LEADERSHIP THEORY AND PRACTICE  SIXTH EDITION                 2
                            Overview
    
      Contingency Theory Approach Perspective 
    
      Leadership Styles
    
      Situational Variables
     Research Findings of Leader Style Effectiveness
    
      How Does the Contingency Theory Approach Work?
  LEADERSHIP THEORY AND PRACTICE  SIXTH EDITION                        3
   Contingency Theory Approach Description
         Perspective
        Contingency theory is a leader-match theory     
         (Fiedler & Chemers, 1974)
          Tries to match leaders to appropriate situations
        Leader’s effectiveness depends on how well the 
         leader’s style fits the context
        Fiedler’s generalizations about which styles of 
         leadership are best and worst  are based on 
         empirically grounded generalizations
                 Northouse - Leadership Theory and Practice, Sixth Edition © 2012 SAGE Publications, Inc.
  LEADERSHIP THEORY AND PRACTICE  SIXTH EDITION                     4
   Contingency Theory Approach Description
       Definition
      Effective leadership is contingent on matching a 
      leader’s style to the right setting
      Assessment Based On:
           Leadership Styles
           Situational Variables
                Northouse - Leadership Theory and Practice, Sixth Edition © 2012 SAGE Publications, Inc.
  LEADERSHIP THEORY AND PRACTICE  SIXTH EDITION                          5
     Leadership Styles
      Leadership styles are described as:
       Task-motivated (Low LPCs) 
          Leaders are concerned primarily with reaching a 
            goal
       Relationship-motivated (High LPCs)
           Leaders are concerned with developing close 
            interpersonal relationships
           Leader Style Measurement Scale (Fiedler)
             Least Preferred Co-Worker (LPC) Scale
             Least Preferred Co-Worker (LPC) Scale
                 High LPCs  =  Relationship-motivated 
                 High LPCs  =  Relationship-motivated 
                     Low LPCs   =  Task-motivated 
                     Low LPCs   =  Task-motivated 
                  Northouse - Leadership Theory and Practice, Sixth Edition © 2012 SAGE Publications, Inc.
  LEADERSHIP THEORY AND PRACTICE  SIXTH EDITION                     6
      Leader-Member Relations 
       Refers to the group atmosphere and the degree 
       of confidence, loyalty, and attraction of 
       followers for leader
         Group atmosphere – 
            • Good – high degree of subordinate trust, 
             liking, positive relationship
            • Poor – little or no subordinate trust, 
             friction exists, unfriendly
                Northouse - Leadership Theory and Practice, Sixth Edition © 2012 SAGE Publications, Inc.