Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Path goal theory'

In 1996, Professor Robert J House published a reformulated Path-Goal Theory of Work Unit Leadership, based on his earlier 1971 and 1974 theories. Path-goal leadership attempts to explain the impact that leader behaviour has on subordinate motivation, satisfaction and performance. The aim of this context-specific study is to evaluate this reformulated ‘1996 Theory’ via Structural Equation Modelling with engineers from the Royal Air Force as the primary data source. This thesis offers a revised methodology to test path-goal leadership. In detail, three moderator variables are modelled with four independent variables to establish association with two dependent variables. In addition, five propositions from the ‘1996 Theory’ are examined. The analysis suggests that: the moderator influences preference for a particular type of leadership behaviour (by the subordinate); leader behaviour has an impact on subordinate satisfaction; leader behaviour affects satisfaction directly and performance indirectly; subordinate satisfaction has a direct affect on subordinate performance; and performance is influenced by the type of task demand. It is considered that there is association between the variables; however, the direction of this association is not known and it is difficult to predict accurately. Without further research, which is replicated and revalidated with other cohorts, causality in the leader behaviour — outcome variable paradigm cannot be argued. Due to time constraints, the research has several limitations. Not all propositions cited in the ‘1996 Theory’ are tested and several other variables are not examined. Finally, recommendations are made for future study, particularly replication with other cohorts in the public, private and third sectors to ensure validity. This will help in determining causality with leader behaviour and motivation, satisfaction and performance.

Syfte: Ledarskap är en viktig del i att skapa motivation hos idrottande individer. Med bakgrund mot den dramatiska nedgången av idrottare mellan 18-30 år inom den organiserade idrotten har studien haft som syfte att ta reda på vilken typ av ledarskap som motiverar dessa individer. Studiens förhoppning är att en större förståelse för denna fråga kan leda till att fler individer i den studerade målgruppen stannar inom idrotten vilket i förlängningen kan generera positiva resultat på folkhälsan.  Metod: Genom användningen av en kvalitativ forskningsmetod, har det i denna studie genomförts semistrukturerade intervjuer med en hjälp av konstruerad intervjuguide som bygger på det teoretiska ramverk studien förhåller sig till. Det genomfördes 10 olika intervjuer med respondenter som faller inom den population som studien ämnar att undersöka.   Resultat och slutsats: Studiens resultat visar på att ett mer individanpassat ledarskap skapar mer motivation inom den studerade kontexten. Genom att individanpassa och involvera idrottarna i större grad visar fynden i studien på en större motivation till fortsatt idrottande. I studien kunde en skillnad urskiljas mellan den individuella- och lagidrotten där graden av individanpassning generellt var bättre inom den individuella idrotten.   Examensarbetets bidrag: Denna studie bidrar med kunskap kring hur ledare kan anpassa sin ledarskapsstil i syfte att skapa motivation hos följarna, i detta fall inom en idrottskontext. Studien presenterar även förslag på vilka åtgärder som skulle kunna fungera och bidra till ett större kvarhållande av idrottare. Studien har även kunnat kontextualisera omfattande ledarskapsteorier inom det studerade ämnet. Det genererar en möjlighet till att besvara forskningsfrågan, men även utgöra en grund för framtida forskning inom ämnet.   Förslag på vidare forskning: Studiens frågeställning kan enligt oss besvaras med användningen av olika typer av forskningsmetoder. En kvantitativ forskningsmetod eller liknande kan generera en högre grad av generaliserbarhet i förhållande till populationen. Motivation samt ledarskap och dess implikationer på kvarhållandet av idrottare överlag är även en forskningsbar aspekt som bör beaktas. Det kan vara fördelaktigt att studera olika former av populationer inom samhällets ramar, för att bidra till en bredare förståelse inom ämnet.
Aim: Leadership is an important part of creating motivation amongst athletes. Against the background of the dramatic decline in athletes between the ages of 18-30 in organized sports, the study aims to find out what type of leadership that motivates these individuals. The study aspire to provide with a greater understanding of this issue which in the long run can lead to more individuals, in the studied target group, staying in sports and also generate positive results on public health.  Method: The study uses a qualitative research method in the form of semi-structured interviews. The interviews have been conducted with the help of a constructed interview guide based on the theoretical framework the study relates to. 10 different interviews were realized with respondents who are within the population in which the study intends to examine.    Results and conclusions: The results of the study showed that more individualized leadership creates more motivation within the studied context. By adapting to the individual and involving the athletes to a greater extent, the findings in the study showed a greater motivation for continued sports. In the study, a difference could be distinguished between the individual and team sports where the level of individual adaptation generally was better in the individual sport.  Contribution of the thesis: This study contributes with knowledge about leaders and how they can adapt their leadership style in order to create motivation within the followers, in this case within a sports context. The study also presents suggestions on what measures could work and contribute to greater retention of athletes. The study has also been able to contextualize extensive leadership theories within the studied subject. This generates an opportunity to answer the question in the study, but also form a basis for future research.   Suggestions for further research:We believe that different types of research methods can be applied to conduct this study.  A quantitative research method or similar can generate a greater degree of generalizability in relation to the population. Motivation and leadership and their implications for the retention of athletes in general is also a researchable aspect that should be considered. It can be beneficial to study different forms of populations within the framework of society, in order to generate a broader understanding of the subject.

