CH-7-9 Groups and Teamwork – Organizational Behaviour: Understanding and Managing Life at Work : Chapter Notes

This Document Contains Chapters 7 to 9 CHAPTER 7 GROUPS AND TEAMWORK CHAPTER LEARNING OBJECTIVES After reading Chapter 7, students should be able to do: LO7.1 Define groups and distinguish between formal and informal groups. LO7.2 Discuss group development. LO7.3 Explain how group size and member diversity influence what occurs in groups. LO7.4 Review how norms, roles, and status affect social interaction. LO7.5 Discuss the causes and consequences of group cohesiveness. LO7.5 Explain the dynamics of social loafing. LO7.6 Discuss how to design and support self-managed teams. LO7.7 Explain the logic behind cross-functional teams and describe how they can operate effectively. LO7.9 Understand virtual teams and what makes them effective. CHAPTER OUTLINE AND TEACHING NOTES What Is a Group? A group consists of two or more people interacting interdependently to achieve a common goal. Interaction is the most basic aspect of a group as it suggests who is in the group and who is not. Group memberships are very important since they are the social mechanisms by which we acquire many beliefs, values, attitudes, and behaviours. Groups exert a tremendous influence on us and they provide a context in which we are able to exert influence on others. Formal work groups are groups that are established by organizations to facilitate the achievement of organizational goals. They are intentionally designed to channel individual effort in an appropriate direction. The hierarchy of most organizations is a series of formal, interlocked work groups. Task forces, project teams, and committees are examples of formal work groups. Informal groups are groups that emerge naturally in response to the common interests of organizational members. They are seldom sanctioned by the organization, and their membership often cuts across formal groups. They can either help or hurt an organization. Group Development Groups are complex social devices that require a fair amount of negotiation and trail-and-error before individual members begin to function as a true group. Typical Stages of Group Development Groups develop through a series of stages over time. These stages are forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning. Forming. Forming is the early stage of group development during which time group members try to orient themselves by “testing the waters.” Storming. Storming is the second stage where conflict often emerges. Sorting out roles and responsibilities is often at issue here. Norming. Norming is the stage where group members resolve issues that are provoked in the storming stage and they develop social consensus. Norms are agreed to and the group becomes more cohesive. Performing. Performing is the stage where the group devotes its energy toward task accomplishment. Adjourning. Adjourning is the fifth and final stage of group development where the group disperses. Rites and rituals that affirm the group’s previous successful development are common. Members often exhibit emotional support for each other. Not all groups go through these stages of development. The process applies mainly to new members that have never met before. Also, some organizational settings are so structured that storming and norming are unnecessary for even strangers to coalesce into a team. Punctuated Equilibrium The punctuated equilibrium model is a model of group development that describes how groups with deadlines are affected by their first meetings and crucial midpoint transitions. The model breaks the group development process into two phases, and highlights the importance of the midpoint transition as crucial in the groups meeting its goal by the project deadline. Phase 1. Phase 1 begins with the first meeting and continues until the midpoint in the group’s existence. The very first meeting is critical in setting the agenda for what will happen in the remainder of this phase. At this stage, the group makes little visible progress toward the goal. Midpoint Transition. The midpoint transition occurs at almost exactly the halfway point in time toward the group’s deadline. The transition marks a change in the group’s approach and how the group manages it is critical for the group to show progress. Phase 2. The decisions and approaches adopted at the midpoint get played out in Phase 2. It concludes with a final meeting that reveals a burst of activity and a concern for how outsiders will evaluate the product. The punctuated equilibrium model suggests the following for managing product development teams, advertising groups, or class project groups: 1. Prepare carefully for the first meeting. 2. As long as people are working, do not look for radical progress during Phase 1. 3. Manage the midpoint transition carefully. 4. Be sure that adequate resources are available to actually execute the Phase 2 plan. 5. Resist deadline changes. These could damage the midpoint transition. Group Structure and Its Consequences Group structure refers to characteristics of the stable social organization of a group or the way a group is “put together.” The most basic structural characteristics along which groups vary are size and member diversity. Other structural characteristics are norms, roles, status, and cohesiveness. Group Size The smallest group consists of two persons. In practice, most work groups, including task forces and committees, usually have between 3 and 20 members. Size and Satisfaction. Members of larger groups report less satisfaction with group membership than those who find themselves in smaller groups. There are a number of reasons for this. In theory, larger groups provide more opportunities for members to encounter friends who share their attitudes or meet their social needs, promoting satisfaction. However, as group size increases, these opportunities might decrease due to the time and energy required. In addition, larger groups can prompt conflict and dissension and the time available for verbal participation by each member decreases. Inhibition regarding participation can also increase among many group members as group size increases. Individual members identify less easily with the success of larger groups. Size and Performance. The relationship between group size and performance depends on the type of task a group performs. Additive tasks are tasks in which group performance is dependent on the sum of the performance of individual group members. Thus, potential performance on additive tasks can be predicted by adding the performances of individual group members together. The potential performance of the group increases with group size. Potential performance on disjunctive tasks depends on the performance of its best group member and also increases with group size because the probability that the group includes a superior performer is greater. Potential performance will be greater than actual performance because of process losses that occur as a group gets bigger. Process losses are group performance difficulties stemming from the problems of motivating and coordinating larger groups. Up to a point, larger groups might perform better as groups, but their individual members tend to be less efficient. Group performance on conjunctive tasks is limited by the performance of the poorest group performer. Both the potential and actual performance on conjunctive tasks should decrease as group size increases, because the probability of including a weak member increases. Thus, for additive and disjunctive tasks, larger groups might perform better up a point but at increasing costs to the efficiency of individual members. Performance on purely conjunctive tasks should decrease as group size increases. Diversity of Group Membership Group diversity has a large impact on the functioning of work groups and interaction patterns. More diverse groups have a greater difficulty communicating effectively and becoming cohesive, but once they do develop, they can be just as cohesive and productive as non-diverse groups. Diverse groups can sometimes perform better on certain tasks. Diversity in educational background and functional specialty enhances team creativity and innovation because a wider variety of ideas are considered. Negative effects of “surface diversity” in age, gender, or race are small or wear off over time. “Deep diversity” in attitudes toward work or how to accomplish a goal can badly damage cohesiveness. Group Norms Social norms are collective expectations that members of social units have regarding the behaviour of each other. They are codes of conduct that specify what ought and ought not to be done and standards against which we evaluate the appropriateness of behaviour. Norm Development. Norms develop to provide regularity and predictability to behaviours that are considered important to their supporters Less deviation is accepted from norms that concern more important behaviours. Norms develop in the following manner: When members of a group share related beliefs and values, they often share consequent attitudes. The shared attitudes then form a basis for norms. Norms are collectively held expectations, depending on two or more people for their existence. Individuals comply with norms because norms correspond to privately held attitudes or because they save time and prevent social confusion. Also, groups have a wide range of rewards and punishments available to induce conformity to norms. Some Typical Norms. Some common organizational norms that affect the behaviour of members include the following: a. Dress norms that dictate the kind of clothing people wear to work. b. Reward allocation norms that dictate how rewards should be allocated. Four such norms are equity, equality, reciprocity, and social responsibility. c. Performance norms that dictate what is an appropriate level of performance. Roles Roles are positions in a group that have a set of expected behaviours attached to them. While many norms apply to all group members, the development of roles is indicative of the fact that group members might also be required to act differently from one another. Thus, roles apply to particular group members. In organizations, we find two basic kinds of roles. Designated or assigned roles are formally prescribed by an organization as a means of dividing labour and responsibility to facilitate task achievement. They indicate “who does what” and “who can tell others what to do.” Emergent roles develop naturally to meet the social-emotional needs of group members or to assist informally in job accomplishment. Role Ambiguity. Individuals often encounter difficulties in the assumption of roles. For example, an individual may experience role ambiguity when the goals of his/her job or the methods of performing it are unclear. Certain organizational factors lead role senders (such as managers) to develop role expectations and “send” roles to focal persons (such as employees). Presumably, the focal person “receives” the role and then tries to engage in behaviour to fulfill the role. This role assumption process reveals a variety of elements that can lead to role ambiguity. • Organizational factors. Some roles are inherently ambiguous because of their function in the organization. For example, middle management roles might fail to provide the “big picture” that upper management roles do. • The role sender. Role senders may have unclear expectations of a focal person. Even when a sender has specific role expectations, they may be ineffectively sent to a focal person. • The focal person. The focal person may not fully comprehend his or her role especially when he or she is new to the role. However, role ambiguity should decrease as length of time on the job role increases. Role ambiguity has number of consequences. The most frequent outcomes appear to be stress-related reactions, dissatisfaction, reduced organizational commitment, lowered performance, and intentions to quit. Managers can reduce role ambiguity by providing clear performance expectations and performance feedback. Role Conflict. Role conflict exists when an individual is faced with incompatible expectations. Role conflict can take four forms. • Intrasender role conflict occurs when a single role sender provides incompatible role expectations to the role occupant. It is especially likely to also provoke role ambiguity. • Intersender role conflict occurs when two or more role senders provide a role occupant with incompatible expectations. Boundary role occupants are especially likely to encounter this form of conflict. • Interrole conflict occurs when several roles held by a role occupant involve incompatible expectations. Competing demands for time are a frequent symptom of inter-role conflict. • Person-role conflict occurs when role demands call for behaviour that is incompatible with the personality or skills of a role occupant. Many examples of “whistle-blowing” are signals of person-role conflict. As with role ambiguity, the most consistent consequences of role conflict are job dissatisfaction, stress reactions, lowered organizational commitment, and turnover intentions. Managers can prevent role conflict by avoiding self-contradictory messages, conferring with other role senders, being sensitive to multiple role demands, and fitting the right person to the right role. Status Status is the rank, social position, or prestige accorded to group members. It represents a group’s evaluation of a member. Formal Status Systems. Formal status systems are management’s attempt to publicly identify those persons who have higher status than others. Formal status systems make status apparent to observers by applying status symbols, which are tangible indicators of status such as titles and pay packages. Formal organizational status is often determined by one’s seniority in a work group and one’s assigned role in an organization (one’s job). Status and the symbols connected to it serve as a powerful magnet to induce members to aspire to higher organizational positions and they reinforce the authority hierarchy in work groups and in the organization as a whole. People pay attention to high-status individuals. Informal Status Systems. Informal status systems also exist in organizations, although they lack conspicuous symbols and systematic support usually accorded to a formal system. They can operate just as effectively as formal status systems. Job performance as well as gender or race can be the basis for the acquisition of informal status. Consequences of Status Differences. Status affects the ways in which people communicate with each other. Most people like to communicate with others at their own status