Leadership Report Ivan Hirst

Submitted to: Gen. Dwivedi

Submitted by: Misha Rawal 106/12 Section-B

Abstract
Major Ivan Hirst (4 March 1916 10 March 2000), was a British Army officer and engineer who was instrumental in reviving Volkswagen from a single factory in Wolfsburg, Germany, into a major post war automotive manufacturer. A Captain on the outbreak of the Second World War, he was appointed adjutant on 1 October 1939. Hirst laid the foundations for Volkswagen's successful automotive business. Ivan Hirsts life was dominated by two major crises The first crisis, the war, brought the young Englishman to the top. The second crisis, the demobilisation of the British forces, brought Hirsts fall in the early fifties . He secured the order for 20,000 cars which saved the Volkswagen Works from dismantlement. He was the one to manoeuvre the Volkswagen Works into a better position. He established the target of achieving efficient production. His Commitment to quality control and to the issue of exports went far beyond the immediate demand. Case of Hirst illustrates how companies placed under custodianship were extremely dependent on the actual individual placed in control. He was able to learn fast, to adapt to new situations quickly and to motivate others with his ideas. The report work is basically an analysis of the leadership of Ivan Hirst.It is an attempt to understand what kind of leadership he had ,to which leadership story it relates if possible, what were the leadership traits that made him successful as well as those which were constraints in his path of success. The sources of the power he had and what laid him do so. Thus in short its an attempt to understand the leader in Ivan Hirst.

Major Ivan Hirst

Ivan Hirst was born on the 4th March 1916 in Saddleworth, Yorkshire. Hirst Joined the Territorial Army and by 1939 had reached the rank of Captain. In 1940 Hirst was promoted to Major while serving with the British Expeditionary Force and then in 1942 transferred to the newly formed REME (Royal Electrical & Mechanical Engineers). Towards the end of the second world war, the huge factory set up to produce Hitlers 'Peoples car' was in ruins, bomb damage from the daylight bombing raids was extensive. The Russian ground troops were the first to stumble on the factory after crossing the Mittelland canal but were not interested in it, next the US army but again it held no interest. Colonel Charles Radclyffe was looking for a workshop that could carry out much needed repairs to the alied transport and sent Major Ivan Hirst to check the factory out for suitablility. Major Hirst quicky realised the potential of the factory, especially after they cleared some debris from the generating plant building and discovered it had been put there to disguise the fact that it was still operational. Amongst the debris the British found a Beetle, it occurred to Hirst that this car could be made in the factory and used as much needed transport by the allies. Hirst had the car painted Army green and sent it to the Army HQ at Bielefeld. Shortly afterwards he received an order for 20,000 cars. Production of the Beetle started but raw materials were in short supply and it was a constant struggle to source the steel, the glass & the tyres. On many early cars from this period, it was not possible to buy sheets of steel large enough to press the roof section - the solution was to weld two sheets of steel together, and this seam is sometimes visible on the inside of the roof of surviving cars. Malnutrition amongst factory workers was also a big problem as food was also in short supply, so the lawns next to the factory were turned into vegetable gardens to grow extra food. In March 1946, the British Army had produced its 1000th Volkswagen. With Hirst Superior Colonel Radclyffe`s approval, a barter deal was set up with many suppliers, exchanging completed cars for parts supplies. This sparked rumours that there was a black market in VW's being run by the British Army. Other car manufacturers in Germany were in the American controlled sector and not allowed to make cars, the US were of the opinion that German manufacturing should be suppressed for at least five years so that they were no longer a threat. The British Government in London started hearing of this 'Black Market' in Volkswagens and appointed an Industrial Lawyer Dr. Herman Munch to take charge of Volkswagen. Although Dr. Munch was allowed access to the factory, Major Hirst refused to take orders from him. The Royal

Military Police was instructed to investigate, after a 6 week investigation it was found that everything was legal and in order. Major Ivan Hirst's bookeeping was faultless, with every transaction correctly recorded, every car made had serial numbers and paperwork and each barter deal was legal and recorded. Hirst knew that building a successful car manufacturer would be incredibly difficult with just a single model, so some prototype variations were commissioned. One was a 4 seater convertible very similar to the pre-war convertible and the other was a two seater roadster convertible. The two-seater was built using a modified front bonnet over the engine, this car became the regular transport of Colonel Radclyffe and the car gained the nickname 'the Radclyffe roadster'. The roadster became the template for the commercially available two seater convertible made by Hebmller and the four seater the basis of the Karmann cabriolet. In May 1949 VOLKSWAGENWERK AG was formed and then in October '49 the Volkswagen factory was officially handed back to the Germans under the leadership of Heinz Nordhoff. At the end of 1951, Major Hirst was demobbed and returned to civilian life in England. Ivan Hirst died on 10 March 2000 aged 84. There is a road near the VW factory that was named after Hirst in appreciation of the work he did to save the Volkswagen factory.

OBJECTIVES :
1.To analyze the leadership style of Ivan Hirst and Does it fit into any leadership theory. 2.To find out what made him/her a leader. 3.To find out what qualities made him a success and what qualities if any prevented him from enjoying further success. 4.To find out the source of the power and why?

