The Leadership And Motivation Case

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Introduction
In the Leadership/Motivation Case – “A Question of Motivation,” Alex and Stephanie have both worked at the local supermarket for the last two years, and both are college students, but they have drastically different employment experiences due to their manager’s leadership styles. This example portrays how an employee can thrive under the right style of leadership, and how an employee who works for the same organization can feel resentful and angry because of their manager’s chosen leadership style.
Fiedler’s Contingency Theory of Leadership
The Fielder’s Contingency Theory identifies best with Dan’s style of leadership. Schriesheim and Neider’s research found that this theory centers on the LPC (least preferred coworker) rating system used to see how a leader regards his/her least preferred coworker, the one that is most difficult to work with. There is a combination of both interpersonal and work-related measures that are used to determine if the leader is more concerned with job performance or with interpersonal relationships. One of the variables addressed in this theory is that of situational control as it relates to how the leader feels about his/her ability to get the team to work towards achieving their goals. There are three components of situational control; leader-member relations, task structure and leader position power.
Leader–member relations evaluates the positive relationship that the team has with other coworkers and the leader, so a solid leader-member relation indicates that the leader is better able to influence and motivate his/her group to perform with excellence. Task structure is the measure of how the leader uses his/her knowledge and experience to control how the work is done. The st...

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...’s leadership can either help the organization or negatively affect the attitudes of workers, which make them unproductive and resentful, and can give the company a poor employment reputation.

References
Schriesheim, Chester A., and Linda L. Neider. "Least Preferred Coworker Theory." Encyclopedia of Industrial and Organizational Psychology. Ed., Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE, 2006. 451-53. SAGE Reference Online. Web. 30 Jan. 2012. http://www.sagepub.com/northouse6e/study/materials/reference/reference6.2.pdf
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
Principles of Management. N.d. The Saylor Foundation. Retrieved from http://www.saylor.org/books

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