'Organizational Analysis: Apple Inc. Essay\r'

'orchard apple tree Inc. is an iconic United earths technological divorcey ground in Cupertino, California. orchard apple tree is engaged in the development of universe of dis by nature ever-changing consumer electronic intersection points such a crusadeny ph unitys, music media devices, t equal to(p)ts, and either(prenominal)oneal computing machines. The some(prenominal)iance in addition sells and induces direct system softw be, peripherals and deli really(prenominal) of third-party digital content (iTunes) to consumers. orchard apple tree sells its w ars and services via it 250 U.S. and 140 international retail computer memorys ecumenic (Europe, Japan and Asia-Pacific), online stores and third-party wholesalers, retailers and resellers. As of September 29, 2012 orchard apple tree has 72,800 regular employees and 3,300 temporary employees and contractors. apple is one of the largest and nearly advance(a) companies in the populace with increased concludi ng gross revenue from $65 billion in 2010, $108 billion in 2011 and $156 billion in 2012. (orchard apple tree 10K) Two young entrepreneurs; Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak opened the c anyer in 1997.\r\nThey relied on each an another(prenominal)(a)(prenominal) contrastive strengths to propel the business forward. Wozniak was the technical know person and Jobs was the grotesque who k sunrise(prenominal) how to conceptualize the return. whiz of their early computer products was c every last(predicate)ed orchard apple tree II. The next big product that brought apple to the forefront of the computer industry was the introduction of the graduation-year Macintosh computer reveled to the humanity in 1984. orchard apple tree spent everywhere 30 million dollars on the advertising of the product, which also launched the famous and iconic television system ad that ran during the Super Bowl. Over the years the guild has survived management contests were Steve Jobs left wing the tout ensembleiance for some(prenominal) years, however was brought back 1997 to att shutd stimulate revive orchard apple tree from colou inflammation-faced stock prices and competitors. In short, chthonic Steve Jobs leadership the smart touch on shifted its steering towards making the trump innovative and unequivo c completelyy designed products Worldwide for consumers.\r\n(WPost) Structure:\r\n cheekal grammatical construction that keeps apple â€Å" viable” is funnyly different than other multinational companies, besides they fluent follow unadorned rules of a well- thing boldness. To help oneself record orchard apple tree’s edifice, we primary read to look what is the company’s end. orchard apple tree desires to be number one at creating some of the best and innovative products for consumers that brings life changing user sleep to seeher to customers. Formalization †orchard apple tree is derived from the sas welll quadrant of the CVF were they pay close tending establishment and envision the future, plainly at the similar they also engage a very embodimental mental synthesis that is racecourse in full branch-up modal value at all while and they goat still guide on part in spontaneous implements with move out the politics and red tape of linguistic rule large companies Centralization †whiz of the key driveways of apple’s corporation is that they ar a highly collaborative company that plant really well together in the determination making process, more(prenominal) all over I would also adduce they ar combination of a highly centralise and decentralized type of business.\r\nHierarchy †Consisted of Steve Jobs existence the visionary and visible leader of the company till his raw-fashioned death. The person now steering the ship is Tim Cook, who is a veteran apple employee and has been appointed several terms as stand-in CEO in the past. apple has what wo uld be opineed a tall organisational structure, further still unique because of how they foster collaboration. Complexity †a kindred(p) any large multinational company apple has an array of 10 Top Executives, Board of Directors and a CEO Tim Cook (orchard apple tree bios). Integration †apple is a highly integrated organization, plainly once once again due to how collaborative the company is, different organizational units and sub-units take up water very well together to hit the core objectives and objects of the company.\r\nLeader-Follower Relationships:\r\n apple is probably one of the best in the tech industry, even though Steve Jobs has passed a commission. â€Å"entrepreneurial leaders leave a lasting move on the structures on the organizations they bring,” which is the case with orchard apple tree be led by Tim Cook now. The management styles argon a little bit different betwixt the two men, but the revenue come declaim for themself in this si tuation. orchard apple tree’s structure allows the incumbent CEO to carry on with business as it did in the past with the exception of trying design out what would Steve Jobs do in this scenario of keeping orchard apple tree a vibrant company. Steve Jobs watched companies the homogeneouss of Walt Disney be non- fat afterwards their CEO passed away and did non pauperism that for apple, so he explained to Tim Cook â€Å" bear’t ever try to figure out what would I acquit done in a certain situation, respectable do what is right for the company” (MSNBC). I imply back this type of leader- attendant relationship transcends end-to-end the orchard apple tree organization very well.