Leadership Style of Ivan Hirst After analysis, it has been found that Ivan Hirst style of leadership is Democratic style of leadership. His qualities that substantiate our claim are as following: Ian Hirst was extremely friendly, winning and yet had a modest character. Ian Hirst never spoke to the workforce arrogantly and always maintained posture of a well meaning boss. While working in Germany, with German people working under him, Ian Hirst had only good things to speak about German people although Ian Hirst fought on the allies side. Ian Hirst was good at creating an efficient communication network. As a major with wartime experience, Ian Hirst knew how to set up hierarchy of demand and organizing a large work force In December of 1945, the trade unions began to get reorganized on a regional level. Ian Hirst allowed the trade unions to hold meetings on site. Ian Hirst made sure that the relations between the Germans and the British staff were good considering how tense the relations between the occupation forces and defeated population were during the days after war. Hirst had given his best efforts to improve the relations better between them.

What made him a leader? Motivated- Ivan Hirst was a motivated person and he didnt get frustrated by small problems. One of the difficulties was for the factorys internal transport. There were very few electric cars, battery cars for taking material around the factory. So Ivan borrowed some forklift trucks and petrol engine fork from the British Army to lift trucks. Suddenly, the army said that they want those back and everyone said that it is the end of production. But Ivan said Dont be stupid, were a car factory. Surely we can do something. Then Ivan took a Kbelwagen or a Kfer chassis, put a flat board at one end, put a drivers seat

over the engine, put a steering wheel there and that became the Plattenwagen, which was used in the factory until quite recently. Entrepreneurial Skills- He started his optical business in the early age and later also as an Entrepreneur he single handily worked towards the survival of the Volkswagen. Ambitious- He constantly made plans, implemented them and worked to grow Volkswagen all over Germany. Ivan and his father opened branches of their business in many parts of the country like Birmingham, London, Manchester and Glasgow. Innovative- He tried to change with the conditions and engaged in new technologies for the constant improvement of all Volkswagen products. He introduced many new technologies for the increase in efficiency and productivity of the cars. Professionalism- He rarely talked about his personal life with anyone and limited his conversations to a strictly professional scale. Proactive- After coming back from war, he felt under challenged and desperately applied for other appointments. He also applied to the Royal Army Ordnance Corps as an expert on the optical Range finders for rifles. Pragmatic- He had a good understanding of the German workers and always listened to their problems and also solved them as soon as possible. Workers also appreciated his commitment. Social And Friendly- He made a huge number of acquaintances in the course of his working life as his extremely friendly, winning and yet modest character always made a good impression. Hirst also played a part in rejuvenating the cultural life in the town. He planned to set up a cinema in the factory canteen because no cinema or theatre existed in the whole of Wolfsburg. Practical He always tried to analyse the situation properly and think practically about the situation. After he started the plant at REME the main problem was workforce shortage. So Hirst made efforts to take over the entire workforce which was made up of over 600 civilians. He became practiced in dealing with management problems which he later faced again in a similar form: creating a workforce, providing accommodation, communicating with workers of different nationalities, solving problems caused by a shortage in spare parts and keeping the production going. Responsible- He was responsible for the efficient working of the plant. He allocated the workers to areas requiring little qualification while British specialists were employed in the risky areas such as welding. Opportunistic- After the war ended, he further presumed that a huge wave of soldiers will return to the British job market and his fathers small business

also didnt represent seem like an attractive option. In that situation Hirst chose the option which was most appealing in the short-term: he decided to go to Germany Good analytical skills- Immediately after his arrival to the Volkswagen plant Ivan Hirst arranged to meet the factory manager instated by the AmericansRudolf Brrmann and tried to analyse all the statistics and information about the company to understand the proper functioning of the company. Planner When he was starting the factory at the Volkswagen, he had to work on various problems which included working on convincing the British on the significance of Volkswagen, convincing the workers to contribute towards the proper working on the factory, organise a large workforce and complete projects on time. Hirst set up a translation office in order to overcome the language barrier between the Germans and the British. Authoritative- He had put all personnel decisions like recruitment and layoffs under his control. Even order forms had to first come to his desk for confirmation. He worked for the welfare and the betterment of his workforce. He had the notion that a motivated workforce contributes more to the company. He also recognised the trade unions of the company and allowed them to hold meeting and discuss their problems so that he could solve them. In this way, he tried to promote the workers interests. The statements Please see to the immediate revision of existing work safety regulations and make sure that these are in practice followed in every respect. shows the same quality. Hard Working- Hirst handled the work that extended from production to administrative work. At lunchtime too Hirst often accompanied guests to the officers mess. He worked beyond his power for the betterment of the company. Hirst expanded Volkswagens powers and often used unconventional means to get hold of the necessary materials. Analytical Skills- He always analysed the situation to every respect before making the final decision. Kind Hearted- He tried to take proper care of his employees. When there was a shortage of the food in the factory, Hirst took measures to get additional foodstuff. Also once he managed to provide the workforce with some fish from Cuxhaven. Supportive: He gave his subordinate the opportunity to grow and gain knowledge. Hirst even nominated Brrmann for the denazification committee on district level. Team Player- He worked alongside the Germans in the factory and treated everyone as an equal. At least once a week a meeting was held with German representatives to sort out the materials purchasing situation.

