THE EFFECT OF NARCISSISTIC CEOs ON ORGANIZATIONS: The Case of Elon Musk and Tesla

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THE EFFECT OF NARCISSISTIC CEOs ON

ORGANIZATIONS:

The Case of Elon Musk and Tesla

by

Florence Leerling

University of Groningen

Faculty of Economics and Business

Research Paper for Pre-MSc IB&M (EBS014A10)

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Abstract

Previous research in the field of leadership has mostly focused on the good side of leadership, and less on the bad, or narcissistic side. Therefore, the purpose of this study was designed to investigate narcissism in the workplace. This thesis examined Elon Musk as case CEO and Tesla as case organization to discover whether the leader is a narcissist and if the

organization is narcissistic because of this. A quantitative research plan in form of a group administrated survey was set up; however, it was not executed in this study. The preliminary conclusions of this study indicate that Elon Musk is a clinical and grandiose narcissistic leader, however, Tesla is found not to be a narcissistic organization. It is recommended for future research to execute the research plan and obtain conclusive findings. The main

limitations of this study are those linked to quantitative research and the uncertainty whether Tesla would participate in this study.

Key words: Narcissism – CEOs – Organizations – Elon Musk - Tesla Research theme: Narcissistic CEOs and Organizations

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1. Introduction and Central Research Question

1.1 Initial Motive

Research has shown that in the long term a person’s narcissistic behaviour is

damaging to others in their close environment (Williams, 2016). This behaviour entails being self-centric, having self-admiration and having no empathy for others (DuBrin, 2012). One’s need to achieve a certain status undermines others and leads to the incapability to develop and preserve healthy relationships. This accounts not only for one’s personal life but for one’s career as well (Chamorro-Premuzic, 2014).

Grijalva (2015) mentions that narcissism is linked to leadership development, having ambitious visions for the organization’s future, and the skill to charm others to support them. This is achieved by their high confidence level, which is fed by their need to be put in the spotlight and to gain power. No one will stand in their way of becoming successful within business life. Thus, it is very likely that a narcissistic person in a supervisory, managerial, or senior role will reveal this kind of behaviour when leading a team, department, or

organization (Maccoby, 2004).

Being aware of this kind of persona and leadership style is important for organizations, since business can be affected by how the manager behaves towards its employees and customers. Vice versa, organizational narcissism might affect its employees’ way of working (MacDonald, 2013). Especially in times of economic growth, it is crucial to work as efficient as possible and to differentiate from the competition by grabbing as many innovation

opportunities as possible. Narcissism in the workplace might delay this (Maccoby, 2004).

1.2 Problem Description and Analysis

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Moreover, interest in this topic has increased among academics and professionals. Thus, it is beneficial to gain more knowledge on this phenomenon and to understand how it works (Higgs, 2009).

1.3 Central Research Question (CRQ)

Based on the subject’s background and problem analysis, one can say that it is

relevant to analyse the concept of narcissism in the workplace. Examining a certain CEO and the organization it works for will contribute to this, specifically by determining whether both are narcissistic or not. Furthermore, it will be investigated what effects a potential narcissistic CEO has on the organization, thus explaining the relationship between these two players.

The aim of this research is to analyse a CEO’s and organization’s behaviour, and certain aspects of the subclinical narcissistic personality will be pointed out. Doing this analysis is relevant for business because it will give more insight into this matter.

It has been decided to investigate Elon Musk as case CEO and Tesla as case organization. Tesla was founded in 2003 and is an electric car company operating in the United States of America. Since 2012, Tesla has sold over 891,000 cars. Elon Musk has been involved in the organization since Tesla’s existence, first as investor and Chairman of the Board of Directors and later as the CEO, up until this day (Tesla, n.d.). This makes him the longest-serving CEO in the international automotive industry (Royse, 2019). More

information on these two parties can be found in Appendix I.

This CEO and organization have been chosen because both receive worldwide media attention regularly. Furthermore, allegations have been made that Elon Musk is a narcissistic leader (Coren, 2019) (Schwartz, 2015). It is therefore found interesting to check these accusations and analyse the matter.

Therefore, answering the following question will be leading in this research paper:

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Because organizations tend to reflect their leaders’ personalities, it is likely that narcissistic leadership is positively related to the narcissism level within an organization (de Vries, 2004). This relationship is shown below in figure 1.

