies to the work environment you selected. Conclude with your recommendation for the best leadership approach. Post Appendix D as an attachment. • Your paper must be done in a Microsoft Word document and saved as your First Initial, Last Initial, Last 4 of IRN (DM1234). All of the information should match the name of your individual forum. • Format your paper as shown in Appendix D, an example is provided below. The Description of Environment should be no more than one paragraph in length. A paragraph should be 3-4 sentences. Each of the four approaches sections need only be long enough to fully explain your actions in each role. You can organize through bullet comments or complete sentences. • Use your own words and ideas. For this project, I am not interested in seeing textbook definitions or quotes. Explain to me your understanding of the material through your descriptions. However, if you quote or paraphrase from any source, including the textbook, you must cite these properly and provide a reference list. Use the Axia Style Writing Handbook and the Center for Writing Excellence to ensure you are formatting properly. If you take a definition...
Words: 833 - Pages: 4
...Contingency Theory of Leadership Description of work environment Describe the work environment you intend to review for this assignment. The work environment I am going to review is an environment where young adults, adults, and veterans with disabilities, work on a military base, serving the military their meals, and cleaning the dining facility. In the table below, categorize different leadership approaches that could be used in the work environment you have described. Provide different suggestions for each of the four approaches to leadership. Directive approach Supportive approach The direct approach used in this work environment is policy and procedures to maintain a safe work environment and discipline. A weekly work schedule is posted at the same time, each week, so each employee knows their schedule a week ahead of time. Employee incentives like employee of the month, and year, awards are used, along with the possibility of career advancement. Daily, monthly, and annual training or coaching to ensure each employee knows their job task and what is expected of them. A binder is kept in different areas of the dining facility so the employees can refer to them for reminders of job duties, policies, regulations, and procedures. Employees are evaluated annually and given a pay increase depending on the evaluation score. The supportive approach used is to show an interest in each employee and how they are doing. To know each employee’s...
Words: 729 - Pages: 3
...Administration in Canada, (pg 70) contingency theory is one of the most recent theories in organizational structure, it argues that there is no "one best way" of structuring an organization. Instead contingency theory suggests that the best way to structure a particular organization is contingent(dependent) on a number of factors such as the attitudes of the managers and employees, the nature of the task performed by the organization and the nature of the environment. The basic premise of Contingency Theory is that there is no one best way to organize a corporation, to lead a company, or to make decisions. There are too many external and internal constraints that will alter what really is the best way to lead is in a given situation. In other words, it all depends upon the situation at hand as to what will be the best course of action. An organizational / leadership / decision making style that is effective in some situations, may be not successful in other situations because organizations, people, and situations vary and change over time thus, the right thing to do depends on a complex variety of critical environmental and internal contingencies. The contingency approach to organizational design tailors the design of the company to the sources of environmental uncertainties faced by the organization. The point is to design an organizational structure that can handle uncertainties in the environment effectively and efficiently. The contingency theory approach to the study of organizations...
Words: 1903 - Pages: 8
...Contingency theory has several major strengths. First, it is supported by a great deal of empirical research. contingency theory offers an approach to leadership that has a long tradition. Many researchers have tested it and found it to be a valid and reliable approach to explaining how effective leadership can be achieved. Contingency theory is grounded in research. Second, contingency theory has broadened our understanding of leadership by forcing us to consider the impact of situations on leaders. Before contingency theory was developed, leadership theories focused on whether there was a single, best type of leadership. However, contingency theory emphasized the importance of focusing on the relationship between the leader’s style and the demands of various situations. In essence, contingency theory shifted the emphasis to leadership contexts, particularly the link between the leader and the situations. Third, contingency theory is predictive and therefore provides useful information about the type of leadership that is most likely to be effective in certain contexts. It can also predict whether an individual was effective in a certain position can be effective in another. This gives contingency theory predictive power that other leadership theories do not have. Fourth, this theory does not require that people be effective in all situations. Under contingency theory, companies should try to place leaders in optimal situations, in situations that are ideal for their...
Words: 448 - Pages: 2
...Axia College Material Appendix D Contingency Theory of Leadership |Description of work environment | | | | | | |A clothing store that sells new and gently used brand name clothes at a cost most | | |consumers can afford. | | | | In the table below, categorize different leadership approaches that could be used in the work environment you have described. Provide different suggestions for each of the four approaches to leadership. |Directive approach |Supportive approach | |Have a meeting with each employee on his or her first day of work|Being supportive in this clothing business will allow for better | |and go over the company procedures and handbook. I will be sure |working conditions which in return will allow for better sales of| |to explain the company’s schedule and when employees should |the clothes. Employees will be treated with respect and | |expect...
