Comparative Analysis of Steve Jobs and Tim Cook at Apple Inc

Task 1, Part A

Apple Inc is considered to be one of the top multinational tech companies around the world, offering diverse range of propositions and services as per the shifting needs of the clients and customers. The developments in the brand are brought about by the leadership and managerial capabilities of the leaders which has extensively supported the continuous growth and development of the business in the international markets. According to Kim (2020), the leaders and the managers of an organization contributes towards the continuous growth and development while addressing to the shifting market demands and the competitions propositions. Therefore, the discussion would study the leadership traits and behaviours of the leaders and the top managers in Apple Inc, specifically Steve Jobs and Tim Cook, with the purpose of developing a view on their contributions towards the growth and development of the business. For students seeking business dissertation help, understanding these leadership dynamics can provide valuable insights into organisational success.

Apple Inc was formerly led by Steve Jobs until at the end of the year 2011. Steve Jobs leadership criteria was driven by innovation based practices and quality of the propositions, His vision of providing the customers or the target audience with the best in class experience through the products has been guiding the operations of the business. Steve expected perfection and excellence from the staff members working in Apple Inc. According to a survey conducted by Ceil (2018) among the staff members of Apple it was observed that Steve Jobs was a passionate leader who focused mostly towards improving the experience of the target audience through innovative means. However, some other staff members stated that Jobs showed no signs of being a philanthropist as mostly he did not ever considered the work- life balance based needs of the employees which created hurdles for the same to keep up to the pace and expectations of their leader. Rhodes and Bhawuk (2018) stated in a research, made on Steve Jobs leadership style, that Jobs was innovation oriented and always took the initiative of keeping the employees well trained and knowledgeable with the purpose of increasing the efficiency of the workforce and addressing the strategic goals.

The efficient oratory skills helped Jobs in influencing the support and guide the employees to adapt themselves with different changes in the business model. Moreover, the workaholic characteristics of Steve Jobs acted as an influence on the activities that were undertaken by the workforce then. Steve Jobs implemented charismatic leadership style with the purpose of influencing the employees while encouraging their participation in the different innovation based practices that are being devised by the organization for achieving their sustainable edge. Dhiman (2019) stated that people in the workforce followed the ideals of Steve Jobs being influenced by his endeavour, passion and knowledge on the industry.

Moreover, it was observed that Jobs also implemented an autocratic rule with a one- person show which has drastically affected the interests of the workforce at work. Kahney (2019) opined in a research that most of the staff members criticized of the harsh behaviour of Jobs on not getting any project completed within the deadline or any flaws in the operational process which affected the interests of the people. However, the continuous innovation based concept of Steve Jobs has supported the sustenance and growth of the business with the innovations in a range of propositions.

On the other hand, Tim Cook took the charge on leadership, being a successor to Steve Jobs. It has been observed that Tim Cook applied a transformational style of leadership with the purpose of dealing with the innovativeness and creativity related needs of the organization. Mishra (2017) opined that the application of the transformational style of leadership supports a manager or a leader to keep the workforce influenced and encourage their proactive engagement in different change based activities. Therefore, the application of transformational leadership style by Tim Cook supported the workforce in Apple in adopting the different market based changes in the organizational model while achieving the strategic goals of the business. In order to improve the degree of excellence in the operations of the organization, Tim Cook emphasized on building more transparent teams while empowering the degree of collaboration and team work towards solving essential problems for the growth and continuity of the business operations.

According to the research made by Dhiman (2019) , Tim Cook’s leadership style was different from that of Jobs through the approachability. Tim Cook devised open door policy for the employees in order to identify and resolve their concerns which has supported the growth of the organization through continuity of operations and innovativeness. For an instance, if a problem aroused out in the design and conceptualizing department on a prototype, the workforce was provided with the opportunity of discussing the concerns with Tim Cook, who was believed to be approachable than Jobs.

The identification and resolution of the concerns allowed Cook to improve the degree of business operations while addressing the strategic growth and sustenance based needs in the competitive market scenario. Moreover, Tim Cook’s leadership style reflected empathy towards the concerns and problems that are being faced by the workforce while providing the same with sufficient work- life balance which has supported the continuous growth of the venture. The success factors of Cook’s management style is reflected through the revenue growth made by the organization by 28%, amounting to around $234 billion in the year 2015, which reflected the best performance of the business until then (Kim 2020).