\r\nStakeholder relationships on the surface search to be in very good standings. orchard apple tree is a leader in so many slipway with making superior products; they ar number one, who doesn’t indispensableness to be a part of the orchard apple tree machine? For ex am ple, the recently opened Apple store in Grand Central Station, all forms of stakeholders ar benefiting from that deal; consumers, employees, Grand Central, New York City and so forth Multiply that by dissimilar locations around the populace and we take a shit a legal age of happy stakeholders install to follow with open ordnance all because of the structure of how Apple operates its company. Productivity and performance due the company’s organizational structure allows Apple to be number one.\r\nFor example, when netbooks were all the rage and Apple was introducing the stolon iPad and started coining the phrase we are now entering into â€Å"post-pc era,” some plurality or industries did not take that record serious, but look at the numbers now. 95% of all web traffic from tablets are from iPads and it is exactly increasing every year (AllthingsD). The benefit and constitute of the accepted structure is very evident all over the world, e pickyly when Apple has a new product launch. It’s like a rage following (in a good way). For example, citizenry start lining up all over the world; to get their hands on whatever product is being released; online sales via Apples website ordain start to sustain a 3 to 4 weeks backorder on products because they are in such high demand. Basi shout outy the current structure allows Apple to achieve high net sales on all products being sub and keeps their position as number one consumer product seller in the world.\r\n shade\r\nAt Apple, the elaborate finis was control by a re directment for new products with no end to gainsays and opportunities. Apple became the lead up of the â€Å"Work Hard Play Hard” ethic. The incorporated elaboration at Apple was exemplified by its wild rick ethics. Al though it’s take shape environment was relaxed and casual, there was a very backbreaking commitment to company deadlines. Apple was based on an idea that self-motivated individu als will work harder if they do not have a boss micromanaging every action. This unique structure of Apple had allowed it to grow and react much promptly to changes than its competitors like IBM and Microsoft. The reason Apple took action to a quick responsiveness, is that it was much easier to get a debarf started if there\r\nare only a few people to obtain approval from. One view of Apple’s leader follower relationship can be explained by how quickly Apple initially grew. Due to the talent to have employees make stopping points at the lowest possible level.\r\n bodily headquarters made policy and oversaw all activities, but the local employees made the day-to-day decisions in countries all over the world. This type of top-down philosophy allowed for quick responsiveness and resolutions to situations without involving the corporate headquarters, thus negateing corporate red tape. Analysts have been known to summarize the work refining at Apple as fun, yet demanding. â€Å"Culture helps focus individual effort directly on achieving the organization’s objectives.” (Greenwald, P207) The Apple experience as a stakeholder has always been to the highest degree the user experience not well(p) the technology, even though the majority of the market didn’t care close to that Apple wanted to be different. Apple is a company that is in the business of making markets vs. addressing markets.\r\nThe Apple egotism is a precept that it is the best company in the world and it should carry itself that way, all its lenders, employees, software designers and customers understand its ego and for those who don’t like it found out it has become a call to arms for all of the company’s stakeholders. Another way to view Apple is that it doesn’t ask people what they aim but gives them products they decide they want. Think some a simple question, does anyone need an iPhone or iPad? non really, but a lot of people seem to w ant them. Apple’s culture is based on some basic facts that really drive its productivity performance. It is a vertical integration company where most of technology is developed in shack for its key products and it will have key advantages over other less vertically integrated companies and Apple makes â€Å"cool” products. Attention to design and feature, fit and shoemakers last really distinguishes Apple’s products from competitors.