Human Behavior in organizations.docx

Human Behavior in organizations.docx

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HumanBehaviorinorganizations

FoundationsofLeadershipinOrganizationalHumanBehaviour：

BasedontheCaseStudyofAnnaWintour

Tableofcontents

1.Introduction3

2.Perspectivestowardhumanbehaviouratworkandrelevanttheories3

2.1Implicationsofleadership:

differencesfrommanagement3

2.2Traittheories4

2.3Behaviourtheories4

2.4Situationaltheories6

3.AnnaWintour:

atypicalrepresentativeofbehaviourtheoriesandsituationaltheories7

4.Conclusion9

5.References10

1.

Introduction

ThisessaywilltaketheleadershipofAnnaWintourasacasestudytoanalyzethefoundationsoforganizationalhumanbehaviour.Basedonintroductionsoftherelevanttheories,thisarticlewillfurtherdiscussonissuesrelatedtohumanbehaviouratworkinachallenging,questioningandcriticalperspective,withtheintentiontofindoutidentifiablespecifictraitsoftheconceptleadership.

2.Perspectivestowardhumanbehaviouratworkandrelevanttheories

2.1Implicationsofleadership:

differencesfrommanagement

Beforedefiningtheconceptofleadership,itisextremelyimportanttoidentifythedifferencesbetweenleadershipandmanagement.Theconceptmanagementinherentlyemphasizestheorganizationalfunctionperformedbymanagerstorealizethegoalofachievingprofitability,ofwhichtheimplicationisrelativelyconformist.Ontheotherhand,leadershipputmoreemphasisontheinitiativeofinfluencingandguidingothersintotheorganizationalpursuitofparticularobjectivesorvisionsforthefuture,alongwiththeincentiveswhichencourageotheremployeesintoautonomousfollowing.Therefore,theconceptofleadershipintrinsicallyinvolvesattributesofleadersincludingpersonaltraits,appropriatebehaviour,skillstocontrolprocessesandflexibleabilitiestochangeleadingstyletodifferentcontexts.

Generallyspeaking,therearethreedifferenttheoriesofleadership—traittheories,behaviourtheoriesandsituationaltheories.

2.2Traittheories

Asanearlytheoryofleadershipinthemiddledecadesofthe20thcentury,traittheoriesemphasizeonthepersonalcharacteristicsoftheleader.Followersofthiskindoftheorieshavedonelotsofresearchestoidentifythepersonalitytraitsandotherattributesofleadersinordertoexaminethepossibilityofselectingindividualswhopossessthosecharacteristicstopromotethemtoleadershippositions.However,relevantcriticismoftraittheoriesindicatedthattheperspectivesontheissueofleadershipgivenbythesetraittheoriesaretoopartialandoftensuperficial.Tofurtherexaminethecharacteristicsstandardssetbythesetheoriestoselectpotentialleaders,itiseasilyfoundthatthesestandardsarealwaysvagueandmostofthemarehardtomeasure,suchashonestyandloyalty.Moreover,thesetheoriesgivearigidimageofleadershipinwhichleadersareconsistentandleadershipisstatic.Besides,humannaturedecidesthatselfassessmentisusuallyflawedandassessmentbyothersisoftenbiased,sotheuseofthetraittheoriesisquitelimitedinselectionofleaders.

Whilethefiercestcriticismisthatthesetraittheoriesallignorethecontextoftheleadership.Infact,leadershiphasanintrinsicnatureofchangingindifferentcircumstances.Withthatnature,leadershipstyleinherentlyreferstothemannerinwhichleadersconducttasksandfunctionswithsubordinationfromtheotheremployees.

2.3Behaviourtheories

Takingleadershipintoconsideration,behaviourtheoriesgraduallyachievedpopularityinthe1960sand1970s.

Astheoreticalpreparations,theMichiganStudies（1940s）gavetwodimensionsoforganizationalhumanbehaviour:

（1）employee-centeredbehaviourwhichfocusesonlabor-capitalrelationshipsandemployeeneeds.

（2）job-centeredbehaviourwhichemphasizesthepracticalresultsofgettingthejobdone.Inaddition,theOhioStudies（1950s）providedleadershiptheorypredictionsincludingbothsocialsensitivitytothesocialneedsofemployeesandemphasisontheachievementofsettledproductandservicegoals.

Likert（1961）putoutwiththefoursystemsofleadership.Inthisframework,leadershipisconsistedofthefollowingfourcombinedattributes.Firstly,leadershipisautocraticwithaninherentnaturetoexploitemployeesformaximizingprofit.Secondly,leadershiptoacertainextentisakindofbenevolentauthorities,whichemphasizestheconcernofsocialneedsofemployees.Thirdly,leadershipisusuallythedominantpowerinaninteractiveprocessinvolvingbothmanagersandemployees.Moreover,leadershipsometimeshascharacteristicsofdemocracy,whichputsemphasisonthecooperationandcoordinationintheorganizationalhumanbehaviour.Inaddition,Kramer（2006）supplementedthatinsomecircumstances,intimidationtacticsshouldbeaddedtothescopeofleadership.Thesetacticsrequiresmanagerstoberigidandmysterioustokeeptheirauthorities,forexample,managersshouldgiveothersanimageofeasytogetangryandnoteasytogetcloseto,andafeelingofknowingitallisalsoneeded.

