R.G. LeTourneau

I have selected R. G. LeTourneau for this exercise. LeTourneau was a prolific inventor in the earthmoving industry. His machines represented nearly 70 percent of the earthmoving equipment and Engineering vehicles used during World War II, and he was responsible for nearly 300 patents.

Chapter 3 Concept: Risk Propensity

Risk propensity defines the willingness of individuals to take chances. Those whom have a high risk propensity are able to make decisions quickly and typically with less information. LeTourneau spent his life with very little aversion to risk. This was necessary as an inventor and ground-breaker in many areas of manufacturing and innovation, with an eighth grade education. Don't get me wrong, LeTourneau had broader, more practical work experience than many of his contemporaries. He was able to practically apply this experience to innovating some earthmoving designs that were, in many cases, decades ahead of their time. LeTourneau was often heard telling his engineers that his ideas could be accomplished. That it did not matter what they had learned in school, they just needed to do it to prove it (LeTourneau, 1967). Many times his ability to take risk brought him to the front of the market, but nearly as many times, his ideas were too original to be accepted by customers.

Chapter 4 Concept: Need for Achievement

LeTourneau was driven by a strong desire to do everything better than it has been done before. This is characterized as a need for achievement, which is a major motivational point based on McClelland's Theory of Needs. People who are motivated by personal achievement, are always looking for a challenge in which they perceive their chances at success are only 50% (Robbins, pg52).

After he had grown tired of his earthmoving equipment business, he sold the entire company so that he could devote his time to creating a new drive concept for heavy equipment which is still used today. LeTourneau was an all or nothing leader who was driven by the idea that things could be done better. His passion for achievement did not stop at heavy equipment; His second love was the Church and spreading the gospel (LeTourneau, pg288).

Chapter 6 Concept: Intuitive Decision Maker

“Gut decisions” were a trademark of LeTourneau. This intuitive process of sifting information through the grid of past experiences enables people to make accurate choices very quickly. Robbins states that recent studies have proven that intuitive decisions, when pared with rational analysis, can improve decision making (pg93). Based on LeTourneau's vast experiences in labor intensive work, he was able to quickly analyze solutions to manufacturing problems and prove it worked before his staff had a chance to fully understand what he was trying to accomplish. This lead to numerous advances in manufacturing that are credited to LeTourneau, including welding as a means to assemble rather than to repair (LeTourneau, 1967).



Sources Sited:

LeTourneau, R.G.(1967) Mover of Men and Mountains, Autobiography. Prentice-Hall.

http://www.letourneau-inc.com/about/RG_bio.htm

Robbins, S.P. (2005). Essentials of Organizational Behavior - 8th Edition. Pearson - Prentice Hall.