Effective leadership, participation and empowerment
Extensive research has been undertaken on leadership behaviour since the 1950s. This has
divided into three areas: task-oriented, relation-oriented and participative leadership. The
thousands of studies undertaken over this 50-year period, mostly through questionnaires, has
given rise to a number of taxonomies which Yukl proposes might be refined into the three jointly
inter-reacting categories of task-, relations- and change-oriented behaviours. On looking at the
fields of study covering participative leadership, delegation and empowerment, the author again
examines the research and looks closely at the Vroom-Yetton model of participative leadership
developed in the 1970s. This helps managers identify decision procedures in different situations.
Throughout the book, Yukl evaluates this research and provides examples, tables, models and
case studies. From this, a series of guidelines are formulated, to which the practising manager
can refer for practical advice.