University Report: Managing Organizations and Leading People

This report delves into the crucial role of the situation in shaping effective leadership, drawing upon Fiedler's Contingency Model. It explores how leadership styles, including task-oriented and relationship-oriented approaches, adapt to various scenarios. The report begins with an introduction to the concept of situational leadership, emphasizing that different situations demand different leadership styles. It then provides a detailed overview of Fiedler's Contingency Model, explaining its core components, including the two primary leadership orientations and the three factors that determine situational favorableness. Furthermore, the report includes a practical illustration, describing a real-world scenario where the student applied Fiedler's theory in a team project. The analysis highlights how the student's leadership style shifted to meet the demands of an unfavorable situation. The report concludes by reiterating the central tenet of contingency theory: the effectiveness of a leader hinges on the alignment between their style and the specific context. The report uses references to support the arguments and concepts presented in the assignment. The report also contains a brief overview of leadership theories and the importance of adaptation in leadership styles.

Managing Organizations and Leading People
Assignment on
Managing Organizations and Leading People
Student Name
Student ID
University Name

Managing Organizations and Leading People
Introduction to Role of Situation in Leadership
Leadership changes with every situation. Each situation has a different aspect to leadership, be it
challenges or problem-solving techniques (Wookey, 2017). Situations shape the behavior of a
leader. A leader should be able to analyze, as to what type of leadership style is best suited in any
given situation where he thrives in. Now, let us look into the basic assumptions and foundations
of a contingency theory called Fiedler’s Contingency Model.
Fiedler’s Contingency Model
Fred Fiedler has put forward one of the most interesting contingency theories. This theory
articulates and deals with both the aspects: leader’s traits in a given situation and the situational
variables. According to Fiedler, there are two types of leaders which make up the foundation of
this theory. They are relationship-oriented leaders and task-oriented leaders. The Task-oriented
leaders would be more directive in nature, set accurate deadlines, and they structure the
situations. On the contrary, relationship-oriented leaders focus more on enhancing people
relations, are considerate with work timelines and are not that directive in nature. While
experimenting the contingency theory by combining the dichotomous variables, Fiedler
concluded and assumed that no style of leadership is inherently superior and leadership style is
not subject to adaptation or change but rather is an enduring characteristic (Sinha, n.d.).
Fiedler’s theory defines 3 factors that determine the situation’s favorableness (accipio.com,
2018). They are:
The level of trust, confidence and respect that exists between the followers and leaders
The level of freedom given by the leaders to the followers and precision of the tasks
defined.
The level of acceptance of leader’s power by followers (Vroom & Jago, 2007)
Fiedler concluded that task-oriented leaders perform better in very favorable or highly
unfavorable situations whereas relationship-oriented leaders perform better in intermediately
favorable situations. There can be no single way to behave as a leader; it is situation dependent.

Managing Organizations and Leading People
An Illustration
I remember a similar scenario where I somewhat applied the Fielder’s contingency theory. I
was assigned a task to survey 100 people to assess their behavior in purchasing FMCG products
at super markets. We were a five-member team (myself leading the survey) in total surveying 20
people each. I gave 3 days to each one of them considering their work and university schedule
and asked to meet on Monday. I knew about their daily schedule as we were together since last 5
years. Two of my friends along with me, went to super market on Saturday evening and
completed the task and then joined weekend party. The other two members went for a party
immediately after work. We had completed our tasks met on Monday and two friends came with
empty hands. They asked for one more weekend as it was difficult for them to work due to hectic
schedules. I gave them only one additional day and asked to get work done, else they would be
eliminated from the group task. They got work done on next morning, by visiting the super
market (which are open 24*7) late night. Here, my leadership style proved to be more of a task-
oriented leader working in very unfavorable conditions.
Conclusion
The Contingency theory of Leadership states that the effectiveness of a leader is contingent upon
the fact that how his or her style of leadership matches the overall situation, at that point of time.

Managing Organizations and Leading People
References
accipio.com. (2018). Situational/Contingency Model Overview. Retrieved September 22, 2019,
from https://www.accipio.com/eleadership/mod/wiki/view.php?id=1662
Sinha, K. (n.d.). Situational Contingency Theory of Leadership (With Diagram). Retrieved
September 22, 2019, from http://www.yourarticlelibrary.com:
http://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/leadership/situational-contingency-theory-of-
leadership-with-diagram/64024
Vroom, V. H., & Jago, A. G. (2007). The Role of the Situation in Leadership. American
Psychological Association, 62(1), 17-24.
Wookey, W. (2017). Fred Fiedler's Contingency Model. Retrieved September 22, 2019, from
https://www.businessballs.com:
https://www.businessballs.com/leadership-models/contingency-model-fred-fiedler/