Thus a manger’s approach should range from telling, selling, participating, or delegating depending on the situation as defined by subordinates’ levels of maturity regarding their job knowledge. They among others argued that the Grid did not take into account the situation which varied according to subordinates’ levels of job knowledge and experience. Competition soon emerged in the form of contingency theories and situational leadership models best represented by Hersey and Blanchard’s model.
Blake and Mouton’s 5-day Grid Seminar in the 1960s became popular worldwide.
This normative stance emanated from the combination of a manger’s concern for production (task) and concern for people (relationship). Based on the two fundamental functions of leadership – task structure and human relations – they took the position that there was one best way to lead and mange. Mouton taught and applied social psychology comprehensively and across boundaries, they were best known for creating and teaching the Managerial Grid.
