Leadership Contingency Theories - Coursework Example

Leadership Contingency Theories Name Institution Date: Leadership Contingency Theories Introduction Leadership can be described as the ability that a person has that can make people follow his or her lead. In most cases, leaders are used to make people achieve or accomplish some goals. Leaders have the ability to organize people in different ways with an aim of achieving a given objective. However, different leaders apply different leadership models. This means that there are various theories of leadership. The leadership style used determines the fate of the group that he or she is leading. For instance, a leader who uses autocratic leadership does not consider other key stakeholders in the organization or any other entity. This paper focuses and discusses on the different contingency theories (Caproni 2012). Theories In the contingency theory, the success of the leader is considered as a function of many interlinked contingencies. This is usually in the form of task and variables. These theories include the Fiedler’s theory and the situational theory. The fielder’s theory is the earliest theory, and it comes from the trait and behavioral models. The model asserts that the performance of a given group is dependent on the psychological orientation of the leader and other three crucial factors. These include task structure, leader’s power position, and the atmosphere of the group. However, the theory explains that the performance of the group will be mainly influenced by the interaction of two factors. These include the leadership and the situational favorableness. According to the theory, leadership style is the consistent mode of interaction, which takes place between the leader and the work group. The leadership style highly depends on the personality of the leader. The theory has classified the leadership styles. In order to achieve this, there was the development of an index scale known as the least preferred coworker scale. In this case, the scales may require a leader to list all the people that he or she has ever worked with in any capacity. After that, the leader is expected to describe a person with whom he worked least well with. The responses are then summed and averaged. If the leader scores a high LPC, it means that he or she has a human relations alignment. However, if the score is a low LPC, then it means a task orientation. According to the theory, the effectiveness of a leader is dependent on the degree of the match between his or her personality and the situation favorableness. In this case, a leader can be task-oriented or relationship-oriented (Certo and Trevis 2014). This theory has various weaknesses and strongholds. However, it has more weaknesses than strongholds. First, it is dependent on the opinions of the leader. This means that a single rating of a coworker determines whether the leader is task or relationship-oriented. Results may vary since a leader might be controlled by anger before making the decision. In addition, few people can remember the persons they have been within a short time. This means that the theory has a larger error margin compared to the other theories. This means that it can classify a leader in the wrong category. The theory does not consider the emotional situation of a leader. This means that there are times that the leader might state the wrong figure just because he is under stress. In the same way, the leader might overstate the figure or state a lower figure. This means that the conclusion made based on the leaders figure will be wrong (Day and Antonakis 2012). The fielder’s theory also considers the environmental variability factor. This is primarily known as the degree that a situation enables a leader to influence a group. In this case, there are three situation factors. These include the relationship between the leader and the group member’s relationship, the task structure and the position power of the leader. In this case, the degree to which the leader is accepted by employees or the members determines the future of the organization. This means that if the employees are not content with the leader, there will be no togetherness in the company and hence limiting the chances of attaining the set objectives. The task structure determines the motivation of the leader. In this case, if the subordinate jobs are definitely in favor of the leader, he poor she will be motivated. This means that he will work towards achieving the company’s goals. The position power of the leader also influences the leadership style he or she is likely to apply. Positional power fosters the ability to command resulting in higher chances of autocracy. In most cases, when a leader has been given the overall power, he or she is likely to do what pleases him or her. In this theory, Fielder supports the task-oriented style of leadership. This is more effective compared to the relationship-oriented style. This is usually under extreme conditions. In a natural disaster, it would be advisable to use the task-oriented model (Daft 2011). The path-goal theory was developed and then later expanded to a more complicated contingency theory. It suggests that a leader should reveal the path for the followers in order to achieve the set goals. In this case, he or she should employ certain behaviors in some situations with the aim of increasing the followers’ satisfaction. While doing this, the leader will encourage the employees and other stakeholders to work towards the achievement of the set objectives. The theory identifies four types of leader behaviors. These include the supportive, directive, achievement, and the participative leader behaviors. When the task in question is large or ambiguous, the directive behavior is appropriate. This is on the clarification of the task and stressing of rewards depending on good performance. This increases the positive expectancies of the followers. This makes them work appropriately for the organization. As a result, the rate of innovation is increased remarkably. This brings new trends in the company that would increase the output of the company and hence the revenue. Moreover, this increases the competition between employees, which ensures good quality of work. This model is good for the general well-being of a company (Daft and Marcic 2014). The normative contingency theory focuses on the effectiveness of leadership in terms of the group performance and the team satisfaction. However, it is a unique model since it exclusively focuses on providing prescriptions in order to optimize the decision making process of the leader. Originally the model focuses on situational factors more that the leadership behaviors. This differentiates it from the other contingency theories. In addition, the theory outlines a set of five decision-making strategies. They range on a continuum from participative to the directive decision making. The strategies are made up of two autocratic style types, two types of consultative models and a group decision making alternative. Most of the researches and analysis carried in different countries support the model. This is because the decisions, which followed the decision tree, were more likely to happen and be successful compared to the decisions that did not use any prescription. Furthermore, the leaders who use the decision tree to make their decisions usually receive favorable ratings from the subordinates. Moreover, there is empirical evidence, which supports and validates the theory. However, the model contains several limitations in various sectors. For instance, in acknowledgement, the model’s utility, there is the uncertainty of whether leaders have the ability to answer the decision tree in question. The theory faces this major problem. Not all leaders have the ability to answer all the questions in the decision tree. This means a margin error is imposed by leaders who give wrong answers. As a result, the decision that will be achieved will be an incorrect one. In this case, it will not match with the objectives of the organization (Daft and Marcic 2014). In most cases, the normative model contributes a lot to the understanding of the decision making process. This means that this underscores the importance of the situation. This is because it analyses all the possible outcomes and the consequences of a given decision. In this case, a leader can identify the best decision to choose depending on the objectives of the company. There are some instances where there is difficulty in choosing the right decision for the company. This is because all the decision contains the same degree of repercussions. In this case, the leader has to consider all the possible theories in order to come up with the appropriate decision (Day and Antonakis 2012). While traditional leadership theories rely on the given principles of functionalism, most the contingency theory, tend to incorporate modern leadership trends and ideas related with leadership revolution. Modern leadership aspects have been included into traditional perspectives because they are associated. In recent centuries, leadership has been described as creating a working environment that promotes collaboration and teamwork. Modern leadership development is based on the mentioned elements in promoting behaviors and skills for leaders. Leadership skills like fostering group relationship, enhancing communication, establishing a common vision and inclusive environment have been integrated into modern leadership perspectives. The aspects are vital topics in developing leadership programs. These leadership perspectives include making adjustments on organizational structures in order to enhance group work. This involves restructuring systems of rewards for emphasizing on individual merit. In addition, it entails designing and emphasizing on new accountability forms that enhance group work. It is clear from the study that contingency theories are critical in organization seeking to foster employee performance. (Daft and Marcic 2014). References Caproni, P.J. (2012) Management Skills for Everyday Life. 3rd edn. New Jersey: Pearson Education Certo, S.C. and Trevis Certo, S. (2014) Modern Management: Concepts and Skills. 13th edn. International Edition. Harlow: Pearson Daft R. L. (2011) Leadership. 5th edn. – International Edition, London: South-Western Cengage Learning Daft, R.L. and Marcic, D. (2014) Building Management Skills. International Edition. London: South-Western Cengage Learning Day, D. V. and Antonakis, J. (Eds.) (2012) The Natue rof Leadership. 2nd edn. London: Sage Read More