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Lesson#15
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SITUATIONAL FACTORS
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SITUATIONAL FACTORS
We understand that leadership is a process and not a position. Three
components playing important role
in this process are leader, followers and situation. In this lecture, we tried
to explain this important
component/part of leadership process.
Situation is the environment or circumstances in which an individual performs.
Following are the
factors that can influence the situation;
_ Task Type: the nature
of the work or assignment can also effect the employees
_ Structure of organization:
The organization structure always depend on the size of the
organization. If the structure will be more rigid, more complexities faced by
the employees
_ Stress: Stress in the
environment and intensity under which team, organization, or leaders are
working also play important role in leadership process and also situation
itself.
_ Environment: The
environment itself effect on the situation prevails in the organization. The
micro (internal factors) and the macro (external factors) always keep on
changing, so that this is
big challenge for the leaders to keep the close eyes on changing environment and
make
decisions accordingly..
Situational factors influence the leadership process:
_ Size of the
organization
_ Organizational life
cycle stage
_ Social and
psychological climate
_ Patterns of employment
_ Type, place, and
purpose of work performed
_ Culture of the
organization
_ Over all environment
_ Leader-follower
interaction
_ Leader-follower
compatibility
_ Compatibilities within
the followers
Size of the organization:
Size of the organization varies organization to organization and its
operations and activities in which
organization involve. An organization’s size demands certain types of leadership
skills which help to
provide right direction. Following two type of leadership, we can see in the
organization;
Leaders of small organizations: can be in the form of salespeople,
marketing manager and production
managers. These leaders organize the system, assign the task, coach the team and
evaluate the system.
The small organizations have a flexible system and flatter structure. The
approach of the small
organization is more entrepreneurs.
Leaders of large organizations: In the large organization, the main focus
will be on to create public
image and future investment plans. The system of the large organization will be
more procedural and
structure of the large organization will also be more rigid and more complex
because of its operations
and activities.
Differences between Large and Small Organizations
LARGE SMALL
Economies of scale Flexible
Global reach Regional reach
Complex Simple
Flat structure
Entrepreneurs
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Changes with size
• Formalization increases
• Centralization decreases
• Complexity increases
– Vertical
– Horizontal
• Personnel Ratios
– Top administration Decreases
– Clerical Ratio Increases
– Professional Staff Ratio Increases
Growth Rates
• When organizations are growing
– Administration grows faster
• When organizations are shrinking
– Administration shrinks more slowly
Organizational life cycle stage:
Every organization has its own life cycle. Which always start from its birth
and end with its decline. To
save from decline, most of the organization introduces new products and new
paths etc.
Birth Growth Shakeout Maturity
Non-bureaucratic Pre-bureaucratic Bureaucratic Very bureaucratic
Social and psychological climate:
Every organization has its own climate of working and environment in which
the employees works
together. Different factors that influence the organizations climate;
_ Confusion
_ Anxiety
_ Conflicts
_ Mistrust
_ Stress
_ Politics
These factors also play their role on the formulation of situation and
ultimately the leadership process.
Patterns of employment:
In today’s organization the pattern of the employees also varies from
organization to organization. We
can now see the permanent or temporary and Short-term or Long-term employees. So
it also effects the
situation of the organization. Today’s people need more job security and befits
instead of their services.
And organizations are facing more challenges in shape of changing the external
environment. So it is
another challenge for leadership to create a congenial working environment for
satisfaction of
employees.
Type, place, and purpose of work performed:
The type of work is an important factor. The Work duties should be
clear–cut. The routine or
monotonous work could create hostile working environment. Many researcher claims
that in today’s
organization work duties loosely defined which always cause de-motivation and
stress.
Culture of the organization:
The system of shared values and beliefs held by organizational members or
the system of the shared
values norms and behavior that held by the top management is called
organizational culture. All
organizations have their own cultures;
_ Culture by default:
means the culture already exists from the birth of organization.
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_ Culture by design:
means the culture exists according to its operations and structure.
The Observable Evidence of the organizational culture is;
_ Symbols
_ Ceremonies
_ Stories
_ Behaviors
_ Language
_ Dress
The bottom line is Culture permeates org. behavior BUT Very hard to observe or
quantify
Types of Organizational Cultures
• Control cultures
• Collaboration cultures
• Competence cultures
• Cultivation cultures
Culture’s Effects on Behavior
Culture effects on behaviors during Communication, Cooperation, Commitment,
Decision Making,
Implementation, and Leadership style etc.
Organizational Climate:
Organizational Climate is an important dimension that clearly determines
organizational climate and
environment. An organization should have a reward system to motivate its
employee and linked with
the performance. A transparent unbiased system in which employees feel
satisfied. The standard of the
performance should clearly define to the employee and same for each category and
related with job
description. A congenial and supportive working environment should prevails in
the organization for
the increasing the productivity of the organization.
Over all environment: The organizational environment is the set of forces
surrounding an organization
that have the potential to affect the way it operates and its access to scarce
resources. Basically
organization environment has two dimensions internal and external. This can also
be known as Macro
and Micro factors or even General Environment and Task Environment. All these
factors/forces do
affect the leadership process.
Leader-follower interaction:
For running an organization successfully there is need of leader-followers
interaction. There should be
Leader-follower compatibility for working together in the organization. Proper
communication and
confidence on each other is very essential for trust and performance.
Similarly, Leader-follower compatibility and Compatibilities within
the followers is also very
important for particular situation. All above factor affecting directly or
indirectly the situation and
ultimately the leadership process. |
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