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A critical analysis of Elon Musk’s leadership in Tesla motors

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Abstract

This present study applies qualitative research method to evaluate the entrepreneurial roles and leadership styles of Elon Musk in Tesla motors. The study places its focus on the general review of Elon Musk’s leadership and attempts to match the leadership traits with some traditional leadership approaches widely recognized in leadership theory. The study employs a structured observation technique assimilating numerous secondary sources with a view to analyzing Musk’s leadership traits in Tesla motor. The results unfold Musk’s leadership attributes and shows that they match more or less with all the traditional leadership approaches but the servant leadership approach. Additionally, the outcomes also demonstrate a new character (entrepreneurial leader) in Musk’s leadership. Finally, the study offers some recommends for Elon Musk to follow, such as the champion/corporate intrapreneur and the servant leadership approaches so that they add practical values in his leading trait. This study will be a guideline for the new entrepreneur and will provide some distinctive ways of improvement in existing entrepreneurship as well as for management literature.

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Abbreviations

SEC:

United States Securities and Exchange Commission

USD ($):

United States dollar

IPO:

initial public offering

CEO:

Chief Executive Officer

TL:

transformational leadership

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Acknowledgements

I first acknowledge Allah’s kindness, who has given me strength and wisdom for learning. Then, I acknowledge my parents’ and wife’s full support of my work and finally the anonymous reviewers who have helped me to outline the paper to a publishable shape.

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  1. Department of Business Administration, City University, Khagan, Birulia, Savar, Dhaka, 1216, Bangladesh

    Md. Rahat Khan

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The author prepared the full article based on the secondary data.

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Correspondence to Md. Rahat Khan.

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Khan, M.R. A critical analysis of Elon Musk’s leadership in Tesla motors. J Glob Entrepr Res 11, 213–222 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40497-021-00284-z

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