Leadership and Culture

1
Leadership and Culture

• MGT 262
• March 19, 2007
• Professor Stéphane Côté

2
Agenda

• Review of session on negotiations
• The power of leadership The Milgram experiments
• Leadership effectiveness
• Organizational culture

3
Announcements

• Paper and presentation deadline is Monday April
  2.
• Turn in papers at the beginning of class before
  the presentations
• Please no binders or elaborate packaging
• Remember to turn in consent forms too

4
Agenda

• Review of session on negotiations
• The power of leadership The Milgram experiments
• Leadership effectiveness
• Organizational culture

5
The Power of LeadershipThe Milgram Experiments
Psychologist Stanley Milgram
6
The Milgram Experiments

• Procedures
• Study on memory and learning
• Other participant is a 47-year old man
• Random drawing gives you the role of teacher,
  and the man is the learner

Source Milgram, S. (1974). Obedience to
authority An experimental view. New York Harper
Row.
7
The Milgram Experiments
The teacher helps the student learn word
pairs such as blue ? box and nice ? day The
teacher is required to administer a shock to
the student when he makes mistakes because the
study explores the effects of punishments on
learning. Participants were free to leave
anytime.
8
The Milgram Experiments
Shock generator 15 ? 450 volts. Labels range
from Slight Shock to Danger Severe Shock to
XXX.
9
The Milgram Experiments
10
The Milgram Experiments

• Learners Schedule of Protests 1
• 120 ugh! Hey, this really hurts.
• 150 ugh!!! Experimenter! Thats all. Get me out
  of here. I told you I had heart trouble. My
  hearts starting to bother me now. Get me out of
  here, please
• 210 Ugh!! Experimenter! Get me out of here.
  Ive had enough. I wont be in the experiment any
  more.
• 270 (agonized scream) Let me out of here (x6)
• 285 (agonized scream)

11
The Milgram Experiments

• Learners Schedule of Protests 2
• 300 (agonized scream) I absolutely refuse to
  answer any more. Get me out of here. You cant
  hold me here
• 315 (intensely agonized scream) I told you I
  refuse to answer. Im no longer part of this
  experiment.
• 330 (intense and prolonged agonized scream) Let
  me out of here (x2). My hearts bothering me .
  (hysterically) Let me out of here (x2). You have
  no right to hold me here. Let me out! (x6).
• After 330 silence, refuses to answer word-pair
  questions

12
The Milgram Experiments

• Experimenters Schedule of Comments
• Please continue or Please go on
• The experiment requires that you continue
• It is absolutely essential that you continue
• You have no other choice, you must go on

13
The Milgram Experiments
Let me out of here!
The experiment requires that you continue
I absolutely refuse to answer any more !
14
The Milgram Experiments

• Predictions
• Experts thought only 1-3 would keep going to the
  end (only psychopaths will)
• Also thought that they themselves would never obey

15
The Milgram Experiments
16
The Milgram Experiments

• Results
• About 62.5 obeyed to the end (450 volt-shock)
• Males and females obeyed
• Similar results across cultures
• 100 obeyed up to 100 volt-shock

17
The Milgram Experiments

• I observed a mature and initially poised
  businessman enter the laboratory smiling and
  confident. Within 20 minutes he was reduced to a
  twitching, stuttering wreck, who was rapidly
  approaching a point of nervous collapse. And
  yet he continued to respond to every word of the
  experimenter, and obeyed until the end.
• -- Stanley Milgram, 1963

18
The Milgram Experiments

• With numbing regularity good people were seen
  to knuckle under the demands of authority and
  perform actions that were callous and severe. Men
  who are in everyday life responsible and decent
  were seduced by the uncritical acceptance of
  the experimenter's definition of the situation,
  into performing harsh acts. A substantial
  proportion of people do what they are told to do,
  irrespective of the content of the act and
  without limitations of conscience, so long as
  they perceive that the command comes from a
  legitimate authority.
• -- Stanley Milgram, 1965

