Leadership and Change Management

Elon Musk – Case study

Group - 3
Submitted by
Aditya Yadav - 373
Janki Contractor – 385
Nandam Nikhitha Bhavani - 403
Pratik Rathi - 413
Shubham Roy - 418
Tanya Agarwal - 424

Q1. Can an expert-generalist prove the proverb “Jack of all, master of none” wrong?

● Yes
● Musk had managed several businesses simultaneously—electric cars (Tesla), rocket
technology (SpaceX), and energy services (SolarCity)
● Parallel entrepreneur and a real Iron Man

Q2. Comment on Musk‟s leadership traits, what do you make out of them?
Ans2.
Positives:
1. Good manipulator, story-teller
2. Visionary
3. Risk Taker
4. Innovative and disruptive
5. Lead from front ―If you are fighting a battle, it’s way better if you are at the front lines.
A general behind the lines is going to lose‖ - hands-on approach
6. Passionate
7. Multi-tasker
8. OCD resulting detail-orientation
9. Perfectionist
10. Hard working
11. Resilient
Negatives:
1. Micro-manager (nano-manager)
2. Narcissistic
3. Arrogant
4. Highly task-oriented
 5. Not people-oriented, not empathetic
6. Not easily content
7. Temperamental
8. Over-promising, under-delivering
9. High degree of neuroticism, openness (slightly idealistic)

Q3. Critically analyze Musk‟s social media savviness?

Musk was very active on social media, especially Twitter. With approximately 22 million
followers by June 2018, Musk’s individual Twitter account had more followers than Tesla’s
Twitter handle and more than the combined followers of Ford, Chevrolet, and Chrysler

Good tweets:
1. First person to use tweets to replace traditional PR system
2. Interacted and responded to customer queries

Bad tweets:
1. Apology - Musk had also used Twitter as a platform for apology
a. Musk’s remarks resulted in a 6-per-cent drop in share prices.50 In May, Musk
apologized on Twitter for not answering financial questions in classic fashion
2. Aggressive
3. „Pedo‟
a. Rescue operation to young soccer players trapped inside a cave in Thailand,
British rescuer declined to use a SpaceX’s
b. Musk did not withdraw the comment but rather reinforced it with the statement,
―bet ya a signed dollar it’s true
4. Falsely stated Tesla received funding - stock price rose initially, but sued by short-
sellers; SEC enquiry. Eventually led to the decrease in their share prices
5. Arrogant
a. In response to the board's suggestion that Musk should stop tweeting - ―Why
would I?‖
b. In response to the ignorance of another analyst’s question, Musk tweeted, the
―reason RBC question about Model 3 demand is absurd is that Tesla has roughly
half a million reservations, despite no advertising & no cars in showrooms. Even
after reaching 5k/week production, it would take 2 years just to satisfy existing
demand even if new sales dropped to 0‖
c. He also attacked fossil fuel companies when media reports criticized Tesla -
―Problem is journos are under constant pressure to get max clicks & earn
advertising dollars or get fired. Tricky situation, as Tesla doesn’t advertise, but
 fossil fuel companies & gas/diesel car companies are among world’s biggest
advertisers.‖

Q4. Explain whether short sellers were right in saying that Musk was responsible for
Tesla‟s over-evaluation?

● Yes.
● Short term thinkers who have the crucial skill of changing his on a dime to suit his
audience, thereby generating the illusion of long term thought.
● storytelling power of Musk
● largely positive reviews for the Model 3 and a large advance booking in hand
● In 2016, Musk convinced consumers to book the Model 3 in advance with a deposit of
only $1,000. This resulted in 500,000 advance bookings

Q5. Explain whether privatization could help Tesla solve its crisis ?

Being a public company puts enormous pressure on making decisions. Being answerable to
shareholders shifts the focus to decisions that may be right for the short term but not in the long
term. Regulatory monitorings
Also Musk believed his other venture SpaceX was successful largely due to the fact that it was
privately held. Since he did not had very high scores on agreeableness and openness it would be
better for tesla to go private