As a result of globalization and increase interdependence of the world economies, people from different cultures are interacting more frequently. However, most problems and misunderstandings occur when members of one culture assumes that their own unconscious values and beliefs are equally appropriate in other cultures. Typically, this is more prominent in an international business setting where companies are increasingly operating outside their usual working environment and interacting more with people belonging to other cultures. Even though, there are a huge number of studies which have focused on assessing the behaviours prevailing in different cultures and countries, we have noticed that there is a lack of literature aiming to find the leadership behaviours and styles becoming prevalent when there is a shift from one culture to another. More specifically, we have observed that there is a theoretical gap in the literature for understanding the behaviours which leaders adopt when they move from a high power distance culture to operate in a country classified as low power distance. Additionally, even on the basis of the extensive literature review conducted, it has been noticed that there are no studies which have aimed to find out the reasons behind adopting the prevailing leadership behaviours and styles. To achieve the purpose of this study, a qualitative research design and semi structured interviews were conducted with twelve managers in two different companies. Typically, a French and a Japanese company (both classified with high power distance index) operating in Sweden (classified with low power distance index) were selected. The data was analyzed using grounded theory and appropriate coding (open and selective coding) was adopted to generate sub-categories and categories which would help to explain the phenomenon being studied. As a result of the analysis undertaken, we have found out that both companies belonging to the high power distance culture have adopted distinct leadership styles. Basically, the French company has adopted a directive leadership style owing to the increasing influence which it receives from the home culture whilst the Japanese company has adopted a participative leadership style. It has also been found that the prevailing leadership behaviours are because of a number of factors like; the management cultural beliefs, labour laws, local employees, decision making process, monitoring and supervision process and influence from the host culture.

