The “Conditional Conformity Theory” is the next theory system to emerge in leadership theory after the “Behavioral Theory”. The Behavioral Theory is a highly regarded theory. However, it does not address the “place” where leadership is exercised. Contingency Theory is an approach that focuses on this point and aims to elucidate the relationship between leadership and organizational conditions that lead to business performance. Fiedler, a psychologist, proposed this theory.
Large companies, small and medium-sized companies, and the nature of their owners… Groups and organizations vary widely. Isn’t the leadership style different depending on the situation in which the organization is situated? This is an empirical analogy. Fiedler approaches the variables related to the attitude from three perspectives.
- The degree to which the leader is supported or not supported by the members in the organization. (high, medium, low)
- Work goals, procedures, and results are clear and structured or not. (high, medium, low)
- How influential is the leader regarding hiring, evaluation, promotion, and pay raises for members. (high, medium, low)
We are trying to determine what kind of leadership style contributes to improving organizational performance in three different environments (high, medium, and low) for each of the three perspectives: “good,” “normal,” and “not good” organizational situations… We are trying to set up that style using the LPC (Least Preferred Coworker) index. We are attempting to determine the style of leadership by using the LPC (Least Preferred Coworker) indicator.
The literal translation of LPC is “worst coworker. We asked the participants to imagine the target “Least Desirable Coworker” and depicted the leader’s style in terms of how they perceive the target.
The leader who evaluates the target negatively or harshly even outside of work is defined as “Low LPC (Problem Motivation Type).
On the other hand, “High LPC (Relationship Motivation Type)” is a type of leader who feels that way at work, but does not evaluate the subject so negatively once he or she leaves work.
The purpose of this study is to determine how the two types of LPCs, when combined, improve “organizational performance” for each of the three perspectives of organizational status (high, medium, and low). The combination is a bit complex, but the results can be simply expressed as…
Favorable work environment → Issue Motivated (Low LPC)
Normal work environment → Relationship Motivated (High LPC)
Poor work environment → Problem Motivated (Low LPC)
A favorable environment is one in which subordinates are positive and leaders are accepting, so it would seem that the entire organization would be energized by relationship-motivated “High LPC” leadership. However, the result was the opposite: low LPC.
Fiedler seemed to find this result “puzzling,” and conducted various additional studies after the publication of the first paper. However, he has not yet been able to “theoretically” explain the “mystery”. This “mystery” stimulated many researchers, and leadership research spread rapidly.
What made the Contingency Theory “groundbreaking”?
The leadership style that works best depends on the situation of the organization.
There is no single best leadership style!
The reason why Contingency Theory was recognized as a breakthrough was that it opened the door to the systematization of the “theory of congruence” which states that “different leadership styles are effective in different organizational situations.
（The above English translation is for a reference purpose only and a re-translation of the Japanese into English. Accordingly, please refer to the original text as appropriate.）
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This article was written in Japanese and converted into English using a translation tool. We hope you will forgive us for any inadequacies.
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