Substitutes for leadership theory is a leadership theory first developed by Steven Kerr and John M. Jermier and published in Organizational Behavior and Human Performance in December 1978.
The theory states that different situational factors can enhance, neutralize, or substitute for leader behaviors (Den Hartog & Koopman, 2001). It has received criticism for shortcomings due to perceived methodological issues. Empirical research has produced mixed results as to its ability to predict subordinate outcomes.
Origins Over the years, researchers have developed many leadership theories. Prior to the 1970s, trait leadership theory and path-goal theory were the two heavily researched theories. (Den Hartog & Koopman, 2001). Proponents of trait leadership theory held that the ability to lead is a characteristic some people innately have and others do not. The effort was put forth to uncover which characteristics and abilities leaders had that separated them from non-leaders. Leadership style was another angle researchers took. Proponents of this approach did not believe the ability to lead was innate, rather it was a set of behaviors anyone could learn (Den Hartog & Koopman, 2001).
In the mid-1970s, a great deal of research was dedicated to the contingency model and path-goal theory. The contingency model stated that various leadership styles would be more or less effective depending on the situation. (Den Hartog & Koopman, 2001; Fiedler, 1965). Path-goal theory proposed that subordinates would be satisfied with their leader if they perceived that their leader's behavior would bring them future satisfaction. Subordinates would be motivated by their leader if they perceived that completing work tasks would bring them satisfaction, and if the leader provided proper coaching, support, rewards, and guidance. Frustrations with not being able to find significant results with anyone's theory resulted in the development of reexaminations and new approaches, including questioning which situations necessitated a leader figure and which did not (Den Hartog & Koopman, 2001).
Steven Kerr and Anne Harlan was one of the researchers publicly expressing his frustrations with current leadership theories. In the 1970s, Kerr was at Ohio State University actively involved in leadership research. Kerr was studying existing proposed subordinate constructs such as organizational independence and proposed leadership constructs such as consideration and initiating structure (put forth by the Ohio State Leadership Studies).
Subordinates that are organizational independents do not feel tied to one company and are internally motivated instead of motivated by the characteristics of the organization, such as leader behavior. Leaders are high on initiating structure to clarify their own roles and their subordinates’ roles in obtaining a goal. Kerr and colleagues noticed many studies had found significant moderators that played a part in the relationship between initiating structure leader behavior and subordinate outcomes. For example, when a task was ambiguous, the relationship between leader initiating structure and subordinate satisfaction was stronger than if the task was clear. These findings made it apparent that there were variables that affected the relationship between leader behavior and subordinate outcomes, making the relationship stronger or weaker.
In 1973, Kerr was the first to coin substitutes for leadership as elements in the work setting that lessened leader effectiveness on subordinate outcomes. Further publications led to Kerr and Jermier's 1978 paper, which unveiled substitutes for leadership theory. This paper presented two types of elements in the job environment: substitutes and neutralizers. These elements were proposed to serve as moderators in the relationship between leader behavior and subordinate outcomes.
The theory originally classified substitutes as characteristics of the subordinate, characteristics of the task, and characteristics of the organization. Howell, Dorfman, & Kerr proposed alteration to the theory in terms of subordinate classification. They argued that moderators should be grouped based on their effect on the criterion. The original theory had already proposed moderators that act as substitutes and moderators that act as neutralizers. Howell and colleagues added enhancers to these.
Substitutes for leadership theory was a heavily researched area until the late 1980s when transformational leadership became the focus of the majority of leadership research.
Definitions
Substitutes for leadership theory
Substitutes for leadership theory states that different situational factors can enhance, neutralize, or substitute for leader behaviors (Den Hartog & Koopman, 2001).
Substitutes Substitutes are variables that make leadership unnecessary for subordinates and reduce the extent to which subordinates rely on their leader
Examples of substitutes Characteristics of the subordinate Subordinate ability Subordinate's professional orientation Characteristics of the task Unambiguous and routine task (when all subordinates are performing menial labor, there is little role leadership can play; Den Hartog & Koopman, 2001) Task that provides its own feedback as to how well the task is being done Task that is intrinsically satisfying Characteristics of the organization Cohesive work groups (a tight-knit group of employees has less need for a leader; Den Hartog & Koopman, 2001) Organizational formulation (clear job goals that are written down, performance appraisals that are written down; Kerr and Jermier, 1987) Self-managed work teams (employees rely on each other, not their leader)
Enhancers Enhancers are variables that serve to strengthen leaders influence on subordinate outcomes (Den Hartog & Koopman, 2001
Examples of enhancers Characteristics of the subordinate Subordinates having experience (those more experienced will be able to translate even the most ambiguous instructions into results Characteristics of the task Task is non-routine Characteristics of the organization Having group norms that encourage cooperation with leaders (Den Hartog & Koopman, 2001) Leader having the ability to reward subordinates
Neutralizers Neutralizers are variables which serve to weaken, or block leader influence on subordinate outcomes (Den Hartog & Koopman, 2001
Examples of neutralizers Characteristics of the subordinate Subordinates are indifferent when it comes to rewards Characteristics of the organization Whether or not subordinates are rewarded is not the leader's decision Kerr & Jermier never specified an example of a task characteristic that acts as a neutralizer.
