12.2 What Is the Role of the Context? Contingency Approaches to Leadership
Learning Objectives
- Discuss the major situational conditions that determine the effectiveness of different leadership styles.
- Identify the conditions under which highly task-oriented and highly people-oriented leaders can be successful based on Fiedler’s contingency theory.
- Describe the Path-Goal theory of leadership.
- Describe a method by which leaders can decide how democratic or authoritarian their decision making should be.
What is the best leadership style? By now, you must have realized that this may not be the right question to ask. Instead, a better question might be: Under which conditions are certain leadership styles more effective? After the disappointing results of trait and behavioural approaches, several scholars developed leadership theories that specifically incorporated the role of the environment. Specifically, researchers started following a contingency approach to leadership—rather than trying to identify traits or behaviours that would be effective under all conditions, the attention moved toward specifying the situations under which different styles would be effective.
Fiedler’s Contingency Theory
The earliest and one of the most influential contingency theories was developed by Frederick Fiedler (Fiedler, 1967). According to the theory, a leader’s style is measured by a scale called the Least Preferred Coworker scale (LPC). People who are filling out this survey are asked to think of a person who is their least preferred coworker. Then, they rate this person in terms of how friendly, nice, and cooperative this person is. Imagine someone you did not enjoy working with. Can you describe this person in positive terms? In other words, if you can say that the person you hated working with was still a nice person, you would have a high LPC score. This means that you have a people-oriented personality, and you can separate your liking of a person from your ability to work with that person. On the other hand, if you think that the person you hated working with was also someone you did not like on a personal level, you would have a low LPC score. To you, being unable to work with someone would mean that you also dislike that person. In other words, you are a task-oriented person.
According to Fiedler’s theory, different people can be effective in different situations. The LPC score is akin to a personality trait and is not likely to change. Instead, placing the right people in the right situation or changing the situation to suit an individual is important to increase a leader’s effectiveness. The theory predicts that in “favourable” and “unfavourable” situations, a low LPC leader—one who has feelings of dislike for coworkers who are difficult to work with—would be successful. When situational favorableness is medium, a high LPC leader—one who is able to personally like coworkers who are difficult to work with—is more likely to succeed.
How does Fiedler determine whether a situation is “favourable,” “medium,” or “unfavourable”? There are three conditions creating situational favorableness: leader-subordinate relations, position power, and task structure. If the leader has a good relationship with most people and has high positional power, and the task at hand is structured, the situation is very favourable. When the leader has low-quality relations with employees and has low position power, and the task at hand is relatively unstructured, the situation is very unfavourable.
| Situational favorableness | Leader-subordinate relations | Position Power | Task structure | Best Style |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Favorable | Good | High | High | Low LPC Leader |
| Good | High | Low | ||
| Good | Low | High | ||
| Medium | Good | Low | Low | High LPC Leader |
| Poor | High | High | ||
| Poor | High | Low | ||
| Poor | Low | High | ||
| Unfavorable | Poor | Low | Low | Low LPC leader |
Situational Favorableness Sources: Based on information in Fiedler, F. E. (1967). A theory of leadership effectiveness. New York: McGraw-Hill; Fiedler, F. E. (1964). A contingency model of leader effectiveness. In L. Berkowitz (Ed.), Advances in experimental social psychology, vol. 1 (pp. 149–190). New York: Academic Press.
Research partially supports the predictions of Fiedler’s contingency theory (Peters, Hartke, & Pohlmann, 1985; Strube & Garcia, 1981; Vecchio, 1983). Specifically, there is more support for the theory’s predictions about when low LPC leadership should be used, but the part about when high LPC leadership would be more effective received less support. Even though the theory was not supported in its entirety, it is a useful framework to think about when task-versus people-oriented leadership may be more effective. Moreover, the theory is important because of its explicit recognition of the importance of the context of leadership.
Situational Leadership
Another contingency approach to leadership is Kenneth Blanchard and Paul Hersey’s Situational Leadership Theory (SLT) , which argues that leaders must use different leadership styles depending on their followers’ development level (Hersey, Blanchard, & Johnson, 2007). According to this model, employee readiness (defined as a combination of their competence and commitment levels) is the key factor determining the proper leadership style.
