Q1. He appeared extremely sensitive to skeptics, often reassigning workers who questioned his ideas to new departments, uninviting them to important meetings, and even firing them. These actions by Musk go against which theorys stated goal of providing guidance and support employees needed for current and future job satisfaction?

Multiple Choice

• trait theory
• Houses path-goal theory
• servant leadership
• relationship-oriented leadership behavior
• Fiedlers contingency model Q2. If one of Teslas division managers attempts to counter Musks treatment of workers by fostering an atmosphere of mutual respect between herself and employees, which of the following relationship-oriented leadership behaviors is this an example of?
  Multiple Choice

  • empowerment
  • servant leadership
  • consideration
  • passive leadership
  • ethical leadership Q3. Which of the following traits does Jeffrey Sonnenfeld state that a leader should possess to some extent, but not too much of an extent?
    Multiple Choice

    • sympathy
    • communication ability
    • self-confidence
    • intelligence
    • humor Q4. A new Tesla employee is attempting to follow the chapters advice about improving the quality of a leader-member exchange while at the same time avoiding the mistakes made by Musk as described in the case. Which of the following tips is most relevant?
      Multiple Choice

      • Learn what your boss believes are the desired characteristics of a good performer.
      • Work on improving your relationship with your manager.
      • None of these tips apply to Elon Musk as described in the case.
      • Be careful about the emotions that you show at work.
      • Stay focused on your departments goals. Q.5 Which of the following actions by Musk led to him having to step down as company chair?
        Multiple Choice

        • Musks proposed production schedule for the Model 3
        • a tweet about taking the company public
        • Musks comments about the SEC in a 60 Minutes interview
        • a tweet about a diver sent to rescue a trapped Thai boys soccer team
        • the launch of the Model Y

While Tesla CEO Elon Musk enjoys a reputation as one of the most successful entrepreneurs of all time, he has come under fire for a number of decisions and actions that have affected the growing electric car manufacturer negatively in various ways. This activity is important because it demonstrates the consequences of a leader's actions. The goal of this activity is to critically evaluate Musk's various actions over time, and the positive and negative implications of each of them for Tesla and for Musk himself. Read about Elon Musk's controversial actions as Tesla's CEO. Then, using the three-step problem-solving approach, answer the questions that follow. Elon Musk is widely regarded as one of the most successful entrepreneurs in history. He became a billionaire by age 31 after founding and selling severarsuccessful startups-most notably the company that would later be known as Paypal. In 2004 Musk invested $6.3 million into Tesla Motors and soon after became the company's CEO.2 Musk has a keen ability to express ideas and get people excited about them and has garnered praise for his inspiring and visionary leadership. Author Dale Buss argues that "... a huge part of Musk's motivational quiver is to come up with and continually express otherworldly goals that appeal to the passions of his employees as well as to his own ambitions.-4 Todd Maron, Tesla's former general counsel, said Musk is "someone who empowers you to be better than you think you can be," adding that "he has extraordinarily high standards, and so he pushes you to be your absolute best." Another former employee described Musk as "the smartest person I have ever met," adding. "I can't tell you how many times prepared a report for him and he asked a question that made us realize we were looking at the problem completely wrong.-5 Musk's Leadership Style and Behavior Some have criticized Musk's aspirations to change the world as outlandish and his ideas as unachievable, but Musk doesn't believe in impossibilities. Says author Christopher Davenport, "People are always telling him he can't do it. But he doesn't like to hear it can't be done. He categorically rejects that. It's all about. "How can we do it?"-6 A recent example of Musk's stubbornness is the production of the Model 3. After the company revealed the concept to the public and locked in production dates, Musk called a meeting to tell executives he had a dream that the entire production process had been fully automated. In other words, vehicle production would require no humans from start to finish. He wanted to make the ndol and he wanted to begin production four months ahead of Tesla's pattern: executives told Musk his idea wasn't unachievable, he disagreed, and engineers resigned when they realized they couldn't reason with him.7 Musk eventually conceded that his idea for fully automated production of the Model 3 was a nonstarter, and he and his workers scrambled to get production back on track by working 80-100 hour weeks. Customers waited months past delivery dates for their vehicles and took to social media to lambast the company. Further, many of the Model 3s that were delivered needed costly and time-consuming repairs. Musk would later refer to the ordeal as production hell:10 Some blame Musk's inability to delegate for Tesla's problems and for the recent exodus of more than 36 VPs and other high-ranking executives. "1 Musk wants things done his way down to the tiniest detail and often rejects industry best practices along with advice from his senior leadership. For example, Musk once instituted a new workflow management method against the advice of his production workers. The employees secretly reverted to Toyota's Kanban method when Musk's technique ultimately slowed production. 12 Author Barry Enderwick believes Musk's micromanaging style ... displays a fundamental misunderstanding of what leadership means. No one person can do everything at a company:13 Others blame Musk's mental health for his downward spiral and describe him as emotionally unstable and fragile. Musk developed a reputation on the production floor for openly ridiculing, insulting, and bullying workers who fell short of performance targets. He appeared extremely sensitive to skeptics, often reassigning workers who questioned his ideas to new departments, uninviting them to important meetings, and even firing them. Musk also displayed frequent emotional reactions to isolated customer complaints on social media. As a former employee recalls, "Some customer would tweet some random complaint, and then we would be ordered to drop everything and spend a week on some problem affecting one loudmouth in Pasadena, rather than all the work we're supposed to do to support the thousands of customers who didn't tweet that day. 14 Musk's recent public appearances and social media posts have raised consumer concerns about his ability to deliver on his promises and successfully run his companies. In one instance, he angrily tweeted that a diver sent to rescue a trapped Thai boys' soccer team was a pedophile after his offer to assist with the rescue was declined. The diver filed a defamation lawsuit against Musk for this damaging and unsubstantiated claim.15 As another example, Musk chose to smoke marijuana during an appearance on "The Joe Rogan Experience" podcast. In August 2018, in what would prove the most financially damaging of his social media choices to date, Musk tweeted that he was taking Tesla private and had secured the funding to do so. As a result of his tweet, the company's shares skyrocketed 11 percent in one day. Musk had not actually secured funding to take Tesla private and the SEC charged him with securities fraud. He settled the case and und allow others in the company to regulate 16 A few months after reaching the settlement, Musk gave a 60 Minutes interview and said "I do not respect the SEC." While it is not illegal for Musk to criticize the regulatory agency, experts agree it's an unwise choice, both in terms of his relationship with the agency and his ability to attract board members to his companies. 18 What's Next for Elon Musk? Musk's quirkiness, overconfidence, and volatility resemble the attributes and behaviors of other famous entrepreneurs- most notably, Steve Jobs. 19 As consumers we allow for and even expect a certain amount of idiosyncrasy in our leaders Yale School of Management's Dr. Jeffrey Sonnenfeld argues that some measure of hubris is necessary for entrepreneurs to succeed, saying "The odds are against them succeeding rationally, so they have to have an unrealistic sense of their own efficacy to beat the odds." But Sonnenfeld also notes that Musk is likely to take himself and the company off a cliff" if he doesn't dial things back 20 Tesla recently unveiled its new electric vehicle-the Model Y crossover-to lukewarm reception. Pre-orders started immediately and required a $2.500 initial payment-$1,000 more than the company had charged customers to reserve the Model 3. Market analysts see this increase as cause for concern about the company's cash position and predict that initial orders for the Model Y will be much lower than they were for the Model 3.21 As for that tweet that cost him $40 million in SEC fines and his position as chairman of Tesla's board, Musk says it was -22 "worth it