Scales used to measure
Kerr and Jermier Source:
The original scale to measure the effects of various substitutes was developed by Kerr and Jermier. They assessed leadership substitutes via a questionnaire that contained thirteen subscales with a total of 55 items. The items were on a Likert scale ranging from 1 (almost always untrue or completely untrue), to 5 (almost always true or almost completely true).
The subscales included were: Ability, experience, training, and knowledge Professional orientation Indifference towards organizational rewards Unambiguous, routine, and methodically invariant tasks Task-provided feedback concerning accomplishment Intrinsically satisfying tasks Organizational formalization Organizational inflexibility Advisory and staff functions Close-knit, cohesive, interdependent work groups Organizational rewards not within the leader's control Spatial distance between superior and subordinates Subordinate need for independence
Kerr and Jermier tested nine of these subscales in a lab setting and found that they were independent and had adequate internal reliabilities. They claim that the subscales produce easily interpretable data that describe the extent to which substitutes for leadership are present or absent in a given work situation. They went on to test their subscales in a field setting using police officers and concluded that the subscales met acceptable standards of reliability, and can be used to assess the validity of the substitutes for leadership construct in future studies.
Podsakoff, Niehoff, MacKenzie, and Williams Podsakoff, Niehoff, MacKenzie, and Williams noted that studies testing the substitutes for leadership model had not been fully supportive of the theory, and believed that one reason for this may be that the quality of the scale developed by Kerr and Jermier to measure the substitutes constructs may be to blame. In response to this, they designed their own 74-item measure of substitutes for leadership. To test their scale, they administered it to 372 business students. Their analyses of the psychometric properties of the revised measure revealed their scale to be superior to Kerr and Jermier's scale, as evidenced by better dimensionality and reliability of the revised scale.
Consequences
Kerr and Jermier proposed that substitute variables should render leader behaviors unable to predict subordinate outcomes. Researchers that have tested this characteristic of substitutes have found mixed results.
A study involving hospital personnel found that tasks that gave feedback regarding performance were negatively correlated with job satisfaction. Routine repetitive work tasks were correlated with organizational commitment. Intrinsically satisfying work, organizational formulation, and cohesive workgroups were substitutes that were significantly correlated with both job satisfaction and organizational commitment. However, they found little evidence that substitutes prevented or replaced a leader's effect on subordinate job satisfaction or organizational commitment. The only substitute that served as a replacement was the organizational formulation, which replaced leader behavior's predictive power in explaining subordinate job satisfaction and organizational commitment.
Another study looked at 1,235 employees working for 265 leaders in a variety of job settings. Among their findings were that intrinsically satisfying tasks were positively related to subordinate satisfaction, indifference to rewards was negatively related to organizational commitment, and the organizational formulation was negatively related to subordinate perceptions of role ambiguity. The researchers in this study concluded that substitutes for leadership were useful in predicting subordinate outcomes, but leader behaviors and substitutes should always be studied together because together they explained about a third of the total variance insubordinate outcomes in their sample.
A more recent study conducted by Dionne and colleagues collected data from 940 subordinates. Unsatisfied with the fact that prior studies had tested substitutes, enhancers, and neutralizers as moderators, they tested the effect of substitutes as mediators as well as moderators. Testing a variety of different substitutes and outcomes, the researchers found only very weak evidence that substitutes make a difference and concluded that leader behaviors are the only important variable in predicting employee outcomes.
Podsakoff, MacKenzie, and Bommer conducted a meta-analysis in which they took the results of 22 studies that examined the main effect of substitutes for leadership on the relationship between leader behaviors and subordinate outcomes. They found evidence supporting the theory taking into account both leader behaviors and the effect of substitutes accounted for more of the variance in subordinate outcomes than taking into account leader behaviors alone.
Applications
Autonomous work groups