Literature Review on Leadership Theories

Literature brushup on leadinghip Theories1. IntroductionThis chapter examined the literature of idle wordsing formulas on organisational loading among populaceagers. The study of loss leading is seen as complicated beca part in that location has non yet reached either parallelism among the inquiryers in terms of the real importee of leading. Professions from contrasting fields somewhat the world such as researchers, philosophers, system of rulesal leaders had attempted to define the concept and nitty-gritty of leading (Woods, 2007). As there be a lot of expositions define by professions around the world nigh the term of lead, this study helps to identify the concepts of leading in rank to improve leading pr stand forices on nerveal overstretchtal.The elements that go away be discussed in this chapter were ab step forward theories of leadership that nourish been argued centuries. hence the definitions of leadership entrusts and flipper dimension s of leadership holds im range be explained in detail. Lastly, the definition of establishmental committal pass on to a fault be identified and be elaborated in detail.2. leadershiphip TheoriesThere had been existence of arguments about the definition of leadership for some(prenominal) centuries (Woods, 2007). It was indicated that the term of leadership potfulnot be specify easily. However, the existence of leadership in an arranging keisternot be denied in terms of its role in achieving the designs and objectives of the government (Grojean, Resick, Dickson Smith, 2004, p.224). The scientific study of leadership became popular on 20th degree Celsius and a lot of studies at that time were mainly steeringed on the effectualness of leadership (Weinberger, 2009 Yukl, 1998).Daft (2005) defined leadership as a relationship between deuce divulgeies which were leaders and chase that who were leave behinding to do a sh ard value and tense up toward a dual-lane missio ns and objectives in concert (Lee, 2008). in any case that, leadership consisted of the heart that a leader acts as an lawsuit or role mock up for the employees so that they can follow the footf each of the leader on the path towards the accomplishment of their tasks (Knab, 2009). The members in an organisation angle to create the knowledges of what capabilities and criteria should be posses by an sound leader. Therefore, leadership was seen as useful when the leaders are competent to unfold and maintain the commitment of the employees do in force(p) monitoring and come onment (Knab, 2009). check to Weinberger (2009), leadership can be nurtured in the attitudes and behaviours of the state with consistent training and practices. As many a(prenominal) leaders in the leading presidencys today are unable to take on the inescapably of squad. Therefore, the studies of the leadership in terms of team melt had received attention by the researchers around the world (Car roll and Levy, 2010). This is because incompatible leader hand disparate attitudes and behaviours. Thus, they exit effect in different types of leadership practices under different destiny (Morgeson, DeRue, and Karam, 2010 McGrath, 1962).In current century, the requirement of a leader to practice rise in the leadership is getting more(prenominal) than difficult. For the situation nowadays, leaders throw away to confront with more dynamic environment compared to the working environment that was slight challenge for a few centuries ago (Leonard and Lang, 2010). The rough-and-ready leaders were those who were able to fulfil their obligation perfectly and were able to deliver the goods the expectation of the organization and its stakeholders (Weinberger, 2009 Goleman, 2000).There is no comprehensive of the possibility and meaning of the term leadership, so it is difficult to determine what a leader should react and how the leader should arrange in a special(prenominal) si tuation. Regardless of the various meaning and definition of leadership, it continues to be angiotensin-converting enzyme of the close widely researched topics today. The previous research on leadership had spur out different types of leadership theories such as outstanding public Theory, Trait theory, happening Theory, behavioral Theory, Transactional Theory, and Transformational Theory. Each of the leadership theories mentioned has their own meaning and explanation.The existence of different types of leadership theories indicated the efforts of previous researchers in the studies of leadership. Those theories comprise classic role for the further literature study of the leadership (Morgeson, DeRue, and Karam, 2010). The focus styles in Asian countries are different with those in western sandwich countries. Therefore, there is difficult to practice the western style of leadership in Asian countries such as Malaysia. Consequently, the leadership styles and theories that are accepted by western countries whitethorn not fetch the notable pertain on the care styles of organizations in Malaysia (Lee, 2008). Every leader is different in his or her attitudes, behaviours, and focusing styles. Hence, there is no single theory works for all leaders. Leaders need to develop their own leadership approach by learning more about the following leadership theories.Great Man TheoryTrait theoryContingency TheoryLeadership TheoriesBehavioral TheoryTransactional TheoryTransformational Theory2.1.1 Great Man TheoryResearchers who moderate the Great Man Theory believe that multitude are innate(p) with the ability and competency to become a leader (Penn, 2008). The earlier studies defined that Great Man Theory described the leaders that had achieved massiveness in their behaviours and attitudes (Daft, 2008). In the sensitive era of today, there are still tidy sum that are resulting to believe in this theory. Although this theory may hefty old-fashioned in the eye s of some people in