Words: 535 - Pages: 3
...Contingency Theories of Leadership Name Class Affiliation Instructor Date Leadership is considered by psychologists and organizational researchers as one of the most multifaceted and complex phenomena (Field & Seters, 1990). As a result of its complexity, leadership is one of the most misconceived phenomenon in the whole world. This prompted the researchers to come up with various foundational theories which helped to shed more light about leadership (Burns, 1978). Thus, it is impossible to analyze and evaluate leadership theories without going back to their origins (Field&Seters, 1990) There are several leadership theories that have been researched, developed and discussed by various researchers. They include; personality, influence, behavior, situational, transactional, anti-leadership, culture, transformational and contingency theories. The sole objective of this essay is to critically evaluate a group of contingency theories of leadership. The most notable contingency theories of leadership include Fried Fiedler’s, Path-Goal and Vroom-Jago (Field&Seters, 1990). This essay will start by evaluating Fiedler’s theory, followed by Path-Goal theory and the last three theories will be evaluated as a single group. According to (Bryman, 2011), contingency theories are advanced on the platform that dictates that there is no single best method that can be used alone to make a decision or lead an organization. These theories seek to offer and explain the...
Words: 1609 - Pages: 7
...CONTINGENCY THEORY (1960s-1970s) Contingency theory derives from system theory but it focuses more on deeper aspects. Contingency theory is a management approach that emphasizes what managers do in practice depends on a given set of circumstances (situation) (Boehm, A &L. Howard, 1997). Basically, it is the practice of the mangers depending on their environmental circumstances or situation. It is also called as “It all depends” theory or “Situation” theory (Thenmozhi, 2010,2011). According to Howard (1997), although adapting a management decision to situation seems to be simple, but it is actually very complex due to unpredictable situation. This theory exists during the emergence of new companies, “Apple” and “IBM PC” releases its new product. Both of these companies are the examples of companies that use contingency theory. Although they act differently but it is still consider as contingency because both of the companies only react to their own respective situation such as technological factors, demand from customers, trend, economic factor and many more. **** This theory claims that “there is no best way to manage an organization”. This theory further explains that organization must adapt several factors and this factor must take into account in order for the organization to be sustained and stable. Some of these macro-environmental or contingencies factors include: 1. Changes in technology, 2. Demographic shifts, 3. Economic conditions, 4. Cultural factors...
Words: 1581 - Pages: 7
...Contingency Theory of Leadership |Description of work environment | | | |The work environment I intend to review for this assignment would be the Logistic Department. | | |Logistics is considered to be the complete process involving planning, managing and controlling | | |the flow of goods and services, information, real-time data and human resources from the point of| | |origin to the point of destination. | In the table below, categorize different leadership approaches that could be used in the work environment you have described. Provide different suggestions for each of the four approaches to leadership. |Directive approach |Supportive approach | | | | | ...
Words: 340 - Pages: 2
...difference between a theory and a model? I suppose this question is asking is the difference between a leadership theory and a leadership model. A leadership theory is an explanation of some aspect of leadership; explanation of the variables and leadership styles to be used in a given contingency situation. A leadership model is a short summary of the theory to be used when selecting the appropriate leadership style for a given situation. What contingency leadership variables are common to all of the theories? For Followers, capability and motivation, for leaders, personality traits, behavior and experience, for situation, task structure, and environment. I have no idea what this means but the chart in the book stated that exhibit 4.1 was the framework for contingency leadership variables. How does the global economy relate to contingency leadership? Contingency leadership style is based on the leader, follower and the situation. Taking someone from a country such as the United States, have him/her try to lead in China the way they would in the United States, could be disastrous. In Contingency leadership it is best to match the leader to the follower or situation. What are the two contingency leadership theory leadership styles? Task and Relationship are the two leadership styles under the contingency leadership theory. Task relates to the job and relationship relates to the employee. Do the three situational favorableness factors of the contingency leadership model fit...