The model summarizes the level of directive and supportive behaviours that leaders may exhibit. The model argues that to be effective, leaders must use the right style of behaviours at the right time in each employee’s development. It is recognized that followers are key to a leader’s success. Employees who are at the earliest stages of development are seen as being highly committed but with low competence for the tasks. Thus, leaders should be highly directive and less supportive. As the employee becomes more competent, the leader should engage in more coaching behaviours. Supportive behaviours are recommended once the employee is at moderate to high levels of competence. And finally, delegating is the recommended approach for leaders dealing with employees who are both highly committed and highly competent. While the SLT is popular with managers, relatively easy to understand and use, and has endured for decades, research has been mixed in its support of the basic assumptions of the model (Blank, Green, & Weitzel, 1990; Graeff, 1983; Fernandez & Vecchio, 2002). Therefore, while it can be a useful way to think about matching behaviours to situations, overreliance on this model, at the exclusion of other models, is premature.
| Follower Readiness Level | Competence (Low) | Competence (Low) | Competence (Moderate to High) | Competence (High) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Commitment (High) | Commitment (Low) | Commitment (Variable) | Commitment (High) | |
| Recommended Leader Style | Directing Behavior | Coaching Behavior | Supporting Behavior | Delegating Behavior |
Situational Leadership Theory helps leaders match their style to follower readiness levels.
Path-Goal Theory of Leadership
Robert House’s path-goal theory of leadership is based on the expectancy theory of motivation (House, 1971). The expectancy theory of motivation suggests that employees are motivated when they believe—or expect—that (a) their effort will lead to high performance, (b) their high performance will be rewarded, and (c) the rewards they will receive are valuable to them. According to the path-goal theory of leadership, the leader’s main job is to make sure that all three of these conditions exist. Thus, leaders will create satisfied and high-performing employees by making sure that employee effort leads to performance, and their performance is rewarded with desired rewards. The leader removes roadblocks along the way and creates an environment that subordinates find motivational.
The theory also makes specific predictions about what type of leader behaviour will be effective under which circumstances (House, 1996). The theory identifies four leadership styles. Each of these styles can be effective, depending on the characteristics of employees (such as their ability level, preferences, locus of control, and achievement motivation) and characteristics of the work environment (such as the level of role ambiguity, the degree of stress present in the environment, and the degree to which the tasks are unpleasant).
Four Leadership Styles
Directive Leaders
Directive leaders provide specific directions to their employees. They lead employees by clarifying role expectations, setting schedules, and making sure that employees know what to do on a given work day. The theory predicts that the directive style will work well when employees are experiencing role ambiguity on the job. If people are unclear about how to go about doing their jobs, giving them specific directions will motivate them. On the other hand, if employees already have role clarity and if they are performing boring, routine, and highly structured jobs, giving them direction does not help. In fact, it may hurt them by creating an even more restrictive atmosphere. Directive leadership is also thought to be less effective when employees have high levels of ability. When managing professional employees with high levels of expertise and job-specific knowledge, telling them what to do may create a low-empowerment environment, which impairs motivation.
This style is appropriate when:
- When employees have high role ambiguity
- When employees have low abilities
- When employees have an external locus of control
Supportive Leaders
Supportive leaders provide emotional support to employees. They treat employees well, care about them on a personal level, and they are encouraging. Supportive leadership is predicted to be effective when employees are under a lot of stress or performing boring, repetitive jobs. When employees know exactly how to perform their jobs but their jobs are unpleasant, supportive leadership may be more effective.
This style is appropriate when:
- When tasks are boring and repetitive
- When tasks are stressful
Participative Leaders
Participative leaders make sure that employees are involved in the making of important decisions. Participative leadership may be more effective when employees have high levels of ability and when the decisions to be made are personally relevant to them. For employees with a high internal locus of control (those who believe that they control their own destiny), participative leadership is a way of indirectly controlling organizational decisions, which is likely to be appreciated.
This style is appropriate when:
- When employees have high abilities
- When the decision is relevant to employees
- When employees have a high internal locus of control
Achievement-Oriented Leaders
Achievement-oriented leaders set goals for employees and encourage them to reach their goals. Their style challenges employees and focuses their attention on work-related goals. This style is likely to be effective when employees have both high levels of ability and high levels of achievement motivation.
