The attribution theory of leadership deals with the formation of individual opinions about the reasons for particular events or observations. People will always try to understand why people do what they do. The leader will make a judgment about his employees based on his attribution of the causes of the employees' performance. Individuals will also make inferences about the leader and react to poor performance by the leader.
Attribution theory is attributed to the work done by Heider (1958), Jones and Davis (1965), and Kelley (1967, 1972, 1973). Attribution became an active area of organizational behavior research in the 1980s. It is a model of leadership evaluation that assumes that individuals make inferences about leadership ability by observing and interpreting certain environmental and behavioral cues. Attribution theory is best understood through an example. If you relate well with someone, you’re more likely to evaluate that person’s performance favorably; however on the other side, if someone else constantly irritates you the wrong way, you may be more inclined to evaluate that person’s performance punitively.
People try to identify the reasons for observed events by collecting information that can help explain them. People constantly try to form chains of cause and effect explanations for observed incidents and experiences. These attributions by humans help them to assign an order to the world around them and increase their ability to understand the behavior of self and others.
Attribution Theory deals with the:
Attribution theory describes how individuals develop causal explanations for behaviors and outcomes, and how their causal explanations influence subsequent reactions. People see behavior as being caused either by the individual (i.e. dispositional) or by the environment (situational). It makes a distinction between internal and external causes.
It is a model of leadership evaluation that assumes that individuals make inferences about leadership ability by observing and interpreting certain environmental and behavioral cues. A two-step attributional model of leadership was proposed by Green and Mitchell (1979) suggesting that leaders make attributions (try to understand) about the cause of the performance before deciding on the appropriate action to take. A leader attributes various factor(s) for a follower's performance (internal, external, stable, unstable). These ascribed attributions influence leader's expectations for future performance as well as his behavior toward the follower.
The attribution model suggests that leaders observe their followers’ behavior, make inferences about the causes of that behavior (i.e., whether it is the result of internal, personal factors or of external, circumstantial ones), and then respond on the basis of those inferences. Attribution is the name given to this subjective process, in that we attribute causes, results, problems, and so on, to others, often with less than adequate information on which to base our judgment.
Internal attributions include follower’s lack of interest, inexperienced followers, absenteeism by followers, or any other cause due to follower’s side.
If a leader attributes a follower's poor performance to internal factors such as low effort or a lack of ability, he or she may reprimand, dismiss, or provide training for the employee concerned. If a manager attributes an employee's poor performance to a lack of effort, then it will impact employees' performance appraisal poorly.
External causes include, poor performance mainly due to machines break down, tool break down, material inventory problem, material quality problem, or any other cause by external factors, which are beyond the control of followers
If, however, poor performance is attributed to external factors such as a lack of material, or to work overload, the leader would need to concentrate on these factors and improve the situation instead of giving negative feedback to the employee. If a manager perceives that an employee's poor performance is due to a lack of skill, the manager may most likely assign the employee to required training or provide some assistance in terms of instructions or coaching.
The leader will take corrective action:
For example, a manager who makes an internal attribution by concluding that an employee’s poor performance on a recent project was due to personal characteristics that led to lack of motivation, he is likely to decide on a harsher disciplinary action. Corrective action is more likely to be punitive in nature when attributed to lack of effort
However if he made an external attribution by assigning the reason of poor performance to the situation like a lockout situation say due to corona pandemic, the person was not able to visit clients and hence the decline in sales volume, the corrective action by the manager will be targeted towards remedying the situation.
Attributions are critical to management because managers' and employees' judgments and actions are often based on perceived causes of behavior. Given below are some implications for organizations:
Attribution theory of leadership assumes that individuals make inferences about leadership ability by observing and interpreting certain environmental and behavioral cues. Leaders make attributions (try to understand) about the cause of the performance before deciding on the appropriate action to take. A leader attributes various factor(s) for a follower's performance (internal, external, stable, unstable). These ascribed attributions influence leader's expectations for future performance as well as his behavior toward the follower.