There are different criteria that affect active leadership styles that enhance the role of a principal as an Instructional Leadership. However, many principals lack such criteria where a strong principal considered as an Instructional Leadership. To become Instructional Leaders, principals must transform their practices from managerial to instructional. They need to exercise their leadership by exhibiting the leadership styles in their role and character, or their role will merely perform administrative duties that are akin to an administrative position. Furthermore, a school principal as a leader should play an important role in enhancing teachers' satisfaction. This study investigated the moderating effect of four leadership styles Directive, Supportive, Participative, and Achievement-oriented (D, S, P, A) on Instructional Leadership and teachers' outcomes (job satisfaction, job expectancies and acceptance of leader). The study used mixed methods, qualitative survey and quantitative focus group to develop a model based upon empirical data. The findings are based on a survey of 536 participants including teachers, principals and senior chiefs at various levels of primary, elementary and secondary schools across the Kingdom of Bahrain. The statistical and thematic analysis of the data shows that there is a direct and positive relationship between Instructional Leaderships and teacher's outcomes when moderated by the four leadership styles. The contribution of this study is the empirically tested relationships between Path Goal Theory and Instructional Leadership which shows that there are statistically significant relationships between D, S, P, A and the relationship between Instructional Leadership and the teacher's job satisfaction, job expectancy and acceptance of leader. Focus group finding shows that Leadership styles D, S, P, A transforms Instructional Leadership into a form that enhances the leadership role in Kingdom of Bahrain that Transactional Leadership influences Job expectancy, whilst Referent Power influences acceptance of leaders.

Syfte: Studiens syfte är att skapa större förståelse för hur olika ledarskapsbeteenden kan bidra till motivationsskapande hos medarbetare inom upplevelseekonomin, med fokus på målvägsteorin.  Metod: I studien har en kvalitativ metod använts, där åtta semistrukturerade intervjuer och åtta enkätundersökningar har genomförts. Undersökningen valde vi att genomföra inom upplevelseekonomin, där vi specifikt valde att intervjua ledare från Escape Room företag. Escape Room är en verksamhet som säljer upplevelser i form av att deltagarna blir inlåsta i ett rum och tillsammans ska ta sig ut genom att lösa olika problem, gåtor, pussel osv.   Resultat och slutsats: Studiens resultat visar att ledare inom upplevelseekonomin skiftar mellan olika ledarbeteenden, där respondenterna i studien främst uppvisar en kombination av vägledande och prestationsinriktade ledarbeteenden. Genom en analys av respondenternas svar och den insamlade empirin, finner vi dock att en kombination av ett stödjande och ett vägledande ledarbeteende kan uppfattas mer motiverande för medarbetare inom upplevelseekonomin.  Examensarbetets bidrag: Med studien hoppas vi kunna bidra till ledarnas arbete för att skapa motivation hos medarbetarna, framförallt inom upplevelseekonomin. Vi hoppas att studiens olika delar kan ge ledare tips på hur de kan skapa motivation inom den egna verksamheten. Givet målvägsteorin, fann vi inget underlag för att visst ledarbeteende ska motivera medarbetare med vissa egenskaper, däremot fann vi att situationens egenskaper har större betydelse.  Förslag till vidare forskning: Beträffande målvägsteorin, har vi i vårt arbete valt att fokusera på den tidigare framtagna versionen av House (1971, 1996) som innefattar fyra ledarskapsbeteenden för att öka individens motivation. Vid senare versioner som släppts av målvägsteorin finns fler ledarskapsbeteenden inräknade. Intressant i en framtida forskningsstudie vore därför att inkludera resterande ledarskapsbeteenden likväl.
Aim: The purpose of the study is to create a greater understanding of how different leadership behaviors can contribute to motivation creation among employees in the experience economy, with a focus on path-goal theory.  Method: In the study, a qualitative method was used, where eight semi-structured interviews and eight questionnaires were conducted. We chose to conduct the survey in the experience economy, where we specifically chose to interview leaders from Escape Rooms. Escape Room is a business that sells experiences that involve the participants being locked in a room where they have to get out together by solving various problems, riddles, puzzles, etc.  Conclusion: The results of the study show that leaders in the experience economy switch between different leadership behaviors, where the respondents in the study mainly show a combination of directive and achievement-oriented leadership behaviors. Through an analysis of the respondents' answers and the empirical data collected, we find, however, that a combination of supportive and directive leadership behavior can be perceived as more motivating for employees in the experience economy. Contribution of the thesis: With the study, we hope to be able to contribute to the leaders' work to create motivation among employees, especially in the experience economy. We hope that the different parts of the study can give leaders tips on how they can create motivation within their own organisation. Given the path-goal theory, no basis for certain leadership behavior to motivate employees with certain characteristics was found, however, we found that the characteristics of the situation are more important. Suggestions for future research: Regarding the goal-path theory, we have in our work chosen to focus on the previously developed version of House (1971, 1996) which includes four leadership behaviors to increase the individual's motivation. In later versions released by the goal-path theory, more leadership behaviors are included. It would therefore be interesting in a future research study to include the remaining leadership behaviors as well.