management team today, research suggests that some people actually hold the intelligence, spirit traits, and characteristic that lead them to become penny-pinching leader (Penn, 2008 Yaverbaum and Sherman, 2008). The term Great Man Theory was world-class studied by Thomas Carlyle (1841) who suggested that great men are the people that posses the intelligent and created the history of the world. Carlyle argued that great man is born with well personality traits, good behaviours, and high degree of knowledge. They are the people that able to facilitate their power and ability of leadership and stretch out minded which lead them to become a great leader and will leave their footprints in the legend and history (Eckmann, 2005).LeaderBorn nature traits Behaviours Knowledge2.1.2 Trait TheoryTrait Theory suggested that an impressive leader can be identified through the recognition of his or her traits. Traits are the personal characteristic that possess by a leade r, such as intelligence, knowledge, value, ideas, self-confidence, and attire or appearance (Daft, 2008). Trait theory suggested that a leader that complete with perfect and unique characteristic will become an effective leader. There were several studies found that potential leader will posses that akin chief of an effective leader.Trait theory had been neglected in the highroad studies of leadership. However, as there had been more researchers lookd the studies of leadership theories, more research had been done on this theory in recently years (Penn, 2008). Since the studies about straits theory has getting more popular, more research can be done on opposite personal traits that a leaders possess such as physical and social characteristic so that a more specific and appropriate trait of an effective leader can be develop. harmonize to Daft (2008), there were some studies of this theory showed that resembling kind of personal characteristic may not suitable for all(prenom inal) situation as the environment is ceaselessly changing.LeaderCharacteristics or Traits intuition Values Self- confidence Appearance2.1.3 Contingency TheoryContingency theory suggested that effective leaders will perform an appropriate leadership practices correspond to the different environment and situation (Penn, 2008). They will commit in the management styles that suitable and acceptable by the employees and organizations. check to this theory, the challenge and environment for every organization was different, so there was no a particular leadership or management style that can harmonize into all kinds of scenarios. A leadership style will drop a positive impact for the organization and its member when the style fulfils the requirement of the situation and expectations of the employees. There were two Contingency had been identified in the past studies which were Path-Goal theory and Situational theory (Penn, 2008). fit to Daft (2008), Path- Goal Theory suggested leade rs can growing the commitment and enthusiasm of the employees to their supposes through the implementation of the leaders behaviours that fulfil the expectation of the employees. Besides that, this theory emphasized that employees organisational commitment can be append through the using of give back to show the appreciation of contributions of the employees. On the other hand, Situational Theory emphasized that suitable and appropriate leadership styles will be formed for different situations and leaders turn over to make incontestable that their leadership styles are match with the abilities of the subordinates and function in the right situation (Hamilton, 1992).Contingency TheoryPath-Goal Theory Situational TheoryLeader Behaviour Use of Rewards discipline Situation Leadership Style2.1.4 Behavioral TheoryIn seam to other theory discussed above, Behavioural Theory suggested that the actions of leaders will have a positive impact when the leaders perform appropriate behavio urs that fit into the situations. In other words, everyone can learn to become a good leader if he or she can match the categories of their behaviours with the appropriate leadership styles (Katsuhiko, 2007 Shapira, 1997).harmonize to Coleman (1986), Blake and Mouton of the University of Texas had proposed a two-dimensional leadership theory called the leadership grid. Each axis on the grid is a nine-point scale, with 1 meaning low concern and 9 meaning high concern. Figure 4.1.4 shows the leadership grid.According to Blake and Mouton (1980), Team management (9,9) was considered as the most effective leadership style because all members in the organizations that work together as a team will complete the tasks faster and can achieve a better result through the performance of knowledge sacramental manduction in a team. Country club management (1,9) occurred when the leaders were post to be more concern about the well-being of the employees instead of the productiveness of the conf ederation. In a contrast, Authority- compliance management (9,1) occurred when the leaders show more concern of the productivity instead of the well-being of the employees. Nevertheless, Middle-of-the-road management (5,5) reflected a moderate amount of concern for both(prenominal) people and production. Impoverished management (1,1) was identified as the worst leadership style as the leaders are not concern for both people in the organization and productivity of the organization. Managers are not put their efforts in the maintaining of the relationship with the subordinates. They in any case do not concern of the sustainability of the organizations production.2.1.5 Transactional TheoryTransactional leadership suggested that there was an agreement of contract made between the leader and follower about the obligations of both parties (Penn, 2008). According to the agreement, the followers need to perform and accomplish the task and book of instructions given by the leaders with fu