How you will critically analyze this case

Critically analyze the way Elon Musk handled the situation in reference to values, attitudes, and work ethical choices. In a separate conclusive paragraph, suggest an alternative way that Musk could have taken to respond during the confrontation.

Do not summarize the case. Make sure you use bold font to highlight keywords (values, attitudes, ethical choices).

Coronavirus Wrecked Teslas Momentum and Elon Musk Is Furious

A few months ago, everything seemed to be going Elon Musks way, as he presided over an upstart electric car company that was worth more than General Motors, Ford Motor and Fiat Chrysler combined. That company, Tesla, had reported profits two quarters in a row, proving that it could earn money even as it grew. Its stock was surging. Mr. Musk opened a factory in China and was planning another in Germany. And his other business, SpaceX, was poised to become the first to ferry NASA astronauts to orbit from American soil since 2011, a trip scheduled for the end of this month.

But the coronavirus set Mr. Musk off. Societys response to the pandemic was dumb and a panic, he said, arguing that the threat is overstated. And government stay-at-home orders were, in his view, unnecessarily stalling his plans to revolutionize the auto industry and help solve climate change. He attacked local officials in the San Francisco Bay Area for not letting him reopen Teslas factory, which he did this week anyway, in defiance of their instructions.

Mr. Musks anger was stoked in March when local officials ordered Tesla to close its factory, in Fremont, Calif., just as the company was poised to accelerate production of a highly anticipated new sport utility vehicle, the Model Y.

Less than a year earlier, the company had been desperate for cash, and Wall Street had grown increasingly skeptical that Tesla could become anything more than a maker of luxury cars that only a sliver of humanity could afford. But Teslas fortunes had started to turn before the pandemic.

In October, the company announced a quarterly profit, a sign that it had solved production problems. Teslas stock began a long, astonishing rally. Shares peaked at $917 in February, up from $350 only three months before. Despite suffering along with the broader market in March and April, the stock closed at $790.96 a share on Wednesday, valuing the company at about $146 billion. By contrast, investors value G.M., which produces many more cars than Tesla, at less than $31 billion.

By March, Tesla was on a tear. Despite being slowed by the outbreak in China, the new Shanghai factory had reopened. In Europe, Teslas Model 3 sedan was outselling cars made by automakers like Volkswagen. The carmaker had just begun deliveries of the Model Y, which starts at about $53,000, in the ballpark of comparable S.U.V.s from BMW and Mercedes-Benz.

But Mr. Musks dreams of dominating the car industry were put on hold when Alameda County forced the Fremont plant, which brings in most of the companys revenue, to shut down in late March.

That frustrated Mr. Musk, who had long dismissed the seriousness of the coronavirus. He has promoted unproven research suggesting that deaths from the virus are overstated and, around the time the factory was closed, predicted that there would be zero new cases in the United States by the end of April. (There were almost 32,000 new cases on April 30.)

Mr. Musk resisted closing the plant, and in a late-April call with analysts called stay-at-home orders fascist. Theyre breaking peoples freedoms in ways that are wrong and are not why people came here or built this country, said Mr. Musk, who is a native of South Africa.

Last week, Mr. Musks anger about the factory boiled over, and he threatened to move the factory out of California and sued the county in federal court. On Monday, Mr. Musk officially reopened the Fremont plant, to the frustration of some workers and county officials who had been negotiating a reopening plan with Tesla for weeks.

I will be on the line with everyone else, he wrote on Twitter on Monday. If anyone is arrested, I ask that it only be me.

Later that day, the county asked Tesla to cease operations until it reached an agreement with local officials. On Tuesday, the county said it had reviewed the plan and held productive discussions with Tesla. The county said that it had made safety recommendations and that if Tesla included them and public health conditions didnt worsen, the company could reopen next week.

County officials did not suggest that they would hold Tesla to account for ignoring the order, but noted that the Fremont police would verify that Tesla was adhering to safety measures as workers prepare for full production.

On Tuesday, trucks were leaving the factory carrying cars and S.U.V.s as masked workers milled about. New cars were also parked in rows outside. The parking lot for employees was full.

Tesla and Mr. Musk did not respond to requests for comment.

Mr. Musks decision to reopen the factory has put employees in a difficult position.

In an email sent on Monday, the company told employees that they may remain home but would not be paid if they had already used up their time off and might also lose unemployment benefits, as determined by local government agencies. On Wednesday, the company said employees who chose not to go in would not be penalized.

Several Tesla employees, who asked to speak anonymously for fear of retribution, said the company was putting a priority on profits over people.

One man who worked at the factory on Tuesday said the company had checked employees temperatures at the start of his shift, distributed masks, and rearranged a break room. But, he said, little had changed on the production line, where it is hard to avoid coming within six feet of others.

As the factory reopened, Mr. Musk thanked employees for making the factory come back to life.

I have vastly more respect for someone who takes pride in doing a good job, he said in an email, whatever the profession, than some rich or famous person who does nothing useful.