Due to an impending STEM shortage facing the United States, it is critically important that students of color are recruited to scientific disciplines. This STEM shortage affects agricultural fields, as many agricultural disciplines are scientifically based. There is currently a lack of students of color within agricultural disciplines when compared to the increasingly diverse make-up of the United States. This qualitative study utilizes the path-goal theory of leadership (House, 1971) and reasoned action theory (Fishbein and Azjen, 2010) to examine the perceptions of administrators regarding the barriers that students of color face within colleges of agriculture at 1862 land-grant institutions. Another important purpose of this study is to identify strategies that department heads, deans, and administrators within colleges of agriculture can use to increase the recruitment and retention of students of color. The study utilized phenomenology, as this method focuses on participants' subjective experiences and interpretations of the world. Eighteen participants at 17 institutions were interviewed about their perceptions of diversity, the barriers that students of color face within colleges of agriculture, and strategies for success. The findings of this study reveal that (1) diversity is a multifaceted and evolving concept that varies from individual-to-individual, (2) students of color face barriers to access, (3) successful recruitment and retention strategies for students of color require investments from administrators, and (4) data validates program success.
Ph. D.

Titel: MOTIVERANDE LEDARBETEENDEN I FASTIGHETSMÄKLARBRANSCHEN - Ur ett ledarskapsperspektiv Nivå: C-uppsats inom ämnet företagsekonomi Författare: Rasmus Israelsson & Vincent Lanner Handledare: Monika Wallmon Examinator: Svante Brunåker Datum: Juni 2021 Syfte: Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka hur motiverande ledarbeteenden tar sig uttryck inom specifika fastighetsmäklarföretag. Med fokus på målvägsteorin och intern konkurrens. Empiri: I den empiriska delen av uppsatsen presenteras en sammanställning av intervjusvaren, det vi ansåg vara mest väsentligt utifrån målvägsteorin framhävs. Metod: En kvalitativ metod användes för att genomföra studien. Semistrukturerade intervjuer användes vid genomförandet av de kvalitativa intervjuerna för att få mer utvecklade svar. 10 kontorschefer/franchisetagare intervjuades via zoom, telefon samt fysiska möten. Slutsats: Både intern konkurrens och målvägsteorin kan skapa motivation för medarbetare. Intern konkurrens är ett fenomen som kan styras med hjälp av målvägsteorin till en motivationsfaktor. Studiens bidrag: Tidigare forskning har främst fokuserat på fallstudier med inriktning på målvägsteorin. Denna studie har undersökt sambanden mellan målvägsteorin och intern konkurrens samt haft fokus på en bransch som tidigare inte studerats med målvägsteorin. Förslag till vidare forskning: Vidare forskning som rekommenderas är att även inkludera medarbetare i studien för att få ett bredare perspektiv på problemet.   Nyckelord: intern konkurrens, motivation, ledare, fastighetsmäklare, målvägsteorin
Title: MOTIVATING LEADERSHIP BEHAVIORS IN THE REAL ESTATE AGENCY INDUSTRY - From a leadership perspective Level: C-thesis in the subject business administration Authors: Rasmus Israelsson & Vincent Lanner Supervisor: Monika Wallmon Examiner: Svante Brunåker Date: June 2021 Aim: The aim of this study is to investigate how motivating leadership behaviors are expressed within specific brokerage firms. Focus is on goal path theory and internal competition. Empirical data: In the empirical part of the essay, a compilation of the interview answers is presented, which we considered to be most important based on the path-goal theory. Method: A qualitative method was used to conduct the study. Conclusion: The conclusion is that internal competition and the path-goal theory can both create motivation for employees. Internal competition is a phenomenon that can be controlled with the help of the path-goal theory to a motivating factor. Contributions of the thesis: Previous research has mainly focused on case studies focusing on the path-goal theory. This study has examined the connections between the path-goal theory and internal competition and focused on an industry that has not previously been studied with the path-goal theory. Suggestions for further research: Further research that is recommended is to also include employees in the study in order to gain a broader perspective on the problem. Keywords: internal competition, motivation, leaders, real estate agent, path-goal theory

