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PathgoaltheoryWikipedia

Pathgoaltheory
FromWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

Thepathgoaltheory,alsoknownasthepathgoaltheoryofleadereffectivenessorthepathgoalmodel,is
aleadershiptheorydevelopedbyRobertHouse,anOhioStateUniversitygraduate,in1971andrevisedin
1996.Thetheorystatesthataleader'sbehavioriscontingenttothesatisfaction,motivationandperformanceof
herorhissubordinates.Therevisedversionalsoarguesthattheleaderengagesinbehaviorsthatcomplement
subordinate'sabilitiesandcompensatefordeficiencies.AccordingtoRobertHouseandJohnAntonakis,the
pathgoalmodelcanbeclassifiedasaformofinstrumentalleadership[1].

Contents
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Origins
Originaltheory
Incollegeathletics
Seealso
References
Externallinks

Origins
ThefirsttheorywasinspiredbytheworkofMartinG.Evans(1970),[2]inwhichtheleadershipbehaviorsand
thefollowerperceptionsofthedegreetowhichfollowingaparticularbehavior(path)willleadtoaparticular
outcome(goal).[3]Thepathgoaltheorywasalsoinfluencedbytheexpectancytheoryofmotivationdeveloped
byVictorVroomin1964.[4]VroombuilthisworkontheworkofGeorgopoulosetal.(1957):Apathgoal
approachtoproductivity.JournalofAppliedPsychology.Volume41,No.6,pages345353.

Originaltheory
Accordingtothefirstofalltheory,themanager'sjobisviewedasguidingworkerstochoosethebestpathsto
reachtheirgoals,aswellastheorganizationalgoals.Thetheoryarguesthatleaderswillhavetoengagein
differenttypesofleadershipbehaviordependingonthenatureandthedemandsofaparticularsituation.Itis
theleader'sjobtoassistfollowersinattaininggoalsandtoprovidethedirectionandsupportneededtoensure
thattheirgoalsarecompatiblewiththeorganization'sgoals.[3]
Aleader'sbehaviorisacceptabletosubordinateswhenviewedasasourceofsatisfaction,andmotivational
whenneedsatisfactioniscontingentonperformance,andtheleaderfacilitates,coaches,andrewardseffective
performance.Theoriginalpathgoaltheoryidentifiesachievementoriented,directive,participative,and
supportiveleaderbehaviors:
Thedirectivepathgoalclarifyingleaderbehaviorreferstosituationswheretheleaderletsfollowers
knowwhatisexpectedofthemandtellsthemhowtoperformtheirtasks.Thetheoryarguesthatthis
behaviorhasthemostpositiveeffectwhenthesubordinates'roleandtaskdemandsareambiguousand
intrinsicallysatisfying.[5]
Theachievementorientedleaderbehaviorreferstosituationswheretheleadersetschallenginggoalsfor
followers,expectsthemtoperformattheirhighestlevel,andshowsconfidenceintheirabilitytomeet
thisexpectation.[5]Occupationsinwhichtheachievementmotiveweremostpredominantweretechnical
jobs,salespersons,scientists,engineers,andentrepreneurs.[3]
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Theparticipativeleaderbehaviorinvolvesleadersconsultingwithfollowersandaskingfortheir
suggestionsbeforemakingadecision.Thisbehaviorispredominantwhensubordinatesarehighly
personallyinvolvedintheirwork.[3]
Thesupportiveleaderbehaviorisdirectedtowardsthesatisfactionofsubordinatesneedsand
preferences.Theleadershowsconcernforthefollowers'psychologicalwellbeing.[5]Thisbehavioris
especiallyneededinsituationsinwhichtasksorrelationshipsarepsychologicallyorphysically
distressing.[3]
Pathgoaltheoryassumesthatleadersareflexibleandthattheycanchangetheirstyle,assituationsrequire.
Thetheoryproposestwocontingencyvariables,suchasenvironmentandfollowercharacteristics,that
moderatetheleaderbehavioroutcomerelationship.Environmentisoutsidethecontrolofthefollowertask
structure,authoritysystem,andworkgroup.Environmentalfactorsdeterminethetypeofleaderbehavior
requiredifthefolloweroutcomesaretobemaximized.Followercharacteristicsarethelocusofcontrol,
experience,andperceivedability.Personalcharacteristicsofsubordinatesdeterminehowtheenvironmentand
leaderareinterpreted.Effectiveleadersclarifythepathtohelptheirfollowersachievegoalsandmakethe
journeyeasierbyreducingroadblocksandpitfalls.[1](http://www.webcitation.org/5gLBry5Zs)[6]Research
demonstratesthatemployeeperformanceandsatisfactionarepositivelyinfluencedwhentheleader
compensatesfortheshortcomingsineithertheemployeeortheworksetting.AccordingtoNorthouse,the
theoryisusefulbecauseitremindsleadersthattheircentralpurposeasaleaderistohelpsubordinatesdefine
andreachtheirgoalsinanefficientmanner.[7]
IncontrasttotheFiedlercontingencymodel,thepathgoalmodelstatesthatthefourleadershipstylesarefluid,
andthatleaderscanadoptanyofthefourdependingonwhatthesituationdemands.

