Page 285 - Introduction to Business

CHAPTER 7 Motivating and Leading Employees 259

EXHIBIT 7.9
World’s Most Respected Companies, 2003

Rank Name Country Sector

1 General Electric United States Electrical/electronics
2 Microsoft United States Information technology
3 Toyota Japan Engineering
4 IBM United States Information technology
5 Wal-Mart United States Retailing
6 Coca-Cola United States Food/beverages
7 Dell United States Information technology
8 Berkshire Hathaway United States Financial services
9 DaimlerChrysler Germany Engineering
10 Sony Japan Consumer goods
11 Nestlé Switzerland Food/beverages
12 General Motors United States Engineering
13 Disney United States Media/leisure
14 BMW Germany Engineering
15 Honda Japan Engineering
16 Exxon Mobil United States Chemicals/energy
17 3M United States Consumer goods
18 Johnson & Johnson United States Health care
19 Procter & Gamble United States Food/beverages
20 L’Oreal France Consumer goods
21 Du Pont United States Energy/chemicals
22 Royal Dutch/Shell Netherlands/UK Energy/chemicals
23 Southwest Airlines United States Transportation
24 Cisco Systems United States Information technology
25 Siemens Germany Electrical/electronics
Source: FT/PwC, “World’s Most Respected Companies Report,” Financial Times, January 20, 2004.

Autocratic Style
An autocratic style of leadership is a top-down approach to management where autocratic style A top-down approach
decisions are made by the top manager with little input from employees or subor- to management where all decisions are
made by the top manager with little if
dinates. Autocratic leaders do not tolerate dissent and rarely seek employee partic-
any input from employees or
ipation in the decision-making process. Job satisfaction and motivation of most subordinates
employees in such companies are generally low, as the threat of getting fired is the
main reason for getting the job done. Also, since employees in such firms are not
part of the decision-making process, company information is not passed on to
workers and employee morale could remain low. Under such a management sys-
tem, corporate success or failure will squarely fall on the leader, who will be held
responsible for the outcome for the firm. Employees are essentially followers in
such organizations, and if the leader’s decisions lead to achieving corporate goals,
then the leader will be held in high regard both in and outside the company. How-
ever, if autocratic leaders fail to achieve company objectives, they will be demoted
or fired. Autocratic leaders are found all over the world and are generally associated
with privately-held companies, family-run operations, and the military. The ruling
philosophy here is “Do things my way, or you are out!” or “My way or the highway.”
While the decision-making process is fast in such a management system, the con-
sequence of poor decisions could prove fatal to the firm and the leader.

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