Social Psychological Exchange of Interpersonal Power and Obligation between U.S. Army Infantry Superordinates and Subordinates
Abstract
An exhaustive review of over 200 academic and military sources indicates that decentralized authority and responsibility to competent subordinates improves the upward flow of communications within an organization, thereby contributing to organizational effectiveness. This can be viewed as an interpersonal exchange of power and obligation between leader and follower. The tendency toward such exchange can be identified as adaptive leadership and followership styles. Investigation revealed that leadership style preferences improve with level among officer personnel, but do not improve with level among noncommissioned officers. Changes were particularly noteworthy between officers attending the Infantry Officer Advanced Course and officers attending the Command and General Staff College. This may indicate a positive and operational selection process based upon favorable officer efficiency reports which stem from superior organization effectiveness which in turn can be attributed at least in part to leadership and followership style. Findings also provided inferential support to Sweney's Response to Power Model. Additional findings relating preferred leadership and followership style to source of commission, component, age, years of education, months of command, and months of staff as appropriate are reported.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 11, 1976
- Accession Number
- ADA030414
Entities
People
- Gerald L. Weigand
Organizations
- United States Army Command and General Staff College