This conceptual model shows that research will be conducted on the CEO to

determine his level of narcissism. The level of narcissism of the organization is examined as well. An evaluation of these two concepts will lead to discovering how narcissistic Elon Musk and Tesla are. It is anticipated that if Elon Musk is found a narcissist, Tesla is possibly narcissistic as well due to the positive influence illustrated in figure 1.

1.4 Research Questions

The central research question is divided into several research questions to create focus points and to coordinate a specific order in this research paper. Answering these questions will help to answer the central research question. The research questions are categorised into theory and case questions. The theory questions provide the theoretical base using academic literature and the case questions explain the chosen case using articles.

Theory questions:

1. What is narcissism?

2. What are the characteristics or symptoms, and types of narcissism? 3. What is a narcissistic leader?

4. What is a narcissistic organization?

5. How does a narcissistic leader influence the organization? 6. What are the short-term and long-term effects of this influence?

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Case questions:

1. Is Tesla’s CEO, Elon Musk, a narcissistic leader? 2. Is Tesla a narcissistic organization?

1.5 Method

With help of academic articles and other sources, information on this subject and case will be collected and knowledge will be expanded.

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2. Literature Review

2.1 Literature

2.1.1 Narcissism

The term narcissism has been described by many authors, however, the definition by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM IV-R) of the American Psychiatric Association is seen as the most important and standard one. It describes

narcissism as the grandiosity in one’s mind or behaviour, the need of excessive admiration, and the unwillingness to recognise the feelings of others. This pattern starts at the beginning of adulthood (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). According to Higgs (2009), this type of behaviour can be both positive (self-confident and charismatic) and negative (irritating others). In its extreme, the clinical version, narcissism becomes a personality disorder (NPD). However, the subclinical version of narcissism is more common and related to self-esteem characteristics.

2.1.2 Characteristics of narcissism

The DSM IV-R lists the following nine symptoms of a narcissistic individual: (1) grandiosity, (2) eagerness to obtain unlimited power, (3) the sense of entitlement, (4) the need for extreme admiration, (5) the expectance of others fulfilling all its wishes, (6) misusing power to achieve personal goals, (7) lack of empathy for others, (8) enviousness by and for others and (9) arrogance (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). If a person shows at least five of the above traits, one is diagnosed with clinical narcissism. Sub-clinical narcissism is present when less than five of the above-mentioned characteristics are applicable to someone.

Besides the two levels of narcissism, these characteristics result in several subtypes as well. The most frequent kinds are grandiose narcissism and vulnerable narcissism. The former is seen as the classic style of a narcissistic, whereas the latter is viewed as a narcissist who seeks psychiatric help. A grandiose narcissist is self-confident, attention seeking,

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Both types reflect individuals that are very self-absorbed. It is possible that a person shows a mix of these two subtypes. However, grandiose narcissism is of more importance to

organizations (Campbell et al., 2011).

Godkin and Allcorn (2009) label the types of narcissism differently. They distinguish between normal and extraordinary narcissism. Normal narcissism is seen as the healthy kind since the person acts as “normal” as possible by controlling its narcissistic behaviour and can become successful in life. Extraordinary narcissism is the pathological kind and can be categorised into arrogant, shy, and psychopathic narcissism. Arrogant narcissism is line with grandiose narcissism and shy narcissism is similar to vulnerable narcissism, which are mentioned above. Psychopathic narcissism is the extreme version of arrogant narcissism.

2.1.3 A narcissistic leader

When zooming in on narcissism on the work floor, one can describe a leader with

narcissistic characteristics as someone who desires to have ultimate control over its team, the company’s goals, and overall performance. This person misuses power, treats others

condescendingly and is self-centric in terms of satisfying own needs and achieving personal goals (Higgs, 2009). Their leadership style is driven by personal needs and arrogance (Rosenthal & Pittinsky, 2006).

Leadership styles can be divided into two groups according to Mintzberg (2002), namely heroic leadership and engaging management. Heroic leadership finds leaders to be important people, differentiating them from the people with operational functions within the

organization. The leader makes all the decisions and other people carry out the tasks. Furthermore, the CEO does not only represent the company, he or she is the organization. This results in a sense of disconnection. On the other hand, engaging management sees managers as part of the organization, by working together with the other employees. The corporate culture initiates employees to come up with ideas and solutions themselves. The manager is the one who helps others and ensures that the organization’s objectives are achieved. To become a leader, others need to trust you and therefore, this position is earned. This results in a sense of connection. Heroic leadership, the selfishness version of

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Maccoby (2004) mentions that narcissism among leaders can be categorised into productive and unproductive. Productive narcissists managers are risk takers, sometimes without thinking of the consequences, and they know how to gain followers.

