Ineffective leadership culture can have a significant effect on employee morale, and subsequently an effect on productivity. Leaders must enhance the quality of work life in order to increase the worker’s physical and emotional well-being if they wish to create an atmosphere of positive morale (Plunkett, Allen, and Attner, 2013). Situational leadership has strong foundations in motivational theories (Plunkett, Allen, and Attner, 2013). There are three different models for situational leadership that will be considered in this research.
Contingency Model
The contingency model of situational leadership was developed by Fred Fielder based on the principle that the best style of leadership for the manager depends on the situation within the organization (Plunkett, Allen, and Attner, 2013). The contingency model states that a manager should focus on either tasks, or employees, depending on the variables within the position (Plunkett, Allen, and Attner, 2013). These variables include the leadership power structure, the task structure, and relationships between the leaders and the members of the organization (Plunkett, Allen, and Attner, 2013).
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The advantage of contingency theory is that it can be used to create a good fit between organizational control and organizational structure (Islam and Hu, 2012). This flexibility is one of the key advantages of contingency theory. The theory allows the leader to investigate several different contingencies and their impact on the organization. The manager can then choose the contingency that is the best fit for the organization and its current situation (Islam and Hu, 2012). The flexibility of the model is an advantage in many organizational structures.
The weakness of the theory is determining what a good fit looks like and defining it. It can be applied to many different industries, and is more easily adapted to a less structured organizational style. It was found that contingency theory was a poor fit in fields like managerial accounting, which is a highly structured field (Islam and Hu, 2012).
Path-Goal Theory
Path-goal theory is based on the expectancy theory of motivation which states that employees will be motivated based on their perceptions of their ability to do the task, the attractiveness of the reward offered, and the likelihood that they will receive that award (Plunkett, Allen, and Attner, 2013). This theory is closely related to the level of self-efficacy of the employee. Some of the factors that determine self-efficacy of the employee are internal and not related to the job. This is one disadvantage of the path-goal theory. Leadership can change certain factors within the job environment that can encourages self-efficacy. For instance, they can make awards attractive and implement realistic goals to achieve them. However, they cannot change the personality of the employee, parental up-bringing of the employee, and past experiences that shape the employee’s current self-efficacy. The disadvantage of this theory is that the manager can go so far in motivating the employee using this theory, but they cannot control every factor that has an effect on employee motivation.
Research found that a directive style is essential for new employees, or in situations that need immediate action. However, this same style can be perceived as angry, controlling, or have other negative aspects depending on the situation (Polston-Murdoch, 2013). The supportive leader may be seen as weak, or motivational, depending on the characteristics of the organization (Polston-Murdoch, 2013). The same can be said with the participative leader. The achievement oriented leader expects employees to perform at their highest to achieve required goals (Polston-Murdoch, 2013). The advantage of the path-goal theory is that the leader can choose any of these four leadership styles as are best suited to the situation. The path-goal theory focuses on the effect that leaders have on their subordinates, particularly in their ability to provide rewards that will motivate the employees towards higher levels of productivity.
Life Cycle Theory
Hershey and Blanchard’s Life-Cycle Theory relates to the behavior and maturity levels of the employees and the leadership (Plunkett, Allen, and Attner, 2013). This theory states that as team members mature, they become better able to direct themselves and participate in decision making (Plunkett, Allen, and Attner, 2013). According to this theory, the leader’s behavior towards a certain employee should relate to the maturity level of the employee (Plunkett, Allen, and Attner, 2013). Newer and younger employees are expected to need a higher level of direction then more mature and experienced employees. The leader should take a more picture supportive approach to older employees in order to keep their interest and build trust (Plunkett, Allen, and Attner, 2013).
The advantage of the life-cycle theory is that that the leader has the ability to provide what each employee needs from them. The leader has the ability to change the dynamics of how they interact with the employee, as the employee ages and becomes more skilled. The disadvantage is that often the leader is confronted with mixed age groups at the same time. Another disadvantage is that workforces may have workers that are young, but are mature for their age and they also may have older people who are less mature. Age is not a good indicator of the person’s skill or the support that is needed from management. However, age can provide the manager certain clues that will help them to connect with people of various ages on their staff.
Conclusion
This research examined three aspects of situational leadership theory. Situational leadership stresses the need to be flexible, the ability to evaluate the situation, and make an appropriate response depending on the situation. In order to properly evaluate the situation, they must have the emotional intelligence to know themselves and how to elicit an appropriate response to the situation. This research examines three different aspects of situational theory and found that each of them has specific advantages and disadvantages. The overriding theme in all of the theories was the ability of the leader to assess the people within their organization and to change their leadership behavior to motivate the employees to higher levels of performance. No leadership style is universally effective in every situation (McClesky, 2014). This makes situational leadership a necessary skill in every business environment.
In order to implement situational leadership and to take advantage of the motivation that it has to offer, the first thing that needs to be done is an assessment of the organization. This assessment needs to include a survey of the employees regarding their job satisfaction, and any improvements that they see need to be made in the organizational culture. The second action that needs to be taken is to determine the age of the workforce, and the level of experience that they have. When having individual conversations, the leader can adjust themselves accordingly, but they will have a better idea of how to respond to the group as a whole if they have this information.
The third strategy is based on the path-goal theory and involves setting realistic goals that can be achieved by developing a reward system that is not only achievable, but which contains rewards that will motivate employees, as determined by the employee survey. The first step in implementing situational leadership is to assess the organizational environment in which it will take place. Situational leadership allows the flexibility to help the organization achieve its most important goals. These actions will allow for the greatest chances of success within the organization and will allow it provide for the needs of the employees and reach his goals in the future.
- Islam, J. & Hu, Hui. (2012). A review of literature on contingency theory in managerial
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http://www.academicjournals.org - McClesky, J. (2014). Situation, Transformational, and Transactional Leadership and Leadership Development. Journal of Business Studies Quarterly. 5(4):117-130. Retrieved from
http://jbsq.org/ - Polston-Murdoch, L. (2013). An Investigation of Path-Goal Theory, Relationship of Leadership Style, Supervisor-Related Commitment, and Gender. Emerging Leadership Journeys. 6 (1): 13-44. Retrieved from http://www.regent.edu/
- Plunket, W., Allen, G, & Attner, R. (2013). Management. 10e. Soutwestern Cengage Learning. Retrieved from https://bookshelf.vitalsource.com