An example of attribution theory could be a manager who makes an internal attribution by concluding that an employee’s poor performance on a recent project was due to personal characteristics that led to a lack of motivation. Once he makes such a judgment, he is likely to decide on a harsher disciplinary action. In this case, the corrective action is more likely to be punitive in nature as it has been attributed by the manager to lack of effort.
An example of a manager making an external attribution is when he assumes that the poor performance of the employee is due to external situations. For example, due to lockdown situation created by corona pandemic, the employee was not able to visit clients to make sales calls, and hence there was an observed decline in sales volume. In this case, the manager has assigned the cause to external attribution and the corrective action by the manager will be targeted towards remedying the situation either by lowering his targets or looking for virtual sales opportunities.
Attributions theory means a lot for management because it establishes that managers' and employees' judgments and actions are often based on perceived causes of behavior. Managers make perceptions about employees based on observed performance and derived attributions to causes. Managers will eventually make a performance-related judgment based on observed behavior and attributions. These decisions based on attributions may influence employee motivation both positively and negatively and hence understanding attributions can improve managerial effectiveness.
Role theory is a concept in sociology and the role theory of leadership borrows these concepts to explain how people adapt to specific organizational and leadership roles. How the leaders and followers in an organizational context define their own roles, define the roles of others, how people act in their roles and how people expect people to act in their roles within the organization.
Transformational Theories of Leadership
Transformational leadership theories focus on the leadership approach where the leader encourages, inspires employees to innovate and create positive and valuable organizational change. A transformational leader works towards “transforming” the culture to one that cultivates trust, mutual admiration, loyalty, and respect with the end goal of developing followers into leaders. Transformational leaders are known to be visionary, inspiring, daring, risk-takers, and thoughtful.
The Valence Model of Leadership
The valence model of emergent leadership is based on a group-development sequence. As per the valence model, the process of emergent leadership passes through three distinct stages; Orientation, Conflict, and Emergence. Group members willingly start following and obeying the leader who has passed the "emergence threshold."
The great man theory of leadership is a 19th-century idea that states a person is either a natural-born leader or not. Some people are born with the necessary leadership attributes that help them create a great impact on society, politics, or the military. The theory focuses on identifying the innate qualities and characteristics possessed by great men.
Hawthorne Studies - Leadership
The Hawthorne studies were conducted on workers at the Hawthorne plant of the Western Electric Company by Elton Mayo and Fritz Roethlisberger in the 1920s. This study established the behavioral change that happened due to an awareness of being observed, resulting in active compliance with the supposed wishes of researchers, because of special attention received, or positive response to the stimulus being introduced.
Situational Leadership - Application
Situational Leadership Theories are well known and frequently used for training leaders within organizations. Practical application is how to choose the right leadership approach for the situation. The theory emphasizes leader flexibility and advises leaders to flex their style based on the followers' needs. Leaders must adapt their leadership style to fit the prescribed task, understanding given situation/maturity of followers.
The Path-Goal theory defines the characteristics of followers and organizational context and the corresponding leadership style best suited to these factors. A leader should adapt to a behavior that is most relevant for a given employee and work environment mix to achieve a goal. The application of theory drives increased employees' motivation, empowerment, and satisfaction resulting in increased productivity.
Transactional Theory of Leadership
Transactional leadership theory is based on the concept of rewards and punishments. The transactional management approach assumes that the desires of the leader and follower are different and leaders give followers something in exchange for getting something they want. Transactional leaders expect followers to be compliant and focuses on structure, instruction, monitoring, organization, or performance to get tasks completed on time.
In emergent leadership, the leader is not appointed or elected to the leadership role but emerges as the leader as he is perceived by others over time as a result of the group's interaction. A person steps up as the leader over time by taking on tasks voluntarily, helping others complete their tasks better, and building consensus among groups.
The social identity theory of leadership views leadership as a group process. Social identity is a person's sense of who they are based on their group membership. Social identity theory sets agendas and goals generated by social categorization, defines who we are based on processes associated with social identity, and motivates to conduct ourselves based on what followers think of the leader.
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