Organizational Leadership at Apple Inc.
Introduction
The modern-day organization lacks the luxury of stability in terms of the changing markets, customers, and technology. These components change daily making the world of these organizations quite a fragile one. Therefore, these organizations have to depend on effective and efficient leadership. The implication of this is that these organizations have to move away from the traditional narrative of having a centralized structure. It is now necessary to depend on the inputs of the entire team, which includes line managers and top executives. This brings in the context of organizational leadership to achieve a competitive advantage. So, what is organizational leadership?
Organizational leadership is the management approach where the persons in charge of every department from the lowest to the highest levels will motivate the employees to achieve the strategic goals competently and willingly. Organizational leadership can be felt all through the organization. It promotes the development of corporate culture as opposed to places where employees are forced to adapt to a particular culture. Due to the shared vision, all employees feel like a significant part of the organization, which contributes to immense success. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the organizational leadership at Apple Inc. The reason for selecting this comphttps://sharksavewriters.com/apple-inc-competitive-strategies/any is due to the success and the competitive advantage that the company maintains over the years. It is essential to understand what a technological company can do to achieve competitiveness in the long term, which makes it necessary to understand the situation of Apple Inc.
Fundamentals of leadership, including leadership styles and traits
Each leader will have a unique method of dealing with the company and the management problems. However, there are usually underlying fundamentals that most leaders should never forget. In the case of Apple, two tenures are essential when studying organizational leadership. The tenure where the company was under Steve Jobs and now that the company is under Tim Cook. One of the fundamentals of leadership is effective communication. At Apple, this remains one of the prioritized factors for both leaders. When the company was a start-up, the then CEO, Steve Jobs, ensured that he communicated the vision of the company of creating the best products in the market. There was a need to achieve a competitive edge by bringing in a detailed product to the market with his famous four-quadrant magic marker for analyzing the outcome. This communication with other members of staff brought about the concept of a shared vision. The other members of team were able to buy the dream that Jobs had for the company and work towards the same goal. This is the same communication strategy that Tim Cook carried on in the company.
During the earlier days, there was also the fundamental leadership style of innovation and creativity. It is quite easy for organizations to fall prey to familiar strategies and consequently stagnate. However, for Apple and both of its leaders, they do not accept this. They have a strategy where they better their best. The company has the culture of undertaking only the best projects so that they can differentiate themselves in the market. The leaders over the years have been thinking of methods to improve the products, and they are often the market innovators while others follow.
On the leadership styles, however, both of these leaders differ. Steve Jobs was an autocratic leader. He fancied micromanaging the organization. Every single decision in the company would have to go through his hands. This, at some point, led to the dissatisfaction of some employees as they felt that there was a lack of trust. Trust is an essential element in leadership, and it has to be two way. The employee has to feel that the leader trusts them enough to make some minor decisions for the firm while the employer has to trust employees to achieve maximum potential. Tim Cook, however, came in with a slightly different leadership style. The current CEO adopts the democratic leadership style. This is where a leader will promote participation from other stakeholders in the management team. The current CEO gave more power to the new product development team, which is the think tank of the organization. This removed a majority of the powers of the new product development from the CEO. Employees have also constantly praised the CEO for inspirational leadership. However, there is some stagnation in the levels of sales. Critics cite this disadvantage to his leadership style.
Strategic Thinking, Planning and Emotional intelligence
Effective leaders focus on sustainability and, therefore, the long-term goals of the organization. This means that there are a critical analysis and a rational thought process on the factors that will lead to the sustainability of the organization. These are the rules of strategic thinking. Ever since its launch, Apple Inc. has operated within the confines of strategic thinking, and they have reaped huge benefits from this. One of how the company employs strategic thinking is that the company usually focuses on a small number of products. Still, it ensures that these products become the best in the market. The current CEO, Tim Cook, once joked that the company’s products could fit into one small table. However, these same products win the customer overdue to the great attention to detail, leading to the efficiency and effectiveness of the product. The other way that the company employs strategic thinking is that they make constant improvements into the industry-shaking products that they release. This means that they have a continuous improvement strategy. An example of this is the constant changes with the iPad over the years. Although the first version of the product was a hit by itself, the company continued to improve it by adjusting design and features.