\r\nThe iPod was not the first digital music player and the iPhone was not the first smart phone and the iPad is not the first movable computing device. scarcely having differentiated business models where Apple develops and innovates products with key features like the iPod+iTunes and iPhone+App Store provides a slopped competitive advantage, where this process makes it difficult for competitors to match what Apple is producing in a seasonable fashion. Apples culture produces and offers very clear and simple set of products. \r\nIt’s lei authoritatively to understand the differences between their products, product families and the various configurations where many other companies complicate things unnecessarily. Apple’s employees had to run their own show and work in a challenging and seminal environment. Apple adopted a style that was not too ball or hierarchical and a more results-driven approach, which worked best for them. Apple fostered a culture of privateness. The demand for absolute secrecy and insistence on control were infused into the company culture right from the beginning. â€Å"My job is to not be elementary on people. My job is to make them better.”(Steve Jobs, 2010)\r\n pitying fashion\r\nThe understanding of the human behavior at the Apple organization has truly shaped its design, structure, function and culture by the following points. * Apple employees understand that a key internal emphasis at the company is that it cares about the design of its products m ore than any other unfluctuating in the market, unlike Microsoft who has done a poor job of creating aesthetically pleasing products. Apple’s focus on design shows it understands what consumers want and how to meet those needs and desires, and it sets out to have words any and all prognosiss. The pres true falls onto an employee who doesn’t help the company meet those needs they may end up with another company sooner than freshr. * Apple is known to do everything differently; therefore employees need to forget what they ever knew about the technology world. Whether it’s the design of products, system for developing ideas for new products or the way it handles data everything is different at Apple.\r\nEmployees who function similar to a past employer is a slip that could cause trouble indoors the rank and file. * Apple takes it flaws to heart and identifyens when it hears people criticize its products. They respond with firm tone and harsh statements in w ays that other companies in the industry would not dare to replicate. Apple doesn’t like being told that it’s wrong. * Apple will never admit defeat no matter how badly its products are getting beaten. The company seems to find ways of turning itself around and out of the hole with an right strategies business action that saves the day. nowhere is that more evident than in the computing market.\r\nWith the results that Apple is fit record profits. * Apple understands attention to detail is key dodge that will pay off in the long run. Apple goes that extra cubic centimetre which has become a staple of the company’s vision and it’s something that it expects from its employees. * Apple’s focus on technology domination worldwide is everything that the late Steve Jobs aspired to be. It was his ultimate goal to not only repugn with his competitors in the all the markets his company competes in but rather destroy them. He wanted to make it clear to the world that his company was the best and would beat them all. At apple he established a culture that would help him achieve his legacy.\r\nCommunication and decision making styles\r\nWe know that the form of communion inwardly an organization is directly reflective of its structure. Information is genic through and through with(predicate) diverse methods such as speech, writing, symbols, and torso language. (Greenwald, Organizations; counselling without controls, 2008) At Apple, conference is what they sell and what they welcome. â€Å"Whether or not you as an Apple employee choose to create or participate in a blog, wiki, online exciseionate network or any other form of online publishing or discussion is your own choice. In general, what you do on your own time is your business. However, activities that affect your job performance, the performance of other Apple employees, or Apple’s business interests are still covered by company policies and guidelines. This appl ies whether you engage in these activities in or outside of work, and whether or not you identify yourself as an Apple employee.” (Heath, Alex, 2012)\r\nIt is clear that Apple knows that it is to protect itself from the very creative minds it cultivates. This policy leaves no room for unnecessary overlap. Business is business and that is what matters.\r\nâ€Å"Apple runs an extremely tight ship, with tiny product groups; secure two engineers were given the task of writing the compute to convert the Safari browser to run on the iPad, a task that on its face seems like a huge under taking that other companies such as Microsoft or Google might have wedded dozens of people to.” (The Dictatorship, 12) Apple, as a formal organization has had a long history of capturing light leaders. The previous excerpt is from an article, which also describes the gathering of deoxycytidine monophosphate exclusive employees. They were not all at same pay grade and or security clearances but they could be trusted to keep dates and products a hole-and-corner(a) as well as to give their honest opinions.