Year 12 IB Extended Essays 2018

P a g e | 8

Both major and minor decisions are processed through Musk, this makes the power centralized in SpaceX. According to Mintzberg’s theory, SpaceX would be categorized as an Entrepreneurial Organization. These organizations are driven by highly creative leaders with forward-thinking mindsets, and Musk, represents every aspect of this. They tend to have a flat structure, but SpaceX has over 6000 employees 12 which makes it highly unlikely that this is the case. It is difficult to determine the amount of decisions which can be assigned to Musk, but there is no doubt that he is a key decision maker at SpaceX.

Elon Musk - Leadership

Since Musk is a key decision maker, his leadership must directly influence the entire organisation. He adapts a situational style of leadership, meaning that his decisions are circumstantial. He is an engineer, thus, projects within SpaceX must go through his approval. Musk also educates himself through the projects and knowledge of his employees 13 .

When asked on tips for hiring, Musk said:

“ Hire great people... this is 90 percent of the solution, as hiring wrong can cost you so

much,” says Musk.” – Elon Musk 14

Musk hires candidates who are smarter than him, in their field of expertise. Musk understands that each employees has different work style and intuition. Thus, Musk provides them with limited autonomy

12 "Company", SpaceX, Last modified 2018, https://www.spacex.com/about. 13 Ashlee Vance, Elon Musk , 1st ed. repr., London: Ebury Publishing, 2016. 14 Catherine Clifford, "Elon Musk’s 3 Best Pieces Of Advice For How To Be A Great Leader", CNBC, Last modified 2017, https://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/20/elon-musk-how-to-be-a-great-leader.html. Web 13 April