Incollegeathletics
House(1971)referstoRizzo(1970),statingthataleaderinitiatingstructureincreasesthepathinstrumentality
forsubordinatesbydecreasingroleambiguity.Also,hesaysthataleaderwhoisinitiatingstructureand
considerationwillhavedifferenteffectsdependingonwhetherthetaskissatisfyingorunsatisfyingtothe
subordinateandwhetherthetaskroledemandsareclearorambiguous.Thismeansthatthemoresatisfyingthe
task,thelesspositivetherelationshipisbetweenconsiderationandsubordinatesatisfactionandperformance
meaningpeopletendtoactandenjoyitwithoutconsideringwhethertheyshouldnot.Also,itmeansthatwhen
acoachisclearinsettinggoalsandexpectations,thegoalsaremorelikelytobeachievedthanifthegoalsand
expectationsareunclear.Thisisgoodforcoaches,itmeansthatwhentheycanpresentagoalthatismost
satisfyingtoathletes,itismorelikelyfortheathletestohaveaffectivedesireforachievingthegoal.
Foracollegecoach,practicinggoodethicsinthisregardmeanscreatinggoalsthatarewithinreachforateam,
andworkingtogetherwithmembersofateamwhencreatingthesegoals.LarsonandLaFastointheir1989
book"TeamWork"placeaclear&elevatinggoalattheforefrontofthenecessarycomponentsforasuccessful
team."Theimageofadesiredstateofaffairsthatinspiresaction"ishowGarfielddefinesacleargoal,
accordingtotheauthors(p.27).Theysaythatwhenthegoalis"unfocusedand"politicized",itbecomesa
reasonforineffectiveteamfunctioning."Asenseofmission"isaclearcharacteristicofpeakperformers',says
Garfield,accordingtotheauthors.LarsonandLaFastomakenomistakeinemphasizingtheimportanceof
clarity."Elevating"totheauthorsmeans"personallychallenging"(p.31).Aplayerasksthepersonalquestion
ofhowworthwhilethegoalitselfis,andwhattypeofdifferenceitmakes.Theelevatingfactorofgoalsetting
bringsaboutasenseofurgency,causesateamtolosetrackoftime(relatestotheideaof"flow"inthefieldof
positivepsychology),andcausestherateofcommunicationtoincrease,forexample,playerscallingone
anotherintheevening,outsidethesportcontext,totalkabouttoday'spracticeortomorrow'sgame.

Seealso
Leadership
Leadermemberexchangetheory
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References
1.Antonakis,J.House,RJ.(2014)."Instrumentalleadership:Measurementandextensionoftransformational
transactionalleadershiptheory".TheLeadershipQuarterly.25(4):746.doi:10.1016/j.leaqua.2014.04.005.
2.Evans,MartinG.(1970)."Theeffectsofsupervisorybehavioronthepathgoalrelationship".Organizational
BehaviorandHumanPerformance.5:277298.doi:10.1016/00305073(70)900218.
3.House,RobertJ.(1996)."Pathgoaltheoryofleadership:Lessons,legacy,andareformulatedtheory".Leadership
Quarterly.7(3):323352.doi:10.1016/s10489843(96)900247.Citeerror:Invalid<ref>tagname"House"
definedmultipletimeswithdifferentcontent(seethehelppage).
4.Vroom,VictorH.(1964).Workandmotivation.NewYork:Wiley.
5.House,RobertJ.Mitchell,T.R.(1974)."Pathgoaltheoryofleadership".JournalofContemporaryBusiness.3:l
97.
6."Thebasicideabehindpathgoaltheory."UniversityofMaryland.20090427.URL:
http://terpconnect.umd.edu/~dbalon/EDCP317/notes/PathGoal_Theory.pdf.Accessed:20090427.(Archivedby
WebCiteathttp://www.webcitation.org/5gLBry5Zs)
7.Northhouse,Peter.Leadership:TheoryandPractice.

Larson,Carl&LaFasto,Frank.(1989)."TeamWork".SagePublications.

Externallinks
DefinitionatBusinessDictionary.com(http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/pathgoaltheory.ht
ml)
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