Linkedtotransformationalleadership,AlimoandBradley（2008）indicatedthecharacteristicsofengagingleadership.Thistheorysuggeststhatmanagersshouldinvolveinterestsofstakeholdersearlyandtrytobuildacollaborativevisionoffuturewithoutanyteamhierarchy.Especiallyformanagersinsomemultinationalcorporations,theabilityofchangingleadershipstyleaccordingtolocaleconomicandsocialcontextsisalsorequired.

Brooks（2006）summarizedthatthereareapproximatelyfourleadershipstylesmentionedinthebehaviourtheoriesofleadership:

（1）Task-orientedleadershipstyle,whichaimsatachievingthesettledgoalsoforganizations.

（2）Interpersonalrelationship-orientedleadershipstyle,whichemphasizesthestimulationofallstakeholderstopursuethemutualinterest.（3）Directiveleadershipwhichunderlinestheimportanceofmaintaininganautocraticauthorityofmanagers.（4）Democraticleadershipwhichstressestheparticipativeroleofmanagersintheinteractivitywithotheremployees.

Themaincriticismofthebehaviourtheoriesliesintheargumentbasedonrealitythatwithignoranceofboththesituationandthefollowers,acertainleadershipstylecannotbeeffectiveinallcontexts.

2.4Situationaltheories

Asreactiontothecriticismofbehaviourtheories,situationaltheoriesunderlinestheimportanceofinteractionwiththefavorablenessofacertaincircumstancetoimproveeffectivenessofleadershipbehaviour.

Fiedler（1967）putoutthecontingencytheorylookingatthreesituationsthatcouldinfluencetheeffectivenessofamanagerialtask:

（1）leadermemberrelationsreferringtotherelationshipofmanagersandtheemployees;

（2）taskstructurewithinwhichthejobisorganizedandallocated;（3）positionpowerrelatedtothepoweramanagerpossessestomaketheemployeesfollowthesettledstrategies.Consideringtheseinfluencingfactors,thecontingencytheoryhasarelativelystrongexplainingabilitytorealizetheflexibilityofleadershipstyle.

Inaddition,HerseyandBlanchard（1988）arguedthatleadersshoulddifferentiatethetaskbehaviourandsubordinatebehaviour,ofwhichtheformeremphasizestheexecutiveabilityofmanagersandthelatterstressesmoreoftheleadingpowertowardthefollowers.Essentially,thiscategorygivesadeeperunderstandingandexplanationofleadership.

Insummary,situationalfactorshaveinfluencesontheprocessoforganizationalandmanagerialactivities,andtosomeextentthesefactorsdecidetheleadershipstyleanditseffectiveness.However,situationaltheoriesarestillcriticizedastooprescriptivewithoutasufficientconsiderationofculturalandpoliticalfactors.Intheunderstandingofsituationaltheories,leadershipisstillaconceptofindividualismandimpliesthattheleadersmakerationaldecisionsbasedonenoughunderstandingsofthecontextincludingthefollowers.

3.AnnaWintour:

atypicalrepresentativeofbehaviourtheoriesandsituationaltheories

Intheclipsofthefilm‘TheDevilWearsPrada’,asthechiefeditorofafamousfashionmagazine,thecharacterMirandahasbeendescribedasamid-aged,haughty,snappishperfectionistinsunglassesandluxuryfashionwithfabulousglamourinthefashionworld.AstheprototypeofthecharacterMiranda,AnnaWintourisalivelegendinthefashionworld.Withanincrediblesensitivityaboutfashion,AnnaWintourhasbeenVogue’seditorinchiefsince1988,andduringhertenure,Voguehasbeenextremelysuccessful.BecauseofthebrilliantperformanceinVogue,AnnaWintourcompletelyobtainedthesupremestatusinthefashionsocietywiththepowerfulcapabilitiestoleadfashiontrendsandtopromoteanynewdesignerandfreshmodels.

ConsideringtheleaderstyleofAnnaWintour,manypersonaltraitscanbefoundinhermanagerialpracticessuchasaperfectionistpursuitoffashionandabrilliantsensitivitytowardfashionindustry.Theseuniquetalentsandoutstandingcharacteristicsaredescribedinthetraittheoriesofleadershipasthecrucialinfluencingfactorstodecidethepromotionofindividualstoleadingpositions.However,critiquesofthetraittheoryarguesthatthestandardsusedtojudgethesecharacteristicsofindividualsarevagueandhardtomeasure,sotheobservationandstudyingintothemanagerialbehaviourofAnnaWintourisnecessaryandimportant.AnditseemsabetterwaytoputtheleadershipstyleofAnnaWintourintothecategorytheoryofbehaviourtheoriesandsituationaltheories.

Intheclipsofthefilm‘TheDevilWearsPrada’,itishighlystressedthatMiranda,whosecharacterprototypeisexactlyAnnaWintour,possessessupremerespectandauthorityfromtheemployees,andwiththiscon