Concept of Fiedler’s Contingency Theory
Fiedler’s Contingency Theory rests on the foundation that leadership productivity is a cumulative function of the predisposition that a leader brings with him and the nature of the situation at his or her disposal. The theory introduces several key components:
1. Leadership Style: According to Fiedler, there are two main types of leadership; that is, substantive and affiliative.
- Task-oriented Leaders: Dual attention is best focused on the objectives which are to be achieved. These are preoccupation with the manner, method, and product in a given enterprise.
- Relationship-oriented Leaders: They give attention to the interconnections between the teammates as well as the dynamics of the entire team. They focus on needs that have to do with organizational collaboration and cooperation.
2. Least Preferred Co-Worker (LPC) Scale: The LPC Scale is one of the indices used for scoring a leader’s preferred approach. Managers or leaders are requested to recall the person they most disliked working with the previous year and to rate them on a set of bipolar rating adjectives, for example friendly-unfriendly, cooperative-uncooperative. Business managers who give a more positive evaluation of their least-liked subordinates are labeled as being relationship-oriented. If some of the participants described their least preferred co-worker in negative terms, then they were considered task-oriented.
3. Situational Favorableness (Situational Control): Fiedler identifies three dimensions of situational favorableness that determine the effectiveness of leadership styles:
- Leader-Member Relations: It includes the level of beliefs that members have with their leader in terms of his/her ability to lead as well as warrants their confidence, trust, and respect.
- Task Structure: It represents the degree to which the tasks are prescribed and outlined.
- Position Power: It involves formal power to influence the subordinates’ tenure based on appreciation or removal from the organizational setting.
4. Matching Leadership Style to the Situation: According to the theory, task-oriented leaders are most effective when the level of control is high or low, that is the situation is either very favorable or very unfavorable. The control being in the intermediate level, the relationship-oriented leaders perform better than others in moderately favorable conditions.