Contingency theory exercises and activities
The Least Preferred Coworker questionnaireThe Least Preferred Coworker Questionnaire, or LPC is an instrument that individuals can complete to determine if they are task or relationship oriented leaders. The questionnaire, as pulled from Peter Northouse's book "Leadership Theory and Practice" is available to the right in .pdf format. Instructions for completing and scoring the instrument are provided. This tool has been criticized for lack of validity due to variables with regard to the coworker selected and vagueness with regard to the scoring scale.
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Contingency theory leadership style self-assessmentThis self-assessment is another approach to determining if your leadership style has a tendency towards being relationship or task oriented. It is offered as an alternative to the LPC. We recommend completing both assessments and comparing your results.
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A contingency theory case study
United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is the eighth person to hold this title. Mr. Ban was born in Korea in 1944 and he took office at the United Nations in 2007 and was unanimously re-elected in 2011. He is on a mission to empower women and promote a safer and more equally accessible world for women. Some of his previous work with the United Nations on this topic include:
1. The creation of UN Women, a new agency that focuses on the work of ending violence and empowering women
2. “Rights up front” action plan which creates preventative action plans in respect to human rights in countries with high violence rates
3. He has increased senior management positions held by women by more than 40 percent since beginning his term in office
His current mission for working within this area includes:
1. Enhancing support for countries to pass legislation that punishes violence against women in an enforceable means
2. Encouraging countries to adopt measures that promote female political participation worldwide
3. Creating an action plan that will support full participation of women in the world economy
Although being a world leader he has many critics, he was unanimously re-elected for a second term as Secretary General, thus illustrating his good leader-member relations. The action plans he creates adhere to a high structure format, however the platform begins with low structure before he implements a plan. Additionally while he is in a position of authority he does not actually have a good deal of power to enact or impose action plans without enrolling others with higher position power. If he scored a 55 on the LPC scale, a 40 task and 30 relationship on the self-assessment from Northouse, which of the previous three tasks would he be best suited for under the principles of Contingency Theory of Leadership.
References
1. The creation of UN Women, a new agency that focuses on the work of ending violence and empowering women
2. “Rights up front” action plan which creates preventative action plans in respect to human rights in countries with high violence rates
3. He has increased senior management positions held by women by more than 40 percent since beginning his term in office
His current mission for working within this area includes:
1. Enhancing support for countries to pass legislation that punishes violence against women in an enforceable means
2. Encouraging countries to adopt measures that promote female political participation worldwide
3. Creating an action plan that will support full participation of women in the world economy
Although being a world leader he has many critics, he was unanimously re-elected for a second term as Secretary General, thus illustrating his good leader-member relations. The action plans he creates adhere to a high structure format, however the platform begins with low structure before he implements a plan. Additionally while he is in a position of authority he does not actually have a good deal of power to enact or impose action plans without enrolling others with higher position power. If he scored a 55 on the LPC scale, a 40 task and 30 relationship on the self-assessment from Northouse, which of the previous three tasks would he be best suited for under the principles of Contingency Theory of Leadership.
References
- Ban Ki-moon wins second term as UN Secretary General. (2011, June 21). Retrieved October 23, 2014. <http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-13868655>
- LinkedIn. (2014, June 30). UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Leadership, Climate Change, and Having the World’s Toughest Job. Retrieved from http://www.slideshare.net/linkedin/influencer-interviews-united-nations-secretarygeneral-ban-kimoon
- Northouse, P.G. (2013). Leadership: Theory and practice (6th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Senge pp 93-94.
- Secretary-general ban Ki-moon, united nations secretary-general. (n.d.). Retrieved October 23, 2014. <http://www.un.org/sg/biography.shtml>
- United Nations, Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, UN, secretary, general. (n.d.). Retrieved October 23, 2014. <http://www.un.org/sg/priorities/women_youth.shtml>