This article looks at the leadership style in the "frat boy" culture of the Tribune Company and how effective that style is when promoting change.
After reading this article, the first theory that came to mind was the Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) Theory. The LMX theory takes into account the dyadic relationship and interactions between the leader and followers. It also looks at the relationship that the leader has between each individual follower, as opposed to the relationship with the collective group. Sam Zell, owner of the Tribune Company, allowed his executive team to build a "fun, non-linear creative environment." He didn't care about job candidates with "solid newsroom experience", and he encouraged candidates who were "anti-establishment". The type of culture he created consisted of people just like him, and was almost clique-like. Everyone within the company that had the same "frat culture" view as Zell was in the in-group. They were encouraged and empowered more and had a higher quality relationship with Zell than the followers in the out-group. The out-group doesn't have the same kind of relationship or compatibility with the leader, but Zell could have used this to his advantage by encouraging their feedback and ideas. What Zell needed were people who would challenge his process, but since he only had people like him in executive and other top-level positions, all he got from them was agreement. Zell did a lot of talking about change, but didn't approach change in the right way. He spent time trashing what had been done in the past, instead of using those mistakes to get followers excited for the changes that would happen in the future.
I also thought about the Contingency theory while reading this article. The Contingency theory matches leaders to the situation and is contingent on matching the leader's style to the right setting. Based of the Contingency Model, the culture that Zell created had good leader-member relations because the followers trusted and were confident in him and were loyal to him. There was low task structure because the requirements were not clearly spelled out. Zell believed in having a "fun" environment rather than a structured environment. In this situation, there was strong position power because Zell was the owner if the Tribune Company, so he was the person that everyone needed to make sure was satisfied. The preferred leadership style for good leader-member relations, low task structure, and high position power would be middle or low LPC's. Based on the outcome of Zell's leadership, it looks like there was a mismatch. I believe that there was a mismatch with Zell's style and the situation because the Tribune Company failed under Zell's leadership withing a year of him purchasing it, and went bankrupt in that time as well.
Posted by: Tara Kaeb
Really interesting article, Tara! I also think that this article could relate to the chapter in the book that talks about Culture and Leadership. Culture is defined as "the learned beliefs, values, rules, norms, symbols, and traditions that are common to a group of people (336). Based off of this definition, it seems that Zell and his team had the idea that the company's beliefs, values, rules, norms, symbols and traditions were like those of a frat-house. Their beliefs of having a fun and creative environment mirrored that of a frat house. These specific values, beliefs, and attitudes turned into the culture of the company. They also are exhibiting ethnocentrism, which is the "tendency for individuals to place their own group at the center of their own beliefs, attitudes, and values, over and above those of other groups" (337). The article states that the company is in bankruptcy and that more than 4,200 employees have lost their jobs. It seems like the "leadership team" were only thinking about themselves and their own "frat-house" values, beliefs and attitudes when running the company or that never would have happened.
ReplyDelete*Previous comment posted by Kelly Yuen*
ReplyDeleteI thought the article you found and your thoughts on it were very interesting. I can see where you would want to implement the LMX theory. I have learned from experience that leaders that only hire individuals like themselves don't get the greatest of feedback, so I agree with what you are saying there. But, you say that Zell's followers trusted him, do you think that's because of his leadership style or more of the fact the followers are like him?
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