Question

Recently, you accepted an internship position with the Tulawaka Zoo in Tennessee. You report to Sharon Molacavage, the Senior Animal Keeper, who is in charge of all of the big cats at the zoo. Sharon reports to the zoo director, Adam Teitelbaum. You like your job a lot, because you play an active role in all of the zoo meetings and discussions. Adam is particularly interested in what you are learning in your Management classes, because he likes keeping up with new leadership ideas. Today the zoo team is having a meeting to talk about the zoo’s upcoming review by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA). The meeting starts when Adam asks Sharon to talk about the way she manages the employees who report to her. Sharon says, "I’m pretty focused on getting the work around here done, and making sure that all the employees do what is best for the animals. I give my staff specific instructions on what to do every day, and then I check to be sure that they’ve followed those instructions exactly. I don’t tolerate mistakes." As you listen to Sharon you think about what you’ve learned about the Ohio State studies of leadership.

After Sharon talks about her management style, Adam turns to you and says, "I thought I heard something about different styles being effective in different situations. According to Fred Fiedler’s Contingency Theory, what situation would be best for Sharon’s management style?"

-A very favorable situation in which Sharon had very good relations with her employees, and the employees are doing highly structured tasks.

-A moderately favorable situation in which Sharon’s relationships with her employees are strained, but where the employees are still doing highly structured tasks.

Answer 1

The correct answer is letter "B": A moderately favorable situation in which Sharon’s relationships with her employees are strained, but where the employees are still doing highly structured tasks.

Step-by-step explanation:

Austrian organizational psychologist Fred Fiedler (1922-2017) proposed in his Theory of Contingency that leaders only have one leadership style and that they cannot shape it according to the different situations they might be involved in. Instead, leaders must be located in a situation that matches their style.

Since Sharon's leadership style is autocratic, she is likely to manage herself better in adverse situations where the subordinates still follow her instructions.