Research Essay Project Leadership can be defined as a power position, which a person holds in a group, that allows him/her to have interpersonal influence on members of that group for directing and mobilizing them to achieve certain goals. The leader is a person who infuses into a group, keeps it together, maintains its momentum, and moves it towards its goals. Norbert Reithofer is a former chairman of the board of management and the Chief Executive Officer of BMW Company with a widespread influence over a large number of people. It should be noted that he is considered one of the most successful managers in the world’s automobile industry. The essay discusses Norbert Reithofer’s style of leadership as well as the decisions that have made him an effective manager. Leadership A variety of leadership styles can be found in work environments. Each of them has its advantages and disadvantages. The company’s goals and culture determine the best style for it. Some organizations come up with several leadership styles within the company based on what its departments need as well as the goals it wants to meet. Therefore, the choice of leadership style depends on the specific needs of a company Firstly, the transformational leadership style depends on high communicational levels that are necessary to complete tasks. This leadership style requires the involvement of management (Johnson, n.d.). A leader focuses on the general goals and resorts to delegating the tasks of lesser importance to their team members. Thus, the transformational leadership style is perfect for strong managers and motivated workers. Secondly, the transactional leadership style presupposes that managers receive certain tasks and provide punishments or rewards to the members of their team based on the results. In this case, team members and managers determine their goals together, and workers agree to follow the leadership and directions of the manager to perform those tasks (Johnson, n.d.). The manager could check results and correct or train employees if they fail to accomplish goals. Thus, the transactional leadership style is ideal when there is a high level of trust in the working environment. Thirdly, participative leadership style is often referred to as the democratic one. Participative leadership style meets challenges when a company needs to make a decision in a short period. The full responsibility of making final decisions rests on participative leaders. However, in the participative leadership style, management values the team members’ input (Johnson, n.d.). This type of leadership improves the morale of employees since they can actively contribute to the decision-making process and they feel that their opinion is valued and important (Johnson, n.d.). If a company makes changes within the organization, this type of leadership helps workers embrace changes easily since they take part in this change. Thus, participative leadership style is similar to a representative democracy. Fourthly, the autocratic leadership style presupposes that managers are given the ability to make decisions without employees’ participation. The management has complete authority and makes workers abide by their will. No one could challenge the decisions of autocratic managers. For example, some countries, for example, North Korea, have the autocratic style of leadership (Johnson, n.d.). Creative workers, who work better in groups, reject the autocratic leadership, while this style is of benefit to the workers who need to be supervised closely. Thus, the autocratic leadership style is perfect for a strong leader and unmotivated workers. Finally, laissez-faire leadership style presupposes lack of direct supervision of workers, which leads to irregular feedback to employees under their supervision. Therefore, this style of leadership suits highly trained and experienced workers, who need little supervision, the best (Johnson, n.d.). However, such employees are not frequently found in any working environment. The laissez-faire style only worsens the quality of work for those workers who might require some supervision (Johnson, n.d.). It offers no supervision efforts or leadership from managers, which can lead to the increase of production costs, insufficient or inexistent control, and bad production. Thus, laissez-faire leadership style is effective only for highly experienced employees. Background of Norbert Reithofer Norbert Reithofer was born on May 29, 1956, in Munich, Germany. He graduated from a professional school and proceeded to study Mechanical engineering at Munich University. Later, Reithofer changed the course to management and marketing. In 1985, he became a scientific co-worker at Munich University. Reithofer started working for the BMW Company in 1987 in the department of maintenance and planning. Later, before rising to the position of technical director, he became the director of the production division (“Norbert Reithofer”, n.d.). Norbert Reithofer had worked for the BMW Company all his life, making many people refer to him as a loyal and dedicated boss. In 1994, Reithofer worked as the technical director of a BMW’s South African plant. In 1997, he became the president of the company’s manufacturing division (in South Carolina) (“Norbert Reithofer”, n.d.). At the beginning of the 21st century, Reithofer was promoted to the position of the director of production (“Norbert Reithofer”, n.d.). In 2006, he became CEO and chairman of the board of BMW Company. Reithofer is married, and he has a daughter. Thus, Norbert Reithofer has had a long way from the employee of the department of maintenance and planning to CEO. Reithofer’s Style of Leadership Reithofer personifies the German ideal of a manager in many ways. In 2008, after the financial crisis began and started to hurt sales, Reithofer persuaded the managers of the company to cut production even though the information of a downturn was questionable (Ewing, 2012). The BMW Company head of strategy stated that the episode had demonstrated that Reithofer was ready to make risky decisions while he preferred to take an analytical, methodical approach (Ewing, 2012). Events in 2008 have proven that Reithofer prefers the autocratic leadership style that allows him to make quick and unpopular decisions. His management covers both big goals and smaller tasks. Another example of Reithofer’s leadership was seen in the case when decided to continue investing in future growth by expanding the production in China and South Carolina and creating more ecological cars (Ewing, 2012). In addition, cutting production would mean cutting jobs, which would be impossible under participative and laissez-faire leadership styles, while transformational and transactional would make much harder for him to implement this decision. Thus, Reithofer demonstrates the autocratic leadership style, and it is apparently the most effective one during the economic crisis. Any other type of leadership would lead to undesirable consequences. Reithofer’s methods of managing and motivating people have definitely led to their success. Firstly, Reithofer’s methods allow making quick decisions and predicting moves in the long run (he saved the company during the crisis in 2008 that allowed saving thousands of potential jobs). Secondly, Reithofer’s methods allow the feeling of stability and confidence in the future, which definitely adds extra motivation for the BMW Company employees. They know that their company is led by a wise person who always knows what to do next. He enhances efficiency and productivity and motivates employees through high visibility and communication. Thus, Reithofer’s methods of managing make employees feel stable and confident working at the BMW Company. Conclusion To conclude, leadership is the position that allows having influence over other people. Generally, there exist five styles of leadership, and they could be changed depending on personal qualities of the leader and the experience of employees. Norbert Reithofer started as a worker and rose to the position of CEO and chairman of the board of management of BMW Company. His style of leadership is the autocratic leadership style. It is the most suitable under the conditions of economic crisis. Reithofer motivates employees by giving them stability and confidence in their future, especially during difficult times.

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