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  • Contingency Theories of Leadership 2

    In the last byte, we began our discussion on Fiedler’s Contingency Theory. In today’s byte, we explore it a bit deeper in this attempt.

    Fiedler classifies leaders using the Least Preferred Coworker (LPC) Scale. This scale asks the leader to describe the least preferred coworker using a sixteen eight point scale bipolar adjective sets. The leader would mark the bank that is most descriptive of the least preferred coworker.

    The leaders are then classified – one who describes their least preferred coworker in positive terms (ex: pleasant, efficient, cheerful etc) is classified as high LPC, or relationship oriented; and those who describe their least preferred coworker in negative terms (ex: unpleasant, inefficient, gloomy etc) are said to be having a low LPC, or task-oriented, leaders.

    Note that, this technique is a projective technique which asks a leader to think about the person whom he or she can work least well (the least preferred coworker or LPC). This itself makes the score controversial element of the theory as the projective technique would have an extremely low measurement reliability

  • Contingency Theories of Leadership

    In the last byte, we looked at a comparison between the leadership grid and the Ohio State Research. In today’s byte, we begin our discussion on the Contingency Theories of Leadership.

    The roots of Contingency Theory of Leadership arises from the belief that leadership style must be appropriate to a particular situation. The way one could interpret these theories is – “IF the situation is ____, then the appropriate leadership behavior is _____ “. We shall begin our discussion on these theories with an introduction to Fiedler’s Contingency Theory in this byte and continue this further.

    Fiedler’s Contingency Theory assumes that leaders are either task-oriented or relationship oriented, depending on how the leaders obtain their major gratification. The theory thus, proposes the fit between the leader’s need structure and the favorableness of the leader’s situation determine the team’s effectiveness in work accomplishment.

    Task-oriented leaders are primarily gratified by accomplishing tasks and getting work done, while relationship-oriented leaders are primarily gratified by developing good, comfortable interpersonal relationships. Thus, the effectiveness of the type of leaders depends on the favorableness of the situation.
    The favorableness of the situation has three components:
    • Leader’s position power.
    • Structure of the team’s task
    • Quality of the leader-follower relationship.

  • Leadership Grid 3

    In the last byte, we looked at the leadership grid and understood what each of the points on the grid meant. In today’s byte, we look at how the classification according to this leadership grid varies from the classifications of the earlier studies.

    The leadership varies from the original Ohio State research in two ways –
    1. It has attitudinal overtones that are not present in the original research. (While LBDQ aims to describe behavior, the grid addresses both behavior and attitude of the leader!)
    2. The Ohio state approach is fundamentally descriptive and non-evaluative, whereas the grid is normative and prescriptive.
    The grid assumes that the Team manager (9,9) is the best style of managerial behavior, and, based on identifying the current location on the grid and then potentially train oneself to become the coveted – team manager. Thus, the grid is also prescriptive in nature.

  • Leadership Grid 2

    In the last byte, we looked at the leadership grid. Today’s session we describe the various points on the grid.

    • (5,5) – Organization Man Manager:    A middle of the road manager
    • (9,1) – Authority compliance Manager:     A leader who emphasizes production
    • (1,9) – Country Club Manager:        A leader who creates a happy, comfortable work environment
    • (9,9) – Team Manager:            A leader who builds a highly productive team of committed people
    • (1,1) – Impoverished Manager:         A leader who exerts just enough efforts to get by

    Two new leadership styles have been added to these five:
    • (9+9) – Paternalistic Manager:        A leader who promises reward and threatens punishment
    • (Opp) – Opportunistic Manager:        A leader whose style aims to maximize self-benefit

  • Leadership Grid

    In the last byte, we looked at Michigan Studies. In today’s byte, we extend the discussion on classification and look at the following leadership grid.

    Robert Blake and Jane Mouton’s developed the managerial grid which later was known as Leadership grid, focuses on attitudes of leaders. The two underlying dimensions of the grid are – concern for results, concern for people. 

    The grid could be shown as follows.
     
    We shall describe the various points shown in the next byte.

  • Leadership: Michigan Studies

    In the last byte, we looked at the Ohio State studies and classified leadership styles. In today’s byte, we look at another attempt to classify the leadership behavior – the Michigan Studies
    Given the implications that leadership has on the emotional atmosphere, the Michigan studies identified two styles of leadership – employee oriented and production oriented.
    A production-oriented style leads to a work environment characterized by constant influence attempts on the part of the leader, either through direct, close supervision or through the use of many written unwritten rules and regulations for behavior. The emphasis is on getting the work done.
    An employee oriented leadership style leads to a work environment that focused on relationships. The leader in these situations would avoid a lot of direct or close supervision and establishes fewer written or unwritten rules and regulations for behavior. These leaders have a higher concern for people and their needs.
    Looking back at all the three classifications, one could observe that there has been two broad dimensions emphasized – one focusing and tasks and the other on people!

  • Leadership: Ohio State Studies

    In the last byte, we looked at a influence tactics used by people. In today’s byte, we discuss about Ohio State Studies, which attempted to measure specific leadership behaviors.
    The Ohio State Studies developed a questionnaire – Leader Behavior Description Questionnaire (LBDQ) which labeled two important dimensions – Initiating Structure and Consideration.
    Initiation structure is a leadership behavior aimed at defining and organizing work relationships and roles as well as establishing clear patterns of organization, communication, and ways of getting things done.
    Consideration refers to the leader behavior aimed at nurturing friendly, warm working relationship as well as encouraging mutual truest and interpersonal respect within the work unit.
    These two behaviors are independent of each other and a leader could lie on any of the four quadrants that could be created on these dimensions. Note, this study is really an attempt to describe leadership behavior and doesn’t evaluate or judge the behavior.

