Leadership and Decision-Making [Paperback]

Victor H. Vroom (Author), Philip W. Yetton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 28, 1973

It has become a truism that “leadership depends upon the situation,” but few behavioral scientists have attempted to go beyond that statement to examine the specific ways in which leaders should and do vary their behavior with situational demands. Vroom and Yetton select a critical aspect of leadership style-the extent to which the leader encourages the participation of his subordinates in decision-making. They describe a normative model which shows the specific leadership style called for in different classes of situations. The model is expressed in terms of a “decision tree” and requires the leader to analyze the dimensions of the particular problem or decision with which he is confronted in order to determine how much and in what way to share his decision-making power with his subordinates.

Other chapters discuss how leaders behave in different situations. They look at differences in leadership styles, and what situations induce people to display autocratic or participative behavior. 
 

Editorial Reviews

Review

“A solid contribution to the better understanding of leadership and decision making. The authors present a taxonomy of leadership styles, a set of situational variables, and a set of rules to produce a normative model that fits leadership style to the situation. . . . The model is clearly useful in research and in training that aims at making managers more aware of their behavior in decision making.”
—Industrial and Labor Relations Review

“This book will make an important impact because it documents the need for problem-specific situational variables to be included in either a normative or behavioral theory of decision making, and then responds to the need. . . .  A fine book and an important contribution.”
—Contemporary Psychology

About the Author

Victor H. Vroom is Bearing Point Professor of Management & Professor of Psychology at the Yale School of Management. 

Phillip W. Yetton is professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship, Australian School of Business, University of New South Wales.

Product Details

• Paperback: 248 pages
• Publisher: University of Pittsburgh Press; 1st edition (June 28, 1973)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0822952653
• ISBN-13: 978-0822952657
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.8 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,041,935 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is the classic presentation upon which his 1988, November 4, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Leadership and Decision-Making (Paperback)

work is based. In the latter case, Victor Harold Vroom largely failed in making The New Leadership: Managing Participation in Organizations relevant to today's managers and leaders. Hence the original 1976 book is still the more valuable work. Leadership and Decision-Making is a must read for those following the Department of Justice antitrust cases and other maters related to modern business leadership.

It is also a recommended book for anyone who aspires to a leadership position because it is thought provoking and avoids, as much as possible, the mathematics which overwhelm his 1988 work. Many students of leadership will find the concepts presented familiar.

The main message conveyed is that leadership behavior should be dependent on certain characteristics of the general situation in which a decision is to be made. By understanding the situations, readers are able to influence leaders they may work with or judge the appropriateness of decisions made by others.

In 1988 Vroom and Jago attempted to expand this classic work with a mathematical computerized approach that could be used by decision makers in daily practice. This mathematical "expert system" was to correct the discrete nature of the 1976 work's decision trees.

Expert systems, however, are not based in mathematics, but on something that has nothing to do with mathematics called certainty theory. This partially explains deficiencies in the latter work. Leadership and Decision-Making remains the best presentation and in paperback it is an exceptional value.