or higher, rather than with people who are below them. As a result, communication is likely to move up the status hierarchy in organizations. If status differences are large, people can be inhibited from communicating upward and as a result much communication gets stalled. As well, higher status people do more talking and have more influence, however, there is no guarantee that the highest-status person is the most knowledgeable about the problem at hand. Reducing Status Barriers. Although status differences can be powerful motivators, status differences also tend to inhibit the free flow of communication. As a result, many organizations downplay status differentiation by doing away with questionable status symbols such as executive dining rooms and reserved parking in an attempt to foster a culture of teamwork and cooperation across the ranks. The use of e-mail has been found to level status barriers, thus facilitating communication between people at all levels of the organization. Group Cohesiveness Group cohesiveness refers to the degree to which a group is especially attractive to its members. Members are especially desirous of staying in the group and tend to describe the group in favourable terms. Cohesiveness is a relative, rather than absolute, property of groups. Factors Influencing Cohesiveness Some of the factors that contribute to cohesiveness include threat, competition, success, member diversity, group size, and toughness of initiation. Threat and Competition. External threat to the survival of the group increases cohesiveness in a wide variety of situations. Honest competition with another group can also promote cohesiveness. Groups probably feel a need to improve communication and coordination so that they can better cope with the situation at hand. However, under extreme threat or very unbalanced competition, increased cohesiveness will serve little purpose. Success. Groups become more attractive to their members when they successfully accomplish some important goal. By the same token, cohesiveness will decrease after failure. Member Diversity. Groups that are diverse in terms of gender, age, and race can have a harder time becoming cohesive. However, if a group is in agreement about how to accomplish some particular task, its success in performing the task will often outweigh surface dissimilarity in determining cohesiveness. Size. Bigger groups generally have a more difficult time becoming and staying cohesive. They have a more difficult time agreeing on goals and more problems communicating and coordinating efforts to achieve those goals. Toughness of Initiation. Groups that are tough to get into are often more attractive than those that are easy to join. Consequences of Cohesiveness Whether more or less cohesiveness is a desirable group property depends on the consequences of group cohesiveness and who is doing the judging. More Participation in Group Activities. Because cohesive groups are attractive to their members and members wish to remain in the group, they should be especially motivated to participate in group activities. Thus, voluntary turnover from the group should be low and absence should be lower than in less cohesive groups. Participation should be reflected in a high degree of communication within the group. More Conformity. Highly cohesive groups are equipped to supply information, rewards, and punishment to individual members. Thus, highly cohesive groups are in a superb position to induce conformity to group norms. Members react to deviants by increasing the amount of communication directed at them and apply pressure to get them to comply with group norms. More Success. Cohesive groups are especially effective at accomplishing their own goals. This is due to the high degree of participation and communication as well as active conformity to group norms and commitment. However, it is questionable if managers should attempt to increase the cohesiveness of groups. If the group’s goals correspond to those of the organization, increased cohesiveness may have substantial benefits with regard to group performance. If group goals go against those of the organization, performance will suffer accordingly. Thus, cohesive groups tend to produce more or less than less cohesive groups. In addition, there is less variability in the productivity of members of cohesive groups. Cohesiveness is more likely to pay off when the task requires more interdependence. In a good labour relations climate, group cohesiveness on interdependent tasks should contribute to high productivity. In summary, cohesive groups tend to be successful in accomplishing what they want to accomplish. Social Loafing Social loafing is the tendency to withhold physical or intellectual effort when performing a group task. It is a motivational problem and one of the reasons for process losses in large groups. It takes two different forms. In the free rider effect, people lower their effort to get a free ride at the expense of other group members. This is the phenomenon of others not pulling their weight on a group project. In the sucker effect, people lower their effort because of the feeling that others are free riding. That is, they are trying to restore equity in the group. There are a number of ways to counteract social loafing. • Make individual performance more visible. The simplest way to do this is to keep the group small in size. • Make sure that the work is interesting. If the work is involving, intrinsic motivation should counteract social loafing. • Increase feelings of indispensability. Training and the status system can provide group members with unique inputs. • Increase performance feedback. Increased feedback from the boss, peers, and customers should encourage self-correction. • Reward group performance. Members are more likely to monitor and maximize their own performance when the group receives rewards for effectiveness. What Is a Team? Some writers have suggested that a team is different from a group because in a team a synergy develops such that the group’s efforts are greater than the sum of its parts. However, the term “team” is more generally used to describe “groups” in organizational settings and the terms can be used interchangeably. Many organizations now use team-based work arrangements in an attempt to improve efficiency and quality. Research has shown improvements in organizational performance in terms of both efficiency and quality as a result of team-based work arrangements. When it comes to teams, collective efficacy is important to ensure high performance. Collective efficacy consists of shared beliefs that a team can successfully perform a given task. In the following sections we cover the factors that contribute to collective efficacy in a team. Designing Effective Work Groups According to J. Richard Hackman, a work group is effective when (1) its physical or intellectual output is acceptable to management and to the other parts of the organization that use this output, (2) group members’ needs are satisfied rather than frustrated by the group, and (3) the group experience enables members to continue to work together. Group effectiveness occurs when high effort is directed toward the group’s task, when great knowledge and skill are directed toward the task, and when the group adopts sensible strategies for accomplishing its goals. An organization can achieve this with self-managing work teams. Self-Managed Work Teams Many organizations have been adopting self-managed work teams to enhance teamwork and group effectiveness. These groups generally provide their members with the opportunity to do challenging work under reduced supervision. They are also called autonomous, semi-autonomous, or self-directed groups. The main idea is that the groups regulate their own members’ behaviour. Critical to the success of self-managed teams are the nature of the task, the composition of the group, and the various support mechanisms in place. Tasks for Self-Managed Teams. The tasks assigned to self-managed work teams should be complex and challenging, requiring high interdependence among team members for accomplishment. They should be designed according to job enrichment principles such as task significance, skill variety, and task identity. The text provides a number of examples in both the blue-collar and white-collar domains. The key theme here is a breakdown of traditional, conventional, specialized roles in the group. Group members adopt roles that will make the group effective. Composition of Self-Managed Teams. The composition of self-managed teams should be oriented toward fostering high cohesiveness and the development of group norms that stress group effectiveness. Some principles include the following: • Stability. Group membership must be fairly stable. Rotating members into and out of the group will cause it to fail to develop a true identity. • Size. Keep the group as small as is feasible given the task. • Expertise. The group as a whole should have high expertise to accomplish the task. Social skills are also important for all members. • Diversity. Members should be similar enough to work together and diverse enough to include a variety of perspectives and skills to the task. One way of maintaining appropriate group composition might be to let the group choose its own members. Selection is critical as there is some evidence of elevated turnover in self-managed teams. Fit is important and it is well worth the extra effort to find the right people. Supporting Self-Managed Teams. Self-managed groups require special support to ensure they become and stay effective. Problems with teams can usually be traced back to inadequate support. • Training. Members of self-managed teams require extensive training. The kind of training depends on the exact job design and the needs of the workforce. Some common areas include technical training, social skills, language skills, and business training. • Rewards. Rewards should be tied to team accomplishment rather than to individual accomplishment while still providing team members with some individual performance feedback to counteract social loading. • Management. Managers can serve important functions by mediating relations between teams and by dealing with union concerns. The most effective managers in a self-management environment encourage groups to observe, evaluate, and reinforce their own task behaviour. Coaching teams to be independent enhances their effectiveness. Exhibit 7.7 summarizes the factors that determine work group effectiveness. Research has found improvements in team productivity, quality, customer satisfaction, and safety following the implementation of self-managed work teams. Cross-Functional Teams Another kind of team that contemporary organizations are using with increasing frequency is the cross-functional team. Cross-functional teams are work groups that bring people with different functional specialties together to better invent, design, or deliver a product or service. They are best known for their success in product development. The general goals of cross-functional teams include some combination of innovation, speed, and quality that comes from early coordination among the various specialties. Cross-functional teams get all specialties working together from day one. Principles for Effectiveness. A number of factors contribute to the effectiveness of cross-functional teams. • Composition. All relevant specialties must be part of the team, including labour representatives and suppliers where appropriate. • Superordinate goals. Conflict may sometimes arise from the colliding cultures of different functions. Superordinate goals are attractive outcomes that can only be achieved by collaboration. They help to override detailed functional objectives that might be in conflict. • Physical proximity. Team members must be located close to one another to facilitate informal contact. • Autonomy. Cross-functional teams need some autonomy from the larger organization, and functional specialties need some authority to commit their function to project decisions. • Rules and procedures. Petty rules and procedures are to be avoided. However, some basic decision procedures must be laid down to prevent anarchy. • Leadership. Because of the potential for conflict, cross-functional team leaders need especially strong people skills in addition to task expertise. One of the goals of several of these principles is to ensure that team members share mental models. Shared mental models mean that team members share identical information about how they should interact and what their task is. Shared mental models enhance coordination and contribute greatly to effective team performance, at least when the shared knowledge reflects reality. Shared mental models are a particular challenge to instill in cross-functional teams due to the different backgrounds of team members. Virtual Teams Virtual teams are work groups that use technology to communicate and collaborate across space, time, and organizational boundaries. Along with their reliance on computer and electronic technology, the primary feature of these teams is the lack of face-to-face contact between team members due to geographic dispersion. Virtual teams are often cross-functional. Technologies used by virtual teams can be asynchronous or synchronous. Advantages of Virtual Teams. Virtual teams have a number of advantages. • Around-the-clock work. Globally, using a virtual team can create a 24-hour team that never sleeps. • Reduced travel time and cost. Virtual teaming reduces travel costs associated with face-to-face meetings and can lead to significant savings of time and money, and concerns over air travel also make virtual teams an attractive alternative. • Larger talent pool. Virtual teams allow companies to expand their potential labour markets and to go after the best people, even if they have no interest in relocating. Virtual teams also give employees added flexibility, allowing for a better work-life balance, which is an effective recruiting feature. Challenges of Virtual Teams. Virtual teams involve some disadvantages and managers must recognize they present unique challenges and should not be treated as regular teams that just happen to use technology. • Trust. Trust is difficult to develop between virtual team members. • Miscommunication. The loss of face-to-face communication presents certain risks for virtual teams. The richness of face-to-face communication is lost and miscommunication can result. These risks are particularly high on global virtual teams. • Isolation. The lack of casual interactions with co-workers can lead to team members having feelings of isolation and detachment. • High