Gadfly is a small, privately held company that designs and manufactures bicycles.

Its unusual
designs have proved popular. The business is growing quickly, entering new markets and
employing more people. Its sales are rising by an average of 19 per cent each year and it now
has two factories. A major extension to one of the factories is expected next year.

The business was established by Ali ten years ago and he hopes that it will continue to grow
quickly. Ali is a natural autocrat and likes to take all of the decisions using little delegation. He is
a good communicator and has 30 years’ experience as an entrepreneur and also understands
the bicycle-manufacturing industry. Most of the company’s other managers are relatively
inexperienced and Ali is increasingly busy at work.

As the business grows, it is changing. The company is having to produce a larger range of
bicycles and needs more skilled employees to design new products and to sell the bicycles in
new markets. For example, the company made its first sales in Australia and Argentina earlier
this year, markets about which Ali knows little.

Ali is beginning to wonder whether his leadership style is suitable for this changing company.
The company’s shareholders are keen that their dividends continue to grow.

Define the terms:

● Autocratic leadership [2]
○ An autocratic leader can be considered selfish because they tend to hold as
much power as possible. They usually don´t ask for the employee´s opinion to
make a decision, so when an employee does not think the same as him, he
doesn't care and that could eventually cause a bad relationship between them
and all the employees in general. Autocratic leaders tend to just give orders and
expect employees to comply with them without complaining.

● Democratic leadership [2]

○ A democratic leader is probably the most popular leadership style. Unlike
autocratic leaders, they do take in consideration employee´s opinions when
making decisions. This doesn't mean they decide together, the leader is the one
with the final decision, but employees can have an opinion and it will be taken
into consideration. These types of leaders usually get along very well with their
employees.

Explain two reasons why Ali’s leadership might be important to Gadfly’s stakeholders
over the recent years. [6]
● EXPERIENCE: Ali has a very good understanding of the industry since he has 30 years
of experience. This helps his company, Gadfly, to grow and enter into new markets all
over the world. Ali´s experience and leadership can help the company to make good and
smart choices, and this makes everyone related to the company happy, including
stakeholders, employees, customers, etc.
 ● GROWTH: As mentioned, Gadfly is growing very quickly, and this is mainly because of
Ali´s smart choices, which are a product of his experience. His autocratic leadership
style might help with this, as he is the most experienced in the company and he makes
all the decisions. Stakeholders definitely want the company to keep growing and make
more money, and Ali´s leadership style and experience helps with this.

Discuss whether Ali’s use of an autocratic leadership style is suitable in these changing
circumstances. [10]
● In my opinion, Ali´s autocratic leadership style will not be suitable if the company keeps
growing. This type of leadership style can be very good when the company is not that big
because it allows the leader (owner) to keep control of the company and the decisions
that are made, as well as making decisions very quickly if it's necessary without having
to consult with others. However, if the company starts to grow, having an autocratic
leadership style can be bad for the company because as the employees increase, they
have more opinions on the decisions taken by the owner, and if the owner doesn't listen,
it could cause internal problems in the company. In conclusion, Ali´s autocratic
leadership style was very helpful before the company started getting bigger, and now
needs a change. A leadership style that lets employees have an influence on the
company's decision might be better as the company grows because it could help to
make smarter decisions.