Theoretical and Conceptual Knowledge

 Introduction

The world has for decades been seen to be trending. Like never before, the business of today engages billions of transactions locally and internationally. There is also the need for constant movement of supplies and services in the business if it has to cope up and remain thriving amidst the stiff competition. As such there is the need for viable leadership which is flexible, knowledgeable and competent. Leadership has been found to be a cornerstone of the business that guides and coordinates the other internal factors of the business towards the successful and timely achievements of the goals and visions of the business. To understand and establish the role of business managers in the management and measuring key performance indicators, it’s, first of all, necessary to discuss the theoretical conceptions of leadership. As various scholarly writers assert, leadership is just not an academic discipline: it is a mix of the theory, tools, and applications that will give an individual the best chance of developing a winning reputation for themselves and the organization they work for (Winkler, 2013).

The following is a discussion of psychological, leadership and organizational theories as related to the topic under consideration.

Psychological theories

Psychological theory is that class of theories designed to analyze and explain the psychological or behavioral phenomena of human beings. Due to the constant stream of new discoveries regarding a leader’s psyche, there have been developed many different perspectives which when combined a broad insight into what makes a leader so special (Leonard, 2012). The following are psychological theories related to the topic.

The self-fulfilling theory

This theory got developed by Robert K. Merton, an American sociologist. This theory states that the achievement of goals by a leader or any other person gets predicted to the extent to which he/she can connect belief and behavior. Behavior in this context refers to the subconscious and conscious actions of the person aimed at achieving his/her goals. This theory gets based on the expectations that a dream can become true as long as viable actions are being partaken to cause the event to happen. In the application of this theory, leaders or managers ought to act in line with goals and ensure that their workers perform in alignment with the company visions.

Psychodynamic theory

This theory gets focused on the analysis conflicts of the conscious and unconscious mind an approach often referred to as psychoanalysis. This theory conceives that people’s actions get directly related to the interaction of drives and forces within a person. In the application of this perspective, a leader should be conscious of the drives that guide his/her actions when leading the organization (Winkler, 2013). 

Cognitive theory

This theory focuses on the way that a person processes information, especially how people react to stimuli. More specifically, cognitive psychology focuses on the internal processes such as perception, attention, language, and memory and thinking. Most of the leadership work involves controlling and coordinating. A Proper thought of what may be the impact or reaction of workers when some sought of influence by the management gets implemented should be at the core of a leader’s consideration.

Leadership Theories

Besides psychological theories, there are multiplicities of leadership theories that can get applied herein. As said earlier, a leader plays the role of providing directions and inspirations of the team towards acquiring a goal. Leadership theories are explicitly vital for our understanding of the role leaders, and other stakes can play in shaping their organization. There are many leadership theories (Ray, 2013). The following are some of the leadership theories that have gained wide acceptance.

Path-Goal Theory

This theory is among the contemporary leadership theories that purports that the leadership is all about being able to adapt and show flexibility to ever changing situations and circumstances (Danks & Allen, 2014). According to the path-goal theory, effective leadership is about motivating teams through helping them realize that their needs and expectations are accomplishable simply through the performance of their roles and jobs. This theory presupposes that each worker achieves his/her work objectives he/she gets closer to the fulfillment of the leaders expectations. This theory emphasizes that the besides providing psychological support to his team, an effective leader should provide the right infrastructure and technical support to workers. As such, this theory call for the implementation of four distinct leadership styles – directive, supportive, participative and achievement oriented leadership styles (Bennis, 2012).. 

Transformational Theory

First introduced by James M. Burns, the transformational leadership theory calls for the present era organizations should apply leadership style that attract their followers trust as well as admiration. As its name suggests transformational leadership is all about change (transformation) and leaders practicing this approach are most suited to lead major change initiatives in an organization. Transformational leaders focus on the vision for change. They will thus work hard to induce intellectual stimulation, inspirational motivation and idealized influence to workers to ensure they always have renewed energy to take their organizations to desired places (Palestini, 2012).. 

Organizational theories

This theory analyzes organizational structure to identify the patterns and structures they apply for maximizing productivity, efficiency and solving problems to meet the expectations of stakeholders (Day, 2014). Among the renowned organizational theories are the following.

