It is almost always a team of people doing a task is better off than a person doing it. And if the leader is a narrow-minded, tyrant that has the stubbornness of a 5-year old child and the temper of a grumpy old person constantly on the verge of explosion, it is sure that the autonomy of the company will by out of sync. It was 2 years ago that a CEO had almost single-handedly almost brought a company to its knees, sending shock throughout all corners of Wall Street. He went by the name of “Chainsaw Al.” The near crumble of Sunbeam Corporation, a company that specializes in making household and outdoor goods, laid basically in the personality of Al Dunlap and his style of management, where he was autocratic and the structure was too top-down. When organizational structure is so top-down that information and advice only flow downwards and employees’ suggestions are ignored, problems are bound to occur sooner or later. After his one-man show, conducing chaos and disorder, the board of Sunbeam could no longer stand the horrid situations and fired him.
“You guys are responsible for the demise of Sunbeam! I’m here to tell you that things have changed. The old Sunbeam is over today. It’s OVER!!,” Dunlap screamed at his executives (Byrne 132). “It was like a dog barking at you for hours. He just yelled, ranted, and raved. He was condescending, belligerent, and disrespectful,” recalls Richard L. Boynton, president of the house-hold products division, du...