costs. Savings in areas such as travel must be weighed against the costs of cutting-edge technology. Initial set-up costs can be substantial. • Management issues. For managers, virtual teams create new challenges in terms of dealing with subordinates who are no longer in view. A review of research on information sharing in virtual teams versus face-to-face teams by Jessica Mesmer-Magnus and colleagues found that virtual teams engaged in a lower volume of information sharing but were in fact more likely to share unique information which was not known by other team members. However, the performance of virtual teams was especially dependent upon them also having a high volume of open communication to complement the unique ideas. The authors also found support for the idea that hybrid teams that combine face-to-face interaction with virtual interaction are especially likely to share information. Lessons Concerning Virtual Teams. A number of lessons are beginning to emerge about what managers must do or keep watch for when developing virtual teams. • Recruitment. Choose team members carefully in terms of attitude and personality. Find people with good interpersonal skills, not just technical skills. • Training. Invest in training for both technical and interpersonal skills. • Personalization. Encourage team members to get to know each other, either through informal communication using technology or by arranging face-to-face meetings. • Goals and ground rules. Virtual team leaders should define goals clearly, set rules for communication standards and responses, and provide feedback to keep team members informed of progress and the big picture. The key appears to be in recognizing the ways in which these teams are different than those based in a single office environment but not falling into the trap of focusing solely on technology. Many of the general recommendations that apply to any work team also apply to virtual teams. A Word of Caution: Teams as a Panacea Switching from a traditional structure to a team-based configuration is not a cure-all for an organization’s problems. Some suggest that the team approach puts unwanted pressure and responsibilities on workers. Many organizations have rushed to deploy teams with little planning, often resulting in confusion and contradictory signals to employees. Good planning and continuing support are necessary for the effective use of teams. MINI-LECTURE: EXTREME ROLE READINESS Roles can be extremely powerful determinants of behaviour. Furthermore, role assumption does not necessarily depend on a long period of social shaping and preparation. Frequently, individuals show a remarkable ability to assume roles based on their stereotypes of those roles. Psychologist Philip Zimbardo of Stanford University has demonstrated the power over behaviour which even temporary and unfamiliar role assignments can exert. Zimbardo and his students placed newspaper advertisements asking for college students to serve in a two-week study involving prison life, for which they would receive $15 a day. The male applicants were screened for physical and psychological normality, and eleven were randomly assigned to be “guards,” while ten were assigned “prisoner” roles. On the day the study was to begin, the prisoners encountered an “arresting” experience! Without notice, local police officers arrived at their homes. They were soon interrogated, fingerprinted, and hustled off to the “jail” which had been constructed in the basement of the Stanford psychology building. There they encountered the depressing specter of cells, public toilets, and an arbitrary set of rules and regulations. Their uniforms consisted of loose-fitting smocks and stocking caps, and they were addressed only by their convict number. The guards wore paramilitary uniforms with reflective sunglasses and billy clubs. They were instructed to keep order and maintain the rules. No physical violence was permitted. The guards were allowed to go home between their eight-hour shifts. Zimbardo was the warden. Were the psychologically normal prisoners and guards ready to assume the unfamiliar roles? Ready, willing and able. The guards soon began a campaign of incredible harassment against the prisoners. Physical intimidation and sadistic psychological abuse became the order of the day. Although the guards had at their disposal a variety of rewards to control prisoner behaviour (including movies and exercise privileges), they were never used. Rules and regulations were modified to increase their negative impact. The prisoners also conformed to their roles. After some initial protest, they gradually became more and more depressed, passive, and dependent. This dehumanized response only encouraged further abuse from the guards. On the third day, a prisoner was released because he was showing signs of extreme disturbance. In the succeeding three days, three others were released for similar reasons. Although the study was scheduled to last two weeks, Zimbardo terminated it after six days. All in all, it was a graphic demonstration of the power of roles in shaping interpersonal behaviour. Source: Based on Zimbardo, P.G., Haney, C., Banks, W.C., & Jaffe, D. (1973, April 8). The mind is a formidable jailer: A Pirandellian prison. The New York Times, 38-60. A synchronized tape and slide presentation of the Stanford prison study is available. Check your local school audiovisual department or write to Philip C. Zimbardo, In., Box 4395, Stanford, CA 94203. MINI-LECTURE: THE BANK WIRING ROOM In order to solidify understanding of group formation and structure, review these topics in the context of one of the most carefully studied work groups on record — the Bank Wiring Unit at Western Electric’s Hawthorne works near Chicago. Although the study was done over a half century ago, in 1931 and 1932, it still stands as a landmark in the description of natural functioning groups. The research was conducted by the Harvard University Graduate School of Business Administration as part of a series of studies designed to explore the factors that influenced productivity and job satisfaction. The techniques employed were direct observation and interviewing. For six and a half months an observer sat in the Bank Wiring room collecting productivity records and recording significant events and discussions. Occasionally, an interviewer would take the workers aside and ask them questions. The evidence indicates that this attention did not cause the group to alter its normal behaviour. Bank wiring consisted of assembling switching units to be used in central office telephone hookups. Some of these units were called connectors, and others were called selectors. There were fourteen employees in the banking room, all experienced workers ranging in age from twenty to twenty-six, except for one individual who was forty. Since the job was well understood by the workers, supervision was minimal. They were paid according to a group piecework system based on the productivity of the department. Thus, the more work the department turned out, the more the workers would make. In addition, certain jobs paid more money than others, and workers with high efficiency ratings (usually the more experienced) made more money. The most interesting aspects of the Bank Writing unit are revealed by comparing its formal and informal group characteristics. Formal Formation and Structure The formal formation and structure of the Bank Wiring unit, as designed by the company, was fairly straightforward. 1. Group formation. Formally, the Bank Wiring unit was a group working under a supervisor to accomplish a physical goal. Furthermore, it was divided into three subgroups, each of which consisted of three wiremen and a solderer. The two inspectors shared the duties of inspecting the output of these groups. Two of the groups assembled connectors and the other assembled selectors. 2. Roles. The assigned roles of the Bank Wiring unit reveal a clear division of labour. The wiremen routed wires throughout the switching units, the solderers soldered the connections, and the inspectors ensured that the completed units worked properly. On the surface, there would seem to be little cause for role ambiguity and conflict. 3. Status. The formal status system is revealed by pay levels and the flow of work in the unit. Inspectors were paid the most and had the option of rejecting faulty work by the wiremen and solderers. The solderers were paid the least, had the least seniority, and in a sense “worked under” the wiremen. Within their groups, workers could earn more pay over time by producing at a high level. Thus, responsibility and productivity were the major criteria for the formal status system. In terms of pay, the company did not distinguish between connector work and selector work. 4. Norms. There were doubtless some norms established by management which were supported by the workers, such as showing up for work on time and not causing undue trouble in the unit. More interesting, however, are expectations and rules advocated by management which found little support among the workers. For example, the group piece rate system was designed to inspire the highest level of productivity, but, as we shall see, it failed to do this. Also, there were rules against trading jobs and helping co-workers who fell behind in their work. Again, these rules found little normative support among the work force. Informal Formation and Structure To the casual observer, the formal characteristics of the Bank Wiring group look neat and tidy. However, as the researchers probed the unit in detail, they detected a more complex informal social system at work. 1. Group formation. First, the Bank Wiring unit was united on an informal level by a common interest —self-defense. Specifically, the men worked together to limit their productivity to a fairly high but constant level. Although they were vague about what might happen if they produced too much, they seemed to feel that the company would lower the rate of payment. Secondly, since the Bank Wiring unit was fairly large, we might expect some informal sub-grouping. There were two informal friendship groups in the unit, one composed of Il, W1, W3, W4 and S1 and the other composed of W7, W8, W9, and S4. Why did these groups form? A very important factor was physical proximity. Those individuals who worked near each other were able to converse easily and help each other out with their work. In addition, there were some clear status differences between these groups. Observation indicated that attitude and personality incompatibility prevented the formation of a third friendship group based on the “middle” wiring group. 2. Roles. The men frequently bypassed their assigned roles by swapping jobs. This usually occurred within the friendship groups and consisted of a higher status wireman asking a lower status solderer to switch tasks in order to relieve boredom. Several informal roles had emerged. For example, W3, the best-liked person in the unit, was a skilled worker who conformed to the group norms and was on his way to becoming an informal leader. On the other hand, I3 was a scapegoat by virtue of his superior attitude and his refusal to conform to the group norms. The inspector jobs in fact had a high potential for role ambiguity and inter-sender role conflict. Although inspectors had the highest formal status and were expected by management to veto poor work, any officiousness was greatly resented by group members. I1 coped with these problems and was accepted by the others, while I3 was finally forced to transfer to another unit. 3. Status. According to the organization, selector work was as important as connector work. Not so in the Bank Wiring room. Although the jobs were very similar, the group preferred the connector jobs. Since the smaller of the two friendship groups did connectors, while the larger was centered around selector workers, a clear status differential existed. Those who worked on connectors saw themselves as more refined, claiming that they had higher level conversations and even that they ate better quality candy. The lower status group retaliated with noisy horseplay and somewhat lower productivity. Turning to individuals, it is no mystery that the lowest status member of the lower status friendship group (S1) was relegated to being the unit “lunch boy.” On the other hand, it is not surprising that W3, the highest status member of the higher status group, had more communication directed at him than any other worker in the unit. 4. Norms. As was pointed out, the workers rejected the company’s rules regarding job trading and helping co-workers. However, they developed and enforced their own set of norms which were oriented around maintaining job security and good interpersonal relations. These included the following: (1) Don’t produce too much or too little; (2) Don’t “squeal” on colleagues to supervisors; (3) Don’t act officious or socially removed from the others. Two wiremen, W2 and W5, were isolated by the unit because they refused to limit their productivity in line with the first norm. The hated inspector, I3, was punished by the group for squealing and “acting like an inspector.” In summary, the Bank Wiring research shows very clearly that the characteristics of group structure which we have studied are relevant to both formal and informal grouping. Sources: The Hawthorne studies are described in Roethlisberger, F.J., & Dickson, W.J. (1939). Management and the worker. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. The description of the bank wiring room social organization draws heavily upon Homans, G.C. (1950). The human group. New York: Harcourt, Brace. CHAPTER 8 SOCIAL INFLUENCE, SOCIALIZATION, AND ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE CHAPTER LEARNING OBJECTIVES After reading Chapter 8, students should be able to: LO8.1 Understand the difference between information dependence and effect dependence. LO8.2 Differentiate compliance, identification, and internalization as motives for social conformity. LO8.3 Describe the socialization process and the stages of organizational socialization. LO8.4 Describe the implications of unrealistic expectations and the psychological contract for socialization. LO8.5 Describe the main methods of socialization and how newcomers can be proactive in their socialization. LO8.6 Define organizational culture and discuss the contributors to a culture. LO8.7 Discuss the assets and liabilities of strong cultures. LO8.8 Describe how to diagnose an organizational culture. CHAPTER OUTLINES AND TEACHING NOTES Social Influence in Organizations Groups exert influence on the attitudes and behaviours of their individual members to a large extent because people are highly dependent on others in social settings. This dependence sets the stage for influence to occur. Information Dependence and Effect Dependence We are frequently dependent on others for information about the adequacy and appropriateness of our behaviour, thoughts, and feelings. Information dependence is an individual’s reliance on others for information about how to think, feel, and act. This dependence allows others to influence our thoughts, feelings, and actions via the signals they send to us. The process through which this occurs is explained by social information processing theory. According to social information processing theory, information from others is used to interpret events and develop expectations about appropriate and acceptable attitudes and behaviours. Individuals are often motivated to compare their own thoughts, feelings, and actions with those of others as a means of acquiring information about their adequacy. The effects of social comparison can be very strong, often exerting as much or more influence over others as objective reality. Thus, individual behaviour is influenced and shaped by others. An individual is also dependent on the effects of his or her behaviour as determined by the rewards and punishments provided by others. Effect dependence refers to the reliance on others due to their capacity to provide rewards and punishment. Two factors promote such effect dependence. First, the group frequently has a vested interest in how individual members think and act because this can affect the goal attainment of the group. Second, the member frequently desires the approval of the group. In combination, these circumstances promote effect dependence. Both managers and co-workers have a variety of effects to keep individual members “under the influence.” The Social Influence Process and Conformity Much of the information and many of the effects on which group members depend are oriented toward enforcing social norms that have been established by the group. Much of the information and many of the effects on which group members are dependent are oriented toward enforcing group norms. There are three different motives for social conformity. Compliance is the simplest, most direct motive for conformity. It involves conformity to a social norm prompted by the desire to acquire rewards or avoid punishment. Individuals adjust their behaviour to a norm without really subscribing to the beliefs, values, and attitudes that underlie the norm. As such, it primarily involves effect dependence and reveals sensitivity to rewards and punishment. Identification involves conformity to a social norm prompted by perceptions that those who promote the norm are attractive or similar to oneself. Such identification is often revealed by an imitation process in which established members serve as models for the behaviour of others. Although there are elements of effect dependence here, information dependence is especially important. Internalization is conformity to a social norm prompted by true acceptance of the beliefs, values, and attitudes that underlie the norm. Conformity occurs because it is seen as right not because of rewards and punishments. It is due to internal rather than external forces. The motives for social conformity show that simple compliance can set the stage for more complete identification and involvement with organizational norms and roles. The process through which this occurs in organizations is known as organizational socialization. Organizational Socialization Socialization is the process by which people learn the attitudes, knowledge, and behaviours that are necessary to function in a group or organization. Socialization is a learning process and one of the primary means by which organizations communicate the organization’s culture and values to new members. The socialization process is shown in Exhibit 8.1 of the text. It shows how different socialization methods (realistic job previews, employee orientation programs, socialization tactics, mentoring, proactive behaviours) influence immediate or proximal socialization outcomes (learning, task mastery, social integration, role conflict, role ambiguity, and person–job and person–organization fit). The proximal outcomes then lead to distal or longer-term outcomes (job satisfaction, organizational commitment, organizational identification, organizational citizenship behaviour, job performance, stress, and turnover). Learning during socialization has often been described in terms of content areas or domains of learning such as the task, role, group, and organization domain. One of the goals of socialization is to provide new hires with information and knowledge about their role to avoid problems of role conflict and role ambiguity. An important objective of organizational socialization is for newcomers to achieve a good fit. There are two kinds of fit. Person–job fit (PJ fit) refers to the match between an employee’s knowledge, skills, and abilities and the requirements of a job. Person–organization fit (PO fit) refers to the match between an employee’s personal values and the values of an organization. Research has found that both PJ and PO fit are influenced by the socialization process and related to job attitudes and behaviours. One of the primary goals of organizational socialization is to ensure that new employees learn and understand the key beliefs, values, and assumptions of an organization’s culture and for individuals to define themselves in terms of the organization and what it is perceived to represent. This is known as organizational identification and it reflects an individual’s learning and acceptance of an organization’s culture. Socialization is an ongoing process and is most potent during certain periods of membership transition, such as when one is promoted or assigned to a new work group or department, and especially when one joins a new organization. Stages of Socialization Organizational socialization is an ongoing process that can be divided into three stages. The first two stages represent hurdles for achieving passage into the third stage. Anticipatory Socialization. This socialization occurs before a person becomes a member of a particular organization. It can be a formal process of skill and attitude acquisition such as that which might occur through school experience or it can be informal through summer jobs, or even via the popular media. Not all anticipatory socialization is accurate and useful for the new member. Encounter. In the encounter stage, the new recruit encounters the day-to-day reality of organizational life. There are formal aspects to this process such as orientation programs as well as informal aspects like getting to know one’s boss and co-workers. The organization is looking for an acceptable degree of conformity to organizational norms and appropriate role behaviour while recruits are interested in having their personal needs and expectations fulfilled. Role Management. The new member is now fine tuning and actively managing his or her role in the organization and might be in a position to modify the role to better serve the organization. He/she must also confront balancing the organizational role with non-work roles and family demands. Unrealistic Expectations and the Psychological Contract People join organizations with expectations about what membership will be like and what they expect to receive in return for their efforts. Unfortunately, these expectations are often unrealistic and agreements between new members and organizations are often breached. Unrealistic Expectations. Although people have expectations about their jobs in organizations, many such expectations held by entering members are inaccurate and often unrealistically high. As a result, once they enter an organization they experience a “reality shock” and their expectations are not met. Occupational stereotypes are partly responsible as is the media which often communicates such stereotypes. At other times corporate recruiters paint rosy pictures in order to attract job candidates to the organization. Newcomers who have higher met expectations have higher job satisfaction, organizational commitment, job performance, and job survival and lower intentions to leave. Psychological Contract. When people join organizations, they have ideas about what they expect to receive from the organization in return for what they will give the organization. Such beliefs form what is known as the psychological contract and refers to beliefs held by employees concerning their reciprocal obligations between them and their organization. Unfortunately, psychological contract breach appears to be a common occurrence in organizations. Perceptions of psychological contract breach occur when an employee perceives that his or her organization has failed to fulfill one or more of its promises or obligations of the psychological contract. This often results in feelings of anger and betrayal and can have a negative effect on employees’ work attitudes and behaviour because it results in negative emotions that stem from feelings of violation and mistrust toward management. Psychological contract breach is partly due to recruiters who promise more than the organization can provide as well organizational changes. Besides ensuring that truthful and accurate information about promises and obligations is communicated to new members, there is also some evidence that what organizations give employees is itself very important. Methods of Socialization Organizations differ in the extent to which they socialize their members. Some organizations make use of other organizations to help socialize their members. Organizations that handle their own socialization are especially interested in maintaining the continuity and stability of job behaviours over a period of time. Those that rely on external agencies to perform anticipatory socialization are oriented toward maintaining the potential for creative, innovative behaviour on the part of members. Such organizations will usually supplement it with formal training and orientation or informal, on-the-job training. The point is that organizations differ in terms of who does the socializing, how it is done, and how much is done. Most organizations make use of a number of methods of socialization including realistic job previews, employee orientation programs, socialization tactics, and mentoring. Realistic Job Previews Some organizations use realistic job previews to adjust unrealistically high expectations that recruits bring to a job. Realistic job previews provide a balanced, realistic picture of the positive and negative aspects of a job to applicants. They may employ booklets or video presentations. Research Evidence: Realistic job previews have been shown to reduce inflated expectations and turnover and to improve job performance. Reasons for the reduction for turnover include lower expectations and increased job satisfaction. As well, applicants who decide to remain in the hiring process are likely to have higher perceptions of PJ and PO fit while those who withdraw have lower fit perceptions, a process known as self-selection. There is also some evidence that organizations that provide realistic job previews are perceived by job applicants as more honest and trustworthy. Employee Orientation Programs Employee orientation programs are designed to introduce new employees to their job, the people they will be working with, and the organization. The main content of most orientation programs consists of health and safety issues, terms and conditions of employment, and information about the organization, such as its history and traditions. Another purpose of new employee orientation programs is to begin conveying and forming the psychological contract and to teach newcomers how to cope with stressful work situations. Orientation programs that are designed to help newcomers cope with stress are called Realistic Orientation Program for Entry Stress (ROPES). They teach newcomers how to use cognitive and behavioural coping techniques to manage workplace stressors. Most orientation programs take place during the first week of entry and last one day to one week. Research Evidence. Orientation programs are an important method of socialization because they can have an immediate effect on learning and a lasting effect on the job attitudes and behaviours of new hires. They have also been found to lower turnover. Socialization Tactics Socialization tactics refer to the manner in which organizations structure the early work experiences of newcomers and individuals who are in transition from one role to another. There are six socialization tactics that vary on a bipolar continuum and can be grouped into two separate patterns of socialization called institutionalized and individualized socialization. Institutionalized socialization consists of collective, formal, sequential, fixed, serial, and investiture tactics. Individualized socialization consists of individual, informal, random, variable, disjunctive, and divestiture tactics. Institutionalized socialization reflects a more formalized and structured program of socialization that reduces uncertainty and encourages new hires to accept organizational norms and maintain the status quo. Individualized socialization reflects a relative absence of structure that creates ambiguity and encourages new hires to question the status quo and develop their own approach to their role. The tactics can also been distinguished in terms of the context in which information is presented to new hires, the content provided to new hires, and the social aspects of socialization. The six socialization tactics dimensions are as follows: Collective versus Individual Tactics. When using the collective tactic, a number of new members are socialized as a group, going through the same experiences and facing the same challenges. The individual tactic consists of socialization experiences that are tailor-made for each new member. Simple on-the-job training and apprenticeship to develop skilled craftspeople constitute individual socialization. Formal versus Informal Tactics. Formal tactics involve segregating newcomers from regular organizational members and providing them with formal learning experiences during the period of socialization. Informal tactics, however, do not distinguish a newcomer from more experienced members and rely more on informal and on-the-job learning. Sequential versus Random Tactics. The sequential tactic involves a fixed sequence of steps leading to the assumption of the role, compared with the random tactic in which there is an ambiguous or changing