Theories of leadership & management – Exam Summary
WEEK 1 – Mechanisms of leadership
Lecture 1.1
Lecture 1.2
• Article 1.1 – Brown, Trevino & Harrison (2005)
• Article 1.2 – Hogg (2001)
• Article 1.3 – Settoon, Bennet & Liden (1996)
WEEK 2 – Individual motivation
Lecture 2.1
Lecture 2.2
• Article 2.1 – Kanfer, Friese & Johnsen (2017)
• Article 2.2 – Locke & Latham (2002)
• Article 2.3 – Gagné (2022)
• Article 2.4 – Parker, Bindl & Strauss (2010)
• Article 2.5 – Farrington (2012)
WEEK 3 – Human capital management
Lecture 3.1
Lecture 3.2
• Article 3.1 – Barney & Wright (1998)
• Article 3.2 – Ployhart, Nyberg, Reilly & Maltarich (2014)
• Article 3.3 – Buller & McEvoy (2012)
• Article 3.4 – Su, Wright & Ulrich (2018)
WEEK 4 – Team management
Lecture 4.1
Lecture 4.2
• Article 4.1 – Kozlowski & Ilgen (2006)
• Article 4.2 – Thomas & Ely (1996)
• Article 4.3 – West (2002)
WEEK 5 – Culture and values
Lecture 5.1
Lecture 5.2
• Article 5.1 – Shein (1990)
• Article 5.2 – Kotrba et. al (2012)
• Article 5.3 – Chatman & Cha (2003)
• Article 5.4 – Edwards & Cable (2009)
1
, WEEK 1 – Mechanisms of leadership
Lecture 1.1 – Mechanisms of leadership
What’s in the black box? = Leader-focused research often directly links leader behaviours to
organizational outcomes, implicitly assuming a relationship between leader’s and follower’s
behaviours → such an approach often fails to answer how and why certain behaviours work.
Input → Black Box (mechanism) → Output
Theoretical mechanisms = there is something
between the leader and the follower that
determines the outcome of the relationship.
• Moderator = conditional variable changing the strength of a relationship between IV & DV
• Mediator = explanatory variable, explaining the relationship between IV & DV.
A) Social learning theory – Albert Bandura
Social learning theory = we learn by observing and imitating other people’s behaviour. People can
learn new information and behaviours by watching other people → observational learning, learning
from a role model.
Two types of observational learning
• Inhibition = withhold a response. You see someone else do something but you see a negative
consequence so you avoid doing that
• Disinhibition = reverse, do not withhold a response. You observe somebody else engaging in
behaviour that goes well for them so your inhibited behaviour becomes disinhibited.
Necessary conditions for social learning to occur
• Attention = notice nice behaviour of others
• Retention = remember behaviour
• Reproduction = ability to perform behaviour
• Motivation = motivation to perform behaviour. E.g. consider rewards and punishments.
Examples of social learning = e.g. violence after boxing fights, children and doll, tap with blue stick.
Social learning is a powerful mechanism for cultural transmission → over imitation, humans focus on
copying what they observe.
1. Theoretical application – Brown (2005). Social learning perspective.
Social learning = suggests followers are more likely to behave in an ethical manner at their work
when their leader demonstrates ethical behaviour and attitudes and values as well.
Followers/employees are more likely to imitate leaders in ethical decision making --> decrease
counterproductive work behaviour.
Method = sample A (workers rate supervisor on ethical leadership and leader honesty) // sample B
(workers rate supervisor on idealize influence behaviour) // sample C (workers rate supervisor on
interactional fairness and work group outcomes: satisfaction, leader effectiveness, extra effort,
reporting problems to management). → Data collected in one organization.
2
,Results
• Brown tests the incremental power of ethical leadership to predict supervisor effectiveness,
extra effort and willingness to report problems. Ethical leadership has explanatory power
above idealized influence (feature of leadership, that the leader is held up to an ideal and
therefore they can influence others).
• Correlation between EL & II = both independently lay on supervisor effectiveness. Idealized
influence, ethical leadership is a significant predictor of perception of supervisor
effectiveness.
Discussion = social learning is the key
theoretical perspective in defining ethical
leadership. EL should influence employees’
ethical conduct at work as ethical leaders are
legitimate model who attract and hold
followers attention. They are a good role model
and use reward systems.
Leaders ethicality → social learning → followers
ethicality. Social learning is the theoretical
mechanism.
B) Social Identity Theory
Social identity = a person’s sense of who they are based on group membership. The groups that
people belong to are an important source of pride and self-esteem → groups give us a sense of
belonging to the social world.
When social identity is salient, people begin to act as representatives of a group rather than just as
individuals.
Process of social identity
• Social categorization = the act of putting oneself and others into categories. In-group = yours.
Out-group = others.
