Page 253 - DCOM102_DMGT101_PRINCIPLES_AND_PRACTICES_OF_MANAGEMENT

Unit 13: Motivation and Leadership

(c) Leader position power: It refers to the degree to which the leader has at his disposal Notes
various rewards and sanctions, his authority over group's members, and the degree
to which this authority is supported by the organisation.
(d) Favourableness of the situation: Thus, depending on the 'high' and low' categories of
these situational variables, Fiedler developed eight possible combinations ranging
from highly favourable to unfavourable situations.
A favourable situation is where the leader-member relations are good, the task is highly
structured and the leader has enormous power to exert influence on the subordinates. The
first cell in the table is identified with this high degree of favourableness. At the other
extreme, an unfavourable situation is, where the leader's power is weak, relations with
members are poor and the task is unstructured and unpredictable. The last cell represents
this situation. Between these two extremes lies the situation of intermediate difficulty.
Fiedler states that a permissive, relationship-oriented style is best when the situation is
moderately favourable or moderately unfavourable. When the situation is highly
favourable or highly unfavourable, a task-oriented style produces the desired performance.

Figure 13.4: Fiedler's Findings on how Leader Effectiveness Varies with the Situation

Fiedler's Classification of Situational Favourableness

Leader-member Good Poor
Relations
Task Structure High Low High Low
Leader Position
Power Strong Weak Strong Weak Strong Weak Strong Weak
Situations I II III IV V VI VII VIII

Very Very
Favourable Unfavourable

4. Managerial Grid: Robert R Blake and Jane S Moulton have designed an organisation
development program emphasizing the importance of the two basic leader behaviours
(concern for people and concern for production) originally identified in the Ohio State and
Michigan studies.

The model is designed to help managers first see their current leadership style and then to
help them develop the most desirable style. Blake and Mouton believe there is an ideal
style 9, 9 management. However, they have found that most managers use the middle-of
the road style. The Figure 13.5 below shows the five possible leadership style.

Figure 13.5: Five Possible Leadership Styles

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