Unproductive narcissistic managers have a lack of self-reflection, which could eventually lead to paranoia. Productive narcissism is seen as the successful kind if everything goes according to plan. Another view on narcissistic leaders is given by Stein (2013). He classifies the two sides of narcissism as constructive and reactive. Constructive leaders can use their narcissistic traits to build something successful, whereas reactive leaders are unable to control their extreme emotions and made wrong decisions.

2.1.4 A narcissistic organization

Godkin and Allcorn (2009) mention the following narcissistic organization

characteristics: (1) huge company pride and strong believes about what it is capable of accomplishing among leaders and employees, (2) a sense of entitlement support from other companies, customers and the public, (3) enviousness by and for others when the pride is threatened, resulting in the leader doing anything to protect the company’s reputation, (4) a pattern of firings or relocations of employees that show resistance, (5) a pattern of managers intimidating others, (6) interruptions in reality checks and creativity because of fear among employees, (7) the filtration of information by management, (8) never blaming the

organization, (9) large fluctuations in success within a short timeframe, (10) a clear physical separation between employees and management team on the work floor, and (11) rivalry amongst employees.

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Furthermore, this kind of firm does not take its employees’ feelings into consideration and has a narrow focus. Making profit as the only goal is an example of this. Employees who show the correct attitude are rewarded, however, conflicts can occur when people involved have different perspectives or beliefs (DuBrin, 2012). Information and facts may be

concealed to make the firm look even better to the outside world. In the worst case, filtration of the organizational information flow can lead to illegal behaviour such as participating in corruption or fraud (Duchon and Drake, 2008).

2.1.5 The influence of a narcissistic leader

The role of an organizational leader is to influence it. CEO’s can determine how the company operates and the choices it makes have certain outcomes. However, a narcissistic leader may have more informal power and therefore might influence the company differently (Chatterjee & Hambrick, 2007).

How this influence effects an organization entails several stages. First, the narcissistic individual concurs the position of CEO by covering up its weaknesses at work with his or her self-confidence and its ability to charm others. Next, the CEO takes advantage of potential weak company hiring practises. New supporters within the top management team are hired and the ones who disagree with him or her are fired. Then, new organizational processes, conditions, and leadership style (the heroic type) are introduced by the narcissistic leader. This is done on a short-term basis. In the long-term, since employees are afraid to speak up or comment on the leader’s behaviour, they copy this attitude to survive within the company. After a while, this way of operating becomes the new normal. Due to the narcissistic leader’s decisions, the organization is shaped, and narcissism plays an internal role throughout all departments (Lubit, 2002).

2.1.6 The short-term and long-term effects

A narcissistic leader can manipulate others and has the courage to act and take risks when needed, especially in case of chaos because others watch him or her in these situations

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In terms of strategy, a narcissistic leader makes more and quicker decisions that lead to changes within the organization. This is also called strategic dynamism. In the short run, this can lead to better firm performance. An example of such strategic decisions are acquisitions. Buying other firms, especially large firms, attracts attention from others and changes the size of the organization. Because the narcissistic CEO overestimates its own abilities, he or she believes that these deals will improve the company’s performance (Chatterjee & Hambrick, 2007). Other examples include hostile international expansion and extensive product

launches. Due to the narcissistic leader’s domination of these bold decisions, the organization either generates large wins or books great losses. Thus, the influence on performance is extreme and fluctuational (Chatterjee & Hambrick, 2007).

On the other hand, his or her behaviour negatively affects occupational stress,

absenteeism, and employee turnover in the long-term. Research has shown that narcissistic leadership can be experienced as being bullied on a frequent basis, which leads to stress and work dissatisfaction among staff members. This results in employees not feeling appreciated nor safe at work, and therefore leading to higher levels of absenteeism. In the worst case, staff resign since this is seen as the only option to avoid the toxic work environment (DuBrin, 2012).

In the long run, the narcissistic CEO’s decisions may harm the working environment, as explained above, and therefore lead to weaker firm performance since productivity decreases (Stein, 2013).

