2. Characteristics of the Situation Pertemuan 21 & 22
Matakuliah : L0244 – Psikologi Kepemimpinan
Tahun : 2010
Characteristics of the Situation Pertemuan 21 & 22

3. Background
The appropriateness of a leader’s behavior with a group of followers often makes sense only in the situational context in which the behavior occurs.
The situation, not someone’s traits or abilities, plays the most important role in determining who emerges as a leader.
Great leaders typically emerged during economic crisis, social upheavals, or revolutions.
It was believed that leaders were made, not born, and that prior leadership experience helped forge effective leaders.
Bina Nusantara University

4. Situational Factors That Affect Leaders’ Behaviors
Role theory: A leader’s behavior depends on a leader’s perceptions of several critical aspects of the situation:
Rules and regulations governing the job.
Role expectations of subordinates, peers, and superiors.
Nature of the task.
Feedback about subordinates’ performance.
Multiple-influence model
Microvariables
Macrovariables
Situational levels: Task, organizational, and environmental levels.
Bina Nusantara University

5. An Expanded Leader-Follower-Situation Model
Bina Nusantara University

6. From the Industrial Age to the Information Age
In the new information age, many fundamental assumptions of the industrial age are becoming obsolete.
Changes in the ways companies operate:
Cross functions
Links to customers and suppliers
Customer segmentation
Global scale
Innovation
Knowledge workers
Bina Nusantara University

7. A Congruence Model
Bina Nusantara University

8. The Work – Job Characteristics
Skill variety: Degree to which a job involves performing a variety of different activities or skills.
Task identity: Degree to which a situation or task requires completion of a whole unit of work from beginning to end with a visible outcome.
Task significance: Degree to which a job substantially impacts others’ lives.
Autonomy: Degree to which a job provides an individual with some control over what and how he does it.
Feedback: Degree to which a person accomplishing a task receives information about performance from performing the task itself.
Bina Nusantara University

9. The Work – Task Structure
People vary in their preferences for, or ability to handle, structured versus unstructured tasks.
Subordinates need help when:
A task is unstructured.
They do not know what the desired outcome looks like.
They do not know how to achieve the outcome.
Reducing the degree of ambiguity inherent in an unstructured situation is a leadership behavior usually appreciated by followers.
Bina Nusantara University

10. The Work – Task Interdependence
Task interdependence: Degree to which tasks require coordination and synchronization for work groups or teams to accomplish desired goals.
Tasks with high levels of interdependence place a premium on leaders’ organizing and planning, directing, and communication skills.
Task interdependence can also dictate which leader behaviors will be effective in a particular situation.
Bina Nusantara University

11. The People Leaders should look at the followers in terms of:
Skills
Knowledge
Experience
Expectations
Needs
Preferences
In a rapidly changing environment, diversity allows the species to sense and adapt more quickly.
Diversity is essential to quality and survival in a rapidly changing world.
Bina Nusantara University

12. The Formal Organization – Level of Authority
Level of authority: One’s hierarchical level in an organization.
The types of behaviors most critical to leadership effectiveness can change substantially as one moves up an organizational ladder.
Leaders at high organizational levels often perform a greater variety of activities and are more apt to use participation and delegation.
Bina Nusantara University

13. The Formal Organization – Organizational Structure
Organizational structure: The way an organization’s activities are coordinated and controlled, and represents another level of the situation in which leaders and followers must operate.
Organization structure can be thought of in three terms:
Complexity:
Horizontal complexity
Vertical complexity
Spatial complexity
Formalization: Degree of standardization.
Centralization: Diffusion of decision making.
Bina Nusantara University

14. Organizational Design - Functional Design
Bina Nusantara University

15. Organizational Design – Product Design
Bina Nusantara University

16. Organizational Design – Matrix Design
Bina Nusantara University

17. Organizational Design – Lateral Interdependence
Lateral interdependence: Degree of coordination or synchronization required between organizational units in order to accomplish work-group or organizational goals.
Leaders are more likely to use rational persuasion as an influence tactic when the level of lateral interdependence is high.
Bina Nusantara University

18. The Informal Organization
Organizational culture: System of shared backgrounds, norms, values, or beliefs among members of a group.
Organizational climate: Members’ subjective reactions about the organization.
Leaders can change culture by attending to or ignoring particular issues, problems, or projects.
Leaders can modify culture
Through their reactions to crisis
By rewarding new or different kinds of behavior
By eliminating previous punishments or negative consequences for certain behaviors.
Bina Nusantara University

19. Some Questions That Define Organizational Culture
Bina Nusantara University

20. Environmental Characteristics
Environmental characteristics: Situational factors outside the task or organization that still affect the leadership process.
These factors include:
Technological forces
Economic forces
Political forces
Social forces
Legal forces
These factors often create anxiety, and therefore cause an increase in employees’ security needs.
Bina Nusantara University

21. Technology and Uncertainty
Environments of low technological complexity: Workers play a large role and are able to modify their behavior depending on the situation.
A range of technological complexity can exist.
Different kinds of organizational structures or designs are best suited for different technological environments.
The degree of environmental uncertainty affects optimal organizational design.
Bina Nusantara University

22. Crisis
Behaviors associated with effective leadership during crises differ from those associated with noncrisis situations.
During crises, followers are more likely to look to leaders to identify the problem as well as develop and implement a solution.
Leaders are less apt to use participation or consultation during crises.
Bina Nusantara University

23. Situational Engineering
A leader or follower can become more effective by identifying problem areas and restructuring the situation so that problems become easier to overcome.
A variety of ways in which leaders and followers can change the task, organizational, and environmental factors affecting their behaviors and attitudes exist.
Leaders and followers must think about how they can change the situation for everyone to be more satisfied and productive.
Bina Nusantara University

24. Summary
The situation may well be the most complex factor in the leader-follower-situation framework.
Situations vary not only in complexity but also in strength.
The Congruence Model can be used as a way to consider many of the situational factors leaders should consider.
Research has shown that organizational factors play a major role in the leader-situation framework.
The informal organization or the organizational culture can have a profound impact on the way both leaders and followers behave.
Factors in the environment, such as legal, political, or economic forces, can also affect leaders’ and followers’ behaviors.
Bina Nusantara University

25. Reference
Hughes., Ginnett., & Curpy. (2009). Leadership: Enhancing The Lesson of Experience. 6 eds. McGraw-Hill. Boston.
Bina Nusantara University