Direction for Some, Support for Others – Case 7:2
According to the path-goal theory, why is Daniel an effective leader?
Path-goal focuses on job performance and satisfaction by focusing on what motivates the employee (Northouse, 2013). The relationship between the leader’s style, work setting and the characteristics of the employee are central in path-goal theory. Daniel is an effective leader because he changes his style (Gupta, 2009)of management and leadership based on the group of employees he is working with.
Most of the employees in the copy department are part-time college students and many of the tasks are redundant or repetitive so Dan places an emphasis on the work environment, allowing the employees to dress casual, offering flexible
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Dan’s part-time employees seem to appreciate his supportive approach. Dan understands that the number one priority of the college students is to be a successful students. Providing flexible work schedules allows students to work and go to class. Dan also understands that many of these students are away from family and friends and need a place where they feel cared for, welcomed, and accepted. Students speak of how The Copy Center becomes like a second family to them.
The desktop publishing employees possess some unique job skills, are much more self-confident and independent. They need less supervision and want to be left alone to do their job. Dan uses a much more hands-off approach and steps in only when an employee is struggling with a particular job or task.
One of the principles of path-goal theory is to make the end goal valuable to workers. What could Daniel do to improve subordinate motivation in this area?
Because different employees are motivated by different things, Dan will also need to use different methods of motivating his employees. Ashim (2009) refers to several things that Dan could do to improve employee motivation. They
Studs Terkel published a nonfiction Working which consists many interviews among different people’s descriptions of their jobs. Through this book, Terkel demonstrates the meaning of work to different people and how their work experiences shape their attitudes about their lives. Among these interviewers, Maggie Holmes is a domestic while Dave Bender is a factory owner. Although their wages are different, Maggie Holmes and Dave Bender’s attitudes about their works are contradictory. People who love their works are passionate and happy about their lives and express less complain than those people who do not like their jobs.
To determine managers leadership style, Fiedler developed a test known as the “Least Preferred Coworker Scale” (LPC). The test is not on the person you dislike personally but the person you have the most difficult getting the job done with.
In this model leaders “select” specific behaviors that are best for the needs of his goal. According to the author there are four behaviors in the path goal theory that a leader could follow. One is the directive leadership, where the leader informs the followers what is expected from them. Another is the supportive leadership, that is when the leader shows concern for the followers and have friendly interactions with them. Third is participative leadership, when the captain gets involved with his team to achieve the goal as a group. Finally, is the achievement leadership; occurs when the leader demand from the followers challenging goals so they perform their best. This is not useful in Lamatepec’s high school soccer team because the captain should contribute the same or even more to the team as his teammates and with this model that would not be
...-goal theory focuses on the personal characteristics of the follower in addition to factors in the environment that are outside the control of the follower. Environmental factors determine the type of leader behavior required and personal characteristics of the follower determine how the environment and leader behavior are interpreted. Both theories acknowledge the importance of followers and effectively compensating for their ability and motivational limitations. There is never just one way to succeed as an effective leader. It is a continual process of assessing and reevaluating the team and environment while adjusting the leadership style and behavior to maximize the performance and satisfaction of the team.
Though many kinds of physical work don’t require a high literacy level, more reading occurs in the blue-collar workplace than is generally thought, from manuals and catalogues to work orders and invoices, to lists, labels,and forms.
“The Goal” is a book written by Eliyahu M. Goldratt and Jeff Cox in 1984. The book is very famous in the management field. In 2004, the author published the third revision of it and celebrated selling over than three million copied of it around the world. Also, the goal book is taught in over than 120 collages. The book was recommended by my professor to be read and summarize as an extra credit.
Path Goal Leadership Theory is a theory that says a leader can reward a follower to achieve the results need for the project or organization (Dewan & Dewan, 2010). There are four styles of leader behaviors in this theory. They are achievement-oriented, directive, participative, and supportive.
