Chapter 12 - Leadership in Organizational Settings Competency Perspective of Leadership Competency Perspective Limitations

Transcription

1 Chapter 12 - Leadership in Organizational Settings Leadership - influencing, motivating, and enabling others to contribute toward the effectiveness and success of the organizations of which they are members; consists of two components: leaders motivate others through persuasion and other influence tactics leaders are enablers Five perspectives of leadership 1. Competency 2. Behavioural 3. Contingency 4. Transformational 5. Implicit Competency Perspective of Leadership identifies certain personal characteristics that lead to superior performance in a leadership role personality self concept drive - successful leaders have a high need for achievement integrity leadership motivation knowledge of the business cognitive and practical intelligence emotional intelligence Authentic leadership - an important characteristic that is associated with effective leaders that refers to how effective leaders need to be aware of, feel comfortable with, and act consistently with their values, personality, and self-concept. Competency Perspective Limitations assumes that all effective leaders have the same personal characteristics that are equally important in all situations alternative combinations of competencies might work just as well leadership is relational, not just something within the person competencies refer to leadership potential, not performance Behavioural Perspective of Leadership study distilled two clusters of leadership: directive leadership - includes behaviours that define and structure work roles supportive leadership - includes behaviours such as listening to employees for their opinions and ideas Limitations of Supportive Leadership vs. Directive two categories are broad generalizations that mask specific behaviours within each category; these clusters of activities are fairly distinct and likely have different effects on employee wellbeing and performance

2 assumes that high levels of both styles are best in all situations; in reality, the best leadership style depends on the situation Servant leadership - extension of the supportive leadership style b/c it defines leadership as serving others toward their need fulfillment, personal development, and growth Contingency Perspective of Leadership based on the idea that the most appropriate leadership style depends on the situation path goal theory of leadership - leaders create paths to effective performance for their employees states that effective leaders ensure that good performers receive more valued rewards than do poor performers Path Goal Leadership Styles 1. Directive 2. Supportive 3. Participative 4. Achievement oriented Contingencies of Path Goal Theory specifies two sets of situational variables that moderate the relationship between a leader's style and effectiveness: (1) employee characteristics and (2) characteristics of the employee's work environment Four Contingencies: 1. Skill and experience directive and supportive leadership is best for employees who are inexperienced and unskilled 2. Locus of Control employees with internal locus of control prefer participative and achievement oriented leadership styles employees with external locus of control - supportive and directive leadership 3. Task Structure leaders should adopt directive style when task is nonroutine employees in highly routine tasks require supportive leadership participative leadership is effective with nonroutine tasks 4. Team Dynamics team cohesion is low - leaders should use the supportive style. leaders should apply a directive style to counteract team norms that oppose the team's formal objectives Other Contingency Theories Situational Leadership Theory ( Paul Hersey and Ken Blanchard) - suggests that effective leaders vary their style with the ability and motivation (or commitment) of followers identifies four type of leadership styles - telling, selling, participating and delegating

3 Downside? only one type works - "telling" (during directive style when employee lacks motivation) Fiedler's Contingency Model (Fred Fiedler)- suggests that the best leadership style depends on the level of situational control, that is, the degree of power and influence that the leader possesses in a particular situation situational control is affected by three factors - leader member relations, task structure and position power Leadership substitutes - identifies conditions that either limit a leader's ability to influence employees or make a particular leadership style unnecessary e.g. directive leadership might be less important when performance-based reward systems keep employees directed toward organizational goals and co-workers substitute for leadership in highinvolvement team structures. Transformational Perspective of Leadership - (most popular perspective today) views effective leaders as change agents - changing the organization to fit the environment Transactional leadership - influence others by using rewards, penalties and negotiations e.g. politicians asking people for their vote in return for change in society Managerial leadership - focus on leader behaviours that improve employee performance and well-being Transformational vs. Charismatic Leadership charisma is a personal trait or relational quality that provides referent power over followers ; transformational leadership is a set of behaviours that engage followers toward a better future Elements of Transformational Leadership develop a vision communicate the vision model the vision build commitment toward the vision Transformational Leadership Limitations research defines transformational leaders by their success rather than their behaviour need to recognize cultural differences this type of leadership is only valuable in some situations than others Implicit Perspective of Leadership these include the follower's perceptions of effective leaders highlights the fact that leadership is a perception of followers as much as the actual behaviours and formal roles of people calling themselves leaders It consists of two components: leader prototypes - preconceived beliefs about the features and behaviours of effective leaders romance or attribution of leadership - followers tend to distort their perception of the influence that leaders have on the environment ; people want to believe that leaders make a difference fundamental attribution error -leaders are put to blame when company fails and praise them when it is successful

