Leonard Hadley's Case Of Maytag: Management And Decision Management

When Maytag faced global issues between possibilities of being bought out and confronting heavy losses and lawsuits from consumers for UK Hoover’s cumbersome product promotions, Leonard Hadley stepped up as CEO in utilizing the power that he had to keep Maytag together and resolve the issues that it had to handle. The power that he used throughout his time spent as CEO was manifest in the ways that he formed and exhibited a respectable image of himself, and dealt with foreign Maytag subsidiaries. Hadley leveraged the power that he had over his subordinates first in the way that others viewed him and his actions. Hadley’s influence as a loyal and committed member of Maytag from his career starting with the company as an accountant out of college and selection as CEO give him referent power to workers of the organization. He has earned the respect of many employees by his experience and association with the company, which leads to referent power of a “feeling of oneness” in a sense (Bases
The way that he was able to utilize the right amount of power to remove foreign managers who weren’t operating Maytag’s subsidiaries profitably and to recalibrate resources toward making quality products that would end up increasing Maytag’s bottom line proved to members of the organization that he held knowledge and abilities above others. His expert power achieved in managing and directing the company toward the correct goals and objectives made his commands more trustworthy from the subordinates’ perspectives (Bases of Social Power, pp. 450-451). Employees and lower-level managers are less resistant against Hadley’s instruction when they respect his legitimate authority, value relations with him, and find him to be trustworthy in his