• Social identification = when you absorb the culture, norms and values of your in-group. You then
notice the differences between people in your in-group versus out-group. The group becomes
part of your social identity.
• Social comparison = to boost self-esteem, one starts to think of their in-group as better than and
superior to their out-group --> positive distinctiveness.
E.g. blue eyes vs brown eyes // experiment with two boy groups. Shared activities to resolve conflict
between groups is not enough, shared goals are.
2. Theoretical application – Hogg (2001). A social identity
theory of leadership
Hogg’s (2001) social identity model of leadership and
effectiveness can help us to understand who is to be perceived
as a leader within a group setting. This is predicted by which
group member is most prototypically for the group, because
people are socially attracted to them.
3
, Leader’s prototypicality → social identity and group salience
→ follower’s endorsements of leaders. Moderator =
changing the strength of the relationship between IV and DV.
When social identity salience is high there is a strong relation
between leader prototypicality and support for the leader.
C) The reciprocity principle
Reciprocity principle = underlying the
cooperation and coordination effort when
people are brought together in groups. If
somebody does you a good thing and you
don’t pay it back in time then you’re likely to
be remembered and vice versa. It is a cycle of
favors.
Best principle of persuasion = reciprocity.
Desire to give back. E.g. Christmas cards.
Perceived organizational support
Perceived organizational support = the degree to which employees believe that their organization
values their contributions, cares about their well-being and fulfills socio-emotional needs. It
contributes to the reciprocity dynamic.
E.g. survey of POS (Eisenberger) → strong effect on how
people approach their work, how motivated/willing they
are, willing to do more than they are obliged to do etc.
D) Social-exchange theory
• Blau (1964) = social interaction is shaped by a
reciprocal exchange of rewards, tangible and non-
tangible.
• Every interaction is a form of exchange in which each participant gives the other more than he
had himself possessed.
➔ Bridging theory between studies of interactions between individuals // studies examining the
collectivist or structural dimensions of society – economic systems, political institutions, belief
systems.
Core assumptions
1. Social actors engage in activities as a means of obtaining desired goals
2. All social activities involve some cost to the actor – time, energy, other resources
3. Social actors seek to economize their activities
Social exchange and power dynamics
Power
- Power is the inverse of dependency
- Individuals can exercise power when he/she alone is able to supply needed rewards to them
- If others are unable to get what they need from another source and unable to offer rewards
themselves, they become dependent
4
WEEK 1 – Mechanisms of leadership
Lecture 1.1
Lecture 1.2
• Article 1.1 – Brown, Trevino & Harrison (2005)
• Article 1.2 – Hogg (2001)
• Article 1.3 – Settoon, Bennet & Liden (1996)
WEEK 2 – Individual motivation
Lecture 2.1
Lecture 2.2
• Article 2.1 – Kanfer, Friese & Johnsen (2017)
• Article 2.2 – Locke & Latham (2002)
• Article 2.3 – Gagné (2022)
• Article 2.4 – Parker, Bindl & Strauss (2010)
• Article 2.5 – Farrington (2012)
WEEK 3 – Human capital management
Lecture 3.1
Lecture 3.2
• Article 3.1 – Barney & Wright (1998)
• Article 3.2 – Ployhart, Nyberg, Reilly & Maltarich (2014)
• Article 3.3 – Buller & McEvoy (2012)
• Article 3.4 – Su, Wright & Ulrich (2018)
WEEK 4 – Team management
Lecture 4.1
Lecture 4.2
• Article 4.1 – Kozlowski & Ilgen (2006)
• Article 4.2 – Thomas & Ely (1996)
• Article 4.3 – West (2002)
WEEK 5 – Culture and values
Lecture 5.1
Lecture 5.2
• Article 5.1 – Shein (1990)
• Article 5.2 – Kotrba et. al (2012)
• Article 5.3 – Chatman & Cha (2003)
• Article 5.4 – Edwards & Cable (2009)
1
, WEEK 1 – Mechanisms of leadership
Lecture 1.1 – Mechanisms of leadership
What’s in the black box? = Leader-focused research often directly links leader behaviours to
organizational outcomes, implicitly assuming a relationship between leader’s and follower’s
behaviours → such an approach often fails to answer how and why certain behaviours work.
Input → Black Box (mechanism) → Output
Theoretical mechanisms = there is something
between the leader and the follower that
determines the outcome of the relationship.
• Moderator = conditional variable changing the strength of a relationship between IV & DV
• Mediator = explanatory variable, explaining the relationship between IV & DV.
A) Social learning theory – Albert Bandura
Social learning theory = we learn by observing and imitating other people’s behaviour. People can
learn new information and behaviours by watching other people → observational learning, learning
from a role model.
