Application: Emergence and Effectiveness

For the Discussion this week, you explored the roles of power and influence in leadership emergence. For this Application, you will review three case studies and consider social, psychological, and political contexts from which leaders in each case study emerged. Then you will explain how the social, psychological, and political contexts from which each leader emerged might impact each leader’s effectiveness. Finally, you will analyze challenges that each leader might encounter.

To prepare for this assignment:

Review the articles “The Role of Social and Emotional Communication Skills in Leader Emergence and Effectiveness” and “Pattern and Variable Approaches in Leadership Emergence and Effectiveness.”
Think about social, psychological, and/or political contexts from which leaders might emerge.
Consider which contexts might contribute to effective or ineffective leadership.
Review Week 5: Case Studies 1-3 . Consider the social, psychological, and/or political contexts from which leaders in each case study emerged.
Think about which leader might be the most effective and which leader might be the least effective and why.
Consider challenges leaders in each case study might encounter.

The assignment: (1-2 pages)

Describe the social, psychological, and/or political contexts from which leaders emerged in each case study.
Explain which leader might be most effective, which leader might be least effective, and why.
Describe at least one challenge each leader might encounter and explain why the leader might encounter that challenge.

Support your Application Assignment with specific references to all resources used in its preparation. You are asked to provide a reference list only for those resources not included in the Learning Resources for this course.

Article: Foti, R. J., & Hauenstein, N. M. A. (2007). Pattern and variable approaches in leadership emergence and effectiveness. Journal of Applied Psychology, 92(2), 347-355.
Use the Business Source Premier database, and search using the article’s Accession Number: 24665086
Article: Lundstedt, S. (1965). Administrative leadership and use of social power. Public Administration Review, 25(2), 156-160.
Use the Business Source Premier database, and search using the article’s Accession Number: 4595229
Article: Riggio, R. E., Riggio, H. R., Salinas, C., & Cole, E. J. (2003). The role of social and emotional communication skills in leader emergence and effectiveness. Group Dynamics: Theory, Research, and Practice, 7(2), 83-103.
Use the PsycARTICLES database, and search using the article’s Accession Number: gdn-7-2-83
Article: Salancik, G. R., & Pfeffer, J. (1977). Who gets power?And how they hold on to it: A strategic-contingency model of power.Organizational Dynamics, 5(3), 3-21.
Use the Business Source Premier database, and search using the article’s Accession Number: 5140668

CASE STUDIES:

Leadership Emergence

“Three Brief Case Illustrations”

Explanations about the nature of leadership typically revolve around two sources:

Inherited personal qualities/traits
Learned behaviors and know-how

There is a third explanation known as emergence. This theoretical perspective maintains that leadership emerges from a context of variables.The following are some illustrations.

Assigned Leaders

The marketing division at Trendy, Inc. was in a very difficult situation.The manager, Jim Edgeman, had to resign suddenly for health reasons.Trendy, Inc. was in the middle of a vital project which could not be delayed while the company went through a recruitment process to replace Jim.Donna Donow, VP of HR, had to act quickly.She reviewed the list of marketing division personnel.There was one person, Mark Riteman, who was well known for his reliability and creativity.People trusted Mark.He wasn’t charismatic or highly credentialed.Donna knew, however, that he was the best choice for the position in this situation.Mark became the assigned leader.

Affirmed Leaders

The order management group of Precise Manufacturing, Inc. had been working as a self-managed team for many years.They had worked through a lot of challenges together.By now the team recognized that Kathy Steadimore was their go-to person.She was perceived by team members as having sound judgment, caring for others, and being knowledgeable of the work process.Decisions were rarely made without consulting with Kathy. She had no formal power but she had enormous influence.There was no positional leader of the team.Kathy was the affirmed leader of the group.

Appointed Leaders

Linda Ling managed a family-owned home furnishings store.The store needed someone to serve as a creative consultant.It was customary for all leader positions in the store to be held by family members.Linda’s niece was near completion of her degree in management from Weldunn University.Even though she had no particular experience in consulting Linda’s niece was appointed to the leadership position.

Solution Preview

Application: Emergence and Effectiveness

There are several explanations that have been given about the nature of leadership. They include inherited personal attributes, learned behaviors, and emergence. Emergence suggests that there is a theoretical explanation to emergence of leaders in various contexts. There are various political, psychological, and social contexts from which leaders emerge (Foti, & Hauenstein, 2007). These contexts help mold and develop leaders to what they become and what influence they have over other people in the society, group or organization.

(677 words)