For leaders, having emotional intelligence contributes to the overall success of the company. An emotionally intelligent leader will understand their emotions and the way that they affect the people around them. This means that they can remain calm even in situations of immense pressure. They can then think through situations and make effective decisions. As for Apple, the emotional intelligence of the leadership is evident from the success in their product lines. Most of the clientele at Apple will purchase the products because of how they make them feel. The company focuses on human aspects and the value that their products and services will bring to the consumer before embarking on development and then production. A 2018 survey named Apple Inc. as the most emotionally intelligent brand based on its empathy, trustworthiness, and generosity (Luxury Institute, 2018). These factors emanated from the company’s capabilities in providing quality products and offering superior customer experiences.
Communication and leadership
As earlier mentioned, the company leaders over the years have utilized communication with teams to ensure the success of the organization. When Tim Cook took over the organization’s leadership in 2011, critics warned of the demise of the company. the reason for this was due to his quiet and reserved nature as opposed to the charismatic leader that Steve Jobs was. However, over the years, the new CEO has proved these critics wrong as the company has grown to a 1 trillion dollar enterprise. The effective communication and leadership skills of this leader have been a major contributing factor to the success. Despite the quiet nature, the current CEO communicates to the employees inspiring and motivating great performance. The employees understand that the consumer is their most important asset, and therefore they will work towards the goal of pleasing them. The democratic leadership style that he adopts also helps to implement this.
It is important to note that Apple Inc. has a hierarchical structure. The characteristics of this organizational structure at the company include spoke and wheel hierarchy, product-based divisions, and a weak functional matrix. The company adopts more of a centralized approach to decision making. The CEO makes most of the decisions, although this narrative changed with the entry of Tim Cook as the CEO in 2011. The structure is now less rigid as some departmental managers that can make decisions on behalf of the company. The product-based divisions are important for the company so that they are in a better position to manage the products and the product components that it delivers to its clientele. For instance, the company has vice presidents for both software and hardware engineering. This ensures that every department has somebody who is in charge of effective decision-making and liability in case of faulty products. Lastly, the hierarchical structure of the organization has a weak functional matrix. The matrix is the degree to which the company embraces collaborations among departments. The company promotes these collaborations, albeit on weaker levels. For instance, the software and hardware collaborate to ensure the development of innovative products.
Organizational Culture, Climate, and High Performing Teams
Organizational culture helps to develop a strong brand image and to promote effective behavior among the employees of the company. Overall, it helps to build a strong company with high performing teams and a competitive advantage. The organizational culture at Apple Inc. revolves around creative innovation. This section will discuss the major characteristics of Apple’s organizational culture. The first characteristic is the focus on top-notch excellence. The company is known for hunting down the best talent in the labor market. During Steve Jobs’s tenure, he would often fire employees that did not meet the company’s expectations, which is a culture that the current CEO still maintains. Additionally, the company has various programs for appreciating excellent employees. These programs ensure that the employees remain motivated to keep striving towards a point of excellence. It then translates to the constant innovativeness in the company. This aspect fosters a culture where the employees value excellence. Therefore, they strive to be the best version of themselves.
Another important characteristic of the culture of the company is creativity. The area deals with the formulation of new ideas so that there is an improvement in the business and its products. The company emphasizes this culture, especially to the team members involved in the design and developmental processes. The adoption of this culture has helped the company to maintain customer capacity while still satisfying their expectations and preferences. Most of the time, creativity will go hand in hand with innovation. This is the other characteristic of the organizational culture at Apple Inc. the culture of the organization demands rapid innovation. The employees of the company have the responsibility to participate and bring new ideas aboard the new product development process of the organization. This ensures that the company constantly produces attractive products.
For a company that has an innovation and creativity culture, it is imperative to ensure that the new product development processes do not have loopholes such as the leakage of confidential information. This brings in the other component of the organizational structure of the company, secrecy. It is a part of the human resource development aiming at reducing the theft of intellectual property. The expectation is that the employees keep the company’s information confidential. There are rules and guiding principles that the employees have to follow in the actualization of this important trait that leads to the development of a strong organizational culture.
Managing Change, Problem Management, and Decision-making
In the contemporary world, organizations are changing and restructuring constantly. This means that they have to employ stringent change management policies and processes if they are to achieve success. Apple Inc. has gone through numerous changes over the years. Some of these changes include the restructuring that took place when Steve Jobs re-entered the company in 1996. He turned around the company, did away with a majority of the products, and only left four at Apple Inc. The other major change was the management switch in 2011 when Steve Jobs resigned as the CEO of the company, and Tim Cook took over. This meant that the company would experience a very different management style. So how does/did the leadership of the company cope and manage these changes?