Neoclassical theory

This theory emphasizes on the individual or group behavior as well as human relations in determining productivity. Among the important features of this theory is the group work or labor support and management participation at work (Miles, 2012).

The social-technical organizational theory

This theory emphasizes that the organization gets composed of or runs within a social and technical system within its environment (Cunliffe & Luhman, 2012). These factors interact among themselves, and this interaction has impacts to the business and its leadership (Scouller, 2011). As such, the leadership has to ensure these are controlled and kept in a balanced state.

Areas of controversy related to the psychological theories

One of the theories that have gotten listed as controversial and attracted a lot of questioning is the behavioral theory, specifically the behaviorism theory. This theory reinforced the notion that humans are not autonomous agents of their behavior but rather have their behavior externally influenced. This theory though has some truth in it has for long disturbed people who believe that the human mind is equipped to control the behavior of a person (Winkler, 2013).

Another controversy in the psychological theories is the thought that people’s personality traits and characteristics could get directly related to the shape of their skulls. This theory was popular in the 19th century but has gotten ignored by many psychologist and theorists of other fields (Daft, 2011).

Conclusion

There are several psychological theories that can be used to explain the role of leaders in management. Such theories are mostly related to behavior and cognition of the leaders while underrating their vital role in ensuring their organizations garner their reputation through achieving their goals and visions. Similarly, leadership theories have evolved over the years. Both, Goal Path and Transformational Theories of leadership have been found to offer valid explanations of effective leadership approaches.

The transformational theory has been found to offer a different approach than that of path-goal theory. It emphasizes the role of the leader rather than the context in which the followers are getting led. That notwithstanding, a leader with remarkable characteristics is required if the organization is to achieve its success as can get evidenced through key performance indicators (Franco-Santos, Lucianetti & Bourne, 2012). The whole theory gets underpinned by the presence of a strong, emotionally mature and clear-headed leader. Such individuals get not easily found in day to day life. That also brings into question the credibility of the theory when it comes to smaller teams entrusted with routine tasks.

In this paper, it can be seen that leadership is an intriguing yet a complex pillar of the organization. Literature suggests that leaders should be motivated themselves and should to be able to inspire motivation in others. Several controversies have developed with the psychological theories of leadership. This paper has briefed on the two major controversies that have gotten related to psychological theories, especially of the past. 

References

Bennis, W. (2012). Leadership excellence is a brilliant way to study and then apply the best and most recent ideas in the field of leadership. 

Cunliffe, A. L., & Luhman, J. T. (2012). Key concepts in organization theory. London: Sage.

Daft R.(2011). Organizational theory and design. South-Western College Pub

Danks, S., & Allen, J. (2014). Performance-based rubrics for measuring organizational strategy and program implementation. Performance Improvement Quarterly, 27(1), 33-49.

Day, D. V. (2014). The Oxford handbook of leadership and organizations. New York : Oxford University Press

Franco-Santos, M., Lucianetti, L., & Bourne, M. (2012). Contemporary performance measurement systems: A review of their consequences and a framework for research. Management Accounting Research, 23(2), 79–119.

Leonard, H. S. (2012). The Wiley-Blackwell handbook of the psychology of leadership, change and organizational development. Hoboken, N.J: John Wiley & Sons.

Miles, J. A. (2012). Management and Organization Theory: A Jossey-Bass Reader. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons.

Palestini, R. H. (2012). From leadership theory to practice: A game plan for success as a leader. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Education

Ray, A. (2013). Important leadership theories in the realm of management sciences. Place of publication not identified: Grin Verlag.

Scouller, J. (2011). The three levels of leadership: How to develop your leadership presence, knowhow, and skill. Cirencester: Management Books 2000.

Winkler, I. (2013). Contemporary leadership theories: Enhancing the understanding of the complexity, subjectivity and dynamic of leadership. Berlin: Springer.

Sherry Roberts is the author of this paper. A senior editor at MeldaResearch.Com in custom essay research paper if you need a similar paper you can place your order from online research paper writer.