Policy Paper Outline

Title: Application of Situational Leadership and Contingency Theory during Crisis Management

Thesis: Situational leadership and contingency theory are adopted by organization leaders to correctly assess the current Covid-19 pandemic crisis and set the correct path and policy plans for organizations to survive the crisis.

1. Introduction
2. It is safe to argue that the present crisis involving coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic is unique compared to anything the world has experienced in over a century. The crisis seems prolonged and perhaps an existential problem to organizations. With the Covid-19 pandemic, many organizations were forced to convert and adjust to survive the crisis’s drawbacks. Several leadership approaches and theories, including situational approach and contingency theory, are applied to help organization leaders correctly evaluate the situation during a crisis and set the organization’s correct path.
3. Thesis:  Situational leadership and contingency theory are adopted by organization leaders to correctly assess the current Covid-19 pandemic crisis and set the correct path and policy plans for organizations to survive the crisis.
4. Situational Leadership Style When Setting Policy Framework during a Crisis
5. A situational leadership approach is an adaptive approach that encourages organization management to take stoke of their team, weighing the many workplace variables, and selecting a policy framework or leadership models that best fits the circumstance and the organization’s goals (McMillan & Raggo, 2020).
6. Four leadership styles are adopted in a situational approach to direct policy change during a crisis. Such include telling style or directing method, coaching, supporting or participating, and delegating (Fener & Cevik, 2015).
7. Contingency Theory of Leadership and Policy Framework during a Crisis
8. The contingency theory of leadership presumes that a leader’s effectiveness is contingent on whether their approach matches particular circumstances. The contingency manager needs to pay close attention to the problem at hand alongside their management styles, ensuring that they both interact effectively.
9. The organization’s top managers or leaders play a central in crisis management using a contingency approach.
10. Specific dimensions dictate the decision-making process and the final policy framework adopted to manage the crisis; centrality, formalization, information, and confrontation (Steinbach et al., 2017).
11. Conclusion: The present policy paper discusses how situational leadership and contingency theory can be used by organization leaders to appropriately evaluate the current Covid-19 pandemic crisis and establish the correct path and policy plans for organizations to manage the crisis.

References

Fener, T., & Cevik, T. (2015). Leadership in crisis management: Separation of leadership and executive concepts. Procedia Economics and Finance, 26, 695-701.

McMullin, C., & Raggo, P. (2020). Leadership nd Governance in Times of Crisis: A Balancing Act for Nonprofit Boards. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 0899764020964582.

Steinbach, A. L., Holcomb, T. R., Holmes Jr, R. M., Devers, C. E., & Cannella Jr, A. A. (2017). Top management team incentive heterogeneity, strategic investment behavior, and performance: A contingency theory of incentive alignment. Strategic Management Journal, 38(8), 1701-1720.