Comparative Public Sector Administration Assignment Using the language of Blake and Mouton, describe what kind of leader former Sunbeam Corporation CEO Al Dunlap was. Using the Clark and Yoon articles, be very specifically in explaining Mr. Dunlap’s managerial style. Based on Northouse's (2007) definition, of leadership — Leadership is a process whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal – we gather that a leader’s style of functioning can have significant implications for the employees as well as the goals.
In examining the case of Albert Dunlap, we can identify how this seems to occur. Albert Dunlap served as the Chief Executive officer at Sunbeam Corporation using a managerial style that was both ruthless and rigorous. The emphasis seems to have been on profit-making; to the extent that ethical behavior was deeply compromised to that end. There is supposed evidence of tampering with the revenue books; which if true, would be evidence of a selfish motivation to the ruthless attempt at making profits.
Such behavior shows a marked lack of consideration for the staff’s needs or their due. According to Blake and Mouton’s (1957) model, these are signs of low concern for people and a high concern for tasks. Such a pattern of leadership is described as the ‘Authoritarian Leadership. The Authoritarian leader is focused on the task to exclusion of the people involved in completing the task. In the case of Albert Dunlap, this ‘task’ was creating as much profit as possible, and siphoning much of it into personal desires.
This kind of leader views people as means to an end, and communicates only what s/he believes is essential to the task. There is very little tolerance for failure; and employees are faced with a constant need to deliver required results. These attributes are evident through Dunlap’s nickname – Chainsaw Al. Both, trait and process of Albert Dunlap’s leadership style (Jago. 1982) are visible through this case study. This kind of leadership structure has been described as an ‘Assigned Leadership’ by Rowe (2007).
Leadership has a profound effect on the organizational climate (Newstrom, Davis, 1993). In the present case. The climate of the organization is bound to be saturated with tension and fear; creating conditions that are not at all conducive to the growth of human interactions. This may have led to low employee morale. The organizational culture in Sunbeam Corporation may also have been one that discouraged inter-personal relationships, as the focus was on reaching goals, not knowing the coworkers.
Works Cited: Donald Clark. Concepts of Leadership. http://www.nwlink.com. 21 May 2011 [web]. Found at http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/leader/leadcon.html#four. Lisa Yoon. Standing by ‘Chainsaw Al’. http://www.cfo.com. 21 May 2011 [web]. Found at http://www.cfo.com/article.cfm/2989941/c_2984290/?f=archives. Blake & Mouton (1957). The leadership grid. http://www.leadership-and-motivation-training.com. 21 May 2011 [web]. Found at http://www.leadership-and-motivation-training.com/blake-and-mouton.html
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