The change management strategy that the company employed began with an acknowledgment and definition of the change to align it with the business strategies. In the case of the first change, Steve Jobs identified the problem that the organization was suffering and its reasons for heading to bankruptcy. There was then the communication of the same to the major stakeholders so that they could get on board with the idea of the necessity for change. That is when there was the implementation of the change. In the second scenario, Tim Cook constantly reassured the major stakeholders that Apple’s business strategy would not change, although the leadership had changed. When the leader keeps on reassuring the stakeholders during a change, it helps to restore calm and illustrate that the change is for the better.
The other change management strategy is the provision of leadership throughout the change. There is a need for somebody to take the driver’s seat to ensure that all the issues concerning the change are performed efficiently and competitively. Steve Jobs introduced the autocratic leadership, where there was the supervision of every task in the company. Although this strategy slowed down the decision-making model of the company, it helped to develop products that met very high industry standards. That is how the company gained its competitive advantage. As for Tim Cook, there was the introduction of a democratic leadership style, which encouraged more collaboration. This leadership style helped to walk employees through the change as there was an inspiration to accept change.
As earlier mentioned, Apple Inc. adopts a decision making strategy where the CEO has the most decision making power. However, in the recent tenure, there has been a more inclusive and collaborative approach where senior-level management have some level of power when it comes to making company decisions. Apple Inc. is a company that emphasizes on the need for continuous improvement through its innovative and creative organizational culture. Therefore, the problem management strategy that has worked over the years revolves around research and development. For instance, if the company faces stiff competition, it will embark on market research to attempt and formulate a solution. The utilization of this strategy ensures that the company finds the underlying cause of most issues by understanding the person who is most affected by the problem in question.
Managing Conflict, Consensus Building, Power, Politics, and Negotiation
Consensus building is one of the best strategies that companies can employ when it comes to managing conflicts and negotiation. An approach seeks to find the best possible solution so that all stakeholders can leave satisfies. This means that there is a consideration of all the opinions on the table and the critical analysis to come up with viable solutions. A good leader should master the art of consensus building and continually improve themselves in the field. Apple Inc. has been an example of the effective use of this strategy over the years.
In their consensus building, the company’s leadership ensures that they understand the background of the other party. This ensures that they know what their demands and the capacity within which they can negotiate are. Therefore, it is easy for them to turn around the situation so that both parties will win, which avoids the common scenarios in negotiations of having one party compromising their needs. As Steve Jobs often put it, the other company needs them just as much as they need their services. This is something that Tim Cook has carried on through his leadership tenure.
In 2013, Tim Cook faced a challenge that needed a negotiation and consensus-building solution for the company. When it comes to political problems, leaders have to be careful because the outcome could be detrimental not only to the short-term operations of the business but also to its sustainability. Congress wanted Cook to explain the purported tax avoidance of the company. However, Cook applied an open conversational demeanor and managed to turn the conversation to a broader discussion of the U.S tax code. At the end of the session, all the stakeholders were satisfied with the response, as the company, through the CEO, had managed to prove that they pay their taxes.
Ethics and Professional Codes of Conduct
Ethics serve as the moral compass of any organization. They dictate the conduct of employees in any given situation within the company. Since Apple is a creative and innovative company, it emphasizes the adoption of integrity in all its practices. The company outlines four major principles that contribute to a culture of integrity within the organization. These include; honesty, respect, confidentiality, and compliance. These principles serve as the guide for all the employees of the company, including those who work overseas. They are in the company’s code of professional ethics document. They are also available on the company’s website, although they are in more detail here. They include policies on corporate governance, conflict of interests among the director, and the procedures for reporting questionable conduct among any stakeholder of the company. the reason that they provide these elements in detail is due to the high probability of misconduct among the employees as they are located in different countries. There is also a supplier code of conduct. The company regularly conducts audits with the suppliers to ensure that they are compliant with these. They then share the reports of the audit with the suppliers and make recommendations. If the suppliers fail to comply, then Apple has the right to withdraw the partnership.
Conclusion
Apple Inc. is one of the most successful technology companies in the world. What started in a garage at Silicon Valley has grown into an empire. The reason for the growth of the company has partially been due to unique products. However, it is vital to acknowledge the relevance of the leadership to the success of the company. The reason why leadership should be part of the success story of the company is the near-collapse situation in the mid-90s. The company had good products but poor leadership leading to its bankruptcy. The re-introduction of good leadership salvaged the company from collapse. This is a testament that companies require good leadership to propel them to success. Good leadership is what helps to build a positive organizational culture and improve the overall health and competitiveness of the company. Apple Inc should ensure that they constantly evolve their leadership styles according to the demands of the external and internal environment to avoid failure in the future.