1. The Nature of Leadership

Definition: a social influence process in which leaders influence employees to achieve organizational goals

Key functions of leadership: Strategic decisions about and the establishment of

• Core purposes and primary visions of an organization
• Core values and organizational culture: norms, routines, love, trust, passion, enthusiasm, care, heroes.
• Core capabilities and competencies: the creation and maintenance of competitive advantages
• Effective organizational structure and processes to motivate, coach, coordinate, and facilitate employees' effort.

• Perceptional?
• Motivational (goal-setting)?
• Decision making process?
• Group-dynamics?

• Perception and communication
• Motivation: commitment
• Attitude and behavioral modification
• Bounded nationality and decision making
• Group-dynamics

Discussion 3: the advantage and disadvantage of focusing on core capabilities and competencies?

2. Transactional Leadership vs. Charismatic Leadership

Transactional leadership: focuses on the inter-personal transactions between managers and employees

• The use of contingent reward to motivate people
• The adherence and maintenance of existing goals, norms, and routines

Charismatic (transformational) leadership: the transformation of employee behavior, organizational goals, structures, and processes by emphasizing

• Symbolic leader behavior
• Visionary and inspirational messages
• Nonverbal communication
• Appeal to ideological/religious values
• Display of confidence in self and followers
• Leader expectations for follower self-sacrifice and for performance beyond the call of duty

Charisma: sacred gifts of power and influence

Examples of charismatic leaders

• Constructive: Franklin D. Roosevelt, Martin Luther King Jr., John F. Kennedy, Lee Lacocca
• Destructive: Lenin, Hitler, Mao

• Self-confidence
• Ability to articulate the vision
• Strong convictions about the vision
• Behavior that is out of the ordinary
• Perceived as being an agent for radical change
• Environmental sensitivity

3. Trait Theories of leadership: theories that sought personality, social, physical, or intellectual traits that differentiated leaders from followers

Basic assumption: leaders are born with certain traits

Examples: Margaret Thatecher, Ronald Regan, Nelson Mandelo, Bill Gates, Colin Powell

• Intelligence
• Dominance
• Self-confidence
• Ambition and energy
• Honesty and integrity
• Task-relevant knowledge

Conclusion: some traits increase the likelihood of success as a leader, bot none of the traits guarantee success

Discusison: what are the problems with trait theories of leadership

• Overlooking the importance of followers
• Failing to clarify the relative importance of traits
• Ignoring situational factors
• Confusing cause and effect (eg, self-confidence)

4. Behavioral Theories of leadership

Basic assumptions:

• Leadership ability is learned
• The effectiveness of leadership depends on leader's behavior

(1). Leadership style

• Autocratic
• Democratic
• Laissez-faire

(2) The Ohio State Studies

• Initiating structure - task/structure-oriented
• Consideration - people-oriented

• Concern for production
• Concern for production

The Problem with Behavioral Theories of Leadership: the lack of consideration of situational factors (Western universalism)

Discussion: What are the managerial implications of the trait theory and behavioral theory?

• The focus and methods of secure good leadership

5. The Situational Theories

Basic assumptions: the effectiveness of a particular style of leader behavior depends on the situation. As situation change, different styles become appropriate.

Example: Kodak

(1). Fiedler's Contingency Model: the effectiveness of leadership depends on the match between a leader's style of interacting with subordinates and the degree to which the situation gives control and influence to the leader

Leader's styles of interacting with subordinates

• Task-oriented (motivated)
• Relationship-oriented (motivated)

• Leader-member relationship: the degree of confidence, trust, and respect subordinates have in their leaders
• Task structure: the degree to which the job assignment are structured
• Position power: the degree of influence a leader has

Unfavorable leadership situation

Leadership effectiveness : task-oriented leaders are most effective in either very favorable or very unfavorable leadership situations, whereas relationship-oriented leaders are most effective in situations of intermediate favorableness.

The problem with Fiedler's model:

• An individual's leadership style is assumed fixed.
• Failed to address the differences in followership

(2). Hersey and Blanchard's Situational Theory

Key assumptions:

• An individual's leadership style is multiple and flexible
• The effectiveness of leadership style depends on follower's ability and motivation

Four stages/types of follower readiness:

•  R1: Unable and unwilling/insecure - incompetent and unmotivated
• R2: Unable and willing - motivated but incompetent
• R3: Able and unwilling/apprehensive - competent but not motivated
• R 4: Able and willing: competent and motivated

Leadership styles:

• Telling (high-task - low relationship): the leader defines roles and routines and tell follower what, how, when, and where to do (directive behavior)
• Selling (high-task - high relationship): the leader provides both directive and supportive behavior
• Participating (low-task - high relationship): shared decision making with followers, focus on facilitation and communication
• Delegating (low-task - low-relationship): little direction and support.

Discussion: Please compare management grid theory with the situational leadership theory?

• What is the best leadership style?
• What are the positions of followers?

(3). Path-Goal Theory of Leadership

Nature: a combination of the Ohio State leadership model and the expectancy theory of motivation

Basic assumptions:

• Leaders can exhibit more than one leadership styles
• Leaders' main job is to help employee stay on the right paths to challenging goals and valued rewards
• The effectiveness of leadership style depends on employee characteristics and environmental factors

Path-Goal: Help follower to achieve goals and make the reducing roadblocks and pitfalls along the path.

Leader's two basic methods of motivation:

• Makes subordinate need satisfaction contingent on effective performance
• Provides the coaching, guidance, support, and rewards that are necessary for effective performance

• Directive leadership: providing guidance about what should be done and how to do it, scheduling work, and maintaining standards of performance
• Supportive leadership: showing concern for the needs of employees, being friendly and approachable
• Participative leadership: consulting with employees and seriously considering their ideas when making decisions
• Achievement-oriented leadership: encouraging employees to perform at their highest level by setting challenging goals, emphasizing excellence, and demonstrating confidence in employee abilities.

• Locus of control: internal vs. external
• Task ability.
• Authoritarianism
• Need for achievement
• Experiences
• Need for clarity

• Task structure: structured vs. unstructured
• Work group: conflict vs. consensus
• Authority system: bureaucratic

Directive leadership: external locus of control, lack of experiences, high needs for clarity, low needs of achievement, unstructured tasks, conflicting work groups

Supportive leadership: highly structured tasks, under bureaucratic and formal authority relationship

Participative leadership: non-routine/unstructured tasks, non-authoritarian personality, internal locus of control

Achievement-oriented leadership: unstructured tasks, needs for achievement

Discussion: compare the similarities and differences between the situational leadership theory and the path-goal theory

(4). Leader-member exchange theory

Basic assumption:

• Leaders establish particularistic exchange relationships with their subordinates.
• Leaders have different levels of exchange with in-group and out-group subordinates.

Out-group exchange: low personal trust, low face-to-face interaction, low sense of common fate, and low favor (formal/low level exchange)

Consequences: in-group subordinates have higher performance, lower turnover rates, and greater job satisfaction.

Question: why there is a tendency to distinguish between in-group and out-group?

Discussion: the managerial implications of various contingency theories?

• Focus on task or people?
• Leadership styles: fixed or flexible

• Individualism vs. collectivism
• Power distance
• Masculinity
• Uncertainty avoidance
• Confucian dynanism