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Leadership Theory

Terms

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Autocratic
In the autocratic style, the leader takes decisions without consulting with others. The decision is made without any form of consultation. In Lewin's experiments, he found that this caused the most level of discontent.
An autocratic style works when there is no need for input on the decision, where the decision would not change as a result of input, and where the motivation of people to carry out subsequent actions would not be affected whether they were or were not involved in the decision-making.
Democratic
In the democratic style, the leader involves the people in the decision-making, although the process for the final decision may vary from the leader having the final say to them facilitating consensus in the group.
Democratic decision-making is usually appreciated by the people, especially if they have been used to autocratic decisions with which they disagreed. It can be problematic when there are a wide range of opinions and there is no clear way of reaching an equitable final decision.
Laissez-Faire
The laissez-faire style is to minimize the leader's involvement in decision-making, and hence allowing people to make their own decisions, although they may still be responsible for the outcome.
Laissez-faire works best when people are capable and motivated in making their own decisions, and where there is no requirement for a central coordination, for example in sharing resources across a range of different people and groups.
Trait
o People are born with inherited traits.
o Some traits are particularly suited to leadership.
o People who make good leaders have the right (or sufficient) combination of traits.
Participative
Involvement in decision-making improves the understanding of the issues involved by those who must carry out the decisions.

People are more committed to actions where they have involved in the relevant decision-making.

People are less competitive and more collaborative when they are working on joint goals.

When people make decisions together, the social commitment to one another is greater and thus increases their commitment to the decision.

Several people deciding together make better decisions than one person alone.
Great Man
Leaders are born and not made. Great leaders will arise when there is a great need.
Behavioral Theory
Leaders can be made, rather than are born.

Successful leadership is based in definable, learnable behavior.
Agency Theory
 Leaders will behave in ways that benefit self
 Leaders need restraints applied to them from outside
 Incentives should be used to control leaders
Allportian Event-Structure Theory
 Organizations are composed not of people but of common behavior segments
 Social structure as a cycle of events which return in circular fashion to reinstate the cycle.
 Events are the observable nodal points in such cycles
 Allport believes that a continuing series of events must complete a cycle before we have social structure.
Attribution Theory
 External – someone else caused my behavior
 A low grade occurs because of ‘lousy professors’
 Internal – I caused my behavior
 A high grade occurs because of ‘my brilliance’
Autopoiesis
 Systems that
(a) maintain their defining organization throughout a history of environmental perturbation and structural change
(b) regenerate their components in the course of their operation.
 Autonomous systems maintain their organization, but do not necessarily regenerate their own components.
Chaos Theory
 Chaos is more long-term than short-term
 Behavior in chaotic systems is aperiodic,
 May evolve in a way that appears to be smooth and ordered
 Chaos refers to the issue of whether or not it is possible to make accurate long-term predictions of any system if the initial conditions are known to an accurate degree.
Charismatic Leadership
 Sense opportunity and formulate a vision
 sense their constituents’ needs
 see the deficiencies of the existing situation and untapped opportunities
 The combination of these leads to an idealized vision of the future
 Articulating the Vision
 capacity to convey the essence and viability of that to a broad group of people
Charismatic Leadership (2)
 Building Trust in the Vision
 subordinates must desire and support the goals of the leader and this is likely to be accomplished by more than coercion;
 Achieving the Vision
 these leaders use personal example and role modeling, reliance on unconventional tactics and their use of empowerment practices
Complexity Theory
 The study of complex systems is about understanding indirect effects.
 how interactions give rise to patterns of behavior
 understanding the ways of describing complex systems
 the process of formation of complex systems through pattern formation and evolution.
Complexity Theory (2)
 The field of complex systems cuts across all traditional disciplines of science, as well as engineering, management, and medicine.
 It focuses on certain questions about parts, wholes and relationships.
 These questions are relevant to all traditional fields.
Configuration Approach
 All organizations can be described in terms of:
Leadership, Structure, Strategy, Environment
 While there is an infinite combination of elements only a few are successful
Fiedler’s Contingency Theory
 Certain conditions require certain leadership styles
 Since leaders cannot change their styles it is necessary to change leaders to fit the specific needs of the organization with regard to its environment
Environmental determinism
 The environment may be stronger than than the leader and thus control or limit the actions that the leader can take
 Success only occurs when actions are within the confines of the environment’s control
Equity Theory
 Associated with fairness and justice
 Compares what one puts in with what one gets back relative to the perception of what others (peers, subordinates, and superiors) get back
Expectancy Theory
 Examines the value of a motivator relative to:
 Expectancy: Perception that the effort will gain the reward (cause-effect)
 Instrumentality: Perception that if the effort occurs that the reward will occur (trust, likelihood)
 Valence: Perception that the reward will be of value (preference)
Goal Setting Theory
 The more specificity to the goal the higher the performance
 The higher the goal the higher the performance
 The more attainable the goal the higher the performance

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