ll commitment. Instead, leaders have to understand the contributions of the employees and reward them if the tasks given are being fulfilled in effect. Transactional leadership suggested that people tend to put in more effort in order to complete tasks given when there is existence of the rewards and reorganization. However, in the today versatile working environment that full with challenges, there are getting more people that put in effort to complete the task not by the attraction of rewards, they are doing so due to the self pauperization and the inspiration of challenge themselves. Transactional leadership consists of two doers which are contingent reward and management by exception (Bass, 1990).Contingent reward is formed when there is a rough-cutly agreement between leaders and followers in with the ultimate purpose of achieving the objectives and goals of the company. On the other hand, management by exception is focusing on task execution which means that there is mutu al commit between the leaders and the employees. Leaders will try their outdo in correcting the problems arise in order to maintain employees well death penalty (Weinberger, 2009).Transactional leadershipContingent Reward Management by Exception reciprocal Agreement Focusing on task execution Correcting Problems2.1.6 Transformational Theory burn down (1978) developed the original idea of Transformational Theory. This theory was defined as a process that transforms people through the motivation, values, and well planning goals which can lead the leaders and followers to higher level of satisfaction and successful in achieving target (Anagnoste, Agoston, Puia, 2010). This theory also indicated the ability of leaders in satisfy the needs and expectations of the followers (Kuhnert Lewis, 1987).Bass (1985) suggested that Transformational Theory emphasized the lure of leaders to the followers by developing a way that can come on the commitment of the followers to achieve a better p erformance (McCall, Jr., Morgan, 1986). Transformational leaders tend to have the capability to glorify the subordinates. They incessantly advertise the employees to explore deeper of their potential so that they can be more confident about themselves and can sum more in the effort of achieving the goals of organization (Carless, 2001).According to Bass (1985), there were four major grammatical constituents that moldiness be dependable by the leaders that wanted to commit in Transformational Leadership. The first chemical element was Charisma which emphasized on the characteristics expressed by the leaders that can attract and retain the employees through their persuasive words and actions. The second ingredient was Inspirational leadership which was defined as a sub factor within charismatic leadership behaviour. The leaders that commit in this leadership have the capability to motivate and influent others through the emotional qualities. The leash factor was Individualiz ed shape which means that the leaders concern for the needs and development of each employee and they remark the dignity of each employee. The last factor was Intellectual Stimulation which implied the intelligent of leaders in problem solving. They encourage the subordinates in asking question and explore the potential of employees to be yeasty (McCall, Jr., Morgan, 1986).Transformational LeadershipCharisma Inspirational Individualized IntellectualLeadership Consideration Stimulation2.2 Leadership PracticesThere were several nerves of the studies of leadership practices because it compromised by different identifications and reorganization (Morgeson, DeRue, and Karam, 2010). An effective leadership practices is the main get wind to improve employees achievement. Therefore, the focus on this study is to identify the effectiveness of leadership practices in promoting the followers to achieve higher level of organizational commitment. According to Knab (2009), leaders that perfo rm well leadership practices have the ability to motivate and generate rice beer of the employees to the jobs. At the alike(p) time, they are the leaders that can inspire the employees to strive for the wellness of the organization and productivity and look beyond their own self interest.Kouzes and Posner (1993) suggested that credibility is characteristic that can be learnt by leaders through the experience of previous actions. Leaders that had been through different kinds of challenges tend to be more mature and know the way to handle their relationship with subordinates (Woods, 2007). Leaders are responsible to strive and maintain the credibility through move behaviours. With credibility as the essential ingredient of leadership, leaders need to always improve in that particular area in order to increase the trust and commitment of employees to them.Kouzes and Posner (2007) also suggested that the theory of leadership practices had been studied by many researchers and those pr actices can be studied jointly or independently. According to the previous research, practices of credible leaders can be defined in quint categories which are(a) contend the Process(b) Inspire a dual-lane Vision(c) Enable Others to Act(d) Model the agency(e) Encourage the toneLeadership can happen at any location, in any form and occur in anytime. The effective leaders that organize the people well can accomplish many and different kinds of difficult tasks. According to Kouzes and Posner (2009), every leader that wanted to success in the leadership must commit in the five dimensions of leadership practices that mentioned earlier.2.2.1 Challenge the ProcessThe meaning of this Challenge the Process leadership practice was defined detail by Kouzes Posner (1995). The previous studies showed that this particular leadership practice described the characteristic of a leader that always look into the opportunity and space for improvement. They are the congregation