Lecture Leadership - Theory and practice: Chapter 6 - Contingency theory

The main contents of this chapter include all of the following: Concerned with styles and situations, framework for effectively matching the leader and the situation, task motivated (reaching a goal) or relationship motivated (developing close interpersonal relationships) leadership styles.

Leadership

Chapter 6 - Contingency Theory

Northouse, 4 th  edition

 Contingency Theory Approach Perspective

 Leadership Styles

 Situational Variables

 Research Findings of Leader Style Effectiveness

 How Does the Contingency Theory Approach Work?

Contingency Theory Approach Description

Contingency theory is a leader-match

theory (Fiedler & Chemers, 1974)

– Tries to match leaders to appropriate

situations

well the leader’s style fits the context

Fiedler’s generalizations about which styles

of leadership are best and worst are based

on empirically grounded generalizations

Perspective

Definition

Assessment based on:

– Leadership Styles – Situational Variables

 Effective leadership is contingent on 

matching a leader’s style to the right  setting

- Refers to the group atmosphere and the degree

of confidence, loyalty, and attraction of followers for leader

 Group atmosphere –

 Good – high degree of subordinate trust,

liking, positive relationship

 Poor – little or no subordinate trust, friction exists, unfriendly

Situational Variables/3 Factors

Task Structure

– Concerns the degree to which

requirements of a task are clear and

spelled out

 High Structure –

• requirements/rules - are clearly stated/known

• path to accomplish - has few alternatives

• task completion - can be clearly demonstrated

• limited number - correct solutions exist

– Concerns the degree to which

requirements of a task are clear and

spelled out

 Low Structure –

• requirements/rules - not clearly stated/known

• path to accomplish - has many alternatives

• task completion - cannot be clearly demonstrated/verified

• unlimited number - correct solutions exist

Situational Variables/3 Factors

Position Power

– Designates the amount of authority a

leader has to reward or punish followers

 3 Factors - determine the favorableness of

various situations in organizations

 Situations that are rated:

– Most Favorable

- good leader-follower relations,

 defined tasks (high structure), &

 strong leader position power

Situational Variables/3 Factors

 3 Factors - determine the favorableness of

various situations in organizations

 Situations that are rated:

– Least Favorable

- Poor leader-follower relations,

 unstructured tasks (low structure), &

 Weak leader position power

– Moderately Favorable –

 Fall in between these extremes

Research Findings of Leader Style

Effectiveness

LPC Score Favorableness of Situation Definition

Low Very Favorable

Situations with some degree

of certainty; not completely

in or out of leader’s control

Under stress, leader reverts to less mature

coping style learned in

 By assessing the 3 situational variables, any

organizational context can be placed in one of the 8

categories represented in the Contingency Theory Model

 After the nature of a situation is determined, the fit

between leader’s style and the situation can be

evaluated

 By measuring Leader’s LPC score and the 3 situational variables , it is possible to predict whether a leader will be effective in a particular setting

Overall Scope

By measuring Leader’s LPC score and the 3 situational variables , it is

possible to predict whether a leader will be effective in a particular setting

Strengths

many researchers and found to be a valid and reliable

approach to explaining how to achieve effective leadership.

 Broadened understanding. Contingency theory has

broadened the scope of leadership understanding from a

focus on a single, best type of leadership (e.g., trait

approach) to emphasizing the importance of a leader’s style and the demands of different situations.

 Predictive. Because Contingency theory is predictive, it

provides relevant information regarding the type of

leadership that is most likely to be effective in particular

contexts.

theory contends that leaders should not expect to

be effective in every situation; thus companies

should strive to place leaders in optimal situations according to their leadership style

supplies data on leadership styles that could be useful to organizations in developing leadership profiles for human resource planning

Criticisms

Fails to fully explain why leaders with particular leadership styles are more effective in some

situations than others

Criticism of LPC scale validity as it does not

correlate well with other standard leadership

measures

Fails to adequately explain what should be

done about a leader/situation mismatch in the workplace

multitude of questions about the leadership of individuals in various types

manager and a certain work context