4 Cross-Cultural Leadership preferred leadership style varies among cultures charismatic visionary is universally accepted participative leadership is seen as effective only in low power distance cultures Gender and Leadership women adopt a participative leadership style more readily than men women have better interpersonal skills than men employees expect female leaders to be more participative Chapter 11 - Conflict and Negotiation in the Workplace Conflict - process in which one party perceives that its interests are being opposed or negatively affected by another party The Conflict Process Sources of conflict conflict perceptions and emotions manifest conflict conflict outcomes Constructive and Relationship Conflict Constructive conflict - parties focus on the issue while maintaining respect for people having other points of view Relationship conflict - parties focus on personal characteristics (not issues) as the source of conflict; accompanied by strong negative emotions Minimizing Relationship Conflict encourage constructive conflict having high levels of emotional intelligence developing a highly cohesive team supportive team norms Sources of Conflict in Organizations 1. Incompatible Goals - when the goals of one person or department seem to interfere with another person's or department's goals 2. Differentiation - differences among people and work units regarding their training, values, beliefs, and experiences 3. Interdependence - higher task interdependence : greater chance that each side will disrupt or interfere with the other side's goals. (pooled interdependence can help minimize conflict) 4. Scarce resources - motivates competition for the resource 5. Ambiguous rules - creates uncertainty and people tend to reply on politics 6. Communication problems - lack of communication causes stereotyping Interpersonal Conflict Handling Styles Mary Parker Follett - the first to suggest the benefits of conflicts and ways to respond to them

5 1. Problem solving = win-win orientation information sharing is critical in this style 2. Forcing = win-lose orientation relies on hard influence tactics: assertiveness 3. Avoiding 4. Yielding - giving in completely to the other side's wishes 5. Compromising *check textbook for the preferred style advantages Cultural and Gender Differences in Conflict Handling Styles women pay more attention to the relationship between parties - tend to adopt the compromising or problem solving style men are more competitive and tend to use the forcing style Structural Approaches to Conflict Management 1. Emphasizing superordinate goals - broad goals that all parties to a dispute value and agree are important. e.g. company's objectives and mission 2. Reduce differentiation - moving employees around to different jobs 3. Improve communication and mutual understanding 4. Reduce interdependence use buffers - mechanism that loosens the coupling between two or more people or work units use integrators - employees who coordinate the activities of differentiated work units toward the completion of a common task combine jobs 5. Increasing resources - duplicate resources 6. Clarifying rules and procedures - assigning agreements and schedules when problem arises Third Party Conflict Resolution Employees who coordinate the activities of differentiated work units toward the completion of a common task There are three main third party dispute resolution activities arbitration - have high control over the decision but low control over the process inquisition - high process control and decision control mediation - high process control and little or no control over the decision making process Which third party intervention is most appropriate? Mediation and Arbitration (in that order) Chapter 15 - Organizational Change Lewin's Force Field Analysis Model Force field analysis - helps change agents diagnose the forces that drive and restrain proposed organizational change

6 driving forces - push the organization toward change; e.g. new competitors/technology. workforce expectations restraining forces - maintain the status quo; "resistance to change" - block the change process Force field model emphasizes on unfreezing (producing disequilibrium between the driving and restraining forces) a situation, moving to a desired condition and then refreezing the system so it remains in the desired state Understanding Resistance to Change resistance to change needs to be viewed as a resource it is a signal that the change agent has not sufficiently addressed the underlying conditions that support effective organizational change resistance is a form of constructive conflict should be viewed in the context of justice and motivation Why Employees Resist Change? lack of motivation, ability and role clarity 1. Direct costs - losing something of value due to change (fear negativity) 2. Saving face - "not invented here" syndrome (mining company example) 3. Fear of unknown - risk of personal loss; concern about not being able to adjust 4. Breaking routines - cost of moving away from their comfort zones and learning new routines 5. Incongruent team dynamics - norms contrary to the desired change 6. Incongruent organizational systems Unfreezing, Changing and Refreezing unfreezing occurs when driving forces are stronger than the restraining forces make driving forces stronger by pushing change vigorously weaken or remove restraining forces Creating an Urgency for Change 1. Customer driven change - putting employees in direct contact with customers; dissatisfied customers represent a compelling driving force for change 2. Create urgency for change without external forces - use persuasion and positive vision rather than threats Reducing the Restraining Forces 1. Communication - highest priority first strategy to change; generates urgency to change and reduces uncertainty (when leaders communicate with their employees) 2. Learning - includes coaching and other forms of learning; helps break old routines and adopt new roles 3. Involvement - employees participate in the change process and gives them a sense of responsibility in being successful

7 4. Stress management - employees attend sessions to discuss their concerns about change 5. Negotiation 6. Coercion - assertive influence by the leaders and frequently monitoring behaviour Refreezing the Desired Conditions Refreezing realigns organizational systems and team dynamics so they support the desired changes Offer rewards to reinforce new behaviours Change career paths Revise information systems - feedback mechanisms that help employees know how well they are moving forward The three ingredients in effective change processes: change agents, strategic visions, and diffusing change diffusing change through the MARS model - employees need to have the motivation, ability, role clarity and require supportive situational factors: including resources and time necessary to adapt the new practice