sequence. Fixed versus Variable Tactics. Fixed socialization consists of a time table for the assumption of the role. The variable tactic does not provide a time frame to indicate when the socialization process ends and the newcomer assumes his/her new role. Serial versus Disjunctive Tactics. The serial tactic refers to a process where newcomers are socialized by experienced members of the organization. The disjunctive tactic refers to a socialization process where role models and experienced organization members do not groom new members or “show them the ropes.” Investiture versus Divestiture Tactics. Divestiture tactics refer to what is also known as debasement and hazing. This is seen when organizations put new members through a series of experiences that are designed to humble them and strip away some of their initial self-confidence. Debasement is a way of testing the commitment of new members and correcting for faulty anticipatory socialization. Investiture socialization affirms the incoming identity and attributes of new hires rather than deny and strip them away. Organizations that carefully select new members for certain attributes and characteristics would be more likely to use this tactic. Research Evidence. Institutionalized socialization tactics have been found to be related to proximal outcomes, such as lower role ambiguity and conflict and more positive perceptions of PJ and PO fit, as well as distal outcomes, such as more positive job satisfaction and organizational commitment and lower stress and turnover. In addition, the institutionalized socialization tactics result in a more custodial role orientation in which new hires accept the status quo and the requirements of their tasks and roles. The individualized socialization tactics result in a more innovative role orientation. The social tactics (serial-disjunctive and investiture-divestiture) have been found to be the most strongly related to socialization outcomes. Mentoring A mentor is an experienced or more senior person in the organization who gives a junior person guidance and special attention, such as giving advice and creating opportunities to assist him or her during the early stages of his or her career. Mentoring is a type of developmental relationship that produces benefits for a protégé’s work and/or career. To be effective, mentors must perform both career and psychosocial functions. Career Functions of Mentoring. A mentor provides a number of career-enhancing benefits to an apprentice. The career functions of mentoring include: • Sponsorship. The mentor might nominate the apprentice for advantageous transfers and promotions. • Exposure and visibility. The mentor might provide opportunities to work with key people and see other parts of the organization. • Coaching and feedback. The mentor might suggest work strategies and identify strengths and weaknesses in the apprentice’s performance. • Developmental assignments. Challenging work assignments that will help develop key skills and knowledge that are crucial to career progress. Psychosocial Functions of Mentoring. Mentors can also provide certain psychosocial functions that are helpful in developing the apprentice’s self-confidence, sense of identity, and ability to cope with emotional traumas that can damage a person’s effectiveness. These include: • Role modeling. This provides a set of attitudes, values, and behaviours for the junior person to imitate. • Providing acceptance and confirmation. The mentor can also provide encouragement and support and help the apprentice gain self-confidence. • Counselling. This provides an opportunity to discuss personal concerns and anxieties concerning career prospects, work-family conflicts, and so on. Formal mentoring programs, in which seasoned employees are recruited as mentors and matched with protégés as part of an organizationally sponsored program, have become increasingly popular in recent years. Women and Mentors. Women face particular difficulty in establishing an apprentice-mentor relationship with a senior person in the organization which inhibits their career development. The lack of mentors and role models is a major barrier for the career advancement of many women. The problem stems from the fact that the senior people who are in the best position to be mentors are frequently men, and men are also more likely to serve as mentors than are women. Because of these concerns, the prospective female apprentice faces more constraints than her male counterpart. Apprentices in a cross-gender dyad are less likely to see their mentor as a role model and, therefore, are less likely to realize the developmental benefits of an effective model. However, formal mentoring programs have helped to remove the barriers facing women in finding a mentor. A review of gender differences in mentoring found that males and females are equally likely to have been a protégé. Male and female protégés report receiving equal amounts of career development mentoring and female protégés report receiving more psychosocial support. The negative effects associated with cross-gender dyads dissipates as the mentoring relationship develops over time. The research evidence suggests that mentoring is even more critical to women’s career success than it is to men’s and women who make it to executive positions invariably had a mentor along the way. Almost all say that their mentor has had an impact on the advancement of their career. Race, Ethnicity, and Mentoring. Limited racial and ethnic diversity at the top of organizations similarly constrains the mentoring opportunities available to younger minority group employees. Mentors tend to select apprentices who are similar to them in terms of race and nationality as well as gender. Minority apprentices in cross-ethnic group mentoring relationships tend to report less assistance compared with those with same-race mentors. Such relationships tend to focus more on the career functions of mentoring and provide less psychosocial support functions than in same-race dyads. Research Evidence. Mentored individuals have been found to have higher objective career outcomes (compensation and the number of promotions), as well as higher subjective outcomes (greater satisfaction with one’s job and career and greater career commitment), and they were more likely to believe that they will advance in their career. Mentoring tends to be more strongly related to subjective than the objective career outcomes. The psychosocial function is more strongly related to satisfaction with the mentoring relationship while the career function is more strongly related to compensation and advancement. Both functions are just as important in generating positive attitudes toward one’s job and career. Research on formal mentoring programs has found that they are just as beneficial as informal relationships and more beneficial than not having a mentor at all. Formal mentoring programs have been found to be most effective when the mentor and protégé have input into the matching process and when they receive training prior to the mentoring relationship, especially training that is perceived to be of a high quality. Newcomers can have more than one mentor that form part of a developmental network. Developmental networks refer to groups of people who take an active interest in and actions toward advancing a protégé’s career by providing developmental assistance. In a developmental network a protégé can have multiple developers from inside and outside (e.g., family and community) of the organization and include people from different hierarchical levels of the organization (e.g., peers, superiors, subordinates, and senior managers). Proactive Socialization Proactive socialization refers to the process in which newcomers play an active role in their own socialization through the use of a number of proactive socialization behaviours. Two of the most important proactive behaviours are to request feedback about one’s work and job performance (feedback seeking) and to seek information about one’s work tasks, roles, work group, and organization (information seeking). Newcomers can acquire information by requesting it, asking questions, and by observing the behaviour of others. They can acquire information from supervisors, co-workers, mentors, and written documents. Research has found that newcomers rely primarily on observation, followed by interpersonal sources. They tend to seek out task-related information the most, especially during the early period of socialization. Newcomers can also be proactive by participating in social events (general socializing), developing friendships and relationships with co-workers (relationship building), developing a friendship and relationship with one’s boss (boss-relationship building), getting to know people outside of one’s department or work area (networking), and by attempting to change or modify one’s tasks to improve PJ fit (job change negotiation). Research Evidence. Newcomers who engage in proactive behaviours more frequently are more likely to obtain the corresponding proactive outcomes which results in more positive proximal and distal socialization outcomes. Organizational Culture To a large degree, the course of socialization both depends on and shapes the culture of the organization. What Is Organizational Culture? Informally, culture is thought of as an organization’s style, atmosphere, or personality. Culture provides uniqueness and social identity to organizations. More formally, organizational culture consists of the shared beliefs, values, and assumptions that exist in an organization. These shared beliefs, values, and assumptions determine the norms that develop and the patterns of behaviour that emerge from these norms. Several characteristics of culture are important: • Culture represents a true “way of life” for organizational members, who often take its influence for granted. • Because culture involves basic assumptions, values, and beliefs, it tends to be fairly stable over time. • The content of a culture can involve matters that are internal to the organization or external. • Culture can have a strong impact on both organizational performance and member satisfaction. Organizations can have several subcultures that reflect departmental or occupational differences. Subcultures are smaller cultures that develop within a larger organizational culture that are based on differences in training, occupation, or departmental goals. Effective organizations develop an overarching culture that manages these differences. The “Strong Culture” Concept Strong cultures reflect an organizational culture with intense and pervasive beliefs, values, and assumptions. Great consensus exists in strong cultures about the nature and practices of the organization and “what the organization is about.” In weak cultures, beliefs, values, and assumptions are less strongly ingrained or less widely shared across the organization. Thus, they are fragmented and have less impact on organizational members. Organizations that have strong cultures include Hilti (Canada) Corp., Boston Pizza, and WestJet Airlines. Three points are worth emphasizing about strong cultures. First, an organization need not be big to have a strong culture. Second, strong cultures do not necessarily result in blind conformity. Finally, strong cultures are associated with greater success and effectiveness. Assets of Strong Cultures Organizations with strong cultures have several potential advantages. Coordination. The overarching values and assumptions of strong cultures facilitate the coordination of different parts of the organization and communication. Conflict Resolution. Sharing core values is a powerful mechanism that helps to resolve conflicts. Financial Success. Strong cultures contribute to financial success and other indicators of organizational effectiveness when the culture supports the mission, strategy and goals of the organization. A good example of this that is described in the text is WestJet Airlines. Liabilities of Strong Cultures Strong cultures can also be a liability under some circumstances. Resistance to Change. The same strong consensus about common values and appropriate behaviour that makes for a strong culture can prove to be very resistant to change. This means that a strong culture can damage a firm’s ability to innovate. Culture Clash. Strong cultures pushed together in a merger or acquisition can result in a culture clash. Pathology. Some strong cultures can threaten organizational effectiveness because they are in some way pathological. Such cultures are based on beliefs, values, and assumptions that support a pathology of infighting, secrecy, and paranoia that leave little time to do business. Contributors to the Culture Two important factors explain how cultures are built and maintained: the founder’s role and socialization. The Founder’s Role. Many strong cultures reflect the values of an organization’s founder. Stories about the founder provides continuing reinforcement of the organization’s key values. In a similar way, top management strongly shapes the organization’s culture. Socialization. The precise nature of the socialization process is a key to the culture that emerges in an organization because socialization is one of the primary means by which individuals can learn the culture’s beliefs, values, and assumptions. Organizations with strong cultures go to great pains to expose employees to a careful, step-by-step socialization process: Step 1 - Selecting Employees. New employees are carefully selected to obtain those who will be able to adapt to the existing culture. Realistic job previews are provided to allow candidates to deselect themselves. Step 2 - Debasement and Hazing. Debasement and hazing provoke humility in new hires so that they are open to the norms of the organization. Step 3 - Training “in the Trenches.” Training begins “in the trenches” so that employees begin to master one of the core areas of the organization. Step 4 - Reward and Promotion. The reward and promotion system is carefully used to reinforce those employees who perform well in areas that support the values and goals of the organization. Step 5 - Exposure to Core Culture. Again and again, the culture’s core beliefs, values, and assumptions are asserted to provide guidance for member behaviour. Step 6 - Organizational Folklore. Members are exposed to folklore about the organization, stories that reinforce the nature of the culture. Step 7 - Role Models. Identifying people as “fast trackers” provides new members with role models whose actions and views are consistent with the culture. What is most important about this process is the consistency among these steps and their mutually reinforcing properties that make for a strong culture. Diagnosing a Culture One way to learn about the culture of an organization is to examine the symbols, rituals, and stories that characterize the organization’s way of life. For insiders, these symbols, rituals, and stories are mechanisms that teach, communicate, and reinforce the company’s culture. Symbols. Symbols such as a corporate motto or mascot provide common meaning and reinforce cultural values and what the company considers important. Rituals. Rituals and ceremonies such as parties and gatherings are expressive events that define and build the culture. They send a cultural message and convey the essence of an organization’s culture. Stories. The folklore of organizations – stories about past organizational events – is a common aspect of culture. Stories told repeatedly across generations of employees communicate “how things work”. Such stories reflect the uniqueness of organizational cultures. Several common themes appear to underline many organizational stories (e.g., is the big boss human?). Issues of equality, security, and control underlie the stories that pursue these themes. Such stories often have a “good” and a “bad” version. A TEACHING TIP: DEBASEMENT AND HAZING One subject that always produces some spirited classroom discussion is the use of debasement and hazing in organizations as part of the socialization process. You might ask your students to generate some examples of such procedures from their own experience. Try to get them to generate some formal, organizationally sanctioned examples (e.g., the head shaving of marine recruits) as well as informal examples. In the latter category, our students have told us about being sent to get a bucket of steam in an industrial plant and a department store tailor asking them to go purchase some striped thread. It can be useful to start this off with an example from your own experience. One of the authors cites how as a rookie steel worker he was led by an old hand across a very high narrow beam to get to a crane that was parked right at a ladder. The walk had been totally unnecessary! It can also be useful to show how some familiar organizations haze and debase. In a New York Times (December 26, 1982) article, Terry Trucco describes how new Mister Donut franchisees in Japan were required on their first day of management training to go door-to-door offering to scrub family toilets! Instilling a sense of community service was the stated goal. In a Wall Street Journal (July 27, 1995) article, Thomas Ricks graphically describes how hazing of U.S. Marines is sometimes so effective that they no longer feel part of the larger society. In this discussion, it is important to get around to the functions of hazing, both positive and negative. CHAPTER 9 LEADERSHIP CHAPTER LEARNING OBJECTIVES After reading Chapter 9, students should be able to: LO9.1 Define leadership and discuss the role of formal leadership in organizations. LO9.2 Explain and critically evaluate the trait theory of leadership. LO9.3 Describe the following leadership behaviours and their consequences: consideration, initiating structure, leader reward, and leader punishment. LO9.4 Describe and evaluate the following situational theories of leadership: Fiedler’s contingency theory, cognitive resource theory, and House’s path-goal theory. LO9.5 Discuss participative leadership and how and when to use participative leadership using the Vroom and Jago model. LO9.6 Describe and evaluate leader-member exchange (LMX) theory. LO9.7 Describe transactional and transformational leadership and their consequences. LO9.8 Discuss global leadership and describe the characteristics of global leaders. LO9.9 Discuss the new and emerging theories of leadership include empowering leadership, ethical leadership, authentic leadership, and servant leadership. LO9.10Discuss the GLOBE project and explain the role that culture plays in leadership effectiveness. LO9.11Describe gender differences in leadership and explain why women are underrepresented in leadership roles in organizations. CHAPTER OUTLINE AND TEACHING NOTES What Is Leadership? Leadership occurs when particular individuals exert influence on the goal achievement of others in an organizational context. Effective leadership exerts influence in a way that achieves organizational goals by enhancing the productivity, innovation, satisfaction, and commitment of the workforce. Leadership is about motivating people and gaining their commitment. Strategic leadership refers to a leader’s “ability to anticipate, envision, maintain flexibility, think strategically, and work with others to initiate changes that will create a viable future for the organization.” Strategic leaders are open and honest in their interactions with the organization’s stakeholders, and they focus on the future. Some people occupy formal or assigned leadership roles in which they are expected to influence others, and they are given specific authority to direct employees. Others may emerge to occupy informal leadership roles. Since they do not have formal authority, they must rely on being well liked or perceived as highly skilled in order to exert influence. Are Leaders Born? The Trait Theory of Leadership Throughout history, social observers have been fascinated by obvious examples of successful interpersonal influence. The implicit assumption is that those who become leaders and do a good job of it possess a special set of traits that distinguish them from the masses of followers. This approach to leadership is known as the trait theory of leadership which states that leadership depends on the personal qualities or traits of the leader. Trait theories of leadership, however, did not receive serious scientific attention until the 1900s. Research on Leadership Traits Traits are personal characteristics of individuals such as physical characteristics, intellectual ability, and personality. Research on leadership has mostly focused on traits associated with demographics, task competence, and interpersonal attributes. Research indicates that many traits are not associated with leadership. In recent years, there has been a renewed interest in the study of leadership traits, and a number of studies have shown that certain traits are closely linked to leadership emergence and effectiveness. For example, all five of the “Big Five” personality dimensions are related to leadership emergence and success. Extraversion and conscientiousness are the most consistent predictors of leadership effectiveness. Intelligence is also related to leadership effectiveness although not as strongly as previously thought. The relationship between traits and leadership effectiveness has been shown to be stronger for affective and relational measures of effectiveness than for performance-related measures. Limitations of the Trait Approach Even though some traits appear to be related to leadership and leadership effectiveness, there are several reasons why the trait approach is not the best means of understanding and improving leadership. First, it is difficult for us to determine whether traits make the leader or whether the opportunity for leadership produces traits. Second, even if we know which traits are associated with effective leadership, we have no information about what they do to influence others successfully which means that we do not know how to train and develop leaders and no way to diagnose failures of leadership. Third, the most crucial problem of the trait approach to leadership is its failure to take into account the situation in which leadership occurs. Finally, because the trait approach leads us to believe that people are more likely to become a leader or to be a more effective leader because they possess certain traits, this can lead to bias and discrimination when it comes to evaluating a leader’s effectiveness and decisions about promoting people to leadership positions. In summary, although some traits are associated with leadership, traits alone are not sufficient for successful leadership. Traits are only a precondition for certain actions that a leader must take in order to be successful. Further, there is some evidence that leader behaviours have a greater impact on leadership effectiveness than leader traits. The Behaviour of Leaders What are the crucial behaviours that leaders engage in, and how do these behaviours influence employee performance and satisfaction? Is there a particular leadership style that is more effective than other possible styles? The most involved, systematic study of leadership took place at Ohio State University in the 1940s. This research had employees describe their superiors along a number of behavioural dimensions. Analyses of these descriptions revealed two basic types of leadership behaviour — consideration and initiating structure. Consideration and Initiating Structure Consideration is the extent to which a leader is approachable and shows personal concern for employees. The considerate leader is seen as friendly and egalitarian, expresses appreciation and support, and is protective of group welfare. Initiating structure is the degree to which a leader concentrates on group goal attainment. The structuring leader clearly defines and organizes his or her role and the roles of followers, stresses standard procedures, schedules the work to be done, and assigns employees to particular tasks. Consideration and initiating structure are not incompatible; a leader can be high, low, or average on one or both dimensions. The Consequences of Consideration and Structure Research shows that consideration and initiating structure both contribute positively to employees’ motivation, job satisfaction, and leader effectiveness. However, consideration is more strongly related to follower satisfaction (leader satisfaction and job satisfaction), motivation, and leader effectiveness, while initiating structure is slightly more strongly related to leader job performance and group performance. There is some evidence that the relative importance of consideration and initiating structure varies according to the nature of the leadership situation: • When employees are under a high degree of pressure due to deadlines, unclear tasks, or external threat, initiating structure increases satisfaction and performance. • When the task itself is intrinsically satisfying, the need for high consideration and high structure is generally reduced. • When the goals and methods of performing the job are very clear and certain, consideration should promote employee satisfaction, while structure might promote dissatisfaction. • When employees lack knowledge as to how to perform a job, or the job itself has vague goals or methods, consideration becomes less important, while initiating structure takes on additional importance. In summary, the effects of consideration and initiating structure often depend on characteristics of the task, the employee, and the setting in which work is performed. Leader Reward and Punishment Behaviours Two additional leader behaviours are leader reward behaviour and leader punishment behaviour. Leader reward behaviour provides employees with compliments, tangible benefits, and deserved special treatment. When rewards are made contingent on performance, employees should perform at a high level and experience job satisfaction. Leader punishment behaviour involves the use of reprimands or unfavourable task assignments and the active withholding of raises, promotions, and other rewards. Research has found that contingent leader reward and punishment behaviour is positively related to employees’ perceptions (e.g., trust in supervisor), attitudes (e.g., job satisfaction and organizational commitment), and behaviour (e.g., effort, performance, organizational citizenship behaviour). Non-contingent punishment behaviour is negatively related to these outcomes. The relationships are stronger when rewards and punishment are made contingent on employee behaviour. The manner in which leaders administer rewards and punishment is a critical determinant of their effectiveness. Leader reward and punishment behaviour are related to employee attitudes and behaviours because they lead to more positive perceptions of justice and lower role ambiguity. Situational Theories of Leadership The situation refers to the setting in which influence attempts occur. According to situational theories of leadership, the effectiveness of a leadership style is contingent or depends on the setting. The setting includes the characteristics of the employees, the nature of the task they are performing, and characteristics of the organization. Two situational theories of leadership that are among the best known and most studied are Fiedler’s Contingency Theory and House’s Path Goal Theory. Fiedler’s Contingency Theory and Cognitive Resource Theory Fiedler’s contingency theory suggests that the association between leadership orientation and group effectiveness is contingent on (depends on) the extent to which the situation is favourable for the exertion of influence. Fiedler has measured leadership orientation by having leaders describe their least preferred co-worker (LPC), a current or past co-worker with whom the leader had a difficult time accomplishing a task. The leader who describes the LPC relatively favourably (a high LPC score) is considered relationship oriented, while the leader who describes the LPC unfavourably (a low LPC score) is considered task oriented. Fiedler has argued that the LPC score reveals a personality trait that reflects the leader’s motivational structure. High LPC leaders are motivated to maintain interpersonal relations, while low LPC leaders are motivated to accomplish the task. Situational favourableness is the “contingency” part of contingency theory as it specifies when a particular LPC orientation should contribute most to group effectiveness. The factors that affect situational favourableness, in order of importance, are leader-member relations, task structure, and position power. The situation is most favourable for leadership when leader-member relations are good, the task is highly structured, and the leader has strong position power. The situation is least favourable when leader-member relations are poor, the task is unstructured, and the leader has weak position power. Fiedler’s model suggests that a task orientation (low LPC) is most effective when the leadership situation is very favourable or when it is very unfavourable. A relationship orientation (high LPC) is most effective in conditions of medium favourability. Fiedler has revised contingency theory and developed a new theory of leadership called