This style is appropriate when:
- When employees have high abilities
- When employees have high achievement motivation
The path-goal theory of leadership has received partial but encouraging levels of support from researchers. Because the theory is highly complicated, it has not been fully and adequately tested (House & Aditya, 1997; Stinson & Johnson, 1975; Wofford & Liska, 1993). The theory’s biggest contribution may be that it highlights the importance of a leader’s ability to change styles depending on the circumstances. Unlike Fiedler’s contingency theory, in which the leader’s style is assumed to be fixed and only the environment can be changed, House’s path-goal theory underlines the importance of varying one’s style depending on the situation.
Predictions of the Path-Goal Theory Approach to Leadership (House, 1996). Path-goal theory of leadership. Journal of Contemporary Business, 3, 81–97.
Vroom and Yetton’s Normative Decision Model
Yale School of Management Professor Victor Vroom and his colleagues Philip Yetton and Arthur Jago developed a decision making tool to help leaders determine how much involvement they should seek when making decisions (Vroom, 2000; Vroom & Yetton, 1973; Jago & Vroom, 1980; Vroom & Jago, 1988). The model starts by having leaders answer several key questions and working their way through a decision tree based on their responses. Let’s try it. Imagine that you want to help your employees lower their stress so that you can minimize employee absenteeism. There are a number of approaches you could take to reduce employee stress, such as offering gym memberships, providing employee assistance programs, a nap room, and so forth.
Let’s refer to the model and start with the first question. As you answer each question as high (H) or low (L), follow the corresponding path down the funnel.
- Decision Significance. The decision has high significance because the approach chosen needs to be effective at reducing employee stress for the insurance premiums to be lowered. In other words, there is a quality requirement for the decision. Follow the path through H.
- Importance of Commitment. Does the leader need employee cooperation to implement the decision? In our example, the answer is high because employees may simply ignore the resources if they do not like them. Follow the path through H.
- Leader expertise. Does the leader have all the information needed to make a high-quality decision? In our example, the leader’s expertise is low. You do not have information regarding what your employees need or what kinds of stress reduction resources they would prefer. Follow the path through L.
- Likelihood of commitment. If the leader makes the decision alone, what is the likelihood that the employees would accept it? Let’s assume that the answer is low. Based on the leader’s experience with this group, they would likely ignore the decision if the leader made it alone. Follow the path from L.
- Goal alignment. Are the employee’s goals aligned with the organization’s goals? In this instance, employee and organizational goals may be aligned because you both want to ensure that employees are healthier. So let’s say the alignment is high, and follow H.
- Group expertise. Does the group have expertise in this decision making area? The group in question has little information about which alternatives are costlier or more user-friendly. We’ll say group expertise is low. Follow the path from L.
- Team competence. What is the ability of this particular team to solve the problem? Let’s imagine that this is a new team that just got together and they have little demonstrated expertise to work together effectively. We will answer this as low or L.
Based on the answers to the questions we gave, the normative approach recommends consulting employees as a group. In other words, the leader may make the decision alone after gathering information from employees and is not advised to delegate the decision to the team or to make the decision alone.
Decision-Making Styles
- Decide. The leader makes the decision alone using available information.
- Consult Individually. The leader obtains additional information from group members before making the decision alone.
- Consult as a group. The leader shares the problem with group members individually and makes the final decision alone.
- Facilitate. The leader shares information about the problem with group members collectively and acts as a facilitator. The leader sets the parameters of the decision.
- Delegate. The leader lets the team make the decision.
Vroom and Yetton’s normative model is somewhat complicated, but research results support the validity of the model. On average, leaders using the style recommended by the model tend to make more effective decisions compared to leaders using a style not recommended by the model (Vroom & Jago, 1978).
Exercises
- Do you believe that the least preferred coworker technique is a valid method of measuring someone’s leadership style? Why or why not?
- Do you believe that leaders can vary their style to demonstrate directive, supportive, achievement-oriented, and participative-oriented styles with respect to different employees? Or does each leader tend to have a personal style that he or she regularly uses toward all employees?
- What do you see as the limitations of the Vroom-Yetton leadership decision making approach?
- Which of the leadership theories covered in this section do you think are most useful and least useful to practicing managers? Why?
“12.4: What Is the Role of the Context? Contingency Approaches to Leadership” from Organizational Behavior by LibreTexts is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.
