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QUESTIONS:
1. What are some similarities and differences in the way leadership has been
defined?
2. Does it really matter how you define leadership? Explain and defend the
position you take on this question.
3. What are the arguments for and against making a distinction between leaders
and managers?
4. Why is it so difficult to measure leadership effectiveness?
5. What criteria have been used to evaluate leadership effectiveness? Are some
criteria more useful than others?
6. What are the trait, behavior and power-influence approaches? What unique
insights does each approach provide about effective leadership?
7. Why does it matter whether leadership is described as an intra-individual,
dyadic, group or organizational process? Which level of analysis is emphasized in
most leadership theories and research?
8. Compare decriptive and prescriptive theories of leadership. Explain why both
types of theory are useful.
9. Compare universal and contigency theories. Is it possible to have a theory with
both universal and contigent aspects?
ANSWERS:
6. Trait approach - One of the earliest approaches for studying leadership was the
trait approach. This approach emphasizes attributes of leaders such as
personality, motives, values, and skills.
Behavior approach - The behavior approach falls into two general
subcategories. One line of research or approach examines how managers spend
their time and the typical pattern of activities, responsibilities, and functions for
managerial jobs. Another subcategory of the behavior approach focuses on
identifying effective leadership behavior.
Power-influence approach – examines influence processes between leaders and
other people. This research or approach seeks to explain leadership effectiveness
in terms of the amount and type of power possesed by leader and how power is
exercised. Power is viewed as important not only for influencing subordinates but
also for influencing peers, superiors, and people outside the organization such as
clients and suppliers.
9. Universal theory describes some aspect of leadership that applies to all types
of situation. Universal theory can be either descriptive or prescriptive. A
descriptive universal theory may descrihe typical functions performed to some
extent by all types of leaders, whereas a prescriptive universal theory may specify
functions all leaders must perform to be effective. A contigency theory decribes
some aspects of leadership that applies to some situations but not to others. It is
also can be decriptive or precriptive. Descriptive contingency theory may explain
how leader behavior typically varies from one situation from another, whereas
prescriptive contingency theory may specify the most effective behavior in each
type of situation. The distinction between universal and contingency theories is a
matter of degree, not a sharp dichotomy.
CHAPTER 2 – Managerial traits and skills
QUESTIONS:
ANSWERS:
4. According to the McClelland research on managerial motivation the results for
motives relevant for advancement in large organizations are less clear, perhaps
because the relationship depends more on the type of organization and
managerial position. According to the Miner's research on managerial motivation
In large bureaucratic organizations, significant correlations were found between a
manager's overall score on managerial motivation and advancement to higher
levels of management. The particular motivation subscales that correlated most
consistently with advancement included desire to exercise power (similar to need
for power), desire to compete with peers (similar need for achievement) and
positive attitude toward authority figures.
5.There are two main reasons. First: Managers who derailed were likely
dismissed, transferred, retired early, or plateaued. Another one reason is lack or
appearance of the following traits and skills. Those are:
- Emotional stability - Managers who derailed were less able to handle pressure.
They were more prone to moodiness, angry outbursts, and inconsistent behavior,
which undermined their interpersonal relationships with subordinates, peers, and
superiors.
-Defensiveness – The managers who derailed were more likely to be defensive
about failure. They reacted by attemting to cover up mistakes or blame other
people.
-Integrity - Many of the derailed managers were too ambitious about advancing
their career at the expense of others. These managers were more likely to betray
a trust or break a promise.
-Interpersonal skills – Managers who were derailed were usually weaker in
interpersonal skills. The most common reason for derailment was insensitivity,
which was reflected in abrasiv or intimidating behavior toward others.
-Technical and cognitive skills - For most of the managers who derailed, their
technical brilliance was a source of successful problem solving and technical
achievement at lower levels of management, where their expertise was usually
greater than that of subordinates. However, at higher levels this strength could
become a weakness if it led to overconfidence and arrogance, causing the person
to reject sound advice, to offend others by acting superior, and to micromanage
subordinates who had more expertise.
7.
8. Top level managers are occupied by many activities and events during the
working process. . In this managerial level conceptual skills are necessarily
important because it helps the manager to for example make a decision to find
the order in complex or uncertain action. Otherwise, the interpersonal skills are
another factor that are necessary for manager to develop relationships, obtain
information, influence his subordinate to implement his decisions and so on.
The role of another two mangerial category is primarily related for implementing
the goals and policies or maintaing work properly. Both, middle and low
managers needs diverse doses of conceptual and interpersonal skills, but more
importantly the technical skills is the essential factor at the this level of
managerial leadership skills.
QUESTIONS:
5. How are managerial activities and behavior affected by level of management,
unit, size and lateral independance?
10. There are couple of guidelines how managers can improve their time
management:
ANSWERS:
8. Planing - Planning of work activities means deciding what to do, how to do it,
who will do it, and when it will be done. The purpose of planning is to ensure
efficient organization of the work unit, coordination of activities, and effective
utilization of resources. Planning is a broadly defined behavior that includes
making decisions about objectives, priorities, strategies, organization of the work
etc.
Clarifying - Clarifying is the communication of plans, policies, and role
expectations. The purpose of this clarifying behavior is to guide and coordinate
work activity and make sure people know what to do and how to do it. It is
essential for each subordinate to understand what duties, functions, and activities
are required in the job and what results are expected.
1. What are the potential benefits and risks of using participative leadership?
2. What have we learned from the research on participative leadership?
3. What determines the success of a participative decision?
4. Briefly explain the Vroom-Yetton normative model of leadership and the
Vroom-Jago extension of the model.
5. How useful are these prescriptive models if a leader does not know the
answers to some of the situational questions?
6. What are some guidelines on how to encourage participation?
7. What are the potential benefits and risks of delegation?
8. Under what conditions is delegation most likely to be successful?
9. What are some guidelines on what to delegate?
10. Why do some managers find it so difficult to delegate or share power?
11. What are essential elements of psychological empowerment?
12. What are some facilitating conditions for employee empowerment?
13. What types of leadership behavior contribute to high empowerment?
ANSWERS:
-Decision quality
-Decision acceptance
-Satisfaction with the decision process
-Development of participant skills
2.
3. -Decision Procedure
-Situational Variables
-Decision Acceptance – Degree of commitment to implement a decision
effectively
-Decision Quality – Objective aspects of the decision that affect group
performance aside from any effects mediated by decision acceptance
-Decision Rules
4. Vroom-Yetton - Vroom and Yetton (1973) is actually built upon the initial or
earlier approaches but went further in specifying which decision procedures will
be the most effective in each of several specific situations.
Vroom-Jago model - This model was designed to correct some of the weaknesses
in the earlier version (Vroom-Yetton).
-Incorporates additional aspects of the situation
-Incorporates additional outcome criteria
-Managers given more choices in setting priorities for the criteria in the model
-Allows managers to differentiate among five choices in describing the situation
5. 1. Difference between leaders and managers 2.emotional and social intelligence 3.benefits and risks of
participative leadership 4.guidelines on what to delegate 5.what types of power mostly related to leadership
effectiveness.