1. Using the Big Five personality factors, describe Ellison’s personality characteristics. How do these affect others?

2. What’s Ellison EQ? Why do individuals work for him?

MINI CASE 

Larry Ellison, founder and CEO of Oracle Computer whose net worth is in the billions, has been the driving force at Oracle since he started the company more than two decades ago. He is now the fourth richest man in America with an annual salary of more than $72 million, a pay package that is 12 times bigger than the average pay of CEOs in the technology industry. Addressing his stockholders at Oracle’s Redwood Shores, California, headquarters in 2008, he delivered a 30-minute profanity-laced speech in which he attacked his partners, competitors, the government, and most individuals in the room. PeopleSoft CEO Craig Conway called him the modern-day “Genghis Khan” because of his atrociously bad corporate behavior. In 2008 when Ellison proposed to buy PeopleSoft, Conway noted that the takeover was nothing more than a sham intended to disrupt PeopleSoft’s sales. PeopleSoft employees openly criticized Ellison. Pleasanton City officials, home of PeopleSoft, questioned the integrity of a man who would insensitively target thousands of jobs just to claim a corporate victory. He is known for his corporate ruthlessness, which is outlined in a book by Mike Wilson titled The Difference Between God and Larry Ellison. Go to Oracle’s blog (www.oracle.com) and read the blogs from irate customers and employees.