Chapter 9: Leadership and Decision Making

Escalation of commitment

condition in which a decision maker becomes so committed to a course of action that they stay with it even when it appears to have been wrong

Programmed decision

decision that is relatively structured or recurs with some frequency (or both)

Situational approach to leadership

assumes that appropriate leader behavior varies from one situation to another

Coercive power

the power to force compliance by means of psychological, emotional, or physical threat

Nonprogrammed decisions

decision that is relatively unstructured and that occurs with low frequency

Legitimate power

power granted through the organizational hierarchy

Decision making

choosing one alternative from among several options

Charismatic leadership

type of influence based on the leader’s personal charisma

State of uncertainty

when the decision maker does not know all the alternatives, the risks associated with each, or the likely consequences of each alternative

Transactional leadership

comparable to management, it involves routine, regimented activities

Referent power

power based on identification, imitation, loyalty, or charisma

Behavioral approach to leadership

focused on determining what behaviors are employed by leaders

Leadership neutralizers

factors that may render leader behaviors ineffective

Risk propensity

the degree to which a person is willing to take chances and make risky decisions

Employee-focused leader behavior

leader behavior focusing on satisfaction, motivation, and well-being of employees

State of certainty

when the decision maker knows with reasonable certainty what the alternatives are and what conditions are associated with each alternative

Virtual leadership

leadership in settings where leaders and followers interact electronically rather than in face-to-face settings

State of risk

when the availability of each alternative and its potential payoffs and costs are all associated with probability estimates

Decision-making process

recognizing and defining the nature of a decision situation, identifying alternatives, choosing the “best” alternative, and putting it into practice

Task-focused leader behavior

leader behavior focusing on how tasks should be performed to meet certain goals and to achieve certain performance standards

Trait approach to leadership

focused on identifying the essential traits that distinguished leaders

Transformational leadership

the set of abilities that allows a leader to recognize the need for change, create a vision to guide that change, and execute the change effectively

Decision tree approach

approach to leadership that provides decision rules for deciding how much participation to allow

Leadership

the processes and behaviors used by someone, such as a manager, to motivate, inspire, and influence the behaviors of others

Strategic leadership

leader’s ability to understand the complexities of both the organization and its environment and to lead change in the organization so as to enhance its competitiveness

Expert power

power derived from information or expertise

Leadership substitutes

individual, task, and organizational characteristics that tend to outweigh the need for a leader to initiate or direct employee performance

Reward power

the power to give or withhold rewards

Power

the ability to affect the behavior of others

Path–goal theory

theory of leadership that is a direct extension of the expectancy theory of motivation

Ethical leadership

leader behaviors that reflect high ethical standards

Coalition

an informal alliance of individuals or groups formed to achieve a common goal

Intuition

an innate belief about something, often without conscious consideration

Leader–member exchange (LMX) model

approach to leadership that stresses the importance of variable relationships between supervisors and each of their subordinates