Initiating Structure and Consideration Leadership
Among the several large leadership research programs that developed after World War II,
one of the most significant was undertaken at Ohio State University (OSU). This program
resulted in the development of a two-factor theory of leadership and indicated that leaders
could be both job- and employee-centered. 14 A series of studies isolated two leadership
behaviors, referred to as initiating structure and consideration. Initiating structure (or jobcentered
in Likert’s terms) involves behavior in which the leader organizes and defines
the relationships in the group, tends to establish well-defined patterns and channels of initiating
structure tendency focuses on goals and results. Consideration (or employee-centered
in Likert’s terms) involves behavior indicating friendship, mutual trust, respect, warmth,
and rapport between the leader and the followers. The leader with a high consideration
tendency supports open communication and participation.
The OSU researchers measured leaders’ tendencies to practice these two leadership
behaviors and were able to depict them graphically. Figure 11.2 shows behaviors of five
different leaders. Individual 1 is high on both initiating structure and consideration; individual
4 is low on both dimensions.
The original premise was that a high degree of consideration and a high degree of initiating
structure (high-high) was the most effective of the four possible combinations. Since
the original research undertaken to develop the questionnaire, there have been numerous
studies of the relationship between these two leadership dimensions and various effectiveness
criteria. In a study at International Harvester, researchers began to find some more
complicated interactions of the two dimensions. Supervisors who scored high on initiating
structure not only had high proficiency ratings from superiors, they also had more employee
grievances. A high consideration score was related to lower proficiency ratings and
fewer absences. 15
Other studies have examined how male and female leaders use initiating structure and
consideration. A review of the literature reporting the results of such studies found that
male and female leaders exhibit equal amounts of initiating structure and consideration and
have equally satisfied followers. 16
The OSU theory has been criticized for simplicity (e.g., only two dimensions of leadership),
lack of generalizability, and reliance on questionnaire responses to measure
leadership effectiveness. Despite these limitations, the MU and OSU studies made considerable
headway in our understanding of effective leadership behavior. In particular,
they broke from the traditional thinking that a leader must focus on either tasks or people.
The researchers found that leaders could behave in ways that gave equal attention to
both factors in any and all leadership situations—the task to be done and the people to do
the task.
The search for answers regarding the most effective leadership behavior has known no
national boundaries. The next OB at Work feature reports how Indian leaders receive high
marks for treating their employees well.