cognitive resource theory (CRT). The focus of CRT is the conditions in which a leader’s cognitive resources (intelligence, expertise, and experience) contribute to effective leadership. The essence of CRT is that the importance of intelligence for leadership effectiveness depends on the directiveness of the leader, group support for the leader, and the stressfulness of the situation. Research Evidence. Although contingency theory has been the subject of much debate, it now appears that a major source of the many inconsistent findings regarding contingency theory is the small sample sizes that researchers used in many of the studies. Advances in correcting for this problem statistically have led recent reviewers to conclude that there is reasonable support for the theory although it does need some refinement. Research on CRT has found support for the prediction that experience predicts performance in high-stress situations, while intelligence predicts performance in low-stress situations. Leader intelligence is more strongly related to group performance when the leader is directive and has the support of the group. House’s Path-Goal Theory Path-goal theory is concerned with the situations under which various leader behaviours are most effective. The Theory. According to path-goal theory, the most important activities of leaders are those that clarify the paths to various goals of interest to employees. The opportunity to achieve such goals promotes job satisfaction, leader acceptance, and high effort. Thus, the effective leader forms a connection between employee goals and organizational goals. To provide job satisfaction and leader acceptance, leader behaviour must be perceived as either immediately satisfying or leading to future satisfaction. To promote employee effort, leaders must make rewards dependent on performance and ensure that employees have a clear understanding of how these rewards can be achieved. The leader might have to provide support through direction, guidance, and coaching. Leader Behaviour. There are four specific kinds of leader behaviour in path-goal theory: • Directive behaviour. Directive behaviour is essentially the same as initiating structure. • Supportive behaviour. Supportive behaviour is essentially the same as consideration. • Participative behaviour. Participative leaders consult with employees about work-related matters and consider their opinions. • Achievement-oriented behaviour. These leaders encourage employees to exert high effort and strive for a high level of goal accomplishment. Situational Factors. The impact of leader behaviour on employee satisfaction, effort, and acceptance of the leader depends on the nature of employees and the work environment. Different types of employees need or prefer different forms of leadership. For example, employees who are high need achievers should work well under achievement-oriented leadership. The effectiveness of leadership behaviour also depends on the particular work environment. For example, when tasks are clear and routine, employees will perceive directive leadership as redundant and unnecessary. When tasks are challenging but ambiguous, employees should appreciate both directive and participative leadership. Frustrating, dissatisfying jobs should increase employee appreciation of supportive behaviour. Thus, effective leadership should take advantage of the motivating and satisfying aspects of jobs while offsetting or compensating for those job aspects that demotivate or dissatisfy. Research Evidence. In general, there is some research support for the situational propositions of the theory. Supportive or considerate leader behaviour is most beneficial in supervising routine, frustrating, or dissatisfying jobs. Directive or structuring leader behaviour is most effective on ambiguous, less structured jobs. As well, the theory is more effective in predicting employee job satisfaction and acceptance of the leader than in predicting employee performance. Participative Leadership: Involving Employees in Decisions An important leadership style that is included in path-goal theory is participative leadership. What Is Participation? Participative leadership means involving employees in making work-related decisions. Participation might range from obtaining employee opinions before making decisions to allowing employees to make their own decisions within agreed-upon limits. Participation can involve individual employees or a group of employees. The choice of a participation strategy should be tailored to specific situations. Potential Advantages of Participative Leadership Participation can be a useful leadership technique with several potential advantages. Motivation. Participation increases the motivation of employees. Participation allows employees to contribute to the establishment of work goals and to decide how these goals can be accomplished. Also, participation may increase intrinsic motivation by enriching employees’ jobs. Quality. Participation leads to higher quality decisions than the leader could make alone, particularly when employees have special knowledge to contribute to the decision. Participation can also enhance quality because it empowers employees to take direct action to solve problems without checking every detail with the boss and gives employees the authority, opportunity, and motivation to take initiative and solve problems. Acceptance. Participation increases employees’ acceptance of decisions, especially when issues of fairness are involved. Potential Problems of Participative Leadership Participation has some potential difficulties. Time and Energy. Participation requires specific behaviours from the leader and these behaviours use time and energy. Participation is not an appropriate leadership strategy when quick decisions have to be made. Loss of Power. Some leaders feel that a participative style will reduce their power and influence. As a result, they sometimes respond by asking employees to make trivial decisions and this will not lead to positive consequences. Lack of Receptivity or Knowledge. Participation may fail because employees are not receptive to participation especially when the leader is not trusted or when a poor labour climate exists. Employees might also lack the knowledge to contribute effectively to decisions because they are unaware of external constraints on their decision. Vroom and Jago’s Situational Model of Participation The Vroom and Jago Model attempts to specify when participation should be used and to what extent it should be used. The model takes into account various degrees of participation that can be exhibited by the leader including autocratic, consultative, and group consensus. The most effective strategy depends on the situation or problem at hand. In general, the leader’s goal should be to make high-quality decisions to which employees will be adequately committed without undue delay. To do this he or she must consider a number of questions in a decision tree that take into account the quality requirement, the need for employee commitment, problem structure, and so on (see Exhibit 9.5, page 320). By taking a problem through the decision tree, the leader can determine the correct degree of participation for the problem solving situation. The tree shows the fastest approach possible that still maintains decision quality and commitment. Research Evidence. Following the Vroom and Jago model prescriptions is more likely to lead to successful managerial decisions than unsuccessful decisions. The model has been used frequently in management development seminars. In general, employees who participate in work-related decisions are more satisfied than those who do not and have higher task performance and organizational citizenship behaviour toward the organization. Thus, most workers seem to prefer a participative work environment. Participation should work best when employees feel favourably toward it, when they are intelligent and knowledgeable about the issue at hand, and when the task is complex enough to make participation useful. Like any other leadership strategy, the usefulness of participation depends on the constraints of the situation. Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) Theory Leader member exchange or LMX theory is a theory of leadership that focuses on the quality of the relationship that develops between a leader and an employee. Unlike other theories of leadership that focus on leader traits and behaviours, the focus of LMX theory is the relationship between a leader and an employee. The basic idea is that over time and through the course of their interactions, different types of relationships develop between leaders and employees. The relationship between a leader and his or her employees will differ in terms of the quality of the relationship. The basis for the effects of LMX is social exchange theory, which posits that individuals who are treated favourably by others will feel a sense of obligation to reciprocate by responding positively and returning that favourable treatment in some manner. Employees in a high-quality relationship with their supervisor will reciprocate with extra effort and higher commitment and performance. High quality relationships or high LMX involve a high degree of mutual influence and obligation as well as trust, loyalty, and respect between a leader and an employee. Low-quality relationships or low LMX is characterized by low trust, respect, obligation, and mutual support. Research Evidence. Research has found that the quality of LMX is related to employee self-efficacy, overall satisfaction, satisfaction with supervision, organizational commitment, organizational citizenship behaviour, role clarity, job performance, creativity, and lower role conflict and turnover intentions. Higher quality LMX relationships have positive consequences for leaders, employees, work units, and organizations. Transactional and Transformational Leadership Theory Transactional leadership is leadership that is based on a fairly straightforward exchange between the leader and the followers—leaders set goals and provide direction and support, employees perform well, and the leader rewards them; the leader uses a participatory style, and the employees come up with good ideas. Transactional leadership involves contingent reward behaviour and management by exception. Management by exception is the degree to which the leader takes corrective action on the basis of results of leader–follower transactions. They monitor follower behaviour, anticipate problems, and take corrective actions before the behaviour creates serious problems. Transformational leadership involves providing followers with a new vision that instills true commitment. Transformational leaders change the beliefs and attitudes of followers to correspond to a new vision and motivates them to achieve performance beyond expectations. Bernard Bass notes that transformational leaders are usually good at the transactional aspects of clarifying paths to goals and rewarding good performance but more importantly there are four qualities (dimensions/behaviours) that set them apart from transactional leaders: Intellectual stimulation, individualized consideration, inspirational motivation, and charisma. Intellectual Stimulation This contributes in part to the “new vision” aspect of transformational leadership. People are stimulated to think about problems, issues, and strategies in new ways. Individualized Consideration This involves treating employees as distinct individuals, indicating concern for their needs and personal development, and serving as a mentor or coach when appropriate. The emphasis is a one-on-one attempt to meet the concerns and needs of the individual in question in the context of the overall goal or mission. Inspirational Motivation This involves the communication of visions that are appealing and inspiring to followers and stimulates enthusiasm, challenges followers with high standards, communicates optimism about future goal attainment, and provides meaning for the task at hand. Charisma Charisma is by far the most important, aspect of transformational leadership. Charisma is a term stemming from a Greek word meaning favoured or gifted. Charismatic leaders have personal qualities that give them the potential to have extraordinary influence over others. They tend to command strong loyalty and devotion from followers, and this, in turn, inspires enthusiastic dedication and effort dedicated toward the leader’s chosen mission. Charisma provides the emotional aspect of transformational leadership. Other charismatic characteristics include self-confidence, dominance, and a strong conviction in their own beliefs. They hold high expectations for follower performance; their goals have an ideological or moral flavour to them; and they often articulate followers’ feelings in times of stress or discord.. These factors work together to give charismatic leaders their extraordinary potential for influence. Charismatic leadership has been found to be strongly related to follower satisfaction and leadership effectiveness. Although CEOs who are perceived to be more charismatic tend to be perceived as more effective, only one study has found charismatic leadership to be directly related to firm performance. This appears to be especially the case when the environment was perceived to be uncertain. Research Evidence. Transformational leadership has been found to be strongly related to follower motivation and satisfaction (satisfaction with leader and job satisfaction), leader performance, leader effectiveness, and individual, group, and organization performance. Compared to other forms of leader behaviour, transformational leadership has been found to be the most consistent predictor of effective leadership. Several studies have also found that CEO transformational leadership is positively related to organizational performance. Transformational leadership is especially effective during times of change and for obtaining employees’ commitment to a change. It appears that transformational leaders are instrumental in developing high-quality LMX relationships, identification with one’s work unit, self-efficacy, person-organization value congruence, and for enhancing employees’ perceptions of the five core job characteristics of the job characteristics model. Overall, the best leaders are both transformational and transactional. Global Leadership Global leadership involves leadership capabilities to function effectively in different cultures and being able to cross language, social, economic, and political borders. The essence of global leadership is the ability to influence people who are not like the leader and come from different cultural backgrounds. Global leaders need to have a global mindset, tolerate high levels of ambiguity, and exhibit cultural adaptability and flexibility. Global leaders have the following four characteristics: Unbridled Inquisitiveness. Global leaders relish the opportunity to see and experience new things. Personal Character. Global leaders form an emotional connection to people from different cultures and exhibit uncompromising integrity by maintaining high ethical standards and loyalty to their organization’s values. Duality. Global leaders must be able to manage uncertainty and balance global and local tensions. Savvy. Global leaders have business and organizational savvy. They understand the conditions they face in different countries and they are well informed of their organization’s capabilities and international ventures. Individuals with the potential to become global leaders have experience working or living in different cultures, they speak more than one language, and have an aptitude for global business. However, to become an effective global leader requires extensive training that consists of travel to foreign countries; working in teams with members of diverse backgrounds; formal training on topics such as international and global strategy, business and ethics as well as cross-cultural communication and multicultural team leadership. The most powerful strategy for developing global leaders is work experience, transfers, and international assignments. Long-term international assignments are considered to be especially effective. Although most organizations report that they do not have enough global leaders now or for the future, certain countries like Canada are way ahead of most organizations in larger countries like the United States. This is because Canada is a middle economy and Canadian leaders understand and empathize with persons in other cultures. As well, Canadians learn from the cradle to take into account other perspectives. Living in a multicultural environment like Canada is excellent preparation for being a global leader. New and Emerging Theories of Leadership Leadership research has begun to focus on more than just the leader but also the broader context of the leadership process. Four new and emerging theories of leadership include empowering leadership, ethical leadership, authentic leadership, and servant leadership. Empowering Leadership Empowering leadership involves implementing conditions that enable power to be shared with employees. Empowering leaders highlight the significance of employees’ work, provide participation and autonomy in decision making, express confidence in employees’ capabilities, and remove bureaucratic constraints or hindrances to performance. Employees experience a state of psychological empowerment that consists of a feeling that their work is personally important (meaning), a belief in their ability to successfully perform work tasks (competence), freedom to choose how to initiate and carry out one’s tasks (self-determination), and a belief that one’s behaviour is making a difference (impact). Empowering leadership has been found to be related to higher self-efficacy and adaptability of salespeople in a pharmaceutical company which was related to higher job performance and customer-service satisfaction. Empowering leadership has also been found to be related to more creativity-relevant behaviours. Ethical Leadership Ethical leadership involves the demonstration of normatively appropriate conduct (e.g., openness, fairness, and honesty) through personal actions and interpersonal relationships, and the promotion of such conduct to followers through two-way communication, reinforcement, and decision making. Ethical leaders model what is deemed to be normatively appropriate behaviour, make ethics salient in the workplace, and draw attention to it by engaging in explicit ethics-related communications and by setting ethical standards. They reward ethical conduct and discipline those who don’t follow ethical standards and punish unethical behaviour. They consider the ethical consequences of their decisions and make principled and fair decisions that can be observed and emulated by others. To develop an ethical culture and workplace, leaders must have a strong commitment to ethics and raise awareness of and reinforce the importance of ethics. This involves: • Communicate a clear and consistent positive ethics message from the top • Create and embrace opportunities for everyone in the organization to communicate positive ethics, values, and practices. • Ensure consequences for ethical and unethical conduct. Ethical leadership has been found to be positively associated with employee perceptions of honesty, fairness, and effectiveness, and with fewer counterproductive behaviours. Employees of ethical leaders are more satisfied with their supervisor, more willing to devote extra effort to one’s job, more likely to engage in citizenship behaviours, and more willing to report problems to management. The extent to which ethics is an important part of an organization’s culture is influenced by the ethics and moral development of the leader. Ethical leaders have also been found to have a positive effect on employees’ job performance in part because they improve employee perceptions of leader-member exchange (LMX), self-efficacy, organizational identification, task significance, and effort. The ethical leadership of immediate supervisors is likely to have the greatest effect on employees. Authentic Leadership Authentic leadership is a positive form of leadership that involves being true to oneself. Authentic leaders know and act upon their true values, beliefs, and strengths and help others do the same. Their conduct and behaviour is guided by their internal values. Authentic leadership consists of four related but distinct dimensions: • Self-awareness. An understanding of one’s strengths and weaknesses and an awareness of one’s impact on others. • Relational transparency. The presenting of one’s true or authentic self to others and the open sharing of information and expressions of one’s true thoughts and feelings. • Balanced processing. The objective analysis of relevant information before making a decision and consideration of views that challenge one’s own position. • Internalized moral perspective. They have internal moral standards and values that guide their behaviour and decision making. Followers of authentic leaders report higher organizational commitment, job satisfaction, and satisfaction with their supervisor, and exhibit higher organizational citizenship behaviour, work engagement, ethical, and pro-social behaviours. Authentic leadership has also been found to have a positive effect on work groups in terms of psychological capital and trust among group members which was associated with higher group citizenship behaviours and performance. Team members who have authentic leaders have been found to be more authentic themselves and team member authenticity is related to higher-quality teamwork behaviour and team productivity. Servant Leadership Servant leadership is a form of leadership that involves going beyond one’s own self-interests and having a genuine concern to serve others and a motivation to lead. Servant leadership emphasizes the needs of followers and their growth and development. Servant leaders have a need to serve combined with a motivation to lead. A review and synthesis of the research on servant leadership identified the following six key characteristics of servant leader behaviour: ● Empowering and developing people. Providing others with a sense of personal power and encouraging their personal development. ● Humility. Actively seeking the contributions of others and placing their interests first. ● Authenticity. Similar to authentic leadership, this involves expressing one’s true self and in ways that are consistent with one’s inner feelings and thoughts and accurately representing internal states, intentions, and commitments. ● Interpersonal acceptance. The ability to understand and experience the feelings of others and to create an atmosphere of trust where others will feel accepted. ● Providing direction. Ensuring that people know what is expected of them and considering follower’s abilities, needs, and input when providing direction. ● Stewardship. A focus on service rather than control and self-interest, and encouraging others to act in the common interest. Research to date indicates that servant leadership is positively related to trust in management, perceptions of organizational justice, need satisfaction, job satisfaction, organizational commitment, creative behaviours, and organizational citizenship behaviours. Culture and Leadership The Global Leadership and Organizational Behaviour Effectiveness (GLOBE) research project involved 170 researchers who worked together for 10 years collecting and analyzing data on cultural values and practices and leadership attributes from over 17,000 managers in 62 societal cultures. The project team identified the following nine cultural dimensions that distinguish one society from another and have important managerial implications: • Performance Orientation • Assertiveness • Future Orientation • Humane Orientation • Institutional Collectivism • In-Group Collectivism • Gender Egalitarianism • Power Distance • Uncertainty Avoidance Using these nine dimensions, GLOBE identified 10 culture clusters from the 62 culture samples. The culture clusters differ with respect to how they score on the nine culture dimensions. Second, GLOBE found that citizens in each nation have implicit assumptions regarding requisite leadership qualities, something known as implicit leadership theory. According to implicit leadership theory, individuals hold a set of beliefs about the kinds of attributes, personality characteristics, skills, and behaviours that contribute to or impede outstanding leadership. GLOBE found that these belief systems are shared among individuals in common cultures, something they call culturally endorsed implicit leadership theory (CLT). They identified 21 primary and 6 global leadership dimensions that are contributors to or inhibitors of outstanding leadership. The six global leadership dimensions are: • Charismatic/Value-Based • Team-Oriented • Participative • Humane-Oriented • Autonomous • Self-Protective GLOBE found that cultures and clusters differ significantly on all six of the global leadership dimensions. To determine what is considered important for leadership effectiveness across cultures, GLOBE examined a large number of leader attributes. They found that although the cultures do differ on many aspects of leadership effectiveness, they also have many similarities. Many attributes such as being honest, decisive, motivational, and dynamic are universally desirable and are believed to facilitate outstanding leadership in all GLOBE countries. Leadership attributes such as loners, irritable, egocentric, and ruthless are deemed ineffective in all GLOBE countries. Some attributes are culturally contingent meaning that they are effective in some cultures but are either ineffective or even dysfunctional in others. The results of the GLOBE project indicate that managers need to understand the similarities and differences in what makes someone an effective leader across cultures if they are to be effective global leaders. Gender and Leadership Research by Alice Eagley and Blair Johnson concludes that there are differences in leadership style between men and women. Women are more apt to adopt a participative and democratic style than men. Further, in a review of the leadership styles of men and women, women leaders were found to be more transformational than men leaders, and they also engaged in more of the contingent reward behaviours of transactional leadership. Men leaders engaged in more of the other components of transactional leadership, such as management by exception and laissez-faire style leadership which is a passive style of leadership that involvers the avoidance or absence of leadership and is negatively related to leader effectiveness. These findings attest to the ability of women to be highly effective leaders. However, women hold very few top leadership positions in Canadian organizations and a minority of senior leadership positions in the United States and Europe. For decades the explanation has been the glass ceiling metaphor—the invisible barrier that prevents women from advancing to senior leadership positions in organizations. However, Alice Eagly and Linda Carli have suggested that a more accurate metaphor is a labyrinth, because of the many twists, turns, detours, and dead ends that women encounter along their way up the organizational hierarchy. The lack of women leaders is the sum of all of the barriers women face rather than one particular barrier. These barriers include: • Vestiges of prejudice. Men continue to receive higher wages and faster promotions than women with equal qualifications at all organizational levels. • Resistance to women’s leadership. Men are perceived as having agentic traits, which convey assertion and control and are generally associated with effective leadership. Women are perceived as having communal traits, which convey a concern for the compassionate treatment of others. • Issues of leadership style. Women leaders often struggle to find an appropriate leadership style that reconciles the communal traits associated with females and the agentic traits associated with leaders. This results in a double bind. When women exhibit an agentic style they are criticized for lacking communal traits, and when they exhibit a communal style they are criticized for not being agentic enough to be a leader. • Demands of family life. Women remain more responsible for domestic work and child rearing and as a result they have fewer years of work experience and fewer hours of employment. This slows their career progress and results in lower pay. • Underinvestment in social capital. Women have less time for socializing with colleagues and developing social networks and often have difficulty breaking into social networks because these are predominantly male. As a result, women have less social capital. To increase the number of women in senior leadership positions in organizations, a combination of programs and interventions is required such as reducing the subjectivity of performance evaluation, changing the norm of long work hours, and establishing family-friendly human resources practices. Instructor Manual for Organizational Behaviour: Understanding and Managing Life at Work Gary Johns, Alan M. Saks 9780133347500, 9780133951622