Deck 14: Contingency Theories of Leadership

Question 1

It is easier to drive change when followers are satisfied.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

According to Beer's model for organizational change formula, C = D x M x P > R, what does "C" stand for?

A)The amount of coordination.
B)The type of coordination.
C)The amount of change.
D)The type of change.

Answer 2

C

Question 3

According to the text, the rational and emotional approaches are the two major ways to drive organizational change.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

Leaders think about organizations as an interlocking set of processes and procedures when they use a systems thinking approach.

Question 5

The rational approach provides leaders with a siloed thinking process on how to drive change.

Question 6

Charismatic leaders recognize the shortcomings of a present order and offer an imaginative vision to overcome them.

Question 7

Charismatic leaders are thought to possess superhuman qualities or powers of divine origin that sets them apart from ordinary mortals.

Question 8

The D and M components of the change model are the hardest for leadership practitioners to accomplish.

Question 9

Charismatic leaders are always controversial.

Question 10

Emotions are often the fuel driving large-scale initiatives for change.

Question 11

A personalized leadership style seems to be responsible for the feelings of empowerment.

Question 12

Bass's theory of transformational and transactional leadership is based on surveys and correlational studies.

Question 13

Transactional leadership is very common but tends to be transitory.

Question 14

The rational approach to change can be represented by the formula: V = n x P x R x T.

Question 15

What is the "fuel" for organizational change?

A)Organization's goals
B)Follower's emotions
C)Vision
D)Building trust

Question 16

Charisma is probably more a function of the leader's personal characteristics than of the followers' reactions to a leader.

Question 17

The "M" in the rational change formula represents

A)money.
B)manpower.
C)model.
D)motivation.

Question 18

The formula for the rational approach to change is

A)C = D x O x T > R
B)C = D x M x P > R
C)C = M x R x D >P
D)C = D x O x L x T

Question 19

According to Beer's model for organizational change, leaders can increase the amount of change by

A)increasing the amount of resistance in followers.
B)decreasing the level of dissatisfaction.
C)having no change plan.
D)increasing the clarity of vision.

Question 20

Leaders act to optimize their part of the organization at the expense of suboptimizing the organization's overall effectiveness in siloed thinking.

Question 21

In general, which is the first step that leaders can take to increase follower dissatisfaction levels?

A)To determine just how satisfied followers are with the current situation.
B)To talk about potential competitive, technology or employee concerns about the status quo.
C)To capitalize on some type of financial or political crisis.
D)To create some type of benchmark against other organizations.

Question 22

Which of the following statements is false?

A)A vision helps the organization make choices about what it should and should not do.
B)A vision statement does not have to be a solo effort on the part of the leader.
C)A vision is the final destination for an organization.
D)Often times leaders will work with a team of followers to craft a vision statement.

Question 23

In this stage of coping with change, you start to question whether the company really knew what it was doing by letting you go and perhaps rationalize that they will probably be calling you back.

A)Acceptance
B)Rejection
C)Anger
D)Shock

Question 24

According to the research on charismatic leadership, which of the following characteristics would fall in the leader category in the L-F-S interactional framework?

A)Crises
B)Feelings of empowerment
C)Rhetorical skills
D)Task interdependence

Question 25

This leadership serves to change the status quo by appealing to followers' values and their sense of higher purpose.

A)Supportive
B)Transactional
C)Transformational
D)Participative

Question 26

When followers are afraid of losing power, a leader's response to this fear would be

A)to coach, mentor, train, peer coach, use job aids and so forth.
B)to demonstrate empathy and have good listening skills.
C)to help employees build new relationships before change occurs or soon thereafter.
D)to design and implement a new reward system to support change initiative.

Question 27

Usually the first people to realize that a change initiative needs to be implemented are the organization's

A)first-line supervisors.
B)middle managers.
C)top leaders.
D)individual contributors.

Question 28

The "S" in SARA refers to

A)stress.
B)shock.
C)situational.
D)systems.

Question 29

Leaders should think about the organization as a set of interlocking systems in

A)reframing.
B)siloed thinking.
C)systems thinking approach.
D)resistance.

Question 30

Which of following is not a common form of resistance to change?

A)Loss of power
B)Loss of competence
C)Loss of charisma
D)Loss of rewards

Question 31

Transactional leadership

A)occurs when a person possesses authority not because of tradition, but because of the laws that govern the position occupied.
B)serves to change the status quo by appealing to followers' values and their sense of higher purpose.
C)occurs when the traditions of society dictate who has authority and how this authority can be used.
D)occurs when leaders and followers are in some type of exchange relationship in order to get needs met.

