Quentin is the owner of Sail Away Travel, a travel agency specializing in luxury cruise packages. Following a fire at their old location, the company moved into a brand-new location, and Quentin is in the process of refurbishing the new space. He needs to buy furniture and equipment as well as office décor, kitchen supplies, new computers for his employees, and many small office supplies. The old space consisted of several small rooms, while the new one is basically one large room. Quentin's employees have their own ideas about how the new office should be laid out. Lorna and Dani want an open office plan with no partitions, while Andre says he can only work in a space with more privacy. Dani brings up that she studied art in college, while Mark says he has a friend who can get computer equipment at cost. Quentin himself honestly does not care that much about how the office looks. How should he approach the situation?
- He should make all the decisions himself. Because everyone in the office wants to do things differently, they will never agree on everything.
- He should weigh the pros and cons of what employees want, but make the ultimate decision himself because they have a limited budget and cannot afford some of the options the employees like.
- He should consider input from his employees, but he should ultimately make the decisions himself, and if they do not like it, too bad. After all, it is impossible to make everyone in an office happy.
- He should meet with his employees and discuss each decision they have to make, seeking to obtain consensus as much as possible. He might put the partitioned space versus open space question to a vote, for example.
- He should hand over the reins to his employees on the majority of decisions. For example, Dani should be responsible for purchasing artwork for the office, while Mark should be tasked with buying the new computers.
In this situation, there are a mix of important decisions (partitioned space vs. open plan) and less important ones (office artwork). Leader expertise is low and employee expertise is high. Teamwork skills are low, but shared objectives are high. Either a consultative or facilitative style would work, but a facilitative style will likely result in happier, more satisfied employees.
Consensus: Used by decision makers to attribute cause; whether other individuals behave the same way under similar circumstances.
The time-driven model of leadership suggests that the focus should shift away from autocratic, consultative, facilitative, and delegative situations to autocratic, consultative, facilitative, and delegative leaders.
The time-driven model of leadership suggests that the focus should shift away from autocratic, consultative, facilitative, and delegative leaders to autocratic, consultative, facilitative, and delegative situations.
Time-Driven Model Of Leadership: A model that suggests that seven factors, including the importance of the decision, the expertise of the leader, and the competence of the followers, combine to make some decision-making styles more effective than others in a given situation.
Which of the following factors is included in the time-driven model of leadership?
- intellectual stimulation
- shared objectives
- idealized influence
- individual personality
- contingent rewards
The time-driven model of leadership suggests that seven factors combine to make some decision-making styles more effective in a given situation and other styles less effective: decision significance, importance of commitment, leader expertise, likelihood of commitment, shared objectives, employee expertise, and teamwork skills.
Time-Driven Model Of Leadership: A model that suggests that seven factors, including the importance of the decision, the expertise of the leader, and the competence of the followers, combine to make some decision-making styles more effective than others in a given situation.
There has been extensive research into the time-driven model of leadership. The results include all of the following except
- managers overuse the autocratic style.
- when managers use the recommendation of the model, decisions were rated as successful 68 percent of the time.
- when managers do not use the model's recommendations, their decisions are successful 22 percent of the time.
- managers do not vary their decision-making style as much as the model suggests they should.
- managers overuse the consultative style.
Research has demonstrated that managers tend to overuse the consultative style and underutilize autocratic and facilitative styles.
Autocratic Style: A leadership style where the leader makes the decision alone without asking for opinions or suggestions of the employees in the work unit.
Ariel, Fouad, Nicola, and Daryush are four managers at Lost Soles Shoes. Each uses a different decision-making style and believes that their style is the best. Ariel always presents the problem to her employees and gathers their opinions and suggestions, but makes the decision herself. Fouad gives his employees the responsibility for making the decision within a set of specified boundary conditions. Nicola makes the decision without asking her employees for their opinions or suggestions. Daryush presents the problem to his employees and seeks consensus, emphasizing that her opinion is only as important as every other employee's in her department. Daryush is displaying the ________ decision-making style.
- consultative
- autocratic
- delegative
- facilitative
- directive
With a facilitative style, the leader presents the problem to a group of employees and seeks consensus on a solution, making sure that his or her own opinion receives no more weight than anyone else's.
Facilitative Style: A leadership style where the leader presents the problem to a group of employees and seeks consensus on a solution, making sure that his or her own opinion receives no more weight than anyone else’s.
There are many factors to consider when leaders choose a decision-making style. The most obvious consideration is the
- number of people involved in decision making.
- quality of the resulting decision.
- number of opinions obtained for making the decision.
- the style of decision-making.
- the number of different ideas generated during the process.
There are many factors to consider when leaders choose a decision-making style. The most obvious consideration is the quality of the resulting decision because making the correct decision is the ultimate means of judging the leader.
Decision Making: The process of generating and choosing from a set of alternatives to solve a problem.
Research tends to support many of the time-driven model's propositions, particularly when it uses practicing managers as participants.
Research tends to support many of the time-driven model's propositions, particularly when it uses practicing managers as participants.
Tarquin is a quality control manager at Olympia Sporting Goods. Any time a problem arises and a decision needs to be made, he believes in getting his people involved. He presents the problem to his employees and seek consensus on a solution. He insists in these problem-solving meetings that his opinion and suggestions carry no more weight than anyone else's. Which of the following is the decision-making style that Tarquin is displaying?