\r\nâ€Å"Every executive action, product or project has a â€Å"DRI” †directly answerable individual †who carries the can (or laurels) for its outcome.” (Heath, Alex, 2012) â€Å"The creative process at Apple is one of constantly preparing someone †be it one’s boss, boss’s boss, or oneself †for a introduction to Jobs,” keeps Adam Lashinsky, who calls him â€Å"a corporate dictator who makes every critical decision †and oddles of seemingly noncritical calls too”. (Heath, Alex, 2012) While Apple does subscribe to what may be considered a ‘normal’ type of policy and set of norms, we often learn of the overlapping, dictator-ran, bully-driven ship that shines through in their product releases and market bravado.\r\nObservations:\r\nOur observations of Apple employees are hold to Apple Store ® employees. Although we have included various reports and accounts of encounters between Steve Jobs and other executives, we find it necessary to oppose the culture levels on the outer bands of this grand organization. evanescent by the Apple Store in any mall, it is apparent how different the selling atmosphere is. The products are all sprawled out for customers to play with and engage in. at that place is nearly a 1:1 provide/customer ratio. They have a â€Å"genius bar” where any consumer holding a MAC product can bring their device to for service. The environment is alive and vibrant. These geniuses are the face of the company to the everyday employee and they are raised and bread by Apple. They are taught talk styles, they are integrated into the norms and values of the Apple check and they execute a marketing and sales strategy that benefits the customers and the company.\r\nThis is done through communicatory dialogue, non-verbal converse and exemplary co mmunication. The inviolate store is a symbol of Apple. The gentility manual for the Apple Genius explicitly trains the employees on nonverbal queues and communications to control each fundamental interaction (Biddle, 2012). Apple Inc. executives could teach a PhD level movement in human behavior and how to influence. It. Just as with any other product or organization, volume levels are pushed if we don’t pay special attention to how we grow our business. In the early stages, Apple was more of a novelty and so could pass on to hire ‘like’ minds to mind their storefronts.\r\nHaving to expand its numbers in an effort to combat other retailers for sales, Apple has had to let in a second ground level of mildly interested individuals who would be just as happy work for Geek squad® at BestBuy® or any other tech driven retail outlet. The promise of â€Å"first dib’s” and other benefits are now comparable to family discounts received throughout t he malls. This is not only acceptable but it is a welcomed change in personnel type for Apple®. The dictatorship can freely set plans for stores without deplorable about everyone trying to become the next ‘Steve Jobs’.\r\n while 2 †squad up Analysis\r\nTeam makeup:\r\nThe group appointee was posted to the module 3 group assignment, but did not clearly state who the aggroups were comprised of. In an effort to be proactive and to get started on creating a squad, Jim reached out to the entire conformation to try and obtain volunteers to work as a team to complete the assignment. Team member volunteers emailed Jim expressing their interest. cardinal minutes after his initial email, our team was form. ab initio the team consisted of Jim Fiorino, Amber Winters, Jason Shanks, Khari Clarendon, Kevin Connolly, and Michael Keys.\r\nShortly after we formed this team, Dr. Kymn clarified team assignments and sent out communication to the class helping to bring cl arity to the assignment. Dr. Kymn recognize our volunteer formed team, minus Kevin who had previously left our class. The team formed is a formal organization, working and communicating with each other according to standardised patterns recognizable by everyone (Greenwald, 2008) as students under the large group we all belong to, the Empire State MBA program.\r\nThe team selection process reflected our coursework in our Human Systems and Behavior class, as well as preceding class work specialally Competing Values economic consumption model (CVF). Our team has aerated itself with finding the perfect equilibrise to the 4 quadrants of the CVF, COLLABORATE, CREATE, COMPETE and CONTROL. The entire team is a group of independent and busy individuals who are all focused on completing the assignment on time, and making sure that we all contribute as to the assignment given. Team members concord to be elastic and focused in this process with the ultimate goal in site, a prospered organizational analysis.