Week 6 Research Paper PSY-565

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Apr 3, 2024

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Enhancing Organizational Communication and Leadership in Middle Managers Joshua N. Schreck Grand Canyon University: College of Humanities and Social Science PSY-565: Industrial/Organizational Psychology Dr. Thomas King May 1, 2024 1

Abstract This research paper empowers middle-level managers by exploring options for enhancing organizational communication and major leadership skills in modern organizations. Based on an extensive review of scientific literature and theoretical background, this paper reveals French and Raven’s Bases of Power theory, leadership and leadership styles, Fiedler’s Contingency Theory, ways of improving organizational communication, and organizational communication patterns. French and Raven outlined five sources of power that can be harnessed to influence others. We also investigate possible leadership styles: transformational, transactional, and servant leadership, each impacting employee behavior and performance differently. Fiedler’s Contingency Theory underscores the importance of adapting the leadership style to specific situational variables. Enhancing organizational communication necessitates the establishment of open communication channels, the use of advanced technology, the encouragement of active listening, and the fostering of various signs of clarity. The findings are presented regarding organizational hierarchical, network, informal, and formal communication patterns. Middle-level managers armed with this knowledge will be capable of creating a favorable climate for cooperation, creativity, and openness among their subordinates, thereby ensuring organizational success. 2

Enhancing Organizational Communication and Leadership in Middle Managers Communication and leadership remain critical to the success of organizations operating in a fast-paced and ever-changing environment that requires key stakeholders to remain actively engaged in pursuing set strategic objectives (US Army War College, 2019). The preparation of the following complete report was geared towards ensuring that the senior managers had an excellent grasp of various organizational communication and leadership topics and developing comprehensive knowledge and skills that would significantly aid in managing teams and promoting a culture of communication in the organization. The report was to incorporate modern research and reference to topics such as French and Raven’s Bases of Power and leadership styles and utilize Fiedler’s Contingency Theory and strategies for improving organizational communication and organizational communication networks and patterns. French and Raven’s Bases of Power Bases of power theory formulated by French and Raven identifies five formal sources of influence that leaders may use to exert power in organizational settings. These bases include legitimate, referent, expert, reward, and coercive power. Legitimate power is granted by an individual’s formal position in an organization. Referent power is determined by other people’s admiration, respect, or identification with the leader. Expert power comes from a person’s knowledge or skills in a certain field. Reward power is associated with a person’s ability to offer rewards or other incentives to influence others 3

positively (University of Minnesota, 2017). Coercive power, in turn, is obtained when a person can impose punishment or negative sanctions to influence others’ actions (Hofmann et al., 2017). Other theories of power that apply to the workplace is the social exchange theory, which states that people engage in a rational calculation of the costs and benefits of interactions with others; In the workplace, employees may view a leader’s power from the perspective of Social Exchange Theory and the leaders’ exchange in the Leader-Member Exchange serves as a resource-exchange relationship through which a leader provides rewards or resources in return for employees’ contribution or even compliance. Trait leadership theory posits that individual characteristics, traits inherent to the leader, contribute to their influence and effectiveness (Kovach, 2020). This theory suggests that, irrespective of the context, formal or informal leaders have certain inherent traits that give them this power. Leadership Styles and Their Effects Leadership styles refer to the behavior patterns leaders show when interacting with their followers or subordinates (Anonymous, 2012). Different leadership styles have been identified and are associated with distinct characteristics and outcomes related to the behavior, performance, and satisfaction of employees. Three main leadership styles relate to organizational measures and employees: transformational, transactional, and servant leadership. Transformational leaders encourage and enable their followers or subordinates to reach higher levels of performance by creating a vision that inspires them, promoting creativity and individual development. Research by Jiatong et al. (2022) supports that transformational leadership is positively related to employee satisfaction, 4

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