Chapter 3

Perspectives on
Effective Leadership Behavior

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 Learning Objectives
 Understand what research methods have been
used to study leadership behavior
 Understand the findings in the early research on
leadership behavior
 Understand how leadership behavior can be
described with either broad or specific categories
 Understand the different methods for developing
taxonomies of leadership behavior

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Leadership in Organizations 4-2

 Learning Objectives (Cont.)
 Understand why task and relations behaviors are
important for leadership effectiveness
 Understand how specific types of task and
relations behaviors can be used effectively
 Understand why it is useful to classify leadership
behavior in terms of a three-dimensional model
 Understand the contributions and limitations of the
behavior approach

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 Ohio State Leadership Studies
 Factor analysis of the questionnaire
 Leadership Behaviors
 Consideration – leader’s concern for people and
interpersonal relationships
 Initiating structure – leader’s concern for accomplishing
the task

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 Ohio State Leadership Studies
 Leader Behavior Description Questionnaire (LBDQ)
 Supervisory Behavior Description (SBDQ)

 Example of survey study:

 A study by Fleishman and Harris (1962) conducted in a truck
manufacturing plant of the International Harvester Company.
 57 production supervisors was described by subordinates who
filled out the SBDQ.
 The criteria of leadership effectiveness included the number of
written grievances and the amount of voluntary turnover
during an 11-month period.

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 Ohio State Leadership Studies
Research Results
 Relation between consideration and turnover rate

Relation Between Consideration and Turnover Rate

Source: From E.A. Fleishman and E.F. Harris “Patterns of Leadership Behavior Related to
Employee Grievances and Turnover.” Personnel Psychology, 1962, 15, 43-56.

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 Ohio State Leadership Studies
Research Results (Cont.)
 Relation between initiating structure and turnover rate

Relation Between Initiating Structure and Turnover Rate

Source: From E.A. Fleishman and E.F. Harris “Patterns of Leadership Behavior Related to
Employee Grievances and Turnover.” Personnel Psychology, 1962, 15, 43-56.

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Leadership in Organizations 4-7

 Ohio State Leadership Studies
 The results have been weak and inconsistent for
most criteria of leadership effectiveness (Bass,
1990; Fisher & Edwards, 1988).
 The only consistent finding was a positive
relationship between consideration and
subordinate satisfaction.

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 Michigan Leadership Studies
 Leadership Behaviors
 Task-oriented behaviors
 Relations-oriented behaviors
 Participative leadership
 Peer Leadership
 According to Bowers and Seashore (1966, p. 249), “There are
both common sense and theoretical reasons for believing that
a formally acknowledged leader through his supervisory
leadership behavior sets the pattern of the mutual leadership
which subordinates supply each other.”

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 Limitations of Survey Research
 Bias in Behavior Description Questionnaires
 Ambiguous items
 Response bias
 Aggregation of items

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Problems Interpreting
Causality in Survey
Studies

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 Experiments
 Laboratory Experiments
 Low external validity (generalizability)
 Inconsistent findings

 Field Experiments
 Difficult to conduct
 High external validity
 Positive results for relations-oriented behaviors; mixed
and inconsistent results for task-oriented behaviors

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 Critical Incident Research
 This method represents a bridge between descriptive
research on what managers do and research on
effective behavior
 The behavior incidents are collected by interview or
open-ended questionnaire from a large sample of
respondents
 The incidents are grouped together on the basis of
similar behavior content, either by the researchers or
by a panel of the respondents

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 Critical Incident Research
 Types of Leader Behaviors
1. Planning, coordinating, and organizing operations
2. Supervising subordinates
3. Establishing and maintaining good relations with subordinates
4. Establishing and maintaining good relations with superiors, peers,
and outsiders
5. Assuming responsibility for observing organizational policies,
carrying out required duties, and making necessary decisions

 Limitations of Critical Incident Research

 It assumes that most respondents know what behaviors are relevant
for leadership effectiveness
 it assumes a behavior is important if it appears frequently in incidents
reported by many different people
 However, the respondents may be biased or may tend to remember
and report incidents that are consistent

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 The “High-High” Leader
 The Managerial Grid & PM Leadership Theory
 Additive versus Multiplicative Model
 Limited Support for a Universal Model
 Need to incorporate situational variables

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 Blake and Mouton Managerial Grid
9 (1,9) (9,9)
8 Country Club Team Management
7
Concern for People

6 Middle-of-the-Road

5 (5,5)

3
2 Impoverished Authority-Compliance
1 (1,1) (9,1)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Concern for Production

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 Leadership Behavior Taxonomies
 The past half-century of research has produced a bewildering
variety of behavior concepts pertaining to managers and leaders
(see Bass, 1990; Fleishman et al., 1991).

