Fundamentals of Management, 8th ed

consideration

behavior

The behavior of

leaders who show

concern for

subordinates and

attempt to establish a

warm, friendly, and

supportive climate

332

Part 4: Leading

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subordinates and attempt to establish a warm, friendly, and supportive climate. The

behaviors identified at Ohio State are similar to those described at Michigan, but there

are important differences. One major difference is that the Ohio State researchers did

not interpret leader behavior as being one-dimensional; each behavior was assumed to

be independent of the other. Presumably, then, a leader could exhibit varying levels of

initiating structure and at the same time varying levels of consideration.

At first, the Ohio State researchers thought that leaders who exhibit high levels of

both behaviors would tend to be more effective than other leaders. A study at Interna-

tional Harvester (now Navistar International), however, suggested a more complicated

pattern.

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The researchers found that employees of supervisors who ranked high on ini-

tiating structure were high performers but expressed low levels of satisfaction and had a

higher absence rate. Conversely, employees of supervisors who ranked high on consider-

ation had low performance ratings but high levels of satisfaction and few absences from

work. Later research isolated other variables that make consistent prediction difficult and

determined that situational influences also occurred. (This body of research is discussed

in “Situational Approaches to Leadership.”

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)

Managerial Grid

Another behavioral approach to leadership is the Managerial

Grid.

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The Managerial Grid provides a means for evaluating leadership styles and then

training managers to move toward an ideal style of behavior. The Managerial Grid is

shown in Figure 11.1. The horizontal axis represents