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Barack Obama′s presidential election from an organisational perspective

Barack Obama′s presidential election

from an organisational perspective

an integrative analysis

Organizational Behavior

P a t r i c k B a u e r , C h r i s t i a n B a u m a n n , A v i n a s h C h e n n a m a d h a v , G a u r a v S i n g h , B e n e d i k t W o l f

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Grenoble Graduate School of Business

II

Barack Obama′s presidential election from an organisational perspective

Table of content

TABLE OF FIGURES II

1.

INTRODUCTION 1

2.

SYSTEM ANALYSIS AND THE TIME FOR CHANGE 1

3.

THE OBAMA ELECTION CAMPAIGN 4

3.1. HISTORY & BACKGROUND 4

3.2. ORGANIZATION & CAMPAIGN STRUCTURE 5

4.

HILLARY DIANE RODHAM CLINTON 7

4.1. HISTORY & BACKGROUND 7

4.2. ORGANIZATION & CAMPAIGN STRUCTURE 8

5.

JOHN SIDNEY MCCAIN III 11

5.1. HISTORY & BACKGROUND 11

5.2. ORGANISATION & CAMPAIGN STRUCTURE 11

6.

OBAMA′S CAMPAIGN 14

7.

LEADERSHIP ANALYSES 18

8.

CONCLUSION 22

9.

LIST OF LITERATURE 24

Table of figures

ILLUSTRATION 1: TOTAL AMOUNT OF MONEY RAISED BY QUARTER - BARACK OBAMA 6

ILLUSTRATION 2: TOTAL AMOUNT OF MONEY RAISED BY QUARTER - HILLARY CLINTON 9

ILLUSTRATION 3: TOTAL AMOUNT OF MONEY RAISED BY QUARTER - JOHN MCCAIN 12

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Grenoble Graduate School of Business

1

Barack Obama′s presidential election from an organisational perspective

1.

Introduction

The 4th November 2008 was an important day for the US citizens and the entire world. This

day proved for many that the American dream is still possible. For the first time in history an

Afro-American candidate became President of the United States of America. Barrack Hussein

Obama, a man with an uncommon background, has managed to win the election clearly with

365 electoral votes against his republican counterpart John McCain, who ended his campaign

with 173 votes.1 Who is this man and how did he realize his goal to become president despite

the strong competition and the fact that just 40 years ago, racial segregation still was a major

problem in the US?

Clearly, he was different compared to his rivals in many ways and this finally accounted for

his overwhelming result. The following paper shall identify and analyze these success drivers

from an organizational behavior perspective. To what extent did he make use of theories

discussed in class, like effective leadership and organizational structure? To begin with, the

authors will provide a brief overview in regard to the US American election system, a major

reason, why the nation was ready for reconsiderations and change. An initial descriptive

discussion of Obama′s election campaign as well as those of his competitors shall serve as a

basis for the following integrative analysis, linking both theory and practice in a comparative

manner. What made Barack Obama, his campaign and his operations so unique and

successful? The subsequent work will provide answers this central question.

2.

System analysis and the time for change

Exactly 220 years ago, in 1789, George Washington was elected the first president of the

Untied States of America. When looking at all past election processes the 43 different US

presidents had to go through, it can be summarized that despite some changes the basic

election system is still based upon the original idea to have an Electoral College choosing the

head of state in the name of the people.2 In order to understand how the election system

helped Obama to succeed the reader has to be aware of its general characteristics.

1 President Map- Election Results 2008, http://elections.nytimes.com/2008/results/president/map.html, accessed

17. April 2009.

2 The Electoral College- Origin and History,

http://www.uselectionatlas.org/INFORMATION/INFORMATION/electcollege_history.php, accessed

02. April 2009.

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Grenoble Graduate School of Business

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Barack Obama′s presidential election from an organisational perspective

Every four years a new president as well as vice president will be elected. As stated in article

II, section 1 of the US constitution, this the election process follows and indirect procedure.

So-called Electors, chosen by each state, vote for the presidential candidates ­ not the public

itself.3 Each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia (Washington D.C.) nominate a

number of electors equal to the number of representatives in Congress (House of

Representatives and Senate). In total, the Electoral College consists of 538 electors. In 48

states as well as the District of Columbia these electors vote for the presidential candidate,

who received the most votes in their respective state. For instance, if the majority votes for the

democratic candidate in a state, this potential president will get all votes from the states

electors. Only two minor states, Maine and Nebraska (each select only 3 electors) do not

follow this plurality system ("the winter takes all"), instead they use the Congressional

District Model.4

After outlining the major characteristic of one of the world′s oldest and most complex

election systems for clarity reasons, it is important to sketch the major steps for the road to the

White House.5 Firstly, a politician with the goal to run for the head of state position usually

tests if he or she has the potential also in terms of "rear cover". At the same time they try to

raise money, for example through donations, and if they are confident they officially declare

their candidacy. The next stage is the

primary season

, which takes place from January until

June in the year before the election. During this pre-nomination phase delegates are selected

by the public, who support the different aspirants. This period is marked by inter-party

competition, as all candidates want to take the lead for the party′s final nomination.

