Hydro Generation Case Study: Leadership Theory Application

This case study analyzes leadership issues within Hydro Generation, focusing on the manager Brett Jones's actions in Tanzania. The assignment identifies two key problems: unfair hiring practices and operational inefficiencies. To address these, the case study applies Fiedler's Contingency Theory to the hiring issue, suggesting a situational leadership approach to ensure fair practices. For operational concerns, Path-Goal Theory is applied, advocating for supportive and directive leadership behaviors to improve employee retention and overall operational effectiveness. The analysis provides recommendations for how the company can improve its leadership approach.

Organisational Leadership
theories applied on a study
case

Introduction
Leadership is a crucial approach which helps an organisation in achieving their goals.
This is a case of Hydro generation in which their manager goes native. The manager is
competent in getting the end results but due to his behaviour the organisation has been facing
various issues. In the report two such issues are taken into consideration and the theory of
leadership are suggested for each of the issue which will help them to resolve the problem.
Topic : Leadership
Issue 1 : Hiring practices of the manager
The manager Brett Jones of the company has been engaged in unfair hiring practices as
the employees who he hired has government connection which makes them participate in
extortion process.
Theory : To resolve this issue the leadership style of Fiedler's contingency theory, which
suggests that the leaders should act as per the situation. They have to first identify the leadership
style which can be relationship oriented or task oriented. Then they need to understand the
situation and accordingly apply the right leadership style. With this style of leadership the Jones
can hire the staff as per the requirement (Antonakis and Day, 2017).
Issue 2 : Competence in dealing with operations
The management of the organisation was not happy with the way Jones operates. Initially
they established Flat structure at the workplace but nobody was found in charge who can handle
situation effectively. Due to this they faces high turnover (Miner, 2015).
Theory : The leadership style which can support the concern is Path goal theory. The theory
states that leaders need to select the specific behaviour of the employees and the working
environment with the help of which they can guide the path that can facilitate the employees to
perform daily work activities. The leaders will identify the task and the characteristics of the
environment such as the design of the tasks, formal authority system and the work group. On the
basis of this analysis the difficulty faced by the employees will be identified. Further the
behavioural style of the leaders helps them to motivate the employees. Four path goal behaviour
can be :
 Directive : In this behaviour, the leaders direct the employees how to perform the task,
their scheduling and coordinating.

 Supportive : In this the employees are provided support in performing their role. They
have been provided friendly environment and relationship that can motivate them to
perform effectively.
 Participative : In this style, the employees can be asked to be part of the process and
decision making this will make them highly trained and involved.
 Achievement : In this style the leaders can provide challenging goals for the employees
which will make them competitive and will boost their confidence (REMEŇOVÁ,
JANKELOVÁ and Prochazkova, 2018).
This leadership behaviour of being supportive and directive will help the managers of the
company to retain their employees. The leaders will be capable of understanding the problems
faced by the employees and the difficulty at the workplace. On the basis of which operations can
be improved as the employees will not leave the organisation. Also it will help them t keep them
motivated and focussed.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Antonakis, J. and Day, D.V. Eds., 2017. The nature of leadership. Sage publications.
Miner, J.B., 2015. Contingency Theory of Leadership: Fred Fiedler. In Organizational Behavior
1 (pp. 248-271). Routledge.
REMEŇOVÁ, K., JANKELOVÁ, N. and Prochazkova, K., 2018. RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN
PATH-GOAL LEADERSHIP BEHAVIOR AND DECISION-MAKING STYLES
ACCORDING TO PERSONAL AND WORKING PARAMETERS. Ad Alta: Journal
of Interdisciplinary Research. 8(2).
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