Overview
This lecture explains Rensis Likert's four leadership management styles, discussing their characteristics, advantages, disadvantages, and impact on team and organizational success.
Rensis Likert's Management System
- Developed by Rensis Likert and colleagues in the 1960s at the University of Michigan.
- Based on studies of over 200 organizations.
- Emphasizes the importance of manager-employee roles, relationships, communication, and decision-making styles for organizational effectiveness.
Likert's Four Leadership Styles
Exploitative Authoritative
- One-way, top-down communication; leader uses threats and fear to motivate employees.
- Leader has low concern for people and does not trust employees; decisions are centralized.
- Short-term high performance, but leads to long-term disengagement, low morale, or rebellion.
Benevolent Authoritative
- Also uses top-down, one-way communication but motivates through rewards instead of threats.
- Maintains a master-servant dynamic; decisions remain centralized.
- Employees may be motivated by rewards, but this can cause unhealthy competition and only motivate reward-driven behavior.
Consultative
- Communication is mostly top-down but allows limited upward feedback from employees.
- Leader seeks input from employees but retains final decision-making authority.
- Employees feel more involved and are likelier to support decisions, but do not participate in the final decision.
Participative
- Open, two-way communication; decision-making is decentralized and involves the whole team.
- Leader highly trusts and values team input; relationships are collaborative.
- Encourages creativity, commitment, and productivity, but decision-making can be time-consuming.
Key Terms & Definitions
- Exploitative Authoritative — Leadership style using threats and fear, with centralized decisions and low trust in employees.
- Benevolent Authoritative — Leadership style using rewards rather than threats, but still centralized control.
- Consultative — Leader asks for employee input, but retains final decision rights.
- Participative — Leadership style where decisions are made collectively by the group, with open communication and shared responsibility.
- Centralized Decision-Making — Decisions made solely by leaders at the top.
- Decentralized Decision-Making — Decisions made by the group or team collectively.
Action Items / Next Steps
- Review page 25 in the magazine for detailed information on Likert's management styles.
- Prepare examples or case studies for each leadership style for discussion.