Question 32

This component of the change model is where the change initiative becomes tangible and actionable because it consists of the development and execution of the change plan.

A)Amount of change
B)Dissatisfaction
C)Resistance
D)Process

Question 33

Which of the following statements is true?

A)Transactional leaders are always controversial.
B)All transformational leaders are charismatic.
C)All charismatic leaders are transformational.
D)Transactional leaders are also adept at reframing issues.

Question 34

Which of the following statements about transformational leaders is true?

A)They are inherently future-oriented.
B)Their vision is based solely on their own values.
C)They sometimes take credit for others' accomplishments.
D)They tend to be emotionally expressive.

Question 35

The _____ authority system is associated with leaders thought to possess divine or superhuman qualities.

A)traditional
B)legal-rational
C)charismatic
D)personalized

Question 36

Persons derive authority because of their exemplary characteristics in the

A)charismatic authority system.
B)traditional authority system.
C)legal-rational authority system.
D)legal authority system.

Question 37

The type of thinking that occurs when leaders act to optimize their part of the organization at the expense of suboptimizing the organization's overall effectiveness is known as

A)systems thinking.
B)reframing.
C)resistance.
D)siloed thinking.

Question 38

What is the underlying cause for a huge percentage of failures of change initiatives?

A)The leader's inability or unwillingness to address culture and capabilities issues.
B)Leaders act to optimize their part of the organization at the expense of suboptimizing the organization's overall effectiveness.
C)The leader does not have a compelling vision or fails to motivate others to do something different.
D)Top leaders may fail to demonstrate empathy and listening skills.

Question 39

According to research, the leader's vision is

A)consistent with current realities.
B)usually presented in written form so subordinates can study it.
C)often depressing (in the short run) for the subordinates who must change their view.
D)often a collaborative effort.

Question 40

Management skills are important for

A)coaching followers on how to do things differently.
B)determining a new vision for the organization.
C)increasing dissatisfaction.
D)reviewing progress on change plans.

Question 41

The FFM personality dimension of agreeableness most strongly correlates with which component of transformational leadership?

A)Inspiring trust
B)Visionary thinking
C)Empowering others
D)High impact delivery

Question 42

Write a short note on Bass's theory of transformational and transactional leadership.

Question 43

How did Conger and Kanungo differentiate charismatic from noncharismatic leaders?

Question 44

Write a short note on what a leadership practitioner should do with the SARA model.

Question 45

Use the emotional approach to outline a major change of your choice. If you were the leader of the change initiative, then what would you specifically need to do or attend to in order to drive your initiative? Be specific.

Question 46

According to Bass, transformational leaders

A)possess good visioning.
B)motivate followers by setting goals.
C)promise rewards for desired performance.
D)perpetuates the status quo.

Question 47

Compare the traditional to the legal-rational system of authority and provide examples of where they can be seen in organizations today.

Question 48

In this type of leadership, the MLQ assesses the extent to which leaders avoid responsibilities, fail to make decisions, are absent when needed or fail to follow up on requests.

A)Bureaucratic
B)Autocratic
C)Laissez-faire
D)Democratic

Question 49

Which of the following is perhaps the most important situational factor associated with charismatic leadership?

A)Innovation
B)Task interdependence
C)Organizational downsizing
D)Presence/absence of a crisis

Question 50

According to the MLQ, which leadership type is a significantly better predictor of organizational effectiveness as compared to the others?

A)Autocratic
B)Transactional
C)Laissez-faire
D)Transformational

Question 51

This takes place when followers do no more than abide by the policies and procedures surrounding change requests.

A)Cooperation
B)Compliance
C)Commitment
D)Malicious compliance

Question 52

List the similarities in the behavior and style of both charismatic and transformational leaders.

Question 53

What is probably the most important and overlooked situational variable that affects charismatic leadership?

A)Task
B)Stability
C)Time
D)Innovation

Question 54

Charismatic leaders

A)use abstract and colorless rational discourse to reframe issues.
B)make extensive use of stories to make their points.
C)are adept at tailoring their language to particular groups.
D)are good in engaging groups mentally and emotionally.

Question 55

How can the C = D x M x P > R model help leadership practitioners?

Question 56

Charismatic leaders tend to be

A)extremely smart.
B)data-driven.
C)emotionally expressive.
D)fairly introverted.

Question 57

Describe how you would use the four components of "model" in the rational approach to change, to drive the use of alternative energy sources at your school.

Question 58

Briefly describe how image and trust building influence charismatic and transformational leaders.