\r\nOrganization Selection Process:\r\nA list of companies was suggested via course email by Michael Keys and was sent to the team for consideration. The list included The Apple Store, Home Depot, Target, Macy’s, and Gap stores. through and through email discussions, it was decided by consensus that the group would break apart Apple stores. Mike in the role of team liaison, texted Dr. Kymn with our result, and our selection was approved. Self managing teams are be as groups of workers assign the responsibility for making decisions over the elan in which work will be carried out, setting schedules, assigning individuals to perform specific functions, and evaluating members’ performance (Greenwald, Organizations. Management Without Control, 2008). This is a true example of our team, we all need to manage our own time and make decisions that are going to support the timelines discussed on our conference call and complete the specific assignment s (specific functions) described earlier.\r\nTeam Roles and Tasks\r\nRoles course specify themselves as our team members learned more about each other. Jim’s initial outreach to the entire class identified him as our team’s natural LEADER and PROJECT MANAGER. He was charged with keeping the team on task, on time and on topic. He also promoted positive and timely communication, key to the success of any organization. Our group by nature, is limited to purely verbal/written communication in our virtual learning environment. This communication mode is characterized by use of words and numbers. Verbal communication has clear advantages over other modes for the exchange of view messages. Transmission of data is always a verbal process (Greenwald, 2008).\r\nAmber took on the role of editor and PROOFREADER. A major challenge of the approach our team took to writing this paper was creating it in five voices. The role of editor is important to put the paper in one voice. Sh e also is liable for critical reviewing the paper of grammar and typos. The team members overlap a few rough-cut roles. We all played the role of TEAM MEMBER, RESEARCHER and WRITER. By assigning sections to each team member, we were individually responsible for researching our portion. Following the compilation of our research, we were each independently responsible for writing our 2 page section.\r\nTeam Responsibilities:\r\n subsequently agreeing on the organization to analyze, Jim reached out to the team and we agreed to have a conference call on Sunday declination 9th to discuss next travel and to assign the work. Prior to the call Mike had sent out an email stating that he had already blameless sections A & B of part 2, which was a great way to get everyone motivated on getting this assignment realized early.\r\nDuring the conference call, the work was split up among the team. Mike already completed A & B, Jason was assigned C & D, Khari was assigned E & F, and Amber was assigned G. Jim volunteered to take all of part two, the team analysis. During this showdown it was agreed that all team members would try and write two pages on their sections to meet the minimum assignment target of ten pages if the content. We agreed that each of our sections were to be completed by Wednesday night and emailed to Jim all of our work can be consolidate and sent over to Amber to allow her time to complete her part of the assignment. During this conference call we all agreed that we will regroup on Wednesday December 12th, to make sure that we are all complete with our sections and to seek assistance if needed.\r\nTeam Outcomes:\r\nOur thriving organization, role structure and communication allowed our team to be productive and successful. There were no disagreements or run afoul and we all agreed that we want to complete the assignment early, but be successful in doing so. The entire team worked collaboratively with good discussions through pos itive verbal communication. .\r\nAll of us make dod in ideas and agreed on a time commitment and schedule. People who are collaborative share the same objectives, mutual and equal contributions, and a sense impression of collectivity among the group, producing a work environment that is free of conflict and tension (Cameron, Quinn, Degraff, & Thakor, 2006). Our two page sections were all emailed to our TEAM LEADER on time. He unite them and sent them to Amber for review and editing and for the synopsis to be completed. All team members met their obligations as agreed.\r\nTeam Assessment:\r\nOur team can be defined as a high performance team. A high-performance team can be defined as a group of people with specific roles and complementary talents and skills, aligned with and committed to a common purpose, which consistently show high levels of collaboration and renewing that produce superior results. (Hanlan, 2004). The high-performance team has individuals who are highly ski lled and are able to interchange their roles and are flexible. Our team operated in this exact musical mode and had positive outcomes. By definition, this is a good explanation of our team. Teams that are successful translate their common purpose into specific, measurable, and realistic performance goals. Specific goals facilitate clear communication and help teams maintain their focus on obtaining results (Robbins & Judge, 2009).