At the

national party conventions

in the summer, the selected delegates vote for a final

presidential candidate and decide on the party policy positions as well as goals. The fourth

stage refers to the

general election campaign

where each party′s final nominees "fight" for

votes from the Electorate College. Massive advertisement and public relation expenditures

come into play. Special attention is given to the so called "swing states" where the outcome is

likely to be unsure. The last step is regarded to be the

official election

itself, when one of the

two aspirants will be picked to be the future chief of state in the beginning of November.

3 LII Legal Information Institute:

United States Constitution,

Cornell University Law School, April 2009,

http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/constitution.articleii.html#section1, accessed 02. April 2009.

4 The winner of a district gets the electoral vote for the respective district, whereas the winner of the overall

popular vote picks up the Senate votes.

5 Kevin J. Coleman et al.,

Presidential Elections in the United States: A Primer

, (Congressional Research Service:

The Library of Congress, 2000), found on http://fpc.state.gov/documents/organization/22616.pdf, accessed 02.

April 2009.

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Grenoble Graduate School of Business

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Barack Obama′s presidential election from an organisational perspective

When in 2008 Barack Obama ran for the highest public office in the US, compared to his

predecessors he took a different route in many aspects. For instance, he managed to collect

nearly $745 million donations or almost 70% of all donations for the entire democratic

candidates.6 By comparison McCain, the republican president claimant achieved to gather

circa $346 million or almost 58% of the whole republican candidate bounties. These first

observations served as a strong pubic signal. Why was that?

During the eight preceding years before Obama′s nomination for presidency, the US was led

by a republican government, which made many significant mistakes in several political fields.

Just to provide some examples, the majority of US citizens were showed little support, since

the former government did not care about fiscal responsibility. Throughout the dot.com crisis

around the years 2000/2001 money was spent in a more or less uncontrolled manner (e.g.

huge tax cuts but mainly for the rich), which led to permanent deficits and has put the federal

government of today in an even weaker position to fight the current world crisis.7 Another

major mistake, also from an economical perspective was the Iraq invasion. The public

increasingly lost their trust in the head of state and his administration, after the disclosure of

the facts that no weapons of mass destruction were ever found as well as that the war put a

huge strain on the budget (estimations range between $1 and $3 trillion) whereas the goal of

economical and political stabilization was never achieved.8 In other words the input-outcome

ratio was severely out of balance.

Furthermore, in a world, in which environmental issues played a growing role and countries

are looking for ways of decreasing the dependency of the limited natural resources, like oil or

gas, the previous US administration did not accord sufficient attention to environmental

aspects (USA did not join the Kyoto protocol yet). Instead the White House officials were

unwilling to reduce the dependency on fossil fuels for instance through focusing on the

research and development in sustainable energy sources. Since 2000 the public basically

experienced a government that was in many ways characterized by its inability to lead the

country in a responsible manner.

6 Federal Election Commission:

Presidential Campaign Finance

, (December 2008), found on

http://www.fec.gov/DisclosureSearch/mapApp.do?cand_id=P80003338, accessed 02. April 2009.

7 Jim Young:

A look at Bush′s Economic Missteps

, Time, found on

http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1872229_1872230_1872232,00.html, accessed

02. April 2009.

8 Spencer Platt:

A look at Bush′s Economic Missteps

, Time, found on

http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1872229_1872230_1872233,00.html, accessed

03. April 2009.

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Grenoble Graduate School of Business

4

Barack Obama′s presidential election from an organisational perspective

Due to these and many other dissatisfying, or even missing decisions, a broad American

public was expecting massive change in direction. Increasing economic and public pressure,

often based on these sentiments of disapproval, paved the way for the young and dynamic

candidate Barack Obama and his objective to move into the oval office.

3.

The Obama election campaign

"I am asking you to believe. Not just in my ability to bring about real
change in Washington I am asking you to believe in yours!"

3.1. History & Background

Barack Obama, the bi-racial son of a Kenyan father and a white American mother, raised to

national prominence with his speech at the Democratic National Convention in 2004. Behind

this point in time there lies a very emotional and inspirational story.

Obama′s story might be considered as inspirational. In search of right direction for his desire

to work for the society from grass roots level, he left his work as the financial writer for an

international consulting firm in New York and started looking for another job, which served

his desire. In his speech at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut, he focused on

his efforts in the movement to oppose the apartheid regime in South Africa. He wrote letters

to every social organization he could think of to offer him a job, while his friends were

applying to the jobs on Wall Street. Finally, a small group of churches in south side of

Chicago offered him a job to work as a community organizer. A missing network and lacking

experience rendered his efforts considerably difficult. He was always inspired by the stories

of Civil Rights Movement and John F. Kennedy′s call to service, but when he went to South

Side there were no marches, no speeches on Civil rights. There were lots of people suffering

in the shadows of Steel Plants. For the organization and his endeavors, there was not enough

response in the beginning.

But, later on, there was success. He gave a voice and feeling to the residents that there is a

need for a redevelopment, job training and environmental cleaning-up efforts. But during the

work in the community group, he realized that it wasn′t just helping other people, but he was

embraced by the community, he gave a meaning to his citizenship. He saw this opportunity

that matched his feelings and thoughts to the entire service of America.

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