Deck 6: Pathgoal Theory

Question 1

A leader with a high LPC score would be most effective in:

A) Very favorable situations and very unfavorable situations.
B) Very favorable situations.
C) Very unfavorable situations.
D) Moderately favorable situations.
E) Very favorable situations and moderately favorable situations.

Answer 1

D

Question 2

This theory argues that leaders should not expect to be effective in every situation.

A) Situational leadership theory
B) Contingency theory
C) Path-goal theory
D) Style approach
E) Skills approach

Answer 2

B

Question 3

Middle LPCs are:

A) Group oriented.
B) Relationship motivated.
C) Task motivated.
D) Socioindependent.
E) Follower oriented.

Answer 3

D

Question 4

Position power is strong if

A) The leader has the authority to hire and fire followers.
B) The leader's position is equal to that of her or his followers.
C) Approval must be gained for follower-related actions to be taken.
D) The leader volunteered for his or her current position.
E) Followers have say in leadership power.

Question 5

Contingency theory is concerned with ______ and _______.

A) Leaders; followers
B) Traits; situations
C) Styles; situations
D) Leadership; situations
E) Traits; styles

Question 6

A low LPC leader would perform best in which situation?

A) Good leader-member relations, high structure, strong power
B) Good leader-member relations, low structure, weak power
C) Poor leader-member relations, high structure, strong power
D) Poor leader-member relations, high structure, weak power
E) Poor leader-member relations, low structure, strong power

Question 7

Contingency theory can be used by an organization to

A) Tell whether a follower would work well in a situation
B) Suggest changes to make in a lower-level position for a good manager-worker fit
C) Explain how a leader can be equally effective in any work situation
D) Determine reasons for follower-leader mismatch
E) Modify traits to match situations

Question 8

Who developed the Least Preferred Coworker (LPC) scale?

A) Blake and McCanse
B) Katz
C) Hersey and Blanchard
D) Fiedler
E) Goleman

Question 9

Using contingency theory, in a highly unstructured task,

A) Rules would be clear.
B) There would usually be several ways to do something.
C) Your boss would verify that you did it correctly.
D) Completion is obvious.
E) There would be a structure in place.

Question 10

Which best explains a lead-match theory?

A) The change of leadership style to match the situation
B) Matching a leader to appropriate situations
C) Your third answer option goes here
D) Your fourth answer option goes here
E) Your fifth answer option goes here

Question 11

Using contingency theory, in a highly structured task,

A) There would be less control by a leader and more by followers.
B) There would be room for some experimentation.
C) There is no single best way to accomplish the task.
D) Both high and low LPC leaders could perform effectively.
E) Leaders need to have strong power to perform effectively.

Question 12

Having the oil changed in your car is an example of

A) Positional power
B) A high structure task
C) A low structure task
D) An undefined task
E) Leader-member relations

Question 13

According to Fiedler, if a leader's style does not match a situation, the leader can

A) Adapt her or his leadership behavior to the situation
B) Change her or his personality
C) Engage in situational engineering
D) Modify the characteristics of the followers
E) Determine the cause

Question 14

A leader with a low LPC score would be most effective in

A) Very favorable situations and very unfavorable situations.
B) Very favorable situations.
C) Very unfavorable situations.
D) Moderately favorable situations.
E) Very favorable situations and moderately favorable situations.

Question 15

Contingency theory is best characterized as

A) Predictive
B) Descriptive
C) Exhaustive
D) Relative
E) Creative

Question 16

Contingency theory has many strengths. Which of the following is not considered one of them?

A) Its validity is not present initially.
B) It fails to correlate well with other leadership measures.
C) It lacks clear instructions or explanations on the actual scale.
D) It is not clear up-front how perceptions of others reflect personal leadership behaviors.
E) It lacks predictive applications when determining leadership effectiveness in certain situations.

Question 17

From the framework of contingency theory, cleaning the milkshake machine at McDonald's is not a good example of a structured task.

Question 18

According to Fiedler, a "black box problem" occurs because:

A) Leaders are not effective in all situations.
B) Task-motivated leaders are good in moderately favorable settings.
C) There is no explanation why some leadership styles are more effective than others in situations.
D) Relationship-motivated leaders are good in extreme settings.
E) Followers have an unknown role within situational leadership.

Question 19

Which best explains leader-member relations as stated within the contingency theory?

A) The amount of authority a leader has to reward or to punish followers
B) Matching the leader's styles with that of the group and organization
C) Atmosphere of the group and the degree of confidence and loyalty felt toward the leader
D) The traits of the leader as they directly relate to those of the followers
E) The degree in which the requirements of a task are clear and spelled out

Question 20

During a speech given by your department director, he repeatedly emphasizes the importance of reaching goals set by the organization. He then goes on to lay out the framework to accomplish the goals. According to contingency theory, which best describes your director?

A) Relationship motivated
B) Task motivated
C) Position power
D) High LPC score
E) Contingent

Question 21

Low LPCs have a primary need to relate to people and a secondary need to get the job done.

Question 22

One problem with contingency theory is the lack of research to support it.

Question 23

Fiedler's LPC measure has been criticized with regard to its validity and lack of correlation with other leadership measures.

Question 24

Contingency theory suggests that a leader's style is far more important than the leadership context.

Question 25

Contingency theory is a leader-match theory.

Question 26

People with low scores on the LPC work better in categories 1 and 2 than in categories 4 and 5.

Question 27

High LPCs are more motivated by tasks.

Question 28

Why has the Least Preferred Coworker (LPC) scale often been criticized?

Question 29

Fiedler contends that it makes sense to try to train leaders to adapt their leadership styles.

Question 30

What should organizations do when there is a mismatch between the leader and the situation in the workplace?

Question 31

According to contingency theory, no leader can be expected to perform well in every situation.

Question 32

Use contingency theory to explain how a person who has worked well in one position in an organization can be ineffective if moved into a different position in the same company.