Words: 699 - Pages: 3
...Over the past decades contingency theorists have demonstrated the apparent interaction between the environment and organizational variables. Although open system analysis emphasized the input of external environment into organizational structuring, the contingency approach attempts to establish functional relationship between environmental variables and the organizational variables. Later Perrow (1970) and others have suggested that other technological classifications such of knowledge based variables are related to organizational structure variables. According to Lee, Luthans and Olson the best contingency theory came from the work Lawrence and Lorsch (1967) in which theory they analyzed how differences of external environments were related to differences in the internal environments using 10 firms of 3 industries. Significant progress has been made toward the development of a theory of the strategic planning process even though much work remains to be done. According to CHARLES W. HOFER much less progress has been made toward the development of theories of corporate and business strategy. One of the major reasons for this lack of progress has been the assumption that such strategies were situational, i.e., that they depended on so many factors unique to a given situation that no general propositions could be developed. In his paper “Toward a Contingency Theory of Business Strategy” published in “Academy of Management Journals” Volume 18 Number 4, 1972” CHARLES W. HOFER focused...
Words: 416 - Pages: 2
...THE DIFFERENCE AND SIMILARITIES BETWEEN CONTINGENCY THEORIES OF LEADERSHIP Contingency and Path Theories are methods of inspecting management. Contingency theories emphasize the numerous variables that may range in any given hindrance that make one context exceptional from an additional. Direction theories stress description, motivation and charisma. One of the crucial principal variations between the 2 tactics is that path theories emphasize the character of the chief, even as contingency theories stress the nature of surrounding instances. Situational management models are situated on the work of institution of Washington professor Fred Fiedler and leadership experts Paul Hersey and Kenneth H. Blanchard. Fiedler suggests that management is determined by situational causes, reminiscent of favored management patterns and worker motivation. The factors that have an effect on leaders incorporate leader-member members’ family, which is the boldness staff have in their managers; assignment constitution, which is the character of the work; and position vigor, which is the formal authority and impact of leaders. Hersey and Blanchard advise 4 leadership styles depending on employee traits. Leaders can adopt the directing sort for unskilled and unmotivated employees, the teaching variety for motivated however unskilled employees, the supporting style for skilled however unmotivated staff and the observing sort for encouraged and expert employees. The path-goal concept means that leaders...
Words: 407 - Pages: 2
...What is the core argument of contingency theories of organizations? Discuss giving examples from at least one such theory. Evaluate the claims of this theory and assess its relevance for organizations today. Organizations operate in many different environments and it is vital to assess how they influence their structures. Effective and efficient organizing has become increasingly important in the modern world characterized by rapid changes. Contingency approaches emphasize that in order for organizations to succeed they must adopt a structure suitable for the environment in which they operate. There are many forms of contingency theory. In general, contingency theories are a class of behavioral theory that claim that there is no best way to organize a corporation and the organizational structure of the company. An organizational or leadership style that is effective in some situations may not be successful in others. Therefore, the best way of organizing the company, is contingent upon the internal and external situation of the company. External environments influence organizations in a varied number of ways. Critical external factors include, but are not limited to, the size of the organization, labor markets, availability and cost of capital, competitors, governmental laws and policies, managerial assumptions about employees, strategies, technologies used, etc. The main ideas of contingency theory are: * There is no universal or one best way to manage * The design of organizations...
Words: 1853 - Pages: 8
...certificates, vendor credits, and outstanding checks, such as payroll and dividend checks. Since unclaimed property claims do not constitute a tax, Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 5, "Accounting for Contingencies" (FAS 5)5 may affect an enterprise's financial reporting obligations. In FAS 5, the term "contingency" is defined as "an existing condition, situation, or set of circumstances involving uncertainty as to possible gain (hereinafter a 'gain contingency') or loss (hereinafter a 'loss contingency') to an enterprise that will ultimately be resolved when one or more future events occur or fail to occur. According to FAS 5, a contingent loss should be charged to income if information is available before issuance of the financial statements indicating by fiscal year-end that a loss probably has been incurred and that the amount of such loss can be reasonably estimated. If there is a reasonable possibility that the loss will be incurred, FAS 5 generally requires the disclosure in the footnotes of the financial statements to include a discussion of the nature of the loss and either the possible range of the loss (if it can be estimated) or a statement that such loss cannot be estimated. FAS 5 provides: "Disclosure is not required of a loss contingency involving an un-asserted claim or assessment when there has been no manifestation by a potential claimant of an awareness of a possible claim or assessment unless it is...
Words: 372 - Pages: 2
