The contingency model by business and management psychologist Fred Fiedler is a contingency theory concerned with the effectiveness of a leader in an organization.

Premises

The most common situational theory was developed by Fred Fiedler. Fiedler believed that an individual's leadership style is the result of their experiences throughout the lifespan and is therefore extremely difficult to change. Fiedler argued that one should concentrate on helping people understand their particular leadership style and how to match that style to the particular situation rather than teaching people a particular leadership style. Fiedler developed the least preferred coworker (LPC) scale in order to help one understand one's specific leadership style. According to Fiedler, because leadership behavior is fixed, effectiveness can only be improved by restructuring tasks or changing the amount of power the leader had over organizational factors (such as salary, disciplinary action, and promotions).

Fiedler's model does have some weaknesses. For example, some leaders may be more effective in certain situations than others. The LPC scale can be questioned because the assessment is performed by one individual on another.

The theory holds that the effectiveness of a task group or of an organization depends on two main factors: the personality of the leader and the degree to which the situation gives the leader power, control, and influence over the situation or, conversely, the degree to which the situation confronts the leader with uncertainty. Fiedler considers situational control the extent to which a leader can determine what their group is going to do to be the primary contingency factor in determining the effectiveness of leader behavior.

Fiedler's contingency model is a dynamic model where the personal characteristics and motivation of the leader are said to interact with the current situation that the group faces. Thus, the contingency model marks a shift away from the tendency to attribute leadership effectiveness to personality alone. As the LPC is a personality measure, the score is believed to be quite stable over time and not easily changed. Low LPCs tend to remain low and high LPCs tend to remain high, which shows that the test-reliability of the LPC is strong.

When there is a good leader–member relation, a highly structured task, and high leader position power, the situation is considered a "favorable situation." Fiedler found that low-LPC leaders are more effective in extremely favorable or unfavorable situations, whereas high-LPC leaders perform best in situations with intermediate favorability. Leaders in high positions of power have the ability to distribute resources among their members, meaning they can reward and punish their followers. Leaders in low positions of power cannot control resources to the same extent as leaders in high power and so lack the same degree of situational control. For example, the CEO of a business has high position power, because she is able to increase and reduce the salary that her employees receive. On the other hand, an office worker in this same business has low position power, because although they may be the leader on a new business deal, they cannot control the situation by rewarding or disciplining their colleagues with salary changes. The advantage of contingency theory is that it “does not require that people be effective in all situations”. For example, if a company has a workshop for all managers that effectively changed the task structure from low to high, it might seem good for the company at first glance, but it is important to note that leaders who were effective in a low task structure situation could become very ineffective in a situation with a high task structure.

Examples

  • A company that might be hiring a new manager to take on a leadership position that has poor current leader–member relations and high task structure and authority, the company would be best positioned to fill this role with a high LPC or leader–member relations to improve poor relations. Hiring someone who is more relation-oriented will help rebuild those the poor current leader–member relations.
  • Task-oriented leadership would be advisable in a natural disaster, like a flood or fire. In an uncertain situation the leader–member relations are usually poor, the task is unstructured, and the position power is weak. The one who emerges as a leader to direct the group's activity usually does not know subordinates personally. The task-oriented leader who gets things accomplished proves to be the most successful. If the leader is considerate (relationship-oriented), they may waste so much time in the disaster that things get out of control and lives are lost.
  • Blue-collar workers generally want to know exactly what they are supposed to do. Therefore, their work environment is usually highly structured. The leader's position power is strong if management backs their decision. Finally, even though the leader may not be relationship-oriented, leader–member relations may be extremely strong if they can gain promotions and salary increases for subordinates. Under these situations the task-oriented style of leadership is preferred over the (considerate) relationship-oriented style.
  • The considerate (relationship-oriented) style of leadership can be appropriate in an environment where the situation is moderately favorable or certain, for example, when (1) leader–member relations are good, (2) the task is structured, and (3) position power is either strong or weak. Situations like this exist with research scientists, who do not like superiors to structure the task for them. They prefer to follow their own creative leads in order to solve problems. In a situation like this a considerate style of leadership is preferred over the task-oriented.
  • The last example of a task-oriented leader is one that is in charge of large products. They have to oversee all of the operations and make decisions on behalf of the entire project. They have many tasks and goals to be set.

Opposing views

Researchers often find that Fiedler's contingency theory falls short on flexibility. They also note that LPC scores can fail to reflect the personality traits they are supposed to reflect.

Fiedler's contingency theory has drawn criticism because it implies that the only alternative for an unalterable mismatch of leader orientation and an unfavorable situation is changing the leader. The model's validity has also been disputed, despite many supportive tests.

Cognitive resource theory

Cognitive resource theory (CRT) modifies Fiedler's basic contingency model by adding traits of the leader.

Further reading

  • Fiedler, F. E. (1958) Leader Attitudes and Group Effectiveness, Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press.
  • Fiedler, F. E. (1967) A Theory of Leadership Effectiveness, New York: McGraw-Hill.
  • Fiedler, F. E. (1971) Leadership, New York: General Learning Press.
  • Fiedler, F. E. (1981) Leader Attitudes and Group Effectiveness, Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Group.
  • Fiedler, F. E. (1992) Life in a Pretzel-shaped Universe, in A.G. Bedeian (ed.), Management Laureates: A Collection of Autobiographical Essays, Greenwich, CT: JAI Press, vol. 1, 301–34.
  • Fiedler, F. E. (1997) Directory of the American Psychological Association, Chicago: St James Press, 419.
  • Fiedler, F. E. and Chemers, M. M. (1974) Leadership and Effective Management, Glenview, IL: Scott, Foresman and Co.
  • Fiedler, F. E., Garcia, J. E. and Lewis, C. T. (1986) People Management, and Productivity, Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
  • Fiedler, F. E., Gibson, F. W. and Barrett, K. M. (1993) ‘Stress, Babble, and the Utilization of the Leader’s Intellectual Abilities’, Leadership Quarterly 4(2): 189–208.
  • Fiedler, F. E., Godfrey, E. P. and Hall, D. M. (1959) Boards, Management and Company Success, Danville, IL: Interstate Publishers.
  • Hooijberg, R. and Choi, J. (1999) "From Austria to the United States and from Evaluating Therapists to Developing Cognitive Resources Theory: An Interview with Fred Fiedler", Leadership Quarterly 10(4): 653–66.
  • King, B., Streufert, S. and Fiedler, F. E. (1978) Managerial Control and Organizational Democracy, Washington, DC: V. H. Winston and Sons.