The Fiedler Contingency Model

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The Fiedler Contingency Model

• A Contingency Theory of Leadership Effectiveness

Katherine Walker ? 5 February 2007 ? SLAIS
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Contingency Theory

• Dominant Approach in the 1960s 1970s
• It Depends
• The fit between the structure and the
  contingency factor affects organizational
  performance (Donaldson 12)

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Contingency Theory Leadership

• Leader-Match
• Purposed to match leaders to appropriate
  situations (Northouse 75)
• Not every leader will be effective in every
  situation

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Fred Edward Fiedler

• Concerned with leader effectiveness
• Conducted 25 major studies
• Fiedler Contingency Model
• Used to predict leader effectiveness and to
  assign leaders to specific task situations
  (Miller 362)

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Fiedlers Contingency Model

• Concerned with Styles and Situations
• Assess Leadership Style
• Assess the Situation
• This provides the framework for effectively
  matching the leader and the situation (Northouse
  76)

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Leadership Style

• Task-motivated leaders
• primarily concerned with reaching a goal
  (Northouse 76)
• Relationship-motivated leaders
• primarily concerned with developing close
  interpersonal relations (Northouse 76)

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Leadership Style LPC Scale
LPC Measurement Describe the person with whom
you had the most difficulty in getting a job
done (Northouse 86).

• Scoring
• Pleasant 8 7 6 5 4 3 2
  1 Unpleasant _______
• Friendly 8 7 6 5 4 3 2
  1 Unfriendly _______
• Rejecting 8 7 6 5 4 3 2
  1 Accepting _______
• Distant 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Relaxed
  _______
• Cold 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Warm
  _______
• Supportive 8 7 6 5 4 3 2
  1 Hostile _______
• Boring 8 7 6 5 4 3 2
  1 Interesting _______
• Quarrelsome 8 7 6 5 4 3 2
  1 Harmonious _______
• Gloomy 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Cheerful
  _______
• Open 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Closed
  _______
• Backbiting 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Loyal
  _______
• Untrustworthy 8 7 6 5 4 3 2
  1 Trustworthy _______
• Considerate 8 7 6 5 4 3 2
  1 Inconsiderate _______
• Nasty 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Nice
  _______
• Agreeable 8 7 6 5 4 3 2
  1 Disagreeable _______
• Insincere 8 7 6 5 4 3 2
  1 Sincere _______

• Low LPC
• 57 or below
• You are task motivated
• High LPC
• 64 or above
• You are relationship motivated
• Middle LPC
• Between 58 to 63

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Situation

• Leader-member relations
• Good or Bad?
• Task Structure
• High Structure or Low Structure?
• Position Power
• Strong or Weak?

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Fiedlers Contingency Model
(Northouse 77 Adapted from F.E. Fiedler, A Theory
of Effectiveness, 1967)
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Strengths

• Empirical Evidence
• Reliability
• Predictive
• Does not require that all people be effective in
  all situations (Northouse 79)

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Weaknesses

• Black-box Problem (Fiedler qtd. Northouse 80)
• LPC Scale
• Does not seem valid on the surface (Northouse
  80) Projection
• Confusing to complete
• Real-world Practicalities
• Cumbersome
• Flexibility Adaptation
• Black White

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In the Library...

• In Theory
• Personality Test
• Assign People to Projects
• In Reality
• Predictive
• Flexibility and Adaptation

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Notes

• Donaldson, Lex. American Anti-management Theories
  of Organization A Critique of Paradigm
  Proliferation. Cambridge Cambridge University
  Press, 1995.
• Donaldson, Lex. The Contingency Theory of
  Organizations. Thousand Oaks, Calfornia Sage
  Publications, 2001.
• Fiedler, Fred E. A Contingency Model of
  Leadership Effectiveness. Group Processes. Ed.
  Leonard Berkowitz. New York Academic Press,
  1978. 167-208.
• Miller, Richard, Jeanne Butler, and Charles L.
  Costentino. Fellowership Effectiveness An
  Extension of Fiedlers Contingency Model.
  Leadership Organization Development Journal.
  25.3-4 (2004) 362.
• Northouse, Peter. Leadership Theory and
  Practice. 2nd ed. Thousand Oaks, California Sage
  Publications, 2001.
• Rainey, Hal. Understanding and Managing Public
  Organizations. 3rd ed. San Francisco
  Jossey-Bass, 2003.