CRITICAL EVALUATION OF LEADERSHIP THEORIES

Critical Evaluation of Leadership Theories

Critical Evaluation of Leadership Theories

Path-Goal Theory

“Leaders, to be effective, engage in behaviors that complement subordinates' environments and abilities in a manner that compensates for deficiencies and is instrumental to subordinate satisfaction and individual and work unit performance” (Evans, 1996, 305-309). Management scholar Robert J. House's remark about leadership concisely captures the essence of the path-goal theory of leadership. According to this theory, followers consciously consider alternative courses of action and assess the likelihood that each course of action will yield desirable as well as undesirable outcomes. (Evans, 1970, 91-102) After consciously considering these alternative actions, proponents of the theory propose that followers act in a manner they believe will maximize the attainment of positive outcomes while minimizing the attainment of negative outcomes. (Dipboye et al, 1994) Using this conceptualization of motivated behavior, path-goal leadership theory suggests that an effective leader directs followers' behavior by changing followers' perceptions of the relationship between behaviors and outcomes. (Evans, 1970, 277-298)

Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) Theory

Many theories of leadership focus on the nature of the interactions that occur between the leader and his or her subordinates. (Hogg, 2003, 462-479) They attribute effective leadership to a situation in which subordinates give the leader the legitimacy and power to lead effectively in return for various valued resources provided by the leader (trust, respect, status, money, privileges). One of the best known of these transactional theories of leadership is Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) theory, which evolved from the earlier Vertical Dyad Linkage (VDL) model. (Graen and Uhl-Bien, 1995, 219-247)

Transactional theories of leadership recognize that leadership is not a property of an individual, but is a relationship in which one person leads and others follow. (Gerstner and Day, 1997, 827-844) The key question about leadership, therefore, is what kind of relationship must exist between leader and followers for the leader to be able to be innovative and to have followers comply with his or her requests, ideas, suggestions, and behavioral leads. (Dienesch and Liden, 1986, 618-634) That is, what kind of relationship allows a leader to be an effective leader? To answer this question, transactional theorists focus on the “transactions” between leaders and followers. (Dansereau et al, 1975, 46-78)

Comparison of Leadership Theories

Social identity leadership researchers provide some evidence that although personalized leader-member relationships may promote effective leadership in low-salience groups, they are not so effective in highsalience groups. In high-salience groups, depersonalized leader-member relations ...