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Transformational Leadership Behavior Enhances Employee Performance

Research by Dr. Adam Grant helps to highlight how transformational leadership can transcend people’s self-interest. The leader is seen as the enhancer of performance to create the reality of performance. His work focuses on understanding how transformational leadership's influence is enhanced with follower contact and how pro-social perceptions mediate this performance. Organizational leaders should understand how their behavior enhances that of followers to achieve higher level outcomes. The fundamental responsibility is for all leaders to motivate their followers to achieve new heights (Vroom & Jago, 2007). Without motivation there cannot be action. The transformational leader can elicit inspiration to rally motivated effort around a vision. Effectiveness comes through the ability to motivate the most followers as possible to do and be more in the process of change. Transformational leaders have certain behaviors that impact their ability to be successful. They ca

The Road to Serfdom by F.A. Hayek-Structure vs. Performance

Friedrick August Hayek was an Austrian and later British economist and philosopher. He was awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for his work on a theory of money and economic fluctuations that tied in an analysis of the interdependence of economic, social and institutional phenomena.   He was a lead 20 th century thinker that contributed to economics, systems, neuroscience, jurisprudence and history of ideas. It was these multiple vantage points of seeing the nature of society and its economic system that led to one of his most influential works Road to Serfdom.  In his work the Road to Serfdom he argues the main points that the loss of individualism also means the loss of liberty, oppression, and the eventual serfdom of people. His argument is that as governments centralize their power they also create limitations on people to develop their economic abilities for the betterment of the nation. Even though centralization has good intentions it eventually limi

The Hawthorn Effect and Humanistic Performance Improvements

Focusing on the human elements can help in improving organizational performance. The Hawthorne studies have helped to understand the nature of performance improvement and social expectations within the workplace. The creation of higher effort often requires change and then solidifying that change through new social expectations.   Focusing on people encourages them to perform at higher levels.  The Hawthorne Effect is a concept of reactivity where people improve their performance because they are being singled out and made to feel important and not as a direct result of actual experimental manipulation.   The phenomenon was first experienced at the Bell Telephone Western Electric manufacturing plant in 1924 Chicago by Henry A. Landsberger.   The plant employed over 29,000 people and developed an industrial research center to improve morale and productivity (Brannigan,   & Zwerman, 2001).  The primary benefit of the study is that it furthered the argument that organiza

Improving Employee Performance through Expectancy Theory

Expectancy Theory postulates that a person will act in a certain way and make particular decisions based upon what they expect the results to be.   Managers that desire to better understand how to motivate employees should explore expectancy theory and its practical use to boost performance. The theory has been used in a number of companies and situations with great success. It is such a popular theory that additional theories have been developed off of its seminal findings. Victor Vroom indicated in his 1968 ground breaking research that motivation can be fostered when employers ensure that rewards are desired and tied directly to performance. His research showed through a number of cases studies and experimental approaches that workers will perform better when rewards are of significant value to employees. When the association of effort and reward is too distant employees may have a hard time making the connection and putting forward effort.  The Theory takes into accou

Higher Employee Performance through Path-Goal Theory

The Path-Goal theory helps to define methods and pathways to successful achievement of organizational objectives. The theory postulates that leadership behavior is subject to the satisfaction, motivation, and performance of their subordinates. Strong leadership implies that such leaders should engage in behaviors that enhance employee abilities and reduce deficiencies. Organizations can do this through coaching, counseling, servant leadership, and engagement. The specific style of leadership and direction are based upon two contingencies that include the environment and the employee characteristics. Through the use and application of Path-Goal Theory organizations can realize higher performance. The path-goal theory was originally developed by Robert House in 1971 and then revised again in the mid 1990’s. The theory came into business as a strong approach of managing employees and improving upon their overall performance. The ultimate goal is to provide them a path to achieve