Wednesday, February 16, 2011

CEO of Aston Martin leads by example

 Dr. Ulrich Bez, CEO of Aston Martin, is leading his company into the future the same way he's been leading his life, by being environmentally friendly. Dr. Bez says that he's been going green since he can remember. For example, his house is built from renewable material, and he doesn't let his car idle when it is stopped at traffic lights. As for his business, he has introduced a new model of car called the Cygnet. The Cygnet has a one-litre engine, and the lowest fuel consumption of any Aston Martin. However, he did scoff when he was asked about the idea of an electric Aston Martin. He stated that his current solution is an honest one. He said that if you're going to go green, you have to be honest about it. Electric cars have had a history of not being able to accelerate very quickly, nor have much horsepower, two specifications sports cars must have to sell. People don't buy Aston Martins because of their low gas millage and low emissions, they buy them to be fast and powerful. Dr. Bez is a great example of a leader who leads by example. Not only is he turning his company into an environmental friendly automaker, he lives his life that way. This shows people that he's not just going green for his company's public image, but he actually believes in what he's doing. Dr. Bez shows both position power (power a person derives from a particular rank in a formal organizational system) and personal power (the influence capacity a leader derives from being seen by followers as likable and knowledgeable). His position power comes from the legitimate power he has. He is the CEO of Aston Martin, and therefore has formal job authority. His personal power comes from the referent power he has. People like and admire a leader who leads by example.

Do you think turning a sports car, like an Aston Martin, into an environmentally friendly car is a smart idea?
Do you believe Aston Martin may one day produce an electric car?
Is Dr. Bez's leadership style a good fit for Aston Martin?

Source of article: http://www.thenational.ae/lifestyle/motoring/aston-martin-ceo-be-honest-about-going-green

Posted by: Jerret Baker

2 comments:

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  2. In general, your team seems to be off to a good start in the blog in terms of the quality of posts, but you will need to “sustain” that effort and improve it, as well. With the exception of one of your posts, you do a fairly good job of focusing the lens on leadership and not just sustainability. The Madsar City post is certainly an interesting story, but not much is analyzed in terms of leadership explicitly.

    One of your most urgent problems, it would appear, is that one of your team members did not post until after the midnight deadline on Feb. 16 (it was posted on Feb. 17), so that post will count toward the next Blog Check (#2), but not this one. Additionally, another one of your team members did not post anything at all to the blog. Keep in mind that everyone was supposed to have posted their first post by Feb. 9, as stated in class and in the assignment. Please re-read the grading criteria in the assignment file, and note that this is a fairly significant consequence to the team grade (and the individual grades, as well, for those who do not post). You need to discuss this as a team when you meet in order for this problem to be resolved.

    In terms of overall suggestions for improvement, you would do well to increase the level of specificity and accuracy of your course concept and theory applications, although those of you who did post are further down this road than some. Thus, my general advice to your team would be to keep up the good work, make sure that everyone on the team posts well before the deadline, and increase your overall effort in terms of frequency and specificity.

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