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Essay about Astro Airlines

Decent Essays

Deregulation of the airlines in 1978 forced the industry to rethink their business strategy in order to be successful during a period of widespread operating losses due to an economic recession, striking air traffic controllers and brutal price wars. The poster child for innovation during this period was Astro Airlines founded in 1980 by its charismatic leader, Arthur Burton. Enthusiasm, excitement and optimism were watch words used to describe the atmosphere at Astro Airlines in the initial years. This case analysis will discuss;
Burton’s leadership behavior;
Burton as a charismatic leader, and;
Dysfunctional aspects of Burton’s charismatic leadership style.
Central to this this case analysis is Astro’s inability to sustain itself …show more content…

Finally, we can see where overconfidence, risky decision making, failure to develop successors created an eventual leadership crisis and led the company to ultimately file for bankruptcy protection.
My read of question one, part one is that Burton’s leadership behavior was most certainly that of a charismatic leader. He was a visionary, could effectively articulate his visions and exuded a confidence and optimism that inspired and motivated his followers. He was willing to take personal risks and make self-sacrifices to attain the vision, at least initially. He used strong expressive forms of communication when articulating the vision. With respect to his followers, he communicated high expectations, expressed optimism and confidence in them and empowered them. Evidence of charismatic leadership is provided by the leader-follower relationship, and a charismatic leader has profound and unusual effects on followers. This was certainly the case initially where the organization provided, “a better way for people to work together, thereby unleashing their creativity and improving productivity.”
Question two of part one asks, “Was Burton a charismatic leader in the company at this time? Explain your answer.” The short answer is yes. However, in order to answer this question more completely we must first understand that, “Attributions of charisma are the result of an

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