Contingency theory (leadership theory)
The contingency theory is a thought model (therefore also often referred to as a contingency model) in leadership research , which in corporate management primarily addresses the dependency of the superior on his personal characteristics and on the relationship with those led. The model is assigned to the situational leadership style .
The approach was coined by Fred Edward Fiedler in the 1960s and defines leadership success as the interplay of leadership style and leadership situation. It has its historical roots in the characteristics approach according to Ralph Stogdill and in the management style approach .
Basics of the theory
The leadership style cannot be completely separated from the personal characteristics, as personality is strongly related to leadership ability. Ultimately, this has the consequence that a manager in the Fiedler model can only be trained for new situations with difficulty. Rather, Fiedler's model suggests changing the relevant situation until it fits the respective manager and their leadership style. The short formula "engineer the job" has been developed for this.
Fiedler considers two interacting factors: the “leadership style” and the “favorable situation”. The latter depends on three variables: the leader-employee relationship, the “task structure” and the “position power of the leader”. These variables are combined with one another, resulting in a total of eight possible situations. Using the previously determined LPC value ( l east p referred c o-worker), the degree of task orientation (low LPC value) or employee orientation (high LPC value) can now be determined in every situation. Depending on the situation, the group performance correlates either positively or negatively with the LPC value.
Through empirical studies, Fiedler was able to determine that a task-oriented leadership style leads to greater success in particularly favorable and particularly unfavorable leadership situations, while the person-oriented leadership style is more suitable in situations of medium favorableness.
criticism
According to Heinz Schuler , who refers to Lutz von Rosenstiel and Jürgen Wegge in his remarks , this theory can be viewed as a failure. Similar to Oswald Neuberger , who describes the contingency theory as the first testable situational leadership theory. Fiedler's handling of the contingency theory (which "... offers a completely different interpretation every few years ...") and Fiedler's handling of criticism of this theory ("... was not prepared to use the differentiated criticism of measurement methods and theory to revise his approach . ") Is very critical of Neuberger:" His work is a good example of the fact that theories are only fundamentally changed or abandoned when their founder has died. "
See also
literature
- FE Fiedler: Leader Attitudes and Group Effectiveness . University of Illinois Press, Urbana IL 1958.
- FE Fiedler: A Theory of Leadership Effectiveness . McGraw-Hill, New York 1967.
- FE Fiedler: Leadership . General Learning Press, New York 1971.
- FE Fiedler, JE Garcia: New Approaches to Leadership, Cognitive Resources and Organizational Performance . John Wiley and Sons, New York 1987.
- AS Ashour: The Contingency Model of Leadership Effectiveness: An Evaluation . In: Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes , 9 (3), 1973, pp. 339-55.
- L. Rosenstiel, von Wegge: Leadership . In: H. Schuler (Ed.): Encyclopedia of Psychology. Organizational Psychology II - Group and Organization (D / III / 3). Hogrefe, Göttingen
- H. Schuler: textbook organizational psychology . 3. Edition. Hans Huber, Bern 2004
- O. Neuberger: Lead and let lead . 6th edition. Lucius & Lucius, Stuttgart 2002