Organizational Behavior (Stephen Robbins)

This chapter’s Point/Counterpointon page 285 raises further issues on the extent to
which leadership is affected by national culture issues. Case Incident—Moving From
Colleague to Supervisoron page 288 helps you think about the difficulties one has when
moving from being a co-worker to taking on leadership responsibilities.

Behavioural Theories: Do Leaders Behave in

Particular Ways?

Limited success in the study of traits led researchers to look at the behaviours that spe-
cific leaders exhibit. They wondered if there was something unique in the way that effec-
tive leaders behave. They also wondered if it was possible to trainpeople to be leaders.
The three most best-known behavioural theories of leadershipare the Ohio State
University studies that were conducted starting in the late 1940s, the University of
Michigan studies conducted at about the same time, and Blake and Mouton’s Leadership
Grid, which reflects the behavioural definitions of both the Ohio and Michigan studies.
All three approaches consider two main dimensions by which managers can be char-
acterized: attention to production and attention to people.

The Ohio State Studies
In the Ohio State studies, these two dimensions are known as initiating structureand con-
sideration.^11 Initiating structurerefers to the extent to which a leader is likely to define
and structure his or her role and the roles of employees in order to attain goals; it includes
behaviour that tries to organize work, work relationships, and goals. For instance, lead-
ers using this style may develop specific output goals or deadlines for employees.
Considerationis defined as the extent to which a leader is likely to have job rela-
tionships characterized by mutual trust, respect for employees’ ideas, and regard for
their feelings. A leader who is high in consideration shows concern for followers’ com-
fort, well-being, status, and satisfaction. For instance, leaders using this style may create
more flexible hours, or flextime, to make it easier for employees to manage family issues
during work hours.

The Michigan Studies
Researchers at the University of Michigan, whose work is referred to as “the Michigan
studies,” also developed two dimensions of leadership behaviour that they labelled
employee-orientedand production-oriented.^12 Employee-oriented leadersemphasize
interpersonal relations. They take a personal interest in the needs of their subordinates
and accept individual differences among members. Production-oriented leaders, in
contrast, tend to emphasize the technical or task aspects of the job. They are mainly
concerned with making sure the group accomplishes its tasks, and the group members
are simply a means to that end.

The Leadership Grid
Blake and Mouton developed a graphic portrayal of a two-dimensional view of leader-
ship style.^13 They proposed a Leadership Gridbased on the styles of “concern for peo-
ple” and “concern for production,” which essentially represent the Ohio State dimensions
of consideration and initiating structure, or the Michigan dimensions of employee ori-
entation and production orientation.
The grid, shown in Exhibit 8-4 on page 262, has 9 possible positions along each axis,
creating 81 different positions in which the leader’s style may fall, but emphasis has been
placed on 5: impoverished management (1,1); authority-obedience management (9,1);
middle-of-the-road management (5,5); country club management (1,9); and team
management (9,9). The grid shows the dominating factors in a leader’s thinking with
respect to how to get results from people, without focusing on what the specific results are.

Chapter 8Leadership 261

behavioural theories of leader-

ship Theories that propose that

specific behaviours differentiate

leaders from nonleaders.

initiating structure The extent to

which a leader is likely to define and

structure his or her role and the roles

of employees in order to attain goals.

consideration The extent to

which a leader is likely to have job

relationships characterized by

mutual trust, respect for employees’

ideas, and regard for their feelings.

employee-oriented leader A

leader who emphasizes interper-

sonal relations.

production-oriented leader A

leader who emphasizes the technical

or task aspects of the job.

Leadership Grid A two-dimen-

sional grid outlining 81 different

leadership styles.