  • Customer: Choosing a right customer when possible…

    If there is a first point in the journey of any startup which I believe is worth celebrating, it is – when a customer sale has happens.

    If one is to make an analogy of startups to plants and their growth – this is comparable to the appearance of the first roots from the seed and penetrating the soil – there by enabling the plant to potentially grow utilizing the nutrients from the environment. Everything else, like raising an investment or finding a supportive supplier etc only enhance the likelihood of the possibility of growth – akin to application of fertilizers or support fences etc. The first positive sign a start up venture surviving the harsh environment and growing into a viable initiative is when the first customer sale happens.
     
    The start-up environment is extremely dynamic, and with many different growth avenues available, it is possible that start-ups could easily be confused about the way ahead. The newness of the start-ups enable them be easily mold them for good into a position they might not like to be in. While one could rationalize these as being defined by the market, I also believe there is a sequence which the entrepreneur could try before accepting being molded by market consequences than by organizational choice. I would love to believe that start-ups though liable to these are not as helpless in this pursuit, and there could be a better logic that product start-ups could benefit from.
     
    [A word of caution before I move further: what I say here might be most relevant to the high – technology focused product start up than others. But, I am confident that, over period as startups mature, they would like to get in to a position of advantage, and these suggestions would still hold at that point.]

    Quick and relevant learning is what I would call the Swiss knife that entrepreneurs should possess when they intend to build their venture. The skillful application of the Swiss knife and its various knives plays an important role in the start up’s survival. Given the relevance of learning, it is most apt to focus the start up’s customer acquisition and growth plans with a very strong base of learning embedded in it. This is also the underlying theme that I suggest in this blog, and also forms the source of some of the suggestions I make here. I also assume that most of the companies here are relatively growth oriented and building global products.
     
    Suggestion 1: Customers from a Developed/Advanced Nations
    High-tech product companies from developing countries who are interested in creating global products are better off focusing their efforts on acquiring customers from developed nations like the United States or the European Countries. This approach gets multiple benefits; some of them are listed below:
     
    a. Most developing countries have an ecosystem that is not completely ready for the products that these high tech start ups are offering. In such scenario, the growth oriented entrepreneur who often attempts to create something innovative, could be satisfied by making a product that satisfies the local need. (It is almost like believing that local maxima could possibly be the global maxima!)
     
    Move beyond the boundaries of the developing market and focus on competing in an international market. (Yes! I hear many start ups cry that they are constrained by the funding issues. But that need not be a limitation – you got to take the risk if you intend to really stay ahead of what is going to come). This could mean finding partner for the company in these advanced nations who could potentially make the product that is user ready!
    b. You could lead the change in the local market once you have a good base established – thanks to the difference in the exchange rates between the developed and developing nations. This could give you a head start and resources that help obtain a leadership position in the local market.
     
    One could often be blinded that, what worked in the developed countries could be easily applicable for the home market of the entrepreneur in a developing nation. Often, this assumption is way off mark – and being open to customization for the local market at that stage would be essential.
    Suggestion 2: Customers as co-producers

    Product development in most startups follows the vision of the entrepreneur, and if this doesn’t get aligned with to the realities of the commercial world – the focus could easily shift from having a useful product to just developing a product none could use for years.

    Involving the customer early is definitely a key to being able to break this potential trap and anchor the product development with the active involvement by the customer – almost like a co-producer! (At least some end user inputs would be available and thus provide some of the feedback necessary to develop the product further).
     
    The caveat in here is to realize when you are being completely held hostage to a single client. The startup would do well to being engaging with more clients of similar appetite and need once the product has reached a presentable stage.
     
    Suggestion 3: Create a good lead pipeline
    Quantify your customer goals in numeric terms. Goal setting plays a major part in actively pushing the teams towards listening and inculcating the actionable feedback into the development of the enterprise. 

    Creating a good pipeline that helps you reach the target set for the firm is a crucial for the survival of the firm. The dispersion in the kind of customers too plays an important role – else the experimentation that forms and important role in the early stages to find the apt customer segment and the value offering to the segment could be way off target and potentially lead to the demise of the firm. 

    The mix of leads in the pipeline in some ways should also be reflective of the product – features that you intend to test and validate. Focusing on the most active customer segment, and building a predictable cycle for the segment with good processes and delivery timeliness is the second major milestone after the first mentioned earlier in the blog.
    Last but not the least – always be open to change. At the beginning of this blog, we began by saying entrepreneurs need not be reactive always, they could possibly seek a clear advantage if they are proactive in their pursuit of opportunities – It is always possible that in spite of the efforts one would need to change the plans and get back to what could help survive. 

    Remember: The warrior who survives the day’s war – lives to fight another day!

  • Political Behavior in Organizations 4

    In the last byte, we began looking at the various influence tactics used by people. We continue this discussion in today’s byte.

    The following table adopted from the reference book summarized the various influence tactics.

  • Political Behavior in Organizations 3

    In the last byte, we looked at the use of political behavior. In today’s byte, we list some of the influence tactics.

    Influence as mentioned earlier, is the process of affecting the thought, behavior, or feelings of another person. This person could be a Boss, a subordinate employee or a coworker. If it is the boss – the influence s called upward influence; if a subordinate employee then a downward influence and it is the coworker – it is lateral influence.
    The most frequently used tactics are:
    • Consultation
    • Rational Persuasion
    • Inspirational Appeals
    • Ingratiation
    • Upward Appeal
    • Coalition Tactics
    • Exchange Tactics
    We shall attempt understanding these in the next byte.