In our increasingly competitive world, it is critical that college graduates enter the workplace with the appropriate skills to not only survive but also grow their career. Current college graduates have not consistently acquired the skills needed for success in the workplace to learn and thrive continuously in our rapidly changing world. The Virginia Tech College of Agriculture and Life Science must identify the specific strategies that develop best the needed skills for the success of the graduate and society The purpose of the study was to identify a land grant college of agriculture and life sciencesâ (LGCALS) current programmatic and classroom strategies for developing studentsâ ability to learn and thrive continuously in our rapidly changing world and a (1) explore programmatic strategies for developing studentsâ ability to continuously learn and thrive; (2) explore innovative instructors classroom strategies for developing studentsâ ability to learn and thrive continuously; (3) describe graduates perceptions of career readiness as measured through the bases of competence inventory, and finally; (4) compare programmatic strategies, classroom strategies and graduatesâ perceptions for career readiness. A mixed methods convergent parallel design guided the research. Qualitative interviews were employed for exploring experiences using an interpretive, constructivist, and naturalistic approach for research objectives 1 and 2. A cross sectional survey design and questionnaire, Making the Match, was used to conduct the quantitative research for objective 3. The mixed methods portion of the convergent parallel design was used to frame and explore research objective 4. Findings of the study detail need for curriculum improvement in problem solving, learning, time management, creativity and change, and personal strengths.
Ph. D.

Creating successful leaders is one of the challenges that social services organizations are facing. Employees may lack essential managerial skills to become productive leaders, and some managers may lack viable succession planning methods for preparing employees for leadership positions. The purpose of this case study was to explore methods that executive managers use to prepare employees for leadership positions. Path-goal theory and transformational leadership represent the conceptual framework that grounded this study. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 10 executive managers in the social services industry within southwest Georgia with experiences and skills specific to implementing successful succession planning. Company archives of corporate reports, government records, and business and management records were used for triangulation. The data were coded and analyzed using a modified van Kaam method. Participants verified the accuracy of the analysis of their responses through member-checking. The findings revealed 4 emergent themes: organizational management, hiring employees that fit the culture, leadership capabilities, and talent management. A recommendation from the study was that executive managers find methods to prepare employees for leadership positions. These findings may contribute to positive social change by identifying methods to prepare employees for leadership positions, thereby generating organizational sustainability, increasing organization revenue, and creating community economic development.

Healthcare leaders who struggle to understand the importance of interactions between patients, staff, and physicians can result in poor patient experience. Healthcare care leaders who understand the importance of patient experience can develop customer service training modules and tutorials to improve organizational outcomes. The purpose of this correlational study was to examine the relationship between staff communication, physician communication, size of the hospital, and patient experience. House's path-goal theory was used to frame the study. Secondary data were collected from hospitals in Northeastern Ohio, that reported patient experience scores through the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid's Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems survey database for the years 2016 and 2017. The results of the multiple linear regression indicated the results were significant, F(5, 144) = 56.822, p <.001, R2 = .652. The findings may provide health care leaders with tools to communicate with staff on how to improve patient experience through improving employee and patient engagement, thereby improving patient experience scores.

