Apple Inc.
Company Background (Gilbert Garza)
Apple, Inc. was founded on April 1, 1976, by Steve Jobs and Steve WozniakThey started building their first computer, the Apple I, out of Jobs’ parents’ garageIn 1977, The Apple II revolutionized the computer industryApple’s sales soared from $7.8 million in 1978 to $117 million in 1980Apple, Inc. has grown from a garage start-up company to become one of the world’s most valuable companies and iconic brands (Cornett & Terrell, 2008)The company designs, manufactures, and markets mobile communication, media devices, personal computers and moreThe Company has a vast number of clients that include individual consumers, small businesses, mid-sized businesses, corporations as well as education, enterprise and government customers (apple.com, 2018)
Decision Making (Katalaina Love)
Steve Jobs has created Apple’s success through his and his co-workers needs“When we first started Apple we really built the first computer because we wanted one” (Yu, 2011)Jobs made programmed decisions with little to no researchJobs was an expert in product design and became an expert in leading over time Jobs used internal attributions when making decisions and felt the consumer needed to decide for themselves what they wanted (Davenport, 2011)Employees make decisions through tacit knowledge and employees at Apple are experts in their field with explicit knowledge as wellEmployees must bring all decisions to Jobs and he is the ultimate decision maker (Lashinsky and Burke, 2011)
Leadership (Christina Baker)
Hierarchical structure with Tim Cook as CEOUnder Cook -10 Senior Vice Presidents, a COO, and 4 Vice Presidents Board of Directors-Tim Cook and 6 external leadersTim Cook”quiet leader”Approachable Gives more power to leaders below him than Jobs’ did
Organizational Structure (Gilbert Garza)
How Apple organizes its work, reporting relationships, and information flow has had a lot to do with their successApple is organized using a functional organizational structure Employees are organized around their expertiseSteve Jobs returned to Apple and reorganized the companyHaving a functional structure allows Apple to move more quicklyNot organizing around a product makes it easier to get rid of products when they’ve outlived their usefulnessTim Cook believes, “Apple is this unique company, unique culture that you can’t replicate.” (Colquitt, Lepine, & Wesson, 2019)
Communication (Joshua Caouette)
Apple’s Communication Structure has had some issues – Communication Problems with Suppliers New Communication Structure Since 2010 – New System: weekly reporting, partnerships with management for daily communication, complaint systems, daily employee interviews, and a quick responding(within 24-hour) Apple support team – New Structure includes increased information richness – Less noise in communication
Motivation (Alex Perez)
• Motivate their employees to not only do their job effective and efficiently. To achieve this, Apple uses both Intrinsic and Extrinsic rewards .• Extrinsic motivation uses external rewards such as money, gifts and recognition to motivate the employees. • Intrinsic motivations uses internal rewards to motivate the employees.• Apple makes sure their employees are given jobs that are not easy, instead they give them challenging ones.• When Apple hires excellent people, If they fail, they can learn from their mistakes and plan better decisions. • For extrinsic motivations, Employees are given free iPod shuffle or iPhone and are given product discounts. • “My job is not to be easy on people. My job is to take these great people we have and to push them and make them even better.” – Steve Jobs.
Culture (Caleb Rosa)
Observable artifacts within the company include Apple’s logo, slogan “think different,” and clapping.A few espoused values within Apple are that they expect employees to have top-notch excellence, creativity, innovation, secrecy, and moderate combativeness.A basic underlying assumption is the fit lifestyle a majority of employees maintain.Networked culture: people think differently because different cultures are formed within teams, but are friendly toward one another because Tim Cook has created a more sociable culture than when Steve Jobs was there.Maintains a creative culture by offering reward ceremonies to honor innovative employees.
References
Apple Inc. (2020). 2018 10-K form. (2018, September 29). Retrieved March 19, 2020, from https://s2.q4cdn.com/470004039/files/doc_financials/2018/q4/10-K-2018-(As-Filed).pdfApple Leadership. (2020). In Apple. Retrieved from https://www.apple.com/leadership/Colquitt, J. A., Lepine, J. A., & Wesson, M. J. (2019). Organizational Behavior: Improving Performance and Commitment in the Workplace (6th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill EducationCornett, A., & Terrell, E. (2008, April). Apple Computer, Inc. Retrieved March 19, 2020, from h ttps://www.loc.gov/rr/business/businesshistory/April/apple.htmlDavenport, T. (2011, October). Was Steve Jobs a Good Decision Maker? Retrieved March 20, 2020 from http://libproxy.calbaptist.edu/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=buh&AN=118706225&site=ehost-live&scope=siteEdwards, J. (2016, December). Apple employees break their vow of secrecy to describe the best – and worst – things about working for Apple. Retrieved from https://www.businessinsider.com/apple-employees-best-worst-working-for-apple-2016-12Lashinsky, A., Burke, D. (2011, May). Inside Apple Retrieved March 24, 2020 from http://libproxy.calbaptist.edu/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=buh&AN=60658945&site=ehost-live&scope=site
References contd.
Moren, D. (2018, March). Apple Knows Best (or so it would have you believe) Retrieved March 20, 2020 from http://libproxy.calbaptist.edu/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=buh&AN=128020829&site=ehost-live&scope=siteMeyer, P. (2019, February). Apple Inc.’s Organizational Culture & Its Characteristics. Retrieved from http://panmore.com/apple-inc-organizational-culture-features-implicationsYu, H. (2011). Decoding Leadership: How Steve Jobs Transformed Apple to Spearhead a Technological Informal Economy. Journal of Business and Management 19(1).
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