Fred Edward Fiedler was one of the leading researchers in Industrial and organizational psychology

Industrial and organizational psychology

Industrial and organizational psychology is the scientific study of employees, workplaces, and organizations. Industrial and organizational psychologists contribute to an organization's success by improving the performance and well-being of its people...

 of the 20th century. He was business and management psychologist at the University of Washington

University of Washington

University of Washington is a public research university, founded in 1861 in Seattle, Washington, United States. The UW is the largest university in the Northwest and the oldest public university on the West Coast. The university has three campuses, with its largest campus in the University...

. He helped this field move from the research on traits and personal characteristics of leaders, to leadership

Leadership

Leadership has been described as the “process of social influence in which one person can enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task". Other in-depth definitions of leadership have also emerged.-Theories:...

 styles and behaviours. In 1967 he introduced the contingency modeling

Contingency theory

Contingency theory is a class of behavioral theory that claims that there is no best way to organize a corporation, to lead a company, or to make decisions. Instead, the optimal course of action is contingent upon the internal and external situation...

 of leadership, with the now-famous Fiedler contingency model

Fiedler contingency model

The Fiedler contingency model is a leadership theory of industrial and organizational psychology developed by Fred Fiedler , one of the leading scientists who helped his field move from the research of traits and personal characteristics of leaders to leadership styles and behaviours.-Two...

.

Sources and Bibliography

• Ashour, A.S. (1973) ‘The Contingency Model of Leadership Effectiveness: An Evaluation’, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 9(3): 339–55.
• Bass, B.M. (1990) ‘Leader March’, a Handbook of Leadership, New York: The Free Press, 494–510, 651–2, 840–41.
• Fiedler, F.E. (1958) Leader Attitudes and Group Effectiveness, Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press.
• Fiedler, F.E. (1967) A Theory of Leadership Effectiveness, New York: McGraw-Hill.
• Fiedler, F.E. (1971) Leadership, New York: General Learning Press.
• Fiedler, F.E. (1981) Leader Attitudes and Group Effectiveness, Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Group.
• Fiedler, F.E. (1992) ‘Life in a Pretzel-shaped Universe’, in A.G. Bedeian (ed.), Management Laureates: A Collection of Autobiographical Essays, Greenwich, CT: JAI Press, vol. 1, 301–34.
• Fiedler, F.E. (1994) Leadership Experience and Leadership Performance, Alexandria, VA: US Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences.
• Fiedler, F.E. (1997) Directory of the American Psychological Association, Chicago: St James Press, 419.
• Fiedler, F.E. and Chemers, M.M. (1974) Leadership and Effective Management, Glenview, IL: Scott, Foresman and Co.
• Fiedler, F.E. and Garcia, J.E. (1987) New Approaches to Leadership, Cognitive Resources and Organizational Performance, New York: John Wiley and Sons.
• Fiedler, F.E., Chemers, M.M. and Mahar, L. (1976) Improving Leadership Effectiveness: The Leader Match Concept, New York: John Wiley and Sons.
• Fiedler, F.E., Garcia, J.E. and Lewis, C.T. (1986) People Management, and Productivity, Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
• Fiedler, F.E., Gibson, F.W. and Barrett, K.M. (1993) ‘Stress, Babble, and the Utilization of the Leader’s Intellectual Abilities’, Leadership Quarterly 4(2): 189–208.
• Fiedler, F.E., Godfrey, E.P. and Hall, D.M. (1959) Boards, Management and Company Success, Danville, IL: Interstate Publishers.

• Hooijberg, R. and Choi, J. (1999) "From Austria to the United States and from Evaluating Therapists to Developing Cognitive Resources Theory: An Interview with Fred Fiedler", Leadership Quarterly 10(4): 653–66.
• King, B., Streufert, S. and Fiedler, F.E. (1978) Managerial Control and Organizational Democracy, Washington, DC: V.H. Winston and Sons.
• Schriesheim, C.A. and Kerr, S. (1977a) "Theories and Measures of Leadership", in J.G. Hunt, and L.L. Larson (eds), Leadership: The Cutting Edge, Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press, 9–45.
• Fiedler, F.E. 1977b) "R.I.P LPC: A Response to Fiedler", in J.G. Hunt, and L.L. Larson (eds), Leadership: The Cutting Edge, Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press, 51–6.
• Vecchio, R.P. (1977) "An Empirical Examination of the Validity of Fiedler’s Model of Leadership Effectiveness", Organizational Behavior and Human Performance 19: 180–206.
• Fiedler, F.E. (1983) ‘Assessing the Validity of Fiedler’s Contingency Model of Leadership Effectiveness: A Closer look at Strube and Garcia’, Psychological Bulletin 93: 404–8.

Fred Fiedlers work with the contingency model of leadership provided an answer to the failings of the trait and behavioral theories and added to the understanding of the dynamics of leadership.