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House s (1971) Path-Goal Theory of Leadership, in spite of the fact that has being largely diffused mainly in USA; in Brazil, however, there is no organizational leadership researches concerning this theory. From that, a scientific investigation with the objective of testing subjacent hypotheses of House s theory was developed. Firstly, a quantitative research was done, with 226 workers, from a Brazilian auto parts company, the majority acting directly at the assembly line. A self-answered questionnaire was applied, in order to apprehend all variables of House s model. Correlation and hierarchical regression analysis were utilized to treat the data. The results demonstrated that none of the relations showed moderation effects and, only strait relations were observed, for instance, the performance variable and directive leader behavior and achievement oriented leader behavior. Subsequently, in order to deeply understand the gotten results, a qualitative research was developed. The data were obtained through deep interviews with 7 individuals of the same company at different hierarchical levels. Those data were analyzed under the light of thematic categorical content analysis technique. A content analysis was utilized to assess the qualitative data analysis. Cultural traits were identified as for instance, paternalism, spectator posture. From the analysis result of the two researches, could conclude that the Brazilian cultural traits would influence the leadership processes, in a way that leaders wouldn t show contingencial characteristics, differently of House s (1971) affirmation. Inferring, therefore, new researches must be done concerning the Brazilian cultural traits in order to validate Houses s theory in the Brazilian organizations context.
A teoria do caminho-meta de House (1971), embora tenha sido bastante difundida principalmente nos EUA, no Brasil, não se encontrou pesquisas em liderança organizacional considerando a teoria. Dessa forma, desenvolveu-se uma investigação científica com a finalidade de testar as hipóteses subjacentes à teoria de House. Inicialmente, foi realizada uma pesquisa quantitativa, com uma amostra de 226 respondentes trabalhadores de uma empresa brasileira do setor de autopeças, a maioria atuando diretamente na linha de produção. Foi aplicado um questionário autopreenchível, para apreender todas as variáveis do modelo de House. Análises de correlação e regressão hierárquica foram utilizadas para tratar os dados. Os resultados obtidos demonstraram que nenhuma relação apresentou efeitos de moderação e, somente, relações diretas foram identificadas, como por exemplo, a variável desempenho e o comportamento diretivo do líder e o comportamento orientado para o resultado do líder. Posteriormente, visando compreender mais profundamente os resultados obtidos, desenvolveu-se uma pesquisa qualitativa. Os dados foram obtidos por meio de entrevistas em profundidade com 7 sujeitos pertencentes à mesma empresa em diferentes posições hierárquicas. Esses dados foram analisados à luz da técnica de análise de conteúdo do tipo categórica temática. Para a análise dos dados qualitativos utilizou-se a técnica de análise de conteúdo. Foram identificados traços culturais, como por exemplo, o paternalismo e a postura de espectador. A partir da análise dos resultados das duas pesquisas, pode-se concluir que os traços culturais brasileiros poderiam influenciar os processos de liderança, fazendo com que os líderes não apresentem características contingenciais, diferentemente do que afirma House (1971), infere-se, portanto, que novas pesquisas devam ser realizadas considerando os traços culturais brasileiros visando validar a teoria de House para o contexto das organizações brasileiras.

Some Nigerian manufacturing organizations suffer significant losses yearly due to a lack of employee commitment and engagement. The purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to gain understanding of the strategies that leaders in the manufacturing industries in Lagos need to know in order to change employee behavior to achieve increased organizational productivity levels. The conceptual framework that grounded the study was the path-goal theory of leadership. Data were collected from semistructured interviews with a purposeful sample consisting of 24 managerial and non-managerial staff members of 2 manufacturing organizations in Nigeria who have had experience in, and training, and education on how to change employee behavior to achieve increased productivity. The interview consisted of open-ended questions. Using Yin's 5 step data analysis process, member checking, and triangulation, 13 themes emerged: motivated employees, productivity, motivation, enabling work environment, transformational leadership style, continuous improvement, unprofitable organization, low capacity utilization, demotivation, dwindling capacity, diversification, capability development, and innovation. Leaders of Nigerian manufacturing organizations may be able to use these emergent themes to develop strategies to increase the productivity of their employees. The potential implications for positive social change stem from Nigerian manufacturing organizational leaders' development of more effective leadership skills, which may contribute to the growth of the Nigerian manufacturing sector and be a viable source of employment creation.

