ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR FALL 09 Perot Systems Leadership
Style
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Group Members Muhammad Abdullah Syed Wasiq Abbas Samina Kidwai
Saima Nazir
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Agenda Introduction to the topic Leadership theories
Situational theories Behavioral theories Contingency theories Case
Study Analysis of the critical questions
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Presentation Topic Leadership styles in Perot Systems
Leadership The ability of an individual to influence a group
towards the achievement of vision or set of goals.
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Leadership Theories Situational Theories Leaders should choose
the best course of action based upon situational variable.
Behavioral Theories Behavioral theories of leadership are based
upon the belief that great leaders are made, not born. Contingency
Theories According to this theory, no leadership style is best in
all situations. Success depends upon a number of variables,
including the leadership style, qualities of the followers, and
aspects of the situation.
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Major Theories Ohio State University Study 2 dimensions of
leadership Initiating Structure Managers define and tightly
structure staffs work. Consideration Managers nurture a feeling of
mutual trust and strong interpersonal relations.
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Major Theories University of Michigan Studies 2 dimensions of
leadership Employee Oriented Leaders Take a personal interest in
the their staff and actively seeking to nurture strong comradeship.
Production Oriented Leaders Lets just get the job done and done
well attitude.
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Major Theories Fiedlers Contingency Theory A successful group
depends on Right match between a leaders style of interaction &
The degree of control and influence available to the leader in the
situation
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Perot Systems
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The Case Title Perot Systems - Can a high performance company
have a human side? Theme Comparison of different leadership styles
applied at Perot Systems throughout its lifetime.
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The Case Company History Perot Systems An important IT services
company in the US Founded in 1988 by Ross Perot Termed as one of
the 400 best big companies by Forbes Magazine As of 2004, termed as
one of the fortune 1000 company by the Fortune Magazine
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The Case 3 CEOs Different leadership styles 3 CEOs with
entirely different leadership styles Ross Perot Sr. Mort Meyerson
Ross Perot Jr.
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Ross Perot Sr. Ex military man with an authoritative style
Loves to have ex military men as part of his team Started
Electronic Data Systems (EDS) with $1000 in 1962 EDS was bought by
GM for $2.5 billion in 1984 Perot became part of GM but could not
stay there Started Perot Systems 2 years later EDS could not fit
with GM and was sold out in 1996 Founded a new political party
Reform Party Stepped down as Perot Systems CEO due to his new
responsibilities
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Mort Meyerson Rosss successor as CEO His associate who helped
build EDS Did not agree with Rosss military style management
Mentions incidents at EDS Projects were considered Death Marches
People were expected to do whatever it takes to complete the task
Loyalty was questioned in small incidents Agrees that EDS was
financially very strong but people were not happy Wanted not to
apply the same style at Perot Systems
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Mort Meyerson Applying the change Meyerson wanted Perot systems
to have a human heart He wanted people to come first Started
cleaning up the culture People who did not agree were asked to
leave Gave around 60% of company shares to employees against
various compensation plans Under Mort, the company won several
important projects at big companies like Lockheed Martin Although
people were happy, Perot Systems was not earning consistent
profits
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Ross Returns Mr. Perot feels things are not right so he comes
back The military came back to Perot systems as Ross started
restructuring the whole thing again. An IPO evaluation did not go
as expected and Ross understood that his old style will not help
anyone Ross turns control to his son Ross Perot Jr.
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Ross Perot Jr. Also comes from a military background Served the
air force for 8 years Adventure oriented First person to fly around
the world in a helicopter Changed the company values Focus on
company culture, people, honesty and ethics Helped the company earn
over $1.5 billion in 2003 In 2004, Perot systems was among the top
50 federal contractors In 2004, the company had over 14000
associates worldwide.
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Review Questions Q1: Comparison between Meyerson and Perot Sr.s
leadership styles based on Michigan and Ohio theories Q2: Use
Fiedlers contingency theory to explain how Meyerons or Perots style
might be most appropriate on specific characteristics at Perot
Systems. Q3: Evaluate Perot Jr.s style from the view point of
transformational leadership.
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Meyerson Vs Perot Sr. Michigan Theory MeyersonPerot Sr. Clearly
an employee oriented style. Focused on people rather than profits
Clearly a production oriented leader Wanted to achieve profits at
the cost of everything else
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Meyerson Vs Perot Sr. Ohio Theory MeyersonPerot Sr. Followed a
considerate style of leadership Wanted to have employee trust. E.g.
sharing company stakes with the employees Followed the initiating
structure of leadership Fond of having ex military men in the team
who are good at defining and following orders without appreciating
much questions
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Fiedlers theory on Meyerson and Perot Situation: Assignments
termed as Death Marches Perots style was probably incorrect here.
He continued his military mindset and thought that people had no
choice but to abide Meyersons style would have helped here by
focusing on people issues. If people are motivated, they will give
in everything to make the project successful.
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Fiedlers theory on Meyerson and Perot Situation: Company
loosing profitability Perots task oriented style could have helped
in this situation the requirement is such a situation is to rectify
the loss and increase profitability. Meyersons considerate style is
not ideal in such cases. The leader must stay focused on the
objective and expect people to understand the situation.
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Perot Jr.s style as transformational leadership Perot Jr. has
the characteristics of a transformational leader. He learnt from
the experience of his predecessors and applied a mix of both people
and task oriented styles The people remained happy & motivated
and the company started gaining profits. He changed the core values
of the organization and the corporate culture. A leader who came,
saw and conquered!
