From Production- and Employee-Centeredness to Systems 1-4

Abstract

In reviewing his involvement in leadership research, Rensis Likert discusses early influences on his thinking, the university-connected Institute for Social Research and the criteria on which it was based, as well as the first leadership and management studies of the Survey Research Center. Likert's System 1-4 theory was derived from research data about high-producing managers and how they differ from low-producing managers. Later research demonstrated the real need to use the Current Value approach of Human Resources Accounting to assess the leadership behavior of managers accurately.

Do teachers, principals, and superintendents perceive leadership the same way?

“…The leadership construct is very complex, however review of the literature reveals that its elements can be analyzed from two specific perspectives: (a) the two-factor theory, and (b) the four-factor theory (e.g., Blake and Mouton, 1985;Fiedler, 1967;Hersey, Blanchard and Johnson, 1996;Likert, 1961;Rodríguez, 2002;Schriesheim and Bird, 1979). The two-factor theory consists of two particular elements that describe the leadership construct: (a) people orientation and (b) task orientation.…”

“…The following is a review of the authors and/or studies on leadership that support the two-factor theory: (a) Ohio State Leadership Studies (e.g., Schriesheim and Bird, 1979;Shartle, 1979;Stogdill and Shartle, 1953), (b) Michigan Leadership Studies (e.g., Daft, 1994;Katz and Kahn, 1952;Likert, 1961;Likert, 1967;Likert, 1979), (c) Group Dynamic Studies (e.g., Cartwright and Zander, 1960;Hersey, Blanchard and Johnson, 1996;Lewin, Lippitt and White, 1939), (d) Rensis Likert's Management Systems (e.g., Hersey, Blanchard and Johnson, 1996;Likert, 1967), (e) Tannenbaum and Schmidt's Leadership Continuum (e.g., Hersey, Blanchard and Johnson, 1996;Tannenbaum and Schmidt, 1973), (f) the Leadership Grid (e.g., Blake and Mouton, 1985;Carlson, 1996;Hersey, Blanchard and Johnson, 1996), (g) Stinson-Johnson Model (e.g., Hersey, Blanchard and Johnson, 1996), and (h) Burn's Transactional and Transformational Theory (e.g., Burns, 1978).…”

Effectiveness of innovation leadership styles: a manager's influence on ecological innovation in construction projects

“…2) the leader's behaviour, such as: the use of power, the control of rewards and the delegation of authority (Lewin, 1939;Hemphill and Coons, 1957;Likert, 1979;Blake and Mouton, 1985); 3) the organizational situation the leader is in, such as: the structure, age and environment of the leader's organization (Fiedler, 1967;Evans, 1970;Kerr and Jermier, 1978;Hersey and Blanchard, 1982;Vroom and Jago, 1988).…”

The politics of leadership: The relationship between task‐people leadership and subordinate influence

“…As such, the demanding tactics directed at the manager by the subordinate may be best understood in terms of social learning theory. That is, subordinate assertiveness is modeled from (Gioia and Manz, 1985;Manz and Sims, 1981) and/or in retaliation to (Bandura, 1969) the manager's own characteristic leadership behavior. As a result, a subordinate may more likely react assertively after experiencing a frustrating and ineffective first influence attempt.…”

“…One of the most significant series of investigations has been the ongoing studies at the Ohio State University and University of Michigan. These well known programs have produced a dichotomous theory of leadership effectiveness focusing on the two dimensions of initiating structure and subordinate consideration (Fleishman, 1973;Haplin and Winer, 1957;Likert, 1967Likert, , 1979Stogdill, 1974). The initiating structure or task-centered dimension refers t o behavior in which the leader organizes and defines the relationships in groups, establishes patterns and channels of communication, and directs the work procedures.…”