AUTOCRACTIC LEADER

ALBERT J DUNLAP OF SUNBEAM CORPORATION

Albert J Dunlap was the Chief Executive Officer of Sunbeam Corporation in 1996.
He used autocratic leadership style in the organisation. During these 20 months of his leadership
remains renowned for indiscriminate across the board firings. He fired 11,000 people or 40
percent of the workforce. While this move improved the bottom line and raised share prices, the
loss of talent meant that the company faced erosion on value, leading to long-term decline of the
organisation.
Dunlaps leadership is the Perfect Example of the Impact of Autocratic Leadership Style on the
organization. In almost all cases, autocratic leadership style helps improve organizational
efficiency and contribute to the bottom line in the short-term. This improvement is however a quick
fix, coming at the cost of erosion of a companys underlying assets and laying the foundation for
permanent damage in the future. (N Nayab, Ronda Bowen 2011). He was named as one of top
Worst Bosses in the Business in the TIME Magazine.

Effects of Autocratic Leadership towards the organization

Autocratic leaders are universally hated mostly because no one likes told what to do directly.
However, it can lead to problems in the future operations of the Organisation. Minor issues such as
employees covering up mistakes and tainting the image with higher management can be a
hindrance.
Employees are not encouraged for new ideas, innovation, creativity, leaving them mindless and just
to follow the instructions given. The full benefit of an individual, including ideas, talents and
perspectives, cannot be extracted in this manner. This makes Autocratic Leadership extremely
inefficient in long term and creativity-based projects. Even other projects can suffer under the
hands of this leadership style.
The heavily centralized command of autocratic leadership style ensures that the system depends
entirely on the leader. If the leader is strong, capable, competent, and just, the organization
functions smoothly, and if the leader is weak, incompetent, or has low ethical and moral standards,
the entire organization suffers for the sake of a single leader.
The leader reserving the right to make all decisions leads to subordinates becoming heavily
dependent on the leader. The team thereby becomes useless in running operations if they lose
contact with their leader, and absence of the leader leads to total collapse and shutdown of
operations.
Do not trust anyone: Autocratic leaders usually remain unpopular and damage working
relationships with colleagues. This leadership style is unsuited to build trusting relationships

Weak autocratic leaders tend to take decisions based on ego rather than sound management
principles, and punish employees who dare to disagree with such decisions.
The one sided communication flow in an autocratic leadership style restricts the creative and
leadership skills of the employees and prevents their development of the organization. This harms
the organization as well, for the employees remain incapable of assuming greater responsibilities,
or to perform anything outside the routine. (Annetta Powell, xxxx)

Effects of Autocratic Leadership in organization towards the employees

The autocratic style is often considered the classical approach. It is one in which the manager
retains as much power and decision-making authority as possible restricted to him. The manager
most of the times does not consult employees, nor are they allowed to give any input in the decision
making process. The communication style of an autocratic leader is usually described as one way
and does not take part in any discussion or appraisal activities of employees.
In an autocratic style, employees are expected only to obey orders without receiving any
explanations. The motivation environment is produced by creating a structured set of rewards and
punishments which are generally not as effective as appraisal form the leader himself. Mainly use
threats and punishment to influence their employees or followers
Bad for Highly Skilled and Motivated Workers:
An autocratic leader facing this type of group of workers will affect morale and will reduce his
team's creativity and productivity. Autocracy can lead to ego clash with the highly experienced and
educated people. Autocratic leaders in this situation may not make the best decisions since they
lack the group input from team members who have experience and skills. Sometimes some quality
workers may quit the job. It creates problems with employee morale and production in the longrun; due to their resentment.
It is unsuitable when the workforce is highly experienced and knowledgeable about their jobs and
the job calls for team work and cooperative spirit
Contrary to claims of close supervision with detailed instructions to reduce stress and improve
productivity, research suggests that such actions actually demotivate employees, and cause them to
becoming tense, fearful, or resentful.
Lack of involvement from the employee in the decision making process leads to employees not
assuming ownership of their work, contributing to low morale, lack of commitment, and
manifesting in high turnover, absenteeism, and work stoppage.
All power vested with the leader leads to risk of leaders with low moral fiber exploiting employees,
indulging in favoritism and discrimination, and the like. (N Nayab, Jean Scheid 2011)

Weak autocratic leaders tend to take decisions based on ego rather than sound management
principles, and punish employees who dare to disagree with such decisions.

Bibliography
Ronda Bowen 2011, Examples of Companies with Autocratic Leadership, viewed: 04 December
2014, <http://www.brighthubpm.com/resource-management/77233-examples-of-companies-withautocratic-leadership/>
Annetta Powell xxxx, Autocracy Advantages and Disadvantages, viewed: 04 December 2014,
< https://targetstudy.com/articles/autocracy-advantages-and-disadvantages.html>

Jean Scheid 2011, A Critique of the Autocratic Leadership Style, viewed: 04 December 2014,
<http://www.brighthubpm.com/resource-management/75715-a-critique-of-the-autocraticleadership-style/>