98) Why are some assumptions necessary to make dyadic explanations relevant for explaining a leader's influence on the performance of a group or work unit? What are some of these assumptions?
Answer: Student answers may vary. Since real leaders seldom have only a single subordinate, some assumptions are necessary to make dyadic explanations relevant for explaining a leader's influence on the performance of a group or work unit. One assumption is that subordinates have work roles that are similar and independent. Subordinates may not be homogeneous with regard to skills and motives, but they have similar jobs. There is little potential for subordinates to affect each other's job performance, and group performance is the sum of the performances by individuals. An example of minimum interdependence is a district sales unit in which sales representatives work separately and independently of each other and sell the same product in different locations or to different customers. However, when there is high interdependence among group members, a group-level theory can better explain how leadership can influence overall group performance.
Learning Objective: Understand the major types of leadership theories that have been studied.
AACSB: Analytical thinking
Difficulty Level: Moderate
99) Discuss the distinctions between descriptive and prescriptive leadership theories.
Answer: Student answers may vary. Another important distinction among leadership theories is the extent to which they are descriptive or prescriptive. Descriptive theories explain leadership processes, describe the typical activities of leaders, and explain why certain behaviors occur in particular situations. Prescriptive theories specify what leaders must do to become effective, and they identify any necessary conditions for using a particular type of behavior effectively. The two perspectives are not mutually exclusive, and a theory can have both types of elements. For example, a theory that explains why a particular pattern of behavior is typical for leaders (descriptive) may also explain which aspects of behavior are most effective (prescriptive). However, the two perspectives are not always consistent. For example, the typical pattern of behavior for leaders is not always the optimal one. A prescriptive theory is especially useful when a wide discrepancy exists between what leaders typically do and what they should do to be most effective.
Learning Objective: Understand what aspects of leadership have been studied the most.
AACSB: Analytical thinking
Difficulty Level: Moderate
100) To what degree do leadership theories focus on the characteristics of followers?
Answer: Student answers may vary. The extent to which a theory is focused on either the leader or followers is another useful way to classify leadership theories. Most leadership theories emphasize the characteristics and actions of the leader without much concern for follower characteristics. Only a small amount of research and theory has emphasized follower characteristics. Empowerment theory describes how followers view their ability to influence important events. Attribution theory describes how followers view a leader's influence on events and outcomes, and other theories in the same chapter explain how followers can actively influence their work role and relationship with the leader, rather than being passive recipients of leader influence. The leader substitutes theory describes aspects of the situation and follower attributes that make a hierarchical leader less important. The emotional contagion theory of charisma describes how followers influence each other. Finally, theories of self-managed groups emphasize sharing of leadership functions among the members of a group; in this approach, the followers are also the leaders.
Learning Objective: Understand what aspects of leadership have been studied the most.
AACSB: Analytical thinking
Difficulty Level: Moderate