The Normative Decision Theory Of Leadership Critical Thinkings Examples

Decision on how to decide on how the employees will be involved in drafting policy

Normative decision theory is leadership theory that focuses on how leaders incorporate workers in making decisions. It is about none participation of employees to employees making the entire decision. The quality of decision depends on the level of employee participation and the degree of their commitment to the decision. Important factors to be considered include the extent to which to include the employee in the decision-making process is the quality, both leader and subordinate information, goal similarity and the nature of the problem. The theory proponents can be used in the video game development company in drafting the proposed telecommuting policy.

The following questions are important in deciding how the employees shall be engaged in the final decision:

1. What is the significance of the quality of the decision? The technical quality of this decision is high as the company has an option of continuing with the current system. Some employees may object to the new plans because they will not be able to meet their co-workers on the face to face as frequently as is the norm. The employees would feel that their relationship is threatened by the proposed policy.
2. Is it important for the subordinates to be committed to the decision? It is important for the employees to be committed to the decision as they will be affected. Otherwise, the decision will fail at the implementation stages.
3. Does the leader have enough information to make a high-quality decision? The leader does not have sufficient information about telecommuting and its effects on the operations of the company.
4. Is it reasonably certain that the employees will accept the decision and be committed to it? The employees may not take the decision from their leaders as they may not be happy with the decision to change their work locations. Working as a team in one physical location has been entrenched in their culture and changing it will receive varied reactions.
5. Do employees share the goals to be attained by solving the current problems? The employees may not fully recognize the effects of high prices and long hours spent commuting on the overall cost of making the final product.
6. Do the employees have enough information to make the final decision? Employees may not have enough information in this case as most of them are involved in the video production and do not access information on the company’s expenses on gasoline. They also have no access to information from human resources on the total time wasted because coming to work late.

Outcome of the Process

The result from above discussion suggests that the best level of participation of the employees is GII. Under GII, the leader will share the problem with the employees as a group and together assess alternatives and agree on a solution. The manager should act as a facilitator and need not influence the decision. The leader should accept and implement the solution as it has an entire group support. The outcome of this process is acceptable because the employees will support and implement the policy as they will feel part of its making. Decisions made through consultations with employees do not encounter much resistance like ones imposed on them.

Normative decision theory and the path-goal theory in style of leadership

Under the path-goal theory, there are four types of leadership that are used according to the existing conditions of every scenario. The leadership styles are: directive, supportive, participative and achievement oriented. The outcome fits into the participative leadership. The problem is compound and workers have high ability to make the decision. They are also experienced, and they understand internal policies of control.

The Best leadership style applicable in this situation

The best type of leadership in the company is transformational leadership. It is a leadership style that emphasizes the group purpose and mission by alerting employees on the reason for achieving organizational goals. Transformational leaders help their followers to make more than they intended. They can convince employees to see beyond their personal interest. Under the transformational leadership, followers are the vital part of the organization, and therefore they are involved in making decisions that will affect them. Employees usually make sacrifices for the whole group because they understand that when the organization prospers, they too will prosper.

Fielder’s Contingency Theory

According to Fielder’s Contingency Theory, Leadership style applicable depends on the situation. The most effective leadership style is based on the circumstances of each case. The theory is about how the leader is supposed first to understand the people he is going to include. Then, examine the details and select the best leadership style to use. In essence, leaders are categorized into task-oriented and relationship-oriented. The leaders should understand in which category they fit best and seek situations that would require that style of leadership. In the above case, the relationship-oriented leader was the best fit as employees are participants in making the final decision.