Sugarcoat the pill, Alan
HIT TV show The Apprentice, which starts a new series tonight with Teesside sarnie tycoon Rocky Andrews among the Alan Sugar wannabes, doesn’t send the right messages about management style in a recession.
That’s the view of Dean of Teesside Business School Alastair Thomson, who said Sugar’s top-down approach and ritual humiliation of underlings did nothing to encourage brave, creative thinking among staff - the very thing firms needed to dig themselves out of a downturn.
“One guy bottled out of the show because he was afraid of being humiliated by Alan Sugar - and I think that’s a pretty reasonable fear,” said Mr Thomson. “ But, particularly at a time of economic crisis, we are supposed to be encouraging people to be creative and unusual. Not all their ideas are going to work, not all of them are going to be right - but a management model that means you are frightened of talking to the board means you are not going to try to change anything. You’ll sit in safety land.”
He said business leaders like Sugar, who founded Amstrad, and Apple boss Steve Jobs, both of whom were exclusively responsible for the creative drive behind their respective firms, were both a strength and a liability.
Sugar’s non-inclusive style, which deterred contributions from employees, was a “missed opportunity” that firms could not afford.
“The man is fabulously wealthy and has a model that works for him, but you do not give people the opportunity to contribute towards the direction of the business, that’s where problems start to creep in,” said Mr Thomson.
“If only one person makes the decisions then you are running a very risky business ... we all make bum decisions, after all.”
Rocky Andrews, who admitted that working for Sir Alan would mean a drop in salary, launched Fatso’s Filling Stations sandwich chain when he was 17.
The youngest ever Apprentice to join the show, 21-year-old Rocky already runs 15 branches across the North-east.
Share