Two types of observational learning
• Inhibition = withhold a response. You see someone else do something but you see a negative
consequence so you avoid doing that
• Disinhibition = reverse, do not withhold a response. You observe somebody else engaging in
behaviour that goes well for them so your inhibited behaviour becomes disinhibited.
Necessary conditions for social learning to occur
• Attention = notice nice behaviour of others
• Retention = remember behaviour
• Reproduction = ability to perform behaviour
• Motivation = motivation to perform behaviour. E.g. consider rewards and punishments.
Examples of social learning = e.g. violence after boxing fights, children and doll, tap with blue stick.
Social learning is a powerful mechanism for cultural transmission → over imitation, humans focus on
copying what they observe.
1. Theoretical application – Brown (2005). Social learning perspective.
Social learning = suggests followers are more likely to behave in an ethical manner at their work
when their leader demonstrates ethical behaviour and attitudes and values as well.
Followers/employees are more likely to imitate leaders in ethical decision making --> decrease
counterproductive work behaviour.
Method = sample A (workers rate supervisor on ethical leadership and leader honesty) // sample B
(workers rate supervisor on idealize influence behaviour) // sample C (workers rate supervisor on
interactional fairness and work group outcomes: satisfaction, leader effectiveness, extra effort,
reporting problems to management). → Data collected in one organization.
2
,Results
• Brown tests the incremental power of ethical leadership to predict supervisor effectiveness,
extra effort and willingness to report problems. Ethical leadership has explanatory power
above idealized influence (feature of leadership, that the leader is held up to an ideal and
therefore they can influence others).
• Correlation between EL & II = both independently lay on supervisor effectiveness. Idealized
influence, ethical leadership is a significant predictor of perception of supervisor
effectiveness.
Discussion = social learning is the key
theoretical perspective in defining ethical
leadership. EL should influence employees’
ethical conduct at work as ethical leaders are
legitimate model who attract and hold
followers attention. They are a good role model
and use reward systems.
Leaders ethicality → social learning → followers
ethicality. Social learning is the theoretical
mechanism.
B) Social Identity Theory
Social identity = a person’s sense of who they are based on group membership. The groups that
people belong to are an important source of pride and self-esteem → groups give us a sense of
belonging to the social world.
When social identity is salient, people begin to act as representatives of a group rather than just as
individuals.
Process of social identity
• Social categorization = the act of putting oneself and others into categories. In-group = yours.
Out-group = others.
• Social identification = when you absorb the culture, norms and values of your in-group. You then
notice the differences between people in your in-group versus out-group. The group becomes
part of your social identity.
• Social comparison = to boost self-esteem, one starts to think of their in-group as better than and
superior to their out-group --> positive distinctiveness.
E.g. blue eyes vs brown eyes // experiment with two boy groups. Shared activities to resolve conflict
between groups is not enough, shared goals are.
2. Theoretical application – Hogg (2001). A social identity
theory of leadership
Hogg’s (2001) social identity model of leadership and
effectiveness can help us to understand who is to be perceived
as a leader within a group setting. This is predicted by which
group member is most prototypically for the group, because
people are socially attracted to them.
3
, Leader’s prototypicality → social identity and group salience
→ follower’s endorsements of leaders. Moderator =
changing the strength of the relationship between IV and DV.
When social identity salience is high there is a strong relation
between leader prototypicality and support for the leader.
C) The reciprocity principle
Reciprocity principle = underlying the
cooperation and coordination effort when
people are brought together in groups. If
somebody does you a good thing and you
don’t pay it back in time then you’re likely to
be remembered and vice versa. It is a cycle of
favors.
Best principle of persuasion = reciprocity.
Desire to give back. E.g. Christmas cards.
Perceived organizational support
Perceived organizational support = the degree to which employees believe that their organization
values their contributions, cares about their well-being and fulfills socio-emotional needs. It
contributes to the reciprocity dynamic.
E.g. survey of POS (Eisenberger) → strong effect on how
people approach their work, how motivated/willing they
are, willing to do more than they are obliged to do etc.
D) Social-exchange theory
• Blau (1964) = social interaction is shaped by a
reciprocal exchange of rewards, tangible and non-
tangible.
• Every interaction is a form of exchange in which each participant gives the other more than he
had himself possessed.
➔ Bridging theory between studies of interactions between individuals // studies examining the
collectivist or structural dimensions of society – economic systems, political institutions, belief
systems.
Core assumptions
1. Social actors engage in activities as a means of obtaining desired goals
2. All social activities involve some cost to the actor – time, energy, other resources
3. Social actors seek to economize their activities
Social exchange and power dynamics
Power
- Power is the inverse of dependency
- Individuals can exercise power when he/she alone is able to supply needed rewards to them
- If others are unable to get what they need from another source and unable to offer rewards
themselves, they become dependent
4