Tim Cook applied the Situational leadership style with the purpose of influencing the growth and development of the business while emphasizing on the sustenance related factors. According to Kahney (2019), the situational style of leadership assists the leaders in identifying the business situation, develop insights on the areas of concerns that are limiting the workforce to achieve targets and develop coherent approaches or interventions in order to improve the organizational setting. Tim Cook thereby has taken the initiative of identifying the variable workplace and business situations while developing interventions that are best suited to comply with the sustenance and growth related needs of the business.

On the other hand, Steve Jobs mostly focused towards the implementation of systems leadership style. Mishra (2017) opined that the application of the systems leadership style enables a leader or a manager in developing and encouraging a set of skills among the people and within with the purpose of addressing the system based change requirements. The continuous innovation and change based needs in the organization were addressed by Jobs through the identification of the different systems and the need for improving the skill sets in order to gather competence for the sustainable edge of the business.

Therefore, Jobs reflected a charismatic and autocratic style of leadership where he expected excellence from the staffs and focused on the quality of innovation made on the propositions. The influence that Jobs created among the workforce has supported towards sustaining the business since its inception. However, it has been observed that the harsh temperament of Jobs affected the morale and motivation of the people. People believed that Jobs was not approachable which curbed his capability as a leader in identifying the concerns that are being faced by the workforce and mitigate the same in order to maintain continuity of the business operations.

On the other hand, it was observed that Tim Cook mostly implemented the transformational leadership style which maintained transparency between the teams and helped in building on collaboration. The collaborative functioning of the teams with the management has been a contributing factor towards ensuring the growth and development of the business in Cook’s short tenure. The workforce believed that Tim Cook was approachable which again supported Cook in improving problem solving and managing complexity while communicating with the people, identifying their concerns and resolving the issues with the purpose of maintaining continuity. The discussion clearly demonstrated the differences in the leadership style of Tim Cook and Steve Jobs in Apple, while gathering a clear cognition on the strengths and weaknesses of their leadership performance towards ensuring the growth of the business in global markets.

Task 1, Part B

Introduction

Apple Inc. has been encountering concerns in dealing with the higher market demand currently. It was observed from a report that the business has been encountering subsequent concerns in fulfilling customer orders for its iPhone 12. Moreover, some quality issues were reported with the products that are being manufactured by the business for its clients and customers like the short battery life and slow performance which has been deliberately affecting the goodwill and brand image in the different international markets where the corporation operates. However, through the implementation of specific operational planning and quality management operations the business can overcome the challenges that the same is facing while addressing the increased market demand and the flaws in the quality of the propositions. The following discussion would identify the stages and processes that might be considered by the organizational management and Tim Cook with the purpose of improving the performance of the organization, in terms of productivity and quality.

Kaizen and its importance in mitigating issues with Apple

Kaizen is a Japanese management method in order to empower continuous improvement in the operations through teamwork and collaborative functioning. According to Carnerud, Jaca and Bäckström (2018), the application of the Kaizen methodology in an organization assists in increasing the scope of building on continuous improvement through systematic identification and resolution of flaws for improving quality based operations. The implementation of the Kaizen methodology supports businesses in eliminating wastes, saving on costs incurred by an organization, improves productivity and the quality of the outcome.

Helmold (2020) stated that the application of Kaizen methodology in an organization supports in perfecting the business operations, while reducing the wastes and remaining proactive to resolve concerns for better outcomes. Moreover, von Thiele Schwarz et al. (2017) observed that the implementation of Kaizen in a organizational structure maintains inclusionary approach while encouraging the proactive participation of the different stakeholders in the operations in order to achieve the organizational targets. However, it has been observed that the short term application of Kaizen in an organizational setting is not beneficial towards the growth as the changes are slow for the business to realize its growth. Moreover, businesses with a closed and exclusion based culture are unable to implement Kaizen which might affect the scope of growth of businesses.

Just In Time (JIT) and its importance in mitigating issues with Apple

Just In Time is an inventory management system which supports an organization in maintaining availability of their inventories and stocks while aligning with the shifting needs or requirements of the customers in the markets. JIT provides organizations with the privilege of receiving the goods from the suppliers as per the requirements rather than stocking huge amount of goods which might increase the cause of wastes and costs. According to Maeng and Lucia (2019), the application of JIT in the organizational context supports in improving the availability of the propositions while reducing the impact of over- stocking and wastes which supports businesses in saving on costs and addressing the market demands. The application of JIT in Apple Inc would allow the business in reducing the costs and the wastage.

