Victor H. Vroom

The role of the situation in leadership

Leadership depends on the situation. Few social scientists would dispute the validity of this statement. But the statement can be interpreted in many different ways, depending, at least in part, on what one means by leadership. This article begins with a definition of leadership and a brief description of 3 historically important theories of leadership. The most recent of these, contingency theories, is argued to be most consistent with existing evidence and most relevant to professional practice. The Vroom, Yetton, and Jago contingency models of participation in decision making are described in depth, and their work provides the basis for identifying 3 distinct ways in which situational or contextual variables are relevant to both research on and the practice of leadership.

On the Validity of the Vroom-Yetton Model.

Abstract : In this research an empirical evaluation of the validity of the Vroom-Yetton contingency model of leadership behavior is performed. Native to the model, managers from a variety of organizations described 181 actual problem-solving or decision-making situations and their behavior in these situations. The model was then employed to predict ratings of the technical quality, subordinate acceptance, and the overall effectiveness of the final solutions chosen or decision made. Substantial support for the model and its various components was obtained. Its concurrent validity was greater than that of a noncontingent model proposed by other theorists. However, the validity of the Vroom-Yetton model is due, in large measure, to relationships between agreement with the model and subordinate acceptance of or commitment to these decisions. Relationships with decision quality were smaller. Reasons for this difference and possible deficiencies in the model are discussed. (Author)

Toward a Stochastic Model of Managerial Careers

This study describes how the career movements of managers and professionals within organizations may be described by a Markov chain model. This allows a formal description of the results of current career policies which can be examined for inconsistencies. Further, it allows predictions to be made of the effects of continuing present policies into the future. Thus, it provides a more rational basis for career policies of organizations and also for individual managers planning their own careers. From a sample of career movements of managers and professionals in a large industrial organization, data are presented, a simple model constructed, and inferences made. In addition to the normative uses of such models, it is important to note that they provide a means for examining in a dynamic way some basic behavioral science issues that have heretofore been approached in a static fashion.1 Victor H. Vroom is professor and Kenneth R. MacCrimmon is assistant professor in the Graduate School of Industrial Administration, Carnegie-Mellon University.

The stability of post-decision dissonance: A follow-up study of the job attitudes of business school graduates

Abstract This study is a follow-up to a study by Vroom 1966 which provided evidence of the phenomenon of post-decision dissonance reduction among graduate students in a school of industrial administration who were engaged in the process of choosing organizations in which to begin their managerial careers. The present study constitutes an examination of the attitudes of those students toward their organizations one year and three and one-half years after graduation. It was found that the changed orientations toward the chosen organization exhibited immediately following choice (i.e., increased attractiveness and greater perceived instrumentality for goal attainment) were no longer in evidence after implementation of the choice. In fact, both the attractiveness of the organization and its perceived instrumentality for the attainment of goals decreased markedly during the first year and remained at a low level for at least the next two and one-half years. This study examines the processes underlying the apparent disillusionment on the part of the subjects. The implications of the results for the phenomenon of post-decision dissonance are also considered.

Educating managers for decision making and leadership

This paper describes a research program, spanning three decades, on the development of a model of leadership style – specifically, the form and degree to which managers should involve team members in decision making. The model distinguishes five levels of participation and, in its current form, 11 situational factors which influence the effects of participation on decision quality, implementation, time, and team development. Pencil and paper and computer‐based representations of the model are described and compared. Finally, the paper concludes with a discussion of the use of the model in management development. Based on experience in training managers in many countries around the world, the author argues that didactic expositions of the model are largely ineffective in producing behavior change unless accompanied by experiential activities which enable managers to examine their own implicit assumptions about the consequences of sharing their decision making power.

The consequences of social interaction in group problem solving

Abstract An experiment was conducted to determine the effects of interaction among group members on both their generation and evaluation of solutions to problems. Twelve four-men groups worked on two different administrative problems. On each problem, a group worked under one of four conditions: 1. (1) members interacted with one another during the generation of solutions but were prevented from interacting during the evaluation of solutions; 2. (2) members were prevented from interacting with one another during the generation of solutions but did interact during the evaluation of solutions; 3. (3) members interacted with one another during both generation and evaluation of solutions; 4. (4) members were prevented from interacting with one another during both generation and evaluation of solutions. The results corroborate previous evidence that interaction during the generation phase of problem solving is dysfunctional. Groups in which members interacted with one another during generation produced a smaller number of different solutions, fewer high-quality solutions and a smaller number of different kinds of solutions than groups in which members were constrained from interacting during generation. On the other hand, there was some evidence that interaction during the evaluation process is functional although the superiority of interacting groups over noninteracting groups in discriminating high- and low-quality solutions varied with the manner in which individual evaluations were combined in noninteracting groups.

The person versus the situation in leadership

Abstract In this exchange, Robert J. Sternberg and Victor Vroom exchange their views regarding leadership. An issue of particular salience in this exchange is the role of the person versus the situation in leadership. Sternberg brings to the table a more person-oriented view, Vroom, a more situation-oriented view. The exchange leads to a consensus that emphasizes the importance of person–situation interaction.

Situation effects and levels of analysis in the study of leader participation

Abstract Cumulative research pertaining to the Vroom-Yetton and Vroom-Jago models suggests that multiple levels of analysis are needed to understand a leaders choice of autocratic versus participative behaviors. Leadership scales that simply aggregate behavior across situations are incapable of detecting situational and persons by situation effects that do, in fact, exist. Research designs that capture these effects and that test specific prescriptive models are described.

Predicting Leader Behavior from a Measure of Behavioral Intent

The article focuses on a study that investigates the problems of direct and objective observation of leader behavior in field settings. The study is designed to examine the importance of subordinat...

Hierarchical Level and Leadership Style

Abstract This research investigates the relationship between the hierarchical level of managerial personnel and individual differences in their leadership styles, specifically the degree to which they are disposed to the use of participative versus autocratic decision-making strategies. Analysis of self-report data collected from four different levels of managers suggests a greater propensity for use of participative methods at higher organizational levels. Subordinate descriptions of their immediate superiors further support this relationship. However, members asked to describe this relationship reveal perceptions incongruent with the direction of effect implied by the between-level group differences. Reasons for the incongruity and its implications for the organization are discussed.