组织行为学12Leadership

Ch12Leadership06.08.02.doc06.08.02Chapter12.Leadership1ByJonOlsonandPatriciaBoltonOneofthedominantthemesinthemanagementliteraturetodayinvolvestheroleofleadershipinassuringorganizationaleffectiveness.Whilelesssignificantinthesociologicalliteratureonorganizations,theliteratureonorganizationalpsychology,management,andparticularlythepopularliterature,haselevatedtheleader/managerintooneoftheprimedeterminantsoforganizationalsuccess.Thisisnolesstrueintheworldofpublicsciencethanintheworldofcommercialbusiness.Giventhepaceofchangeinsciencethesedays,creatingandmaintainingeffectiveorganizationalandmanagementsystems,motivatedandcreativestaff,andstrategicallyfocusedresearchisparticularlyimportant.Leadershipinscientificorganizationsrequiresachallengingcombinationoftechnical,organizational,andpoliticalknowledge,managerialcompetence,politicalsavvy,organizationalvision,andcommunicationandhumanrelationsskills.Theorganizationalliteraturecanhelppublicsciencemanagersstructuretheirthinkingabouttheattributesofeffectiveleadershipinpublicscienceorganizations,learnfromtheexperiencesofotherswhohaveheldpositionsofleadership,andunderstandthestrategiesorganizationshaveusedtodevelopandcapitalizeoneffectiveleaders.WhatisLeadership?Theearlyliteratureonleadershipwasdominatedbyattemptstodefineitsessentialcharacteristics.Thisexercisehasgeneratedmuchdebateanddifferenceinperspective.AccordingtoBass(1997:17),leadershiphasbeenconceivedasthefocusofgroupprocesses,asamatterofpersonality,asamatterofinducingcompliance,astheexerciseofinfluence,asparticularbehaviors,asaformofpersuasion,asapowerrelation,asaninstrumenttoachievegoals,asaneffectofinteraction,asadifferentiatedrole,asaninitiationofstructure,andasmanycombinationsofthesedefinitions.Oneofthefirststepsinassessingtherelevanceoftheliteratureonleadershipforsciencemanagementorganizations,therefore,istobringalittleclaritytowhatismeantbyleadership.Amongthedifferentdefinitionsofleadershipfoundinthisliteratureare:♦Leadershipaspersonality:thisliteraturefocusesondiscoveringtheleadershippersonalityandexaminingwhatitisaboutthecharacter,underlyingmotivations,andbasicbehavioralstylesthatmakeanindividualaleader.Writersweredrawntotheobviouslyexceptional,andattimesextreme,personalitiesofparticularleaders(Alexander,Lincoln),andthussoughttheexplanationofleadershipinthesimilaritiesamongthesepersonalities(Bogardus1928).Thislineofinquiryhasnotbeensupportedbytheresultsofempiricalresearch.1Relatedchaptersinclude:Strategy;ChangeManagement;Teams,andProject-andProgram-BasedOrganizations;OrganizationalCulture;OrganizationalCommunicationCh12Leadership06.08.02.doc206.08.02♦Leadershipasanoutcomeofgroupprocess:thislineofresearchfocusesongroupdynamicsanddefinesleadershipasanoutcomeofthisdynamic,ratherthanasaseparablephenomenoninitsownright(Cooley1902).Researchhasconfirmedthatgroupdynamicsareanimportantdeterminantofleaderbehavior,butthatleadershipalsohasaseparableeffectongroups(Bass1981).♦Leadershipasinfluence:incontrasttothegroupdynamicsperspective,otherwritershavedefinedleadershipastheprocessofexertingindividualinfluenceonfollowers’behaviors.Thisliteraturedefinesleadershipasthepowertopersuade(Stogdill1950),boththroughthecontroloverresources(rewardsandpunishments),andviatheexerciseofcharismaandargument.Inthisliterature,adistinctionisfrequentlymadebetweentransactionalandtransformationalleaders(Bass1981).Transactionalleadersaredefinedasthosewhoachievecompliancethroughsocialexchange(e.g.,rewardsandpunishments),whiletransformationalleadersconvinceotherstoviewthesituationdifferentlythantheyotherwisewould,andtorespondpositivelytotheleader'salternativevision.Transformationalleadershipisthussimilartocharismaticleadership.Heifetz(1994)providesagooddiscussionofthechallengesandrequirementsoftransformationalleadershipanditsroleatdifferentlevelsinanorganization.Aparallelcontrastismadeintheorganizationalliterature'sdescriptionoforganizationalidealtypesreferredtobyMcGregor(1960,1966)asTheoryXandTheoryY.TheoryXorganizationsarecommandandcontrolwithcomplianceachievedthroughrewardsandpunishments.TheoryYorganizationsarelooserandfreer,withcontrolachievedbyvoluntarycompliancegainedthroughpersuasionandaffiliation.♦Leadershipasapatternofactivitiesandfocusofattentionandeffort:thisresearchfocusesonwhatleadersdowhenprovidingleadership.Kotter(1999),Laurie(2000),andHeifetz(1994)emphasizethesetofresponsibilitiesthatleadersmustmeetandthetypeoffocusandactionsneededtoaccomplishthem.BothLaurieandHeifetzemphasizeleaders’importantroleinsteppingoutsidetheday-to-daycrisestoprovideabroaderperspectiveonthechallengesandopportunitiesfacingtheorganizationtoimprovetheireffectivenessinsettingthecontext,framingtheproblems,andmobilizingthestafftoworkonthoseproblems.Asignificantsubsetofthisliteratureidentifiesthecreation,management,and,whennecessary,transformationoforganizationalcultureastheessentialfunctionandkeycompetencyofleadership(Schein1992,1999).SeeChapter11foramoredetaileddiscussionoftheintersectionbetweenleadershipandorganizationalculture.Inthisliteratureadistinctioni