Fundamentals of Management, 8th ed

• Perceived ability

•  Locus of control

Leader behaviors

• Directive

• Supportive

• Participative

• Achievement-

    oriented

Environmental

characteristics

• Task structure

• Work group

Subordinates’ motivation to perform

©

C

enga

ge

Lea

rn

in

g

F I G U R E 1 1 . 3

The Path-Goal Framework

The path-goal theory of leadership suggests that managers can use four types of

leader behavior to clarify subordinates’ paths to goal attainment. Both personal

characteristics of the subordinate and environmental characteristics within the

organization must be taken into account when determining which style of leadership

will work best for a particular situation.

Vroom’s decision

tree approach

Predicts what kinds

of situations call for

different degrees of

group participation

340

Part 4: Leading

Copyright 2016 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).

Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.

---

This assessment guides the manager through the paths of the decision tree to a

recommended course of action. One decision tree is to be used when the manager is

interested primarily in making the decision as quickly as possible; the other is to be

used when time is less critical and the manager is interested in helping subordinates to

improve and develop their own decision-making skills.

The two decision trees are shown in Figures 11.4 and 11.5. The problem attributes

(situational factors) are arranged along the top of the decision tree. To use the model,