Friendly- Good relations between German staff and the Major Hirst are all the more remarkable considering how tense the relations between the occupation forces and the defeated population were during the early years. Optimistic- Everyone including the government felt that the company would not survive but Hirst was optimistic about the growth and introduced new policies to bring certain changes in the company. Master of improvisation- His aimed not to complete the job in shoddy fashion but to achieve the best result with what little means were available. Perfectionist- Hirst pulled back the first delivery once he had realised that the customer service workshops still lacked the necessary tools. Hirst waited until all repair services could be guaranteed before allowing the Volkswagen limousines to be exported.

Qualities that made him a success and qualities that prevented him from enjoying further success. 1. Visionary With the optimism of youth he believed in his projects in spite of all odds. His vision to recover Volkswagen from all sorts of misery made it one of the most sought after automobile brand. His commitment towards his work drived his vision. His passion and knowledge about engineering made his vision strong and attainable. He constantly made plans, implemented them and worked to grow Volkswagen all over Germany. Ivan and His Father opened branches of their business in many parts of the country like Birmingham, London, Manchester and Glasgow.

2. Passionate and Motivated Ivan Hirst was a motivated person and he didnt get frustrated by the small problems. Once there was a difficulty in the internal transport in the factory. There were very few electro cars, battery cars for taking material around the factory. So Ivan borrowed some forklift trucks and petrol engine fork from the British Army to lift trucks. Suddenly, the army said that they want those back and everyone said that it is the end of production. But Ivan said Dont be stupid. Were a car factory, surely we can do something. Then Ivan took a Kbelwagen or a Kfer chassis, put a flat board at one end, put a drivers seat over the engine, put a steering wheel and that became the Plattenwagen, which was used in the factory until quite recently.

3. Social and pragmatic He made a huge number of acquaintances in the course of his working life and his extremely friendly, winning and yet modest character always made a good

impression. Hirst also played a part in rejuvenating the cultural life in the town. He planned to set up a cinema in the factory canteen because no cinema or theatre existed in the whole of Wolfsburg. 4. Direct contact to workers was now desirable and colleagues were encouraged to follow open door arrangements. Employees were always welcome to meet up without any formalities. Hirst pointed out that close co-operation between colleagues would eliminate unnecessary long and lengthy words used in communication channels. 5. Improviser and Coordinator Ian Hirst was good at creating an efficient communication network. As a major with wartime experience, Ian Hirst knew how to set up hierarchy of demand and organizing a large work force 6. Ivan Hirsts every move was well planned and strategized. Ivan Hirst was to o reserved to publicize his growing command of the German language, continuing to speak only English while of course benefitting from his greater understanding of the language. 7. Ivan Hirst knew which person was fit for which purpose. Bormann was hated by everyone but Ivan Hirst knew how to use his qualities and thus prepared to defend his German plant manager whose management style was autocratic and derogatory in the extreme when dealing with the workforce.

Sources of power and the reasons behind these powers: 1. Expert Power: Ian Hirst had a strong knowledge base due to his experience in optics. Afterwards when he was given a chance to work in the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME), he applied this knowledge to the fullest in the repairing of tanks during his tenure at REME. He also gained significant knowledge about automobiles which he later applied at his time at Volkswagen. His knowledge of automobiles helped him immensely to lead the recovery of Volkswagen. 2. Positional Power: After Ivan Hirst joined the army in 1937, he was soon promoted to the rank of captain in 1939. Once the war started he soon became a major and was commanding a battalion of his own at a very young age. Even after his health problems, he got the chance to apply his knowledge of optical and automobiles which helped him gain in positions further. At Volkswagen, He played the role of manager by decision making

and strategy formulation. He secured an order of 20,000 cars which saved the company from being dismantled. 3. Coercive Power: During the revival of Volkswagen plant, the plant environment and nearby conditions were not favourable because maximum area had got damaged by bombing in war. The entire place was sordid & the employees had to travel long way for the basic necessities. Therefore their survival was becoming difficult. To counter the situation Ivan Hirst improved sewage and road conditions. He built houses and recreational centres like cinema halls and canteen. 4. Personal Power: In the days after war when there was very high discomfort between British and Germans, Ivan Hirst maintained a very healthy relationship with himself and also made sure that the German workers worked peacefully under the English officers, for the recovery of Volkswagen. It was necessary that old workers were retained and Hirst effectively accomplished that using his very effective interpersonal skills.

Refrences

1. Historical notes:A series of publication from the Volkswagen AG,Coporate History Wolfsburg Volume 4. 2. http://www.pre67vw.com/history/hirst.aspx 3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivan_Hirst 4. http://www.superbeetles.com/hirst.htm