MANAGERIAL GRID
Our Vision
Grid is a world authority
on human behavior in organizations.
We are the leader in developing outstanding
relationships that drive exceptional performance.
Grid delivers The Power to Change.
We are the leader in developing outstanding
relationships that drive exceptional performance.
Grid delivers The Power to Change.
Our Objectives
- To deliver The
Power to Change by facilitating productive and fulfilling organization
relationships that make a difference in the lives of millions of people
around the world.
- To provide
return, opportunity, and recognition to Associates and Staff.
- To each enjoy
the benefits of personal challenge, growth, fun, and pride in our work.
- As a byproduct,
to produce a superior financial return for reinvestment growth and a value
return to investors.
An organization culture
characterized by:
- Commitment
- Positive change
and innovation
- Open, honest
communication
- A "what's
right" rather than a "who's right" attitude
- Using conflict
situations as positive sources of creative energy
- High standards,
accountability, critique, and continuous improvement
Blake & Mouton’s Grid Theory
After Ralph Stogdill’s pivotal article in 1948, leadership studies
shifted from a focus on what a leader “has”—often thought to be inborn traits, to what a leader “does”—or the style and behavioral functions of
leaders. Based on the findings of the University of Michigan
and Ohio State
The following
five basic cluster styles result from the interaction of task- and
relations-oriented responses:
1. Authority-Obedience Management (high production; low people). The leader’s main concern is
in accomplishing the task in the most efficient way possible. A high concern for production is combined
with minimum concern for the people.
This leader dictates what should be done.
2. Country Club Management (high people; low production). The leader shows minimum concern
for production and high concern for people.
This leader focuses on making the people feel good, even if it ends in
slower production or not achieving results.
3. Impoverished
Management (low people; low production). The leader has minimum
concern for both people and production.
This leader does just enough to keep his or her job.
4. Organization Man (medium people; medium production). The leader goes along with
the general flow of the organization.
This leader is happy with the status quo.
5. Team
Management (high people; high production). The leader integrates a
high concern for people as well as for production. This leader attempts to meet organizational
goals through the participation, involvement, and commitment of all the members
in the organization. Synergistic
integration of high concern for both people and production is the key to
greatest effectiveness. However, without
openness, trust, respect, even confrontation to resolve conflict as well as
mutual development and change, this apparent 9,9 orientation can take the form
of paternalism. Likewise, this theory
allows for leaders to masquerade their behaviors with a back-up style, as some
opportunistic leaders do.
Managerial Grid theory recommends optimum leadership behavior—team
management. A study of 731 managers
replicated the original findings that 9,9 –oriented managers from a variety of
companies were more likely to advance in their careers (J. Hall, 1976). However, later studies have not consistently
linked the team management orientation to effective leadership in every
situation. Therefore, situational theories have attempted to
explain the contingencies that seem to moderate the effectiveness of the
leader’s behavior.
MANAGERIAL GRID
Robert R. Blake and Anne Adams
McCanse1 refined the Leadership Grid® which identified various types of
managerial leadership based on concern for production coupled with concern for
people. While they consider the “team management” style of leadership to be
ideal, they recognize that it may be difficult to implement in some work
situations. Effective managers have great concern for both people and
production. They work to motivate employees to reach their highest levels of
accomplishment. They are flexible and responsive to change, and they understand
the need to change.
CONTINGENCY THEORY
Fred Fiedler2 developed a
contingency or situational theory of leadership. Fiedler postulates that three
important situational dimensions are assumed to influence the leader’s
effectiveness. They are:
• Leader-member relations: the degree
of confidence the subordinates have in the leader. It also includes the loyalty
shown the leader and the leader’s attractiveness.
• Task structure: the degree to which
the followers’ jobs are routine as contrasted with non routine.
• Position power: the power inherent
in the leadership position. It includes the rewards and punishments typically
associated with the position, the leader’s formal authority (based on ranking
in the managerial hierarchy), and the support that the leader receives from
supervisors and the overall organization.
PATH-GOAL THEORY
The path-goal theory postulates
that the most successful leaders are those who increase subordinate motivation
by charting out and clarifying the paths to high performance. According to
Robert House’s path-goal theory,3 effective leaders:
• Motivate their followers to achieve group and organizational
goals.
• Make sure that they have control over outcomes their
subordinates desire.
• Reward subordinates for performing at a high level or achieving
their work goals by giving them desired outcomes.
• Raise their subordinates’ beliefs about their ability to achieve
their work goals and perform at a high level.
• Take into account their subordinates’ characteristics and the
type of work they do.
LEADER-STYLE THEORY
The Vroom and Yetton Model4
describes the different ways leaders can make decisions and guides leaders in
determining the extent to which subordinates should participate in decision
making. The expanded version of their model, the “Vroom, Yetton, Jago Model,”
holds that
(1) organizational decisions should be of the highest quality and
(2) subordinates should accept and be committed to organizational
decisions that are made. The model presents methods for determining the
appropriateness of leader style.
HERSEY AND BLANCHARD THEORY
Paul Hersey and Kenneth H. Blanchard5 (a
co-author of the One Minute Manager) identified a three-dimensional
approach for assessing leadership effectiveness:
• Leaders exhibit task behavior (the extent
to which leaders are likely to organize and define the roles of followers and
direct the work) and relationship behavior (the extent to which leaders are
likely to be supportive, encouraging, and the like).
• The effectiveness of the leader depends on
how his or her leadership style interrelates with the situation.
• The willingness and ability (readiness) of
an employee to do a particular task is an important situational factor.
* This approach is easy to understand, offers
suggestions for changing leadership style, and shows leaders what to do and
when to do it. It focuses on the need for adaptability (the degree to which the
leader is able to vary his or her style appropriately to the readiness level of
a follower in a given situation).
TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP
According to Bernard Bass,6
transformational leadership occurs when a leader transforms, or changes, his or
her followers in three important ways that together result in followers
trusting the leader, performing behaviors that contribute to the achievement of
organizational goals, and being motivated to perform at a high level.
Transformational leaders:
• Increase subordinates’ awareness of the
importance of their tasks and the importance of performing well.
• Make subordinates aware of their needs for
personal growth, development, and accomplishment.
• Motivate their subordinates to work for the
good of the organization rather than exclusively for their own personal gain or
benefit.
Building on Bass’s contributions, Tichy and
Devanna identified the characteristics of transformational leaders as follows:
• They identify themselves as change agents.
• They are courageous individuals.
• They believe in people.
• They are value-driven.
• They are lifelong learners.
• They have the ability to deal with
complexity.
• They are visionaries.