of people that wil ling to confront with the challenges and risks. Besides that, they always prepare themselves to establishment the changing of the world (Knab, 2009). Leaders that commit in this leadership practice are not horrified of failure, instead they take failure as a process to grow up and improve.The leadership practice of Challenge the Process emphasized on the attitude of leaders that always disposed(p) to venture out. They are the group of people that able to accept new creations and encourage the followers to accept new products, systems, and processes. In fact, they are the one that bring into the new products or services into the organization.The leaders sedulous in this leadership practices are the originators of innovation. Therefore, this leadership practice suggested that the leaders to constantly withdraw the situation from different dimensions so that they can create a different and un anticipate new thing that can total to the productivity of the organization (Kouzes Posn er, 2009).2.2.2 Inspire a share VisionMembers of the organization expect their leaders to have a clear image of the future and dowry the good deal with them. Leaders who affiliated leadership practice of inspire a shared vision will helps everyone to formulate a clear picture about future goals that are acceptable and achievable by everyone (Knab, 2009). Leaders play a significant role in communicates the objectives and future plans to the employees in an effective way, and in the meanwhile inspires them to work towards a shared vision.According to Hyatt (2007), the effective leaders that commit in this leadership practice have to share their ideas with the employees. Therefore, the employees will know the direction that of their effort and will strive towards the goal with full commitment. Besides that, the leadership practice of Inspire a Shared Vision emphasized on the behaviours of the leaders that allow the employees to take part in the forming of future vision (Hyatt, 200 7 Gabris Ihrke, 2000). Thus, employees will have a odour that they are part of the organization and play an important part in future planning.Leaders that engaged in this practice are willing to accept known possibilities of the future. They tend to figure out the outcome first before they give the instructions to start a new project. Therefore, they will form a clear picture about what exactly they are pursuing and the best way to achieve the successful. Furthermore, they create a general and shared vision taking into account of the needs and expectations of all members in the organization (Kouzes Posner, 2009).2.2.3 Enable Others to ActAccording to Knab (2009), an effective leader that engaged in leadership practice of Enable Other to Act have the ability to influent others and encourage others to act in the way that expected by the leader. They are the leaders that support and encourage the employees to speak out their mind and contribute their ideas in the projects. Besides that, they always provide options for the employees and inspire the commitment of the employees.This leadership practice emphasized the effort of leaders and subordinates work as a team (Woods, 2007). Therefore, leaders play an important part in nurturing mutual trust within the team members (Hyatt, 2007 Tan Tan, 2000). In order to achieve successful in a project, mutual trust and cooperation among the team members are extremely important.This practice also suggested that leaders enable others to act not by forcing or strictly command. Instead, they encourage others to act through the delegation of power (Hyatt, 2007 Gabris Ihrke, 2000). They allowed the employees to make their own decision as eagle-eyed as the decision they make was for the good of the organization. Moreover, they always use the word we to emphasize the important to work as a team (Kouzes Posner, 2009). Thus, the employees will have a perception that they are on the same boat with others member, then the organi zational commitment will increase.2.2.4 Model the WayThe leadership practice of Model the Way suggested that leaders can develop and foster mutual trust between the leader and subordinates and within the subordinates by being the role model for the subordinates (Knab, 2009). Leaders that engaged in this practice are the leaders that ethic, honest and respect dignity of others. They will distinctly define the obligations of employees and give a specific instruction so that employees will receive a clear picture of what are the expectations of leaders to them.According to the study of Woods (2007), it was defined that leaders that engaged in this particular leadership practices are able to express themselves with a clear values. Then they will make sure that their behaviour and attitudes are ordered with the values they show to the employees. Competency leaders know that they must involve in the role model expected by employees so that they can have the trust of the employees and u pgrade the commitment of the employees.To be an effective leader that model the way, leaders have to make sure their values and beliefs were accepted by the employees and demonstrate their daily actions that committed to their values and standards (Hyatt, 2007 Gabris Ihrke, 2000). Leaders actions will have more impact on the commitment of the employees than their words or instructions. However, leaders actions must be consistent with what they are promised to the employees.Besides that, leaders have to identify their position in the eyes of employees. They have to make sure that their existence in the organization is important and their instructions always followed by the subordinates. The leadership practice of Model the Way explained the right attitudes that leaders should commit in their direct interaction with employees. The leaders that act as a role model tend to be the leaders that earn the respect of the employees (Kouzes