It has been observed that overstocking of the iPhones might have an impact on its battery life and slow performance. On the other hand, JIT would allow the organization in developing a coherent understanding on the market demands while making the propositions available as pre the needs of the clients which would support their sales. However, it has been observed through the research made by Pornprasit and Tantithamthavorn (2021) that there is a higher risk of running out of stock through the utilization of JIT along with the needs for integrated planning on the time scale. It has been observed that the insufficient inventories being managed and stored in the facilities might limit the capability of Apple in addressing the demands or needs of the customers, although the quality of the propositions and the costs leverages would not be compromised in any instance. Therefore, the concerned organization must apply the concepts of JIT with the purpose of improving their productivity and quality of offerings.

Role of management in the recommended approaches and the business value of addressing the problems

The management or the leader of Apple, Tim Cook, must take the initiative of improving the degree of collaboration between the different departments and teams while encouraging the proactive participation of every stakeholder in the change processes. The proactive engagement of the stakeholders in the change processes would support the business in developing efficiency on sustainable reporting of concerns, mitigation and continuous improvement, as was prescribed by Kaizen. Huang, Xia and Lo (2017) opined that the proactive participation of the different stakeholders is necessary for implementing Kaizen. In this connection, the leaders of the concerned organization must take the initiative of encouraging the active participation of the stakeholders in the developmental processes while identifying and resolving the concerns with the purpose of ensuring the growth.

On the other hand, Helmold (2020) opined that JIT requires interconnectedness between the different stakeholders, like the suppliers and the inventory managers, through transparent communication for maintaining continuity of operations and availability of the propositions in the markets. Therefore, it might be stated that the leader of the business and the managers must take the responsibility of developing coherent and transparent communication systems with the purpose of maintaining the interconnectedness. The interconnectedness between the different groups of stakeholders would support the continuous growth and development of the business operations.

Factors that might affect the realistic capability of recommended approaches

Conflict of interests: Resistances might be offered by the stakeholders of the concerned organization while implementing the recommended changes in the business model due to the conflicting interests. The interventions are mostly focused towards improving the performance of the concerned organization which might not attract the interests or priorities of the stakeholders limiting their proactive participation in the different change activities.

Stakeholder and leader relations: The increased power distance gaps between the management and the stakeholders might limit the capability of the business leader in encouraging the active participation of the people and implementing the change process in the business model. Inadequacy of leader- member exchange (LMX) might act as a limiting factor towards empowering the proactive engagement of the stakeholders in a change process.

Conclusion

Therefore the factors determine that a minimalist involvement of the stakeholders, affected by both the above mentioned factors, might limit the capability of the business leader in demonstrating successful implementation of change. Efficient implementation of change in the organizational operations is empowered through the proactive participation of the stakeholders which is based on the commitment, interests and priorities of the workforce to increase organizational efficiency. However, inadequacy of leader member exchange might incapacitate the business leaders in implementing efficient changes without the proactive involvement of the stakeholders.

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References

Carnerud, D., Jaca, C. and Bäckström, I., 2018. Kaizen and continuous improvement–trends and patterns over 30 years. The TQM Journal.

Ceil, C., 2018. Importance of Leadership for Apple. Available at SSRN 3520422.

Dhiman, S., 2019. Being-Centered Leadership: Leader as an Enlightened Sage. In Bhagavad Gītā and Leadership (pp. 127-155). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.

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Mishra, A.S., 2017. Interpersonal Skills for Effective Leadership. Effective Executive, 20(1), p.5.

Pornprasit, C. and Tantithamthavorn, C., 2021. JITLine: A Simpler, Better, Faster, Finer-grained Just-In-Time Defect Prediction. arXiv preprint arXiv:2103.07068.

Rhodes, E. and Bhawuk, D., 2018. The Impact of Charismatic Leadership on Cross-Border Apologies. Academy for Global Business Advancement Annual World Congress.

von Thiele Schwarz, U., Nielsen, K.M., Stenfors-Hayes, T. and Hasson, H., 2017. Using kaizen to improve employee well-being: Results from two organizational intervention studies. Human relations, 70(8), pp.966-993.