2.1.7 How to identify, diagnose and measure narcissism

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The Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPI) checklist by Raskin and Hall (1979) can be used to identify the DSM IV-R characteristics in individuals. This analysis concerns the following items: superiority versus arrogance, exploitative versus entitlement, self-absorption versus self-admiration, and leadership versus authority. The Organizational Narcissism Scale (ONS) method by Hamedoglu and Potas (2012) can be used to identify the eleven

characteristics stated by Godkin and Allcorn (2009) in organizations. The following dimensions are of importance in this analysis: leadership and authority, anticipation and recognition, grandiosity, self-admiration and vanity and exhibition

2.2 Case Analysis

The theory mentioned in the literature review will be applied to this study’s case. It will be explained whether Elon Musk and Tesla are narcissistic, based on the characteristics of narcissistic CEOs stated by the DSM IV-R and organizations stated by Godkin and Allcorn (2009).

2.2.1 Elon Musk and narcissism Grandiosity

This characteristic is absent.

Eagerness to obtain unlimited power

The CEO of Tesla can be described as ambitious and smart. Designing plans has been in his blood since a young age. According to the CEO, nothing is impossible and that is why he sets ambitious goals. One of Elon Musk’s newest plan is letting ordinary people travel to Mars by 2023 (Devlin, 2017). When talking about Tesla, he sees their models as the

technology of the future and that they significantly improve humanity (Duhigg, 2019).

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The sense of entitlement

The need for extreme admiration

The social media platform Twitter is frequently used by the CEO to broadcast his opinion and to defend his outings publicly (Coren, 2019). He does not mince his words. As of today, he has almost 35 million followers with whom he shares his opinion with on

worldwide subjects (Elon Musk, n.d.).

The expectance of others fulfilling its wishes

Elon Musk is known for having mood swings when he receives criticism or when things do not go according to his plans. Moreover, he often does not listen to Tesla’s senior executives when they give him advice. More than 36 vice presidents and executives left the company within two years’ time. Also, his personal assistant left Tesla in 2017. It is

anticipated that these leavings are related to the CEO’s unpredictable emotional behaviour (Duhigg, 2019).

Misusing power to achieve personal goals

This characteristic is absent because Coren (2019) mentions that Musk is willing to admit his mistakes (if made) and that he gives his employees credit for Tesla’s achievements. Not only does he ask a lot from himself, he asks the same (or even more) from all his

employees.

Lack of empathy for others

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Enviousness by and for others This characteristic is absent.

Arrogance

Elon Musk is found to having a big ego. An example of this is when his help was refused during the Tham Luang cave rescue in 2018. One of the divers made a comment about Musk on Twitter, who felt insulted afterwards. Elon insulted him back (calling him a paedophile) to ease the pain. Eventually, the diver sued Elon Musk and took him to court (Wong, 2019). Another one of his tweets about Tesla, with false facts, cost him and the company both 20 million dollars in fines. His reaction to this outcome was a simple “worth it all”. This forced him to step down as Chairman of the Board of Tesla (The Guardian, 2018).

2.2.2 Tesla and narcissism Huge company pride

Many employees praise Tesla and feel honoured to be a part of the future (Wong, 2017). Furthermore, Tesla car buyers are the most loyal customers in the automotive industry. Their clients admire the company for its eye for detail, quality, and future orientation.

Driving electric is not only found important for driving comfortably but also for the sake of the environment (Dans, 2019).

The sense of entitlement support This characteristic is absent.

Enviousness by and for others if pride is threatened

As mentioned in section 2.2.1, it is observed that when criticism and other comments are made about Tesla by outsiders, Elon Musk responds via Twitter and tries to defend himself and the organization.

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Pattern of managers intimidating others

Employees mention that supervisors shout the monetary loss to them every time a delay occurs in the manufacturing process (Levin, 2017).

Interruptions in reality checks and creativity because of fear

This characteristic is considered to be absent because Tesla is releasing three new car models this year, and another in 2021. Furthermore, the company continues to improve the autonomous driving system. According to Tesla, these launches have been carefully planned to make sure all products and technologies are finished on time (Brown, 2019).

Filtration of information by management

Since 2014, many cases have appeared of Tesla’s factory employees complaining about work pressure, long hours, work-related injuries, and pay. Tesla confirmed that its workers had a couple of rough working weeks. The firm said that it has taken several measures since the complaints to improve this situation. Not all factory workers believe this statement and are disappointed about the working conditions (Levin, 2017).