 Sometimes different terms have been used to refer to the same

type of behavior. At other times, the same term has been
defined differently by various theorists.

 What is treated as a general behavior category by one theorist is

viewed as two or three distinct categories by another theorist.

 What is a key concept in one taxonomy is absent from another.

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 Leadership Behavior Taxonomies
(Cont.)
 Sources of Diversity Among Taxonomies
 No absolute set of correct behaviors
 Various methods used to develop taxonomies

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 Comparison of Recent Taxonomies
Approximate Correspondence Among Leadership Behaviors in Four Taxonomies

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 Leadership Behavior Taxonomies
 Three-Dimensional
Taxonomy
 Task-Oriented Behaviors
 Relations-Oriented
Behaviors
 Change-Oriented
Behaviors

Figure: Two Alternative Conceptions of

Task-, Relations-, and Change-Orientated
Behavior

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 Task-Oriented Behaviors
 Organize work activities to improve efficiency
 Plan short-term operation
 Assign work to groups or individuals
 Clarify what results are expected for a task
 Set specific goals and standards for task
performance

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Leadership in Organizations 4-21

 Task-Oriented Behaviors (Cont.)

 Explain rules, policies, and standard operating

procedures
 Direct and coordinate work activities
 Monitor operations and performance
 Resolve immediate problems that would disrupt
the work

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Leadership in Organizations 4-22

 Relations-Oriented Behaviors
 Provide support and encouragement to someone
with a difficult task
 Express confidence that a person or group can
perform a difficult task
 Socialize with people to build relationships
 Recognize contributions and accomplishments
 Provide coaching and mentoring when appropriate

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Leadership in Organizations 4-23

 Relations-Oriented Behaviors (Cont.)
 Consult with people on decisions affecting them
 Allow people to determine the best way to do a
task
 Keep people informed about actions affecting
them
 Help resolve conflicts in a constructive way
 Use symbols, ceremonies, rituals, and stories to
build team identity
 Recruit competent new members for the team or
organization
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Leadership in Organizations 4-24
 Change-Oriented Behaviors
 Monitor the external environment to detect threats and
opportunities
 Interpret events to explain the urgent need for change
 Study competitors and outsiders to get ideas for
improvements
 Envision exciting new possibilities for the organization
 Encourage people to view problems or opportunities in a
different way
 Develop innovative new strategies linked to core
competencies

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 Change-Oriented Behaviors (Cont.)
 Encourage and facilitate innovation and entrepreneurship
in the organization
 Encourage and facilitate collective learning in the team or
organization
 Experiment with new approaches for achieving objectives
 Make symbolic changes that are consistent with a new
vision or strategy
 Encourage and facilitate efforts to implement major change
 Announce and celebrate progress in implementing change
 Influence outsiders to support change and negotiate
agreements with them

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Leadership in Organizations 4-26

 Specific Task Behaviors

 Planning Work Activities

Short-term planning of work activities means deciding what to
do, how to do it, who will do it, and when it will be done

 operational planning
 Action planning
 Contingency planning
 time management

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Leadership in Organizations 4-27

 Specific Task Behaviors (cont.)
 Clarifying Roles and Objectives

 Defining Job Responsibilities

 Explain the important job responsibilities
 Clarify the person’s scope of authority
 Explain how the job relates to the mission of the unit
 Explain important policies, rules, and requirements
 Assigning Work
 Clearly explain the assignment
 Explain the reasons for an assignment
 Clarify priorities and deadlines
 Check for comprehension
 Setting Performance Goals
 Set goals for relevant aspects of performance
 Set goals that are clear and specific
 Set goals that are challenging but realistic
 Set a target date for attainment of each goal

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Leadership in Organizations 4-28

 Specific Task Behaviors
 Monitoring Operations and Performance
 Identify and measure key performance indicators.
 Monitor key process variables as well as outcomes.
 Measure progress against plans and budgets.
 Develop independent sources of information about
performance.
 Observe operations directly when it is feasible.
 Ask specific questions about the work.
 Encourage reporting of problems and mistakes.
 Conduct periodic progress review meetings.

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 Specific Relations Behaviors

Guidelines for Supporting

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 Specific Relations Behaviors

Guidelines for Coaching

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 Specific Relations Behaviors

Guidelines for Mentoring

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 Specific Relations Behaviors

Guidelines for Recognizing

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reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any
form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of
the publisher. Printed in the United States of America.
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc.

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