Report on Leadership Theories: Trait, Behavior, and Research Analysis

This report analyzes leadership theories, specifically focusing on trait and behavioral approaches, and their relationship to leadership effectiveness. The report examines the integration of trait-behavioral models, considering factors like gender, intelligence, and personality, alongside transformational and transactional behaviors. It explores how leadership behaviors mediate the connection between traits and outcomes. The study utilizes meta-analytical methods to assess the validity and efficiency of these theories. The report also contrasts trait theory, which emphasizes innate qualities, with behavioral theory, which suggests leadership can be developed. It highlights the importance of predictive validity in these theories and discusses the expectations of leaders and followers, including job satisfaction. The report acknowledges limitations such as the exclusion of other leadership theories and the emphasis on data collection over in-depth analysis, yet it concludes that the research provides valuable insights for future studies and thesis preparation, offering clarity on leadership literature and meta-analytical methods.

Leadership Traits
Trait theory and behavioural theory may be construed to be the most discussed
leadership theories in the field of human resource studies and social science. It has
been observed that there has been a lack of integration in leadership literature and
therefore, various researchers have, time to time, attempted to conduct research on
different facets of leadership theories to provide relevant insight to the same. In the
given article, the researchers have aimed to design and develop an integrated trait-
behavioural model of leadership effectiveness.
In the instant research work, the authors have thoroughly examined leadership traits like
gender, intelligence and personality and behaviours as transformational behaviour and
transactional behaviour. By research, they exhibited leader behaviour to mediate the
relationship between leadership trait and its efficacy. The researchers considered
different leadership effectiveness. On the basis of 11 hypotheses, researchers have
analysed all aspects of leadership traits, behaviours and its effectiveness criteria. Most
significantly this meta-analytical method not only described traits or behaviours but also
focused on the comparison, relative validity and its efficiency. Both trait theory and
behavioural theory have a perspective that considers leadership as an objective set of
qualities. However, the advocates of the behavioural theory suggest that the leads are
not born but may be evolved. In other words, behavioural theorists are of the opinion
that any human being may emerge out as a leader if properly trained.
On the contrary, in the trait theory, the behaviour itself is a trait. For becoming a leader,
the behaviour is the most important of all traits. Though, it also can be developed by
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proper training according to behavioural theory. There is a link between the two
theories. One emphasizes on in-born qualities and another establishes the significance
of developing qualities. However, regarding the qualities, predictive validity is an
important consideration as analysed in this article. The researchers tried to test all the
possible criteria regarding the relationship between the leader and the followers.
Expectations of the followers, the expectation of the leader from the followers, job
satisfaction of the followers are also effectively considered by the authors while
developing the respective hypothesis for the purpose of investigation and analysis.
However, the research as published in the given article may be alleged to have suffered
from certain limitations. First of all, it may be observed that some of the prominent and
contextual leadership theories like ethical leadership, servant leadership, empowering
leadership etc are not being discussed herein. It may be recommended that the
researchers should have put more focus on evaluating these leadership theories as
well. Secondly, the research work emphasizes on the process of obtaining the data
rather than analysing the data and deriving conclusion therefrom.
However, in spite of these limitations, it may be stated that the article combined popular
traits and behaviours to predict leadership effectiveness. The research work may be
considered by the future researcher's as a set of examples and therefore used for thesis
preparation and related research as it considered all probable traits and behaviours.
One can follow this article to get clarity of leadership literature and meta-analytical
method used herein as well. Finally, it may be concluded that the research will help to
develop the further experimental study in the other unexplored sections of leadership
theories.
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