Furthermore, Tesla was sued by one of their female engineers. She accused the company of paying her less salary than her male co-workers with the same qualifications. Moreover, she describes an unpleasant working environment controlled by men and

tolerating sexual intimidation. The organization did investigate her allegations by involving a third party, however, they stated that no proof of discrimination, harassment or retaliation was found. This situation lead to a meeting with several female employees and Tesla

executives. These workers were given the chance to share their opinions and experiences on this matter. The female engineer who sued Tesla was eventually fired because of the lawsuit (Levin, 2017).

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The organization is never to be blamed

It has been noticed that when Tesla’s cars are involved in a crash and the company is taken to court, the organization blames the customers and never its technology. The firm’s car models have the option to drive on autopilot (self-driving function), being the first car

company to offer this. Customers reporting malfunctions of this system are not backed up by the company. Tesla has access to each car’s driving data yet does not share this with the car owners. In each case, the firm finds evidence that the crash was indirectly caused due to a different reason (Thielman, 2017).

Large fluctuations in success in a short time frame

This characteristic is absent because the company has only been making profits since 2018. It took time for the firm to unfold, however, the work over the past years have started paying off for Tesla and its shareholders (O’Kane, 2020).

Physical separation between employees and management

This characteristic is absent because, the CEO of Tesla helps its employees in the factories on a regular basis (Wong, 2018).

Rivalry amongst employees

2.2.3 Conclusion

The answers to the research and case questions have led to the preliminary findings that Elon Musk is a narcissistic CEO because he meets five out of the nine DSM IV-R characteristics for narcissism. Due to this, he is diagnosed on a clinical level and as a grandiose or arrogant type of narcissist. However, Tesla is found not to be a narcissistic organization because the company only meets five out of the eleven criteria set by Godkin and Allcorn (2009). The firm does not suffer from an arrogant organization disorder.

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3. Hypotheses

Hypotheses are formulated for Elon Musk and Tesla based on the criteria for narcissism in the previous chapter, in the order of the findings in the case analysis.

3.1 Hypotheses for Elon Musk

Hypothesis 1:

H0: CEO does not exhibit this characteristic.

H1: CEO’s behaviour is characterised by eagerness to obtain unlimited power. Hypothesis 2:

H1: CEO’s behaviour is characterised by the need for extreme admiration. Hypothesis 3:

H1: CEO’s behaviour is characterised by the expectance of others fulfilling all his wishes. Hypothesis 4:

H1: CEO’s behaviour is characterised by a lack of empathy for others. Hypothesis 5:

H1: CEO’s behaviour is characterised by arrogance. Hypothesis 6:

H1: CEO’s behaviour is characterised by grandiosity. Hypothesis 7:

H1: CEO’s behaviour is characterised by the sense of entitlement. Hypothesis 8:

H1: CEO’s behaviour is characterised by misusing power to achieve personal goals. Hypothesis 9:

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3.2 Hypotheses for Tesla

Hypothesis 1:

H0: Organization does not exhibit this characteristic.

H1: The organization’s behaviour is characterised by huge company pride. Hypothesis 2:

H1: The organization’s behaviour is characterised by a pattern of managers intimidating others.

Hypothesis 3:

H1: The organization’s behaviour is characterised by enviousness by and for others when the company pride is threatened.

Hypothesis 4:

H1: The organization’s behaviour is characterised by the filtration of information by management.

Hypothesis 5:

H1: The organization’s behaviour is characterised by always blaming others. Hypothesis 6:

H1: The organization’s behaviour is characterised by a sense of entitlement support. Hypothesis 7:

H1: The organization’s behaviour is characterised by a pattern of firings or relocations of employees that show resistance.

Hypothesis 8:

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Hypothesis 9:

H1: The organization’s behaviour is characterised by large fluctuations in success within a short timeframe.

Hypothesis 10:

H1: The organization’s behaviour is characterised by a clear physical separation between employees and management team on the work floor.

Hypothesis 11:

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4. Research Plan

The research plan in this study is not executed. Therefore, the aim is to write this chapter as detailed as possible so that a market research company can collect the data by following the written instructions.

Recently, this research has come to Tesla’s attention and the company has shown interest. The firm and Elon Musk have given full cooperation and permission to have the topics investigated by a third party. Their motivation to take part in this study is to get an up-to-date insight into the organization. Due to this, the whole process will be financed by Tesla.