- consultative
- autocratic
- delegative
- facilitative
- negotiative
With a facilitative style, the leader presents the problem to a group of employees and seeks consensus on a solution, making sure that his or her own opinion receives no more weight than anyone else's.
Facilitative Style: A leadership style where the leader presents the problem to a group of employees and seeks consensus on a solution, making sure that his or her own opinion receives no more weight than anyone else’s.
Chang is the art director at Idlewild Graphic Design. The firm recently acquired a new client, Palomino Film Productions. They are designing a logo, ad campaign, posters, and other materials for the client. Chang meets with his entire design team, and together they hash out ideas for the visual approach they should take on the project. Designers bring prototypes and everyone votes on them. Chang's leadership style is
- consultative.
- democratic.
- facilitative.
- autocratic.
- delegative.
With a facilitative style, the leader presents the problem to a group of employees and seeks consensus on a solution, making sure that his or her own opinion receives no more weight than anyone else's.
Facilitative Style: A leadership style where the leader presents the problem to a group of employees and seeks consensus on a solution, making sure that his or her own opinion receives no more weight than anyone else’s.
A leader's ________ reflects the process that the leader uses to generate and choose from a set of alternatives to solve a problem.
- operational efficiency
- day-to-day behavior
- decision-making style
- emergence style
- operational style
A leader's decision-making style reflects the process the leader uses to generate and choose from a set of alternatives to solve a problem.
Decision Making: The process of generating and choosing from a set of alternatives to solve a problem.
Which of the following decision-making styles is characterized by the highest level of employee involvement?
- consultative
- autocratic
- delegative
- facilitative
- supportive
With the delegative style, the leader plays no role in the deliberations unless asked, though he or she may offer encouragement and provide necessary resources behind the scenes.
Delegating: When the leader turns responsibility for key behaviors over to employees.
For the delegative style of decision making, the teamwork skills of the employees involved are not important.
In fact, delegative decision making should only be used when the teamwork skills of those involved are of high quality. All other factors can be either high or low, but teamwork skills are crucial.
Decision Making: The process of generating and choosing from a set of alternatives to solve a problem.
Ariel, Fouad, Nicola, and Daryush are four managers at Lost Soles Shoes. Each uses a different decision-making style and believes that their style is the best. Ariel always presents the problem to her employees and gathers their opinions and suggestions, but makes the decision herself. Fouad gives his employees the responsibility for making the decision within a set of specified boundary conditions. Nicola makes the decision without asking her employees for their opinions or suggestions. Daryush presents the problem to his employees and seeks consensus, emphasizing that her opinion is only as important as every other employee's in her department. Fouad is using the ________ decision-making style.
- consultative
- autocratic
- delegative
- facilitative
- directive
With a delegative style, the leader gives an individual employee or a group of employees the responsibility for making the decision within some set of specified boundary conditions.
Delegating: When the leader turns responsibility for key behaviors over to employees.
Which of the following is the style of decision making whereby the leader plays no role in deliberations unless asked?
- directive
- autocratic
- delegative
- facilitative
- consultative
With a delegative style, the leader plays no role in the deliberations unless asked, though he or she may offer encouragement and provide necessary resources behind the scenes.
Delegating: When the leader turns responsibility for key behaviors over to employees.
In the time-driven model of leadership, which style is appropriate for circumstances in which the decision significance is low, employees have expertise and strong teamwork skills, and leader expertise is low?
- consultative
- autocratic
- delegative
- facilitative
- negotiative
With a facilitative style, the leader presents the problem to a group of employees and seeks consensus on a solution, making sure that his or her own opinion receives no more weight than anyone else's.
Which of the following decision-making styles is characterized by the highest level of follower control?
- autocratic
- delegative
- facilitative
- negotiative
- consultative
A delegative style is classified as the highest follower control decision-making leadership style.
Nico is the owner of Yesteryear, a chain of vintage clothing stores. She lets the store managers and employees decide for themselves how best to lay out the stores and what to do about the problems they face on a daily basis. She basically serves as a consultant, but leaves the ultimate decision of how to solve problems up to her workers. Nico's leadership style is
- worker-based.
- laissez-faire.
- consultative.
- delegative.
- facilitative.
With a delegative style, the leader gives an individual employee or a group of employees the responsibility for making the decision within some set of specified boundary conditions. The leader plays no role in the deliberations unless asked, though he or she may offer encouragement and provide necessary resources.
Julio has been newly appointed as the CEO of SmartSystems, Inc. He is still learning how various departments function in the organization. Until he is able to gain sufficient knowledge and can suggest some changes, he relies on the suggestions and opinions of his team members and lets them do the things the way they are used to. He does not generally interfere in the decisions made by the employees but, at times, shares his past experiences with the employees. It can be said that Julio has adopted a(n) ________ style of decision making.
- autocratic
- participative
- consultative
- delegative
- negotiative
With a delegative style, the leader gives an individual employee or a group of employees the responsibility for making the decision within some set of specified boundary conditions. The leader plays no role in the deliberations unless asked, though he or she may offer encouragement and provide necessary resources behind the scenes. Julio is using such a style in this situation.
With a delegative style, a leader plays no role in the deliberations unless asked.
With a delegative style, the leader plays no role in the deliberations unless asked, though he or she may offer encouragement and provide necessary resources behind the scenes.
Delegative Style: A leadership style where the leader gives the employee the responsibility for making decisions within some set of specified boundary conditions.