THE LOW-POWERED LEADER CONFRONTS A MESSY PROBLEM: A TEST OF FIEDLER'S THEORY

Abstract

The article examines Fiedler's contingency theory of leadership with groups of young adults engaged in an initially unstructured research task over a period of about six weeks. Variables such as hours worked and performance relative to ability provide clear support for the theory. The differences between correlation coefficients are in the direction predicted by the theory. When it comes to product quality variables, the correlations with leader style are all negative regardless of whether leader-member relations are good or poor.