4.1 Sample

The population for this research consists of all the employees working at Tesla. In 2019, Tesla employed 48,016 full-time staff members (Tesla, 2019). This represents the staff members working in all the firm’s departments and at all the locations in the United States of America, Asia, and Europe.

Due to this high number, a sampling frame will be created to create a narrower focus and to generalise results from the population of interest (Trochim, n.d.). The sampling frame for this research is a complete and updated list of the staff members that will be provided by Tesla. From this list, the procedure of selecting a final sample will follow. This sample includes workers at the factory in Fremont, California, the United States of America. This accounts to 10,000 employees. This sample is chosen because this factory produces all the vehicles and almost all components for the brand (Tesla, n.d.). Furthermore, these people experience the CEO’s and the company’s behaviour from up close on a regular basis. Eventually, the people in this sample will be selected to fill in the questionnaire and will be considered the participants of this research.

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This approach is chosen because it is found important to discover the opinion of the average factory employee, giving everyone an equal chance of getting chosen.

The only criteria is that the employee has worked at Tesla for at least a year. The person’s background information concerning age, function, and department will be collected to compare the groups (Trochim, 2020).

Due to the large size of the sample, it reflects the overall population well. The sampling frame represents approximately 21 percent of the population of interest and the sample represents 25 percent of the sampling frame. Therefore, the representativeness of the population, or the internal validity, is sufficient since the sample is random and can be generalised (Verhoeven, 2011).

4.2 Measurement and Measures

For this research, existing questionnaires will be used to collect and generate

quantitative data. The results of the questionnaires will reveal how the employees experience the behaviour of Elon Musk and Tesla, thus, to test the hypotheses. This type of instrument is chosen since the research is focused on a large group of people. Furthermore, the population and the sample can be listed, is literate, will cooperate, experiences no language barriers, and has no geographic restrictions since the participants will be asked to fill in the questionnaire at their workplace (Trochim, n.d.). With collaboration of Tesla, it will be possible to operate the research in this way.

The questionnaire will be group administrated. An advantage of this is the

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4.3 Research Design

This research uses a causal design and a quantitative method to test the hypotheses stated in chapter 3. The questionnaires are the study’s primary information to collect data. The sample is asked to fill in the questionnaire at work in a separate room to keep time and costs to a minimum. Everything is done in full anonymousness.

Besides general background questions, the survey consists of questions on narcissism. This is divided into several topics to measure the behaviours in question. These topics reflect the determiners of narcissistic behaviour mentioned in the literature review (chapter 2.1). The main categories considered for this research are Elon Musk’s and Tesla’s behaviour. Elon Musk’s behaviour is divided into statements based on the Narcissistic Personality Inventory (NPI) analysis. Tesla’s behaviour is categorised based on the Organizational Narcissism Scale (ONS). All subjects are formed into different statements and scored on a Likert response bipolar scale. This way of conducting research will enable one to compare the results of each questionnaire. The questions are short, not complicated, and focused on the respondents’ opinion.

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4.4 Data Analysis

After gathering the desired data into one computer database, it will be analysed. Only fully completed questionnaires are taken into consideration and logged. This is done to ensure quality throughout the analysis.

The manual provided with the existing measurement instrument of the NPI and ONS will be used to indicate the scores on Elon Musk and Tesla. Furthermore, the instructions on combining individuals scores will be followed as well. To eventually make assumptions about the general population from the collected information, inferential statistics will be calculated. This will help to connect this to the previously stated research questions and hypotheses. By using the software SPSS, an electronical statistical program, analyses on the data will be conducted. The t-test technique will be applied to test the hypotheses.

To summarize the steps of this research plan, the research activities are listed in chronological order in table 1 below.

TABLE 1 Research activities

Research activity

1 Existing questionnaires are retrieved and altered to Elon Musk and Tesla

2 Tesla provides the list of employees who meet the criteria

3 Computer random number generator chooses 2,500 employees from this list

4 The selected employees are notified about participation in the study

5 Data collection days are scheduled

6 PC’s are set up in the assigned room at the Tesla factory 7 Data collection days are held

8 Completed questionnaires are saved to the hard drive and data is prepared

9 Data is analysed with help of NPI and ONS guidelines

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5. Analysis and Discussion

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6. Conclusions and Recommendations

6.1 Conclusions

The central research question in this study is as follows: “Is Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk a narcissistic leader and is Tesla itself a narcissistic organization because of this?” Since no empirical research is performed in this study, only preliminary conclusions can be drawn from the literature review in chapter 2 and the hypotheses in chapter 3.

