MGB20 – Submission 2
Name: Daniel Nzalime Mkusa
Student number: 08476802
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Literature Review (this part is to 1200 words)
Leadership is a dynamic relationship based on mutual influences and common purposes between leaders and collaborators in which both are moved to a higher levels of motivation and moral development as they affect, real intended change. (Freiberg, 1998) This definition of leadership, state that the leader is influenced by the collaborators as they work together towards achieving important goals. The following paper focuses on a specific theory of leadership and its importance towards organisational success; the Path goal theory of leadership.
Path goal-model is a theory based on specifying a leader’s style that best benefits the employee and work environment in order to achieve goals; this is done through improving employees motivation, empowerment and satisfaction so that employees can become more productive members of the organisations. (Mithcel, 2003) The theories underlying assumptions builds upon two theories of motivation; goal setting theory and the expectancy theory. (Gunawardana, 2015) Goal setting theory explains an effective way to motivate people is by challenging them by setting realistic goals and offering reward as accomplishment. Whilst, the expectancy theory sets out to explain why people work hard to attain their work goals. Employees will engage in behaviour that they feel will lead
Path-goal leadership is demonstrates how leaders can lead subordinates along the path to their goals. The four approaches to this are directive, supportive, participative and achievement-oriented. Directive leadership, “characterized a leader
Path Goal Theory is a contingency approach to leadership which under Mary Kay’s responsibility is to increase subordinates’ motivation by clarifying the behaviours necessary for task accomplishment and rewards. Under Path Goal Theory it must be formed by tangible award. Mary Kay increases her follower motivation by either (i) clarifying the follower’s path to the rewards that are available or (ii) increasing the rewards that the follower values and desires.
Leadership has been described as the “process of social influence in which one person can enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task”...
J., & Mitchell, T. R. (1974). Path– goal theory of leadership. Journal of Contemporary Business, 3, 81–97.
Leadership entails guiding others to realize particular goals using a variety of skills (Sullivan & Garland, 2011); Weihrich & Koontz, 2008). Likewise, Spector (2006) defined leadership as the art of influencing others to readily and actively endeavour towards achieving goals set by the team. Additionally, Spector (2006) emphasized that there is a shared theme that leadership comprises influencing individual belief systems, behaviours and feelings. As such, the smooth running of an organization requires effective leadership.
Classical organisational theorist defined leadership in terms of achieving a group’s objectives R.C Davies (1942) referred to leadership as “the principle dynamic forces that motivates and coordinates the organisation in the accomplishment of its objectives.” Similarly, Urwick (1953) stated that the leader is “the personification of common purpose not only to all who work under taking, but to everyone outside it.” K. Davies (1962) defined leadership as “the human factor which binds a group together and motivates it towards goals.” Cattell (1951) took the extreme position that leadership is whatever or whoever contributes to the group’s performance. To measure each members Leadership, Cattell noted, removed him or her from the group, one at a time, and observe what happens to the group’s performance. Calder (1977) and Pfeffer (1977) “stated that leadership is mainly influence and is even attributed to participants after the fact.
In today’s competitive world, leadership skills are crucial for both personal and professional development. Leadership is an important function of management which helps an individual or a business to maximize efficiency and to achieve goals. Leadership has different meanings to various authors.Most commonly, leadership is defined as influence, that is, the art of influencing people so that they will strive willingly and enthusiastically toward the achievement of group goals. (Koontz). Leadership is the process of influencing the activities of either formal or informal group in the task of goal setting and goal achievement. A leader is one whose magnetic personality innervates people for some cause. Not by words, but by their actions is
Leadership is a process of influencing activities of a particular group of people with the aim of attaining certain stipulated goals. In defining leadership there is need to consider a particular group, the common goals and the duties that are allocated to specific members of the group depending on their abilities (Fiedler 1976). Leadership therefore cannot successfully occur unless members of the group are given different considerations in terms of personality, traits and responsibilities. In considering leadership, it is important to look at the leader, the group or organization they are leading, the members as individuals and the situation; these are
Path-Goal theory seeks to educate leaders in using the expectancy theory to improve employee performance and satisfaction. Management scholar Robert House (as cited in Knight, Shteynberg, & Hanges,
Several definitions of leadership have been established. Bringing these definitions together, a common description is advanced. As such, leadership can be acknowledged as the activity of leading a community of people or an organization. It involves four essential aspects. Foremost is devising a clear vision. In line with Avolio and Yammarino (2013)’s thoughts, this is to say that a leader is mandated with the responsibility of setting the direction of an organization. As such, leaders have to identify where they want their organizations to be in a certain period into the future. Secondly is the sharing of that vision with others to ensure that they follow it in a willing manner. A person serving in the leadership position has to ensure
Path-goal theory deals with the leader's style to motivate followers, to accomplish set goals (Northouse, 2010). The path-goal theory is simply the implication that a leader works with an individual to establish a goal. The leader does this by individual motivation to achieve the proposed goal, while working through obstacles that may hinder achieving that goal (Whitener, 2007). The basic assumption of path-goal theory is that the following motivates subordinates: the capability to perform the work, their efforts will result in a certain outcome, and the payoff will be worthwhile (Whitener, 2007). The path-goal theory is a pragmatic approach that the leader uses to motivate the followers to achieve the set goals.
First, they should prioritize the tasks. Second, they should assess the employee’s skill and motivation. Third, the leaders should decide on the leadership style they are choosing to use either a directing approach, a coaching approach, and supporting or observing approach that best fits the position. Leaders may have to use a mixture of these styles to deal with the diverse group of followers. The path-goal theory advises that leaders take into account their employees' skills before delegating the responsibilities, convince employees of their abilities to accomplish the assigned tasks and reward those who exceed expectations. An example of this theory is done through empowerment that is achieved by
Leadership is a construct used to define the relationship between leaders and followers including the skills and behaviors that make an effective leader. Transformational leadership is an approach to leadership that focuses on the emotional and social interaction with followers; it is categorized as being influential, inspirational, and intellectually stimulating. (PSU, L1, P5.). Transformational leadership is the desired approach to being an effective leader. Like any skill, the way to obtain and improve them is through a development process. Leadership development requires an understanding of human nature, including personalities, ethics, and motivations. At its core, leadership is about human interaction between leaders and
Leadership has been studied from a wide range of perspectives and thus it means different things to different people. Some people view leadership as the focus of group processes, some others view it from a personality or skills perspective, to some others leadership is an act or behavior, some school of thought describe leadership in terms of power relationship while some view leadership as a transformational process (Northouse, 2012). Looking at the various definitions of leadership, there are various terms that are important; including the fact that leadership is a process that involves influence and the attainment of a common goal, and usually occurs in the context of a group (Northouse, 2012). The path-goal theory is one of the
Research findings on Robert House’s Path Goal Theory are basically on the relationship between the leader’s style of leadership and the outcomes of the