Chapter 8. LEADERSHIP IN R&D ORGANIZATIONS
Which styles of leadership bring out the best performance in an R&D organization, department, team, or project? Finding the perfect way to manage knowledge workers remains elusive (Maccoby, 2006). The study of leadership, however, has proposed a variety of approaches. Some researchers have spent a good deal of time observing the behavior of groups and the emergence of leaders. As a result, they have seen that the activities of leaders fall into two general categories. The first involves maintaining (M) the group by paying attention to the needs of the members and making sure that conflicts do not become serious. The second involves the actual task that the group must perform (P), the definition of the task, how and when it is to be done, and so on. We can label these two types of activities consideration and structure.
"Consideration" involves paying attention to people, being considerate of their needs and goals, being employee-oriented, and paying attention to the human factor. "Structure" refers to what is to be done and to where the group is going. What is to be accomplished? How is it to be accomplished? How can the activities of the members be controlled?
Parallel to these is another set of concepts developed by the Japanese psychologist Misumi (1985). He has shown that a supervisor might emit a lot of behaviors that are M (such as paying attention to people, being considerate of their needs and goals, making people feel significant, helping people value learning and competence, helping people feel part of the laboratory community, and inspiring them to find the work stimulating) or a lot of behaviors that are P (scheduling work, defining goals, telling people how to attain the goals, and making sure that people do what is expected of them). However, Misumi found that great leaders emit both a lot of M as well as a lot of P behaviors.
For each job setting, Misumi identifies those behaviors that are P or M for that particular job. What fits one laboratory does not necessarily fit another. Misumi talks to people in the job setting and asks each subordinate to describe the behavior of the leader and rate him or her on their M or P behaviors. Misumi uses the symbols M and P for those who use many behaviors, and he uses m and p to indicate that the leader does few maintenance or production behaviors. This way, in each setting, Misumi identified four kinds of leaders:
mp = little maintenance, little production
mP = little maintenance, a lot of production
Mp = a lot of maintenance, little production
MP = a combination of high maintenance and high production
An interesting finding is that a leader who is high in production behaviors and also does many maintenance behaviors is seen as providing "planning" or "expertise;" but the leader who does a lot of production behaviors and few maintenance behaviors is perceived as "pressuring for production." Pressure for production is resisted. In short, the same behavior (production) is perceived differently depending on the context within which it appears.
In different cultures the behaviors that express M can be quite different. Research has shown, for instance, that "to criticize a subordinate directly, privately in your office" is seen as high M in the West and low M in Japan. In Japan one is supposed to criticize indirectly—for instance, by asking a colleague of the subordinate to convey the manager's criticism to him or her—so that the subordinate will not lose face.
While both behaviors are important, depending on the situation and one's natural inclinations, individuals have personalities that incline them either toward M or toward P behaviors. A person for whom M behaviors are "totally unnatural" would seem to be "putting on a show" if he or she did a lot of M behaviors. For such a person, a change of the work environment is indicated to make it match the leadership style. Fiedler's leadership theory explains how to do this. Fiedler calls people who do a lot of M behaviors high LPCs (Least Preferred Co-Worker)—you will soon see why—and people who do a lot of P behaviors low LPCs. He has a way of finding out what your natural inclination is and then recommending specific changes to your work environment to make it compatible with your leadership style.
People who observe groups note that leaders may specialize in one of these activities or may sometimes engage in both; or in the case of "great leaders," they will perform both activities with great frequency.
First providing general theory and then focusing on R&D organizations, this chapter covers: