Hersey and Blanchard's situational leadership theory: A study of the leadership styles of senior executives in service and manufacturing businesses of a large Fortune 100 company

This study empirically tests Hersey and Blanchard's Situational Leadership Theory among 151 senior executives at different levels within service and manufacturing businesses of a large Fortune 100 Company.;Hersey and Blanchard's Situational Leadership Theory focuses on the interaction of the leader's behavior and follower readiness to determine leader effectiveness. Situational Leadership Theory suggests that the appropriate level of task and relationship behavior is the one that "matches" the level of follower readiness. According to Situational Leadership Theory a match should result in a higher level of follower performance and satisfaction with supervision than mismatches.;The researcher used a variety of statistical techniques to test the central hypotheses of Situational Leadership Theory and the matching concept. The study produced 18 matches and 126 mismatches. Although the number of matches is modest it is consistent with previously reported research of Situational Leadership Theory and does indicate some support for the matching concept. However, there was no statistically significant mean differences between matches and mismatches for follower performance and leader satisfaction. The researcher conducted a partitioned test that provided the most insight about Situational Leadership Theory and the concept of matching. The study indicated some modest support for Situational Leadership Theory and matching.;The researcher concludes that Situational Leadership Theory remains intuitively appealing and empirically contradictory. The concepts of Situational Leadership Theory and matching are engaging and further research is recommended.