ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the major leadership theories and models will be given. Starting points are the two classic branches of leadership research, the uni-dimensional and bi-dimensional approaches. The research at the Ohio State University also led to the development of a variety of approaches. Despite significant differences in the explicit operationalization of this dimension, all the theoretical approaches take as a reference point the amount of employee participation in the leadership relationship. Democratic leadership is, as far as employee satisfaction is concerned, significantly superior to autocratic leadership. Tannenbaum and Schmidt differentiate between seven leadership styles, which are distinguished by the degree of the employee participation. In this theory, four different levels of maturity of the employees are described, which are to be seen in conjunction with four different leadership styles of the leader. The basis of the Leadership-Typology according to Wunderer is an integrative approach that joins the participation oriented leadership theories and the human-/task-oriented leadership theories.
