Maura Ruiz has been working in the e-learning industry for over ...

[futuristic]

Maura Ruiz has been working in the e-learning industry for over eight years. She is aware of the fact that in this industry, once an employee has learned his or her job, the work becomes fairly automatic and competence can be achieved rapidly.
 
  She has been noticing how in her team, this competence has come along with a lot of complacency; the employees, though able, are unwilling to work hard. According to the situational leadership theory, to rectify this situation, Maura would benefit the most if she uses the ________ style of leadership.
  A) task-oriented
  B) production-oriented
  C) participative
  D) directive
  E) autocratic

Question 2

Max Hiller was recently hired by Sync, a consumer goods company. During his first meeting with the sales team, Max impressed upon his team that work performance is the only criterion he would use to evaluate them.
 
  To help them perform well and meet their targets, he pushed his team to work extra hours. He also gave very clear instructions to each member regarding their job responsibilities and continually verified if they were meeting their targets. Which of the following, if true, would weaken Max's approach?
  A) Max is leading many new employees who have joined his team directly after training.
  B) Max's team functions in a sluggish manner and picks up pace only a week or so before the monthly operations cycle meetings.
  C) Max's sales team is comprised of independent and experienced employees who are committed to their jobs.
  D) Max's team does not display high levels of cohesiveness, and members fail to coordinate with each other.
  E) Sales figures for the region that Max's team is responsible for have improved in the last quarter.

[reversalruiz]

Answer to Question 1

C
Explanation: C) If followers are able and unwilling, the leader needs to use a supportive and participative style.

Answer to Question 2

C
Explanation: C) The fact that Max is leading many new employees who have joined his team directly after training strengthens his directive approach. The fact that Max's team functions in a sluggish manner and picks up pace only a week or so before the monthly operations cycle meetings also strengthens his directive approach. The fact that Max's sales team is comprised of independent and experienced employees who are committed to their jobs weakens his directive approach in leading them. This is because directive leadership is likely to be perceived as redundant among employees with high ability or considerable experience. The fact that Max's team does not display high levels of cohesiveness and members fail to coordinate with each other shows that the team requires a directive leader. The fact that sales figures for the region that Max's team is responsible for have improved in the last quarter does not strengthen or weaken Max's approach as he has been hired only recently and the rise in revenue for this region could be attributed to many other factors.