Elon Musk has fantasies of unlimited success and brilliance. According to him, nothing is impossible and therefore he is occupied with big projects for Tesla and other companies. Furthermore, he requires extreme admiration from his management, employees, and fans. The CEO shows this via the social media platform Twitter, e-mail, and interviews. He also has unreasonable expectations of favourable treatment from others and automatic compliance with these expectations. Employees who underperform in his eyes are fired and long-serving top management members who disagree with Musk resign from their positions. By showing little to no emotion in these situations or not identifying the consequences of his words, he is unwilling to recognize the feelings and needs of others. All in all, the CEO shows arrogant behaviour on a daily basis. The above-mentioned characteristics confirm the alternative hypotheses 1 to 5. Therefore, Elon Musk meets five out of the nine symptoms of the DSM IV-R. Based on these traits, he is considered a narcissistic on a clinical, or high, level and as a grandiose or arrogant type of narcissist. Furthermore, he is labelled as a

productive and constructive narcissistic leader since he uses his skills and takes risks to make Tesla even more successful.

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Providing this information makes Tesla look better in the eyes of its shareholders and the public, however, it might lead to operating problems in the long-term. Last but not least, the organization tends to scapegoat others in different situations and rarely blames itself. The above-mentioned characteristics confirm the alternative hypotheses 1 to 5. Because of these traits, the company only meets five out of eleven symptoms of the criteria set by Godkin and Allcorn (2009). Therefore, the company is not considered a narcissistic organization. It does not suffer from an arrogant organizational disorder. A negative relationship between the narcissism of the CEO and the narcissism of the company is seen.

6.2 Recommendations

This research was conducted to learn about narcissism and to apply the theory to the case of Elon Musk and Tesla. Based on the conclusion made above, it is desired to write recommendations for further study in the field. Since the research plan in this research is not executed, only preliminary findings are described. Therefore, it is recommended to perform this project. This will lead to collecting more precise information on the topics and making final conclusions. Based on these findings, recommendations could be made to the

company’s management.

6.3 Reflection

The strengths of this research are the amount of information found on the theory and case questions, and the detailed research plan. However, since the sources for the case analyses are mostly written from the CEO’s, organization’s or employees’ opinion, biases may be involved. On the other hand, the author has tried to tell the stories from both sides and has stayed objective throughout the analysis.

The weakness of this study includes the uncertainty whether Tesla would collaborate in this research. If not, then it is difficult to execute a large part of the research plan.

An improvement for next time might be to determine the required focus for each chapter when conducting a follow-up study.

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Reference List

Theory References

American Psychiatric Association. 2013. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental

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Chamorro-Premuzic, T. 2014. Sharing the (self) love: the rise of the selfie and digital narcissism. The Guardian. March 13. Accessed online at

https://www.theguardian.com/media-network/media-network-blog/2014/mar/13/selfie-social-media-love-digital-narcassism. Viewed March 13, 2020.

Chatterjee, A., & Hambrick, D.C. 2007. It’s All about Me: Narcissistic Chief Executive Officers and Their Effects on Company Strategy and Performance. Administrative Science Quarterly, 52: 351-386.

De Vries, M.K. 2004. Organizations on the Couch: A Clinical Perspective on Organizational Dynamics. European Management Journal, 22(2): 183-200.

DuBrin, A.J. 2012. Narcissism in the Workplace: Research, Opinion and Practice. Cheltenham, U.K.: Edward Elgar Publishing Limited.

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Appendices

Appendix I: Information on Elon Musk and Tesla

Elon Musk was born in 1971 in South Africa. After achieving his bachelor’s degrees in economics and physics in the United States of America, he launched his business career as an entrepreneur. Eventually, Elon Musk got involved with Tesla when the company was

founded. He started off as its Chairman of the Board of Directors and main investor. Since 2008, mister Musk is Tesla’s CEO. Besides these functions at Tesla, he is also engaged in different innovative activities at (his) other companies (Tesla, n.d.). In 2016, he was ranked the 21st World’s Most Powerful Person. In 2019, he finished jointly-first as the Most Innovative Leader of 2019 and ranked the 20th richest person in the world (Forbes, n.d.).

THE EFFECT OF NARCISSISTIC CEOs ON ORGANIZATIONS: The Case of Elon Musk and Tesla