Three exploratory hypotheses derived from Green and Mitchell's attributional model of leaders' responses to poor perfor Mance were investigated in a qualitative study and a naturalistic setting. Findings were that managers did attribute causes to poor perfor Mance. Attributions could also be classified into “internal” and “external” categories. However, results showed that responses were also often influenced by considerations other than causal factors, such as perceived responsibilities to staff, organisational constraints and the prognosis for future perfor Mance. Limitations of the study are then identified and discussed. Implications for the reliability of locus of attribution as an indicator of direction of response are discussed.
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