19
The Milgram Experiments

• 62.5 reached 450 volts in the initial study
• 20 reached 450 volts when the experimenter was
  replaced by another teacher
• 10 reached 450 volts when two other teachers
  refused to continue
• 2 reached 450 volts when they could choose the
  level of shock

20
Agenda

• Review of session on negotiations
• The power of leadership The Milgram experiments
• Leadership effectiveness
• Organizational culture

21
Leadership Effectiveness
Does your personality make you a leader?
Source Judge, T. A., et al. (2001). Personality
and leadership A qualitative and quantitative
review. Journal of Applied Psychology, 87,
765-780.
22
Leadership Effectiveness

• Limitations and concerns with the great person
  theory
• It provides an incomplete explanation of why
  leaders are effective.
• It ignores the important fact that different
  styles of leadership are needed in different
  situations.
• It creates an expectation that one cannot learn
  to lead. Some people might believe that they
  cannot develop their leadership skills even
  though it that is false.

23
Leadership Effectiveness

• The Managerial Grid A focus on behaviors

For example, I treat all group members as my
equals..
For example, I schedule the work to be done.
24
Leadership Effectiveness

• Transformational Leadership providing
  subordinates with an exciting vision
• Enthusing/Inspiring
• Stimulating
• Coaching/Supporting
• Transactional Leadership maintaining an exchange
  with subordinates
• Directing/Rewarding
• Managing by Exception

25
Leadership Effectiveness

• Transformational leaders
• Are seen as more satisfying to work for
• Are promoted more frequently
• Develop followers to higher levels of individual
  and group performance
• Produce more innovative products
• Reduce burnout and stress on the job
• Receive higher levels of volunteer effort from
  followers

26
Leadership Effectiveness

• The effect of leadership on behavior in public
  good dilemmas (De Cremer and Van Knippenberg,
  2002).
• A study of people working on an investment task.
• People could earn money for themselves and for
  their group.
• Each participant received 300 cents and chose how
  much to contribute
• The total amount contributed by the group was
  multiplied by two and then divided amongst all
  group members, regardless of their contribution.

27
Leadership Effectiveness

• Transformational leader
• If the group performs well I dont think it is
  necessary that the leader is allowed to take more
  from the obtained outcomes I think that we
  should have no problems in performing well as a
  group!

Non-transformational leader If the group
performs well I find it necessary that the leader
is allowed to take more from the obtained
outcomes since this is a complex group
situation, Im not convinced that we will perform
well as a group.
Result Participants gave 90.92 cents, on average
(a 30 decrease)
Result Participants gave 130.23 cents, on average
28
Leadership Effectiveness

• Examples of transformational leaders

Herb Kelleher (Southwest Airlines)
Martin Luther King
29
Agenda

• Review of session on negotiations
• The power of leadership The Milgram experiments
• Leadership effectiveness
• Organizational culture

30
Organizational CultureCase Study (Southwest)

• Organizational Culturerefers to the shared
  beliefs, values, and assumptions that exist in an
  organization.
• Case Study Analysis

31
Organizational CultureCase Study (Southwest)

• 1. Describe the contributors to Southwest
  Airliness organizational culture. Hint Focus on
  the following
• The founders role.
• Socialization
• 2. Diagnose Southwest Airliness organizational
  culture. Hint Focus on the following
• Symbols
• Rituals
• Stories

32
Organizational CultureCase Study (Southwest)

• Do you think Southwest Airlines is a strong or
  weak culture? Why?
• Do you think other companies can easily adopt the
  organizational culture of Southwest Airlines?

33
Contributors to Culture

• The founders role
• Strong cultures often reflect the value of their
  leaders.
• Socialization
• Selecting an employee.
• Debasement and hazing.
• Training in the trenches.
• Reward and promotion.

34
Diagnosing a Culture

• Symbols
• Rituals
• Stories

35
Have a good week!