One Size Doesn't Fit All: Situational Approaches to Leadership

Case Assignment

For this assignment, first review the background materials with a focus on Hersey and Blanchard's Situational Leadership model.  Make sure you are familiar with  the four leadership styles covered in the situational approach including Directing, Coaching, Supporting, and Delegating and situations where you are supposed to use these four styles.  

Also, familiarize yourself with the more complex Path Goal model and Fiedler's Contingency model. You don't need to know these two models in as much detail as the Situational model to complete this assignment, but make sure you understand the main idea of these models as well as some of their main advantages and disadvantages.

Once you have finished your reading and research, write a four to five page paper answering the following questions. Make sure to cite at least one of the required background readings in each answer, and to cite at least three of the required readings total in your paper:

1. For each of the following situations, explain which of the four leadership styles covered in the Situational model should be used and explain your reasoning with references to Chapter 4 of Avery (2011) and at least one other required reading from the background materials:

A. You are in charge of a team of architects.  They are highly skilled but have strong opinions and do not necessarily follow instructions.  These architects are independent thinkers who are used to doing things their own way.

B. You are in charge of a fast food restaurant.  The employees are all teenagers who have not yet graduated from high school, and for most of them this is their first job.

C. You are the supervisor for a team of software engineers.  They are all highly skilled and highly motivated, and are used to working independently.  All of them believe in the mission of the company.

2. For the above situations, how hard would it be to apply the Fielder Contingency model or the Path Goal model to choose a leadership style?  Would it be easy, or would you require a lot more information about each of the situations?  You don't need to actually apply these two models, just discuss how difficult it might be to apply these models.

3. Of the three models (Situational, Fielder Contingency, Path Goal), which one do you think is the most useful for the real world?  Explain your reasoning.

Assignment Expectations

• Follow the assignment instructions closely and follow all steps listed in the instructions
• Stay focused on the precise assignment questions, don't go off on tangents or devote a lot of space to summarizing general background materials
• List supporting references and cite sources in proper format
• Use appropriate writing style in essay form (organization, grammar, and spelling).
• Include both a bibliography and in-text citations