The Four Types Of Likert's Managerial Style

Born August 5rd 1903, in Cheyenne, Wyoming was Rensis Likert to George and Cornelia Likert. His father was an engineer for Union Pacific Railroads and that is what initially got Likert interested in that line of work. That interest is what leads him to studying civil engineering when he entered the University of Michigan in 1922. It was a few years later when he took a course in Sociology that opened his eyes to what he truly loved to study and that was people, specifically people in the workplace and during his senior year of college is when he officially left the college of engineering and decided to get his B.A in Sociology graduating in 1926. In 1928 he married Charlotte Jane Gibson, and they eventually had two children. He often contributed …show more content…
It was while he was the head of the research department he became interested in researching not only the different manager and supervisor styles, but the effectiveness of each of those styles. His research lead to one of his most popular developments, Likert’s Management System. Likert broke down all of his research and came to the conclusion that there are four main types of managerial styles. The first managerial style is Exploitive Authoritative. Exploitive Authoritative, the managers’ uses fear to motivate their employees and they tend not to trust their employees with decision-making. The managers make all the decisions and then just order the employees. Also their tends to be less direct communication between the managers and the rest of the workers. As a result to this style Likert found that the employees are more likely to become more hostile toward the organization …show more content…
In the Consultative management style, the managers have a lot more trust towards their employees as far a decision making goes. However, the manager does not have complete trust in their workers because they still have to approve all decisions made by the workers. Usually the manager would go to the employees for their input and them; they may or may not implement their ideas. There is a lot more communication in Consultative management than there is in either Explosive or Benevolent Authoritative Management. It can do both ways between the managers and the employees. According to Likert employees are more motivated with this style and are more likely to follow the rules and guidelines because they feel they played more of a role in creating them. The last managerial style and the one Likert considers the most effective is Participative Management. Participative management is when the managers have complete trust in their employees and they allow them to make and implement decisions without having their initial consent. The goal is to make sure decisions are being made throughout the entire company. This encourages the employees to engage in the politics of the organization and according to Likert, the workers tend to be the most content and