CEO Norbert Reithofer (Research Paper Sample)

CEO Norbert Reithofer Student’s Name University Affiliation CEO Norbert Reithofer Early Life Norbert Reithofer was born on May 29, 1956 in Germany. He is a businessman, and the Chief Executive Officer of BMW. In addition, he is the chairman of the company’s management board. He started working for the company in 1987 in the planning and maintenance department (Dossiers, 2013). He later became the director of the body- in- white production division before rising to the position of technical director. Reithofer graduated from a professional school in Munich, and proceeded to study Mechanical engineering at Munich University. However, he later changed the course to marketing and management. He became a scientific co- worker at the same university after graduation in 1985. In terms of family life, Reithofer resides in Penzberg, Munich. This is not far from his area of birth. He is married and has one daughter. During his leisure time, Reithofer enjoys mountain biking and skiing. Business Career History Reithofer has worked for BMW all his life, making many people refer to him as a dedicated and loyal boss. In 1994, he became the company’s technical director in its South African plant. Furthermore, in 1997, he rose to the position of president in the company’s manufacturing division based in South Carolina (O’ Reilly, 2009). In addition, between the year 2000 and the year 2006, Reithofer worked as the director of production in the company. He has been a board member in the company since the year 2000 (Group, 2013). Reithofer headed the South Carolina factory between 1997 and 2000, at a time when Helmut Panke was the United States chief of the company. Panke rose to become the company’s chief executive officer, and this turned out to be a good opportunity for Reithofer. He had known the previous chief executive officer while in school, and Panke was also his friend. The good relationship he had with the present and past chief executive officer benefited his career (Vijayenthiran, 2013). His career at the BMW Group Company has resulted in the company’s improved success, with greater factory flexibility, and networking. By the end of the year 2002, Reithofer had reduced the production duration of the company by half. For example, the production duration of the 3- series BMW reduced from six months to three months. Moreover, his plans of expanding the company to emerging markets around the globe paid dividends. In January 2010, Reithofer announced that the company had sold almost twenty thousand cars in China. This was a rise of more than 100 percent compared to the sales made on December 2009 (Dossiers, 2013). Presently, Reithofer is the company’s chief executive officer. Business Life A successful leader is one with the ability of changing the way people think. Reithofer is a chief executive officer, and his position requires him to remain in control of the company’s operations for it to succeed. For example, BMW has many employees, and the chief executive officer has to ensure that thousands of employees think in the same manner regarding company goals and vision (CEO, 2013). After assuming the chief executive’s position in the year 2006, Reithofer has made challenging decisions to ensure the success of the company. These decisions led to the company’s success, and global expansion. In addition, Reithofer is a believer of recruiting the right people for a job, as well as creativity. In the year 2008, Reithofer took some drastic measures meant to cut back on expenses. As a result more than eight thousand people lost their jobs. Further, the chief executive officer reduced the boardroom allowances by 40 percent and the salaries of most executives by 30 percent. Under his leadership, the company is still exploring new innovation and technology. This includes developing cars that use electricity instead of fuel. Electric cars can be efficient and cost effective because they do not use fuel. Therefore, when oil prices increase, an electric car owner is not affected. To show commitment in the development of an electric car, the chief executive officer signed an agreement with Akio Toyoda, Toyota’s president. The agreement stated that the companies would jointly develop a sports car cooperating in power train electrification, fuel cell technology, as well as lightweight technologies. According to Reithofer, BMW and Toyota have the same strategic vision of sustaining future individual mobility. Both companies have an opportunity of continuing leading the industry through the new transformation. Further, the agreement between the two companies means that BMW will no longer work with General Motors on issues related to fuel cells (Loveday, n.d). However, Reithofer believes that the company and PSA, the company that manufactures Peugeot can continue to honor existing project based partnerships to manufacture small four cylinder gasoline engines for the company’s mini brand. Reithofer believes that a leader can either be an administrator or an entrepreneur. He sees himself as an entrepreneur, who has contributed to the success of the company. Since taking over as the chief executive officer, BMW has made additional profits, and expanded to other business locations around the globe. Reithofer believes that managers in a company should be role models to employees, and they should work as a team. In addition, Reithofer says that if a chief executive officer recognizes an approach as being effective, he, or she should pursue it in a consistent manner even when others do not support the approach (Loveday, n.d). Honors/ Public Recognition As the chief executive officer of BMW, Reithofer has received some awards, as well as public recognition. In October 2013, the humanitarian awards dinner organized by the United Nations Association of New York honored Reithofer for his role as the BMW chief executive officer. The humanitarian awards dinner recognized BMW as a leading and responsible company with good environmental responsibility, technological excellence, as well as innovation and leadership (Publishing, 2009). Further, the guest speaker at the event noted that the commitment Reithofer had towards environmental sustainability was an inspiration to all people in society. In addition, the guest speaker noted that the company stood out as a leader in corporate governance, promotion of millennium development goals, and social responsibility. These are factors achieved under Reithofer’s leadership. Another award that Reithofer has received during his tenure as BMW chief executive officer is the Golden Steering Wheel Award. He earned the award in the year 2010. The award is offered in recognition of outstanding achievements made in the automotive industry (Fourways, 2013). BMW has succeeded in manufacturing quality cars that provide comfort and safety to users. Global Management Experience Reithofer has experienced some global management exposure. Despite having spent his entire career at BMW, Reithofer rose through the ranks to become a technical director at the company’s South African plant, in the mid 1990s (Group, 2013). During this period, he had to make difficult decisions to ensure that the company succeeded. One such decision is cutting the company’s workforce, to enable the company overcome some economic challenges. Another example of his global management experience is when Reithofer managed the company’s factory in South Carolina from 1997. This experience made him rise to the head of production position in the year 2000. Conclusion Research on Re...