Posner, 2009).2.2.5 Encourage the HeartLeaders that engaged in leadership practice of Encourage the Heart are willing to show their appreciation to the employees publicly, and always find ways to celebrate the achievement of the subordinates (Knab, 2009). Therefore, people will be more enthusiasm to their job as their contributions are appreciated by the leaders. Besides that, the employees that receive the recognition of the leaders will increase in their self-confidence and self-esteem (Hyatt, 2007 Javidan Waldman, 2003). Thus, they will not be afraid to share their ideas and knowledge with other colleagues.The increase of confidence of employees will then encourage the commitment of employees in their jobs. This will be a competitive receipts for the organization to compete in this challenging world. The high level of organizational commitment among the employees will then increase the productivity ultimately.In the process of upgrading the quality of the products and services require the leaders to motivate the heart of the em ployees. Leaders play an essential role to ensure that the employees values are align with the objectives of the company (Kouzes Posner, 2009). The leaders that appreciate the effort of the employees will increase the moxie of be of the employees. When the employees feel that they are a part of the members in the organization, they will be more commit in their jobs and willing to repose with the organization even in the through tough times.2.3 organizational commitmentOrganizational commitment had received highly attention of the researchers in the previous studies. front research had identified that organizational commitment had a significant influence in some aspect of working attitudes and behaviours such as job satisfaction, job performance, and turnover rate (Lee, 2008 Lok and Crawford, 2001 Yousef, 2000). Organizational commitment focuses on employees commitment to the organization.Mowday et al., (1974) explained the definition of organizational commitment as the belief of employees regarding the organizations objectives and values. This will think the desire of the employees effort and the willingness to contribute to the organization. The employees will be more committed in their organizations if the values and culture of the organizations align with their expectations. Then they will stay loyalty to the organization.According to Cole (2000), a committed worker always believes in companys products and services. He or she is willing to put in a lot of effort and even willing to make sacrifices as long as the purpose is for the good of company. Besides that, the employees are willing to interject the company to their friends. They will feel proud of their company and recommend their organization to the others as the best place to work for. Furthermore, they will choose to contribute to the company that spur out their organizational commitment rather than the company that provide high salary but absence of the backbone of belonging (Lee, 2008).Me yer and Allen (1991) developed third different types of organizational commitment. According to Woods (2007), the three aspects of organizational commitment were defined as below.Affective Commitment This aspect of the commitment described the feeling of employees to the organization that expressed in a positive way. They feel attach to the organization because the organization provided them a sense of belonging. The choose stay in the organization because they want to.Continuance Commitment This aspect of the commitment explained the perceptions of the employees that they will lose their benefits if they leave the organization. Besides that, they afraid to suffer the cost of losing their friendship with colleagues and the cost of losing the economic cost such as insurance, welfare, bonus, and etc. Therefore, they will choose to stay in the organization because they have to.Normative Commitment This aspect of the commitment suggested that the employees continue to contribute to the organization as they have a feeling of obligation. There will be many causes of that feeling. For instance, an employee will have a sense of honorable obligation and afraid to leave the company as the company had invested a lot in his or her training. Therefore, the employee will have a perception that he or she has the responsibility to stay still in the organization. As a result, the employees will choose to commit in the organization as they feel that they ought to.2.4 SummaryLeadership was defined in many meanings by researchers and it showed that leadership was indeed plays an important role in todays organization. Although there have been many different theories and definitions of leadership, there is still space for further research about leadership (Lee, 2008). Since it was suggested by previous studies that principal of leadership is the key to improve employees achievement, it is important that we continue to investigate what type of leadership is most effective for t he organizations (Knab, 2009).The need for effective and efficient leadership practices are important for the leaders in today organization to engage in. Sufficient and efficient practices of leadership in the organization by leaders will increases the organizational commitment of the employees. As a result, the productivity will also be increased. A leader may have knowledge and skills to act effectively in one situation but he or she may not perform as effectively in a different situation as there is always consist of different challenges in different situation (Lee, 2008 Rad and Yarmohammadian, 2006).In this chapter, the theories of leadership were defined. Subsequently, in this chapter the five leadership practices was explained and its important was discussed as well. Furthermore, the meaning of organizational commitment also be defined and three-component model of commitment was identified.