Empirical data have not adequately revealed current methods of nonprofit leadership in a way that reflects shared leadership in the nonprofit sector leaving nonprofit organizations (NPOs) at a disadvantage in relation to understanding and describing leadership effectiveness. Using a conceptual framework that incorporated organizational theory, shared leadership theory, path goal theory, transformational theory, leader member exchange, and fund development theory, this mini ethnographic study was conducted to explore the effect of leadership styles in shared leadership situations and the impact of matched and unmatched leadership styles on NPO funding performance. With the use of purposeful sampling to conduct the study, the participants represented 5 community partner NPOs in the New York City area with 20 or fewer employees and average annual funding of $600,000 or more during the previous 3 years. The data analysis of interviews, observation, journaling, member checking, and document review and analysis were performed through hand coding using an inductive analytical method to identify patterns and themes. The study results indicate that matching leadership styles of executive and senior leaders such as leader member exchange and path-goal development are directly related to a team-oriented culture that is essential for the longevity and effective performance of non-profit organizations. Based on the findings, shared leadership promotes a culture of positive social change through building honesty and integrity, which in turn can help nonprofit organizational leaders improve funding programs and stakeholder interest. Ultimately shared leadership benefits the social needs of society by enhancing the services to the beneficiaries who receive the NPO programs.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1985.
Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 227-258).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1985.
Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 124-135).

This study investigated path-goal leadership theory tenets relating how individual difference factors of locus of control (LOC) and perceived task ability and situational knowledge of task expectancy affected leadership style preferences. Major hypotheses involved LOC and perceived task ability's effects on choice of leader style preference with no knowledge of task expectancy, high E $\to$ P expectancy (i.e., expectancy of effort leading to successful performance, but no P $\to$ O knowledge), and high P $\to$ O expectancy (i.e., expectancy that successful performance results in desired outcomes, but no E $\to$ P knowledge). It was predicted that without any task expectancy knowledge, internals with high ability would prefer participative leaders while those with low ability would prefer directive leaders. Powerful other LOC subjects were predicted to prefer directive leaders regardless of task ability. Chance LOC subjects were hypothesized to prefer participative styles with high ability and directive styles with low ability. With high E $\to$ P expectancies, all LOC types were predicted to prefer participative leaders regardless of ability. With high P $\to$ O expectancies, all LOC and ability types were expected to prefer directive leaders. Subjects were 120 undergraduates, 40 each who were internal, powerful other or chance oriented on the LOC scale. A 0-12 leader preference profile (LPP) scale measured style preference. Subjects believed they had either high or low task ability. Subjects indicated initial style preference for a subsequent task on the LPP. Subjects then read the high E $\to$ P task description and indicated style preference on another LPP. The same procedure was followed for the high P $\to$ O task. A significant Ss/LOC x perceived ability x leader style x knowledge of task expectancy interaction indicated P-LOC subjects did not, as hypothesized, prefer participative leaders in the E $\to$ P situation but preferred directive leaders across all ability and knowledge of task expectancy conditions. C-LOC and I-LOC persons exhibited the predicted preferences. These subjects preferred participative leaders when ability was high and/or some control over performance was perceived (i.e., the E $\to$ P situation). When ability was low and/or there was no perceived control over performance (i.e., the P $\to$ O situation), then these subjects preferred directive leaders. Implications and suggestions for future research are discussed
acase@tulane.edu