Many theories have been introduced to shape the leadership approach. As in today’s world, it is important for one to have the most resourceful skill when it comes to leadership. It is being fulfilled by incorporating proper leadership approach. To fulfill the social needs path-goal is useful for a leader than any other theories to be successful. This theory is based on emphasizing a leader 's technique or actions that fit the employee and work atmosphere in order to achieve a goal within an organization. For leaders in an organization, it is crucial to motivating the subordinates to achieve a goal. This theory specifically sheds a light on why it is beneficial for leaders to utilize path-goal model over other theories. On the contrary, the
Although most companies have different strategic goals to achieve; they need to make sure that not only are the goals of the company are followed through, but the performance of each individual employee is recognized. The company also has to ensure their supervisors are willing to push their subordinates to their fullest potential in whatever their career goals may be.
The key to understanding what employees’ motivations are, and how managers can support them in their aims and objectives, is to understand that different people are motivated by different things. Managers should make a conscience effort to stay in touch with the interest, skills and abilities that their employees possess. Given the opportunity, it is possible that employees can provide valuable information about how to motivate each other to do a better job.
Motivation is the force that transforms and uplifts people to be productive and perform in their jobs. Maximizing employee’s motivation is a necessary and vital to successfully accomplish the organization’s targets and objectives. However, this is a considerable challenge to any organizations managers, due to the complexity of motivation and the fact that, there is no ready made solution or an answer to what motivates people to work well (Mullins,2002).
The Path-Goal Theory is a leadership style theory that was created by Robert House. According to this theory managers need to offer assistance and motivation to their employees in order to assist them in achieving their goals. This can be achieved by rewarding employees when they reach their goals, removing obstacles in employees ' path that can keep them from reaching their goals, and providing support. House thought that to do this a leader must be achievement oriented, supportive, and value-based, and also be able to provide path-goal clarity, work facilitation, interaction facilitation, group decision making, and representation and networking. The Path-Goal Theory exercises both the democratic and autocratic styles of leadership. Managers following this theory let employees participate in decision making and look to their staff for ways to help them improve and achieve goals. House theorized that an employee 's locus of control affects how they prefer to be led by their manager. A locus of control is a measure of how much a person believes that they control their fate through their own efforts. There are two locusts of control: internal and external. A person with an internal locus of control believes that they control their own destiny and a person with and external locus of control believes that outside forces control their destiny (Kinicki 340). The Path-Goal Theory states that employees with an internal locus of control prefer achievement-oriented leaders and that decisions are made in a group setting because it would allow them to have more control. The theory also states that employees with an external locus of control prefer the structure of a supportive and directive leader (Kinicki 458). House believed that a leader should determine their
Research has shown that motivation in an employee is an important factor which determines his performance. Motivation is the “driving force within individuals” (Mullins, 2007, p. 285). It is the concerned with finding out the reasons which shape and direct the behaviour of the individuals. The people act to achieve something so that they can satisfy some needs (Gitman and Daniel, 2008). It is important for the manager to understand this motivation of individual employees in order to inspire them and devise an appropriate set of incentives and rewards which would satisfy the needs that they have individually (Kerr, 2003). Once these needs are expected to be met in return for some specific behaviour or action, they would work more diligently to have that behaviour in them and to achieve that objective (Meyer and Hersovitch, 2001). Since it would lead to early and fuller achievement of the company objectives as the individual would work more diligently, it would lead to better organizational performance (Wiley, 1997).
...House, R. J. (1996). Path-Goal Theory of Leadership: Lessons, Legacy, and a Reformulated Theory. Wharton School of Management, Leadership Quarterly. 7 (3) P. 323-352. Retrieved from http://leadership.wharton.upenn.edu/l_change/publications/House/house2.pdf
Based on a personal research on the requirements for this profession, the path-goal theory clearly emphasized the steps necessary to achieving goals which are: define goal, clarify path, remove obstacles, and provide support, Northouse (2016). In my assessment, I am currently working towards removing obstacles which might impede my goal by obtaining a master’s degree in organizational