The rivalry between Ellison and Gates is legendary, but not quite as much is known about Ellison’s leadership style. He has been described as a “jerk,” and his managerial style has been described as “take no prisoners.” While he is unquestionably a very strong leader, he has also been criticized for spending a lot of time playing golf while leaving many leadership duties to his subordinates.
For this assignment, read up on leadership traits, leadership behaviors, and leadership styles in the required background materials. Then read up on Larry Ellison and find as much as you can about his personality and leadership style. Finally, try to apply what you’ve read in the required background materials about leadership traits, behaviors, and styles to what you found out about Larry Ellison.
Once you are finished with your research on Ellison and have thoroughly reviewed the background materials on leadership traits, behaviors, and styles, write a 4- to 5-page paper addressing the questions below. For each answer, make sure to cite at least one of the Case Assignment articles listed on this page as well as one of the required textbook chapters from the background materials—for example, Hiriyappa (2009), or Bauer and Erdogan (2012).
1. How would you describe Ellison’s personality and leadership traits? Refer to the specific leadership traits discussed in Hiriyappa (2009) or Bauer and Erdogan (2012).
2. Would you describe Ellison’s behavior as being task-oriented, or people/relationship-oriented? Refer to Hiriyappa (2009) and Bauer and Erdogan (2012).
3. How would you describe Ellison’s leadership style? Consider the leadership styles discussed in the “Types of Leaders/Leadership Styles” section of Chapter 10 of Hiriyappa (2010).
