Organizational Behavior

1． Using Tannenbaum and Schmidt's Continuum of Leadership Behavior, identify where Mr. Dennis and Mr. Eagleton would be placed. Support your responde with information directly from the case. Be sure to explain the theory behind the Continuum.

The Tannenbaum and Schmidt Continuum is a simple model of leadership theory, which shows the relationship between the level of freedom that a manager chooses to give to a team, and the level of authority used by the manager. As the team's freedom is increased, so the manager's authority decreases. This is a positive way for both teams and managers to develop. As a manager, one of manager responsibilities is to develop team. The manager should delegate and ask a team to make its own decisions to varying degrees according to their abilities. There is a rising scale of levels of delegated freedom that manager can use when working with a team.

In this case, Mr. Dennis became younger general managers from his large family. But he has trouble with his management. For example, lacking in business sense, and always concerned with retention, considering his employees was somewhat underpaid when compared with other similar industries. Due to expansion, he appointed Mr. Eagleton as the manager of The Craft Shop. Mr. Eagleton has achieved successful in his management. The manager suggests a provisional decision and invites discussion about it. The manager presents the situation or problem, gets suggestions, then decides. The manager explains the situation, defines the parameters and asks the team to decide. The manager allows the team to identify the problem, develop the options, and decide on the action, within the manager's received limits.

Mr. Dennis delegated Mr. Eagleton as a manager reflects that the principle of being able to apply different levels of delegated freedom closely relates to the 'levels of delegation' on the delegation page.

2． Use Fiedler's Contingency Theory to discuss the type of leadership that would be most effective at Steven's Service in 1999 under the management of Mr. Kelly. Be sure you explain the theory and support your position with relevant material from the case study.

Leadership as a wide spectrum of possible effective styles was a groundbreaking idea. It is still central in modern management theories, which reject rigid assumptions about ideal management.

The basis of Fiedler's contingency model involved assessing a potential leader with a scale of work style ranging from task-oriented at one end, to relationship-oriented at the other. Then contingent on factors such as stress level in the organization, type of work, flexibility of the group to change, and use of technology, a customized coordination of resources, people, and tasks and the correct style of management could be implemented.

Mr. Kelly, the new manager, publicly reinstated the Christmas party, and also improved employee's reimbursement. He gives his employees benefits include social security, a 3% optional retirement plan, and minimal health benefits. Mr. Kelly had worked hard to develop the positive relationship with his employees. By 1999, Mr. Kelly had remodeled the hardware store and there are 40 full-time employees and 20 managers.