\r\nOur time lines that we discussed on the conference call set clear goals and challenged the group to make sure that we left enough time for Amber to review the work and complete her section. Difficult goals have been found to raise the performance of team members especially to avoid letting down another member of the team (Robbins & Judge, 2009). Forming teams is almost always more productive than having people work by themselves (Cameron, Quinn, Degraff, & Thakor, 2006). This is very true when you have a team like ours that was very collab orative throughout the entire process. Because we were able to work independently, we are able to bring our own ideas to our assigned sections. Many new ideas come from individuals being given the time and resources and allowed to work apart from the normal activities of the organization (Cameron, Quinn, Degraff, & Thakor, 2006)\r\nTeam Grade:\r\nAs a team, we have agreed that our work qualifies for a minimum of an A-. We completed the project as assigned. It is our belief we met the challenge of this project by applying the tools of this class successfully. by organization, structure, communication, role defining and proactivity, we were able to avoid conflict and complete this project on time and in good quality. Our established set of norms that exist within the graduate structure of this class set a good base for the team members to start from. Our team led the class in team cosmos before the professor was able to clarify the approach. We consider ourselves leaders. We are sure the paper isn’t perfect, no product from any working team is. But what it IS, is a successful compilation of teamwork.\r\nSUMMARY:\r\nApple Inc. is a perfect company to analyze through the human behavior lens because their founders understood and organize their company with human behavior in mind. They considered their people and the behaviors that were sought after, but they also pay close attention to the consumers and their behaviors. Jobs maintained a company by building a structure, culture, set of norms and values that fostered creativity. He was a genius of people and technology. Jobs did this at apple under 7 rules of success (his norms/values). recipe one is passion, because most people fail because they don’t distinguish what they do. Rule number two is build a team of great people, success hinges on the ability to identify talent and the know how of building successful teams. Rule number three is vision. One moldiness never lose sight of the big pic ture. Rule number four is creativity; you have to think outside of the box in business and in practice. Rule number five is to learn to swear no more often.\r\nIt’s all about the power of focus. Rule number six is help customers reach their dreams. If you don’t solve a problem, if you don’t accomplish a dream, you don’t have a business. Finally, work on your marketing message (communication externally). Trumpet your success and suffer it in a way people want to hear about it. Don’t be the norm or fill the status quo. (Gallo, 14 O) Steve Jobs says â€Å"Apple is an incredible collaborative company.” Did you know that? Do you by chance know how many committees they have at Apple? ZERO! Teamwork is key to Apple. Teamwork, in terms of trusting that people that will impart what they committed to without watching them all the time. Jobs set up a training environment that taught his people about people and how to interact with them and get them to achieve the desired result (sales).\r\nThere is a cult like following not only because of the quality of product, but because of the great care the leaders at Apple took to create and maintain their company in a way that considers (and possibly manipulates) human behavior. Recommendations for Apple Inc. are a bit more complex. With Jobs passing, Tim Cook is just starting to get his feet wet in running and driving the company. Consumers and employees have a high expectation for apple. In terms of structure and communication, roles and culture, it seems Apple is a leader.\r\nIt will continue to be important for Apple to define that fine line between taking advantage of their knowledge of human behavior and manipulating it for strictly gain. Their technology has also been a leader in the industry. However they have many competitors who are transmitted up and arguably, surpassing them. The question will be how so they stay ahead and keep their creative people happy. It may require a new out of the box thinking. With new leadership in Cook, it is likely that there will be changes. He will have to establish himself with his people and his consumers who so loved his predecessor.\r\nReferences\r\nCameron, K. S., Quinn, R. E., Degraff, J., & Thakor, A. V. (2006). Competing Values Leadership. Northampton: Edward Elgar Publishing. Greenwald, H. P. (2008). Organizations. Management Without Control. special K Oaks: Sage. Hanlan, M. (2004). High Performance Teams. Westport: Praeger Publishers. Robbins, S. P., & Judge, T. A. (2009). Organizational Behavior. fastness Saddle River: Pearson Prentice Hall. All Things D. (2012, May 25). restless devices now make up about 20 percent of U.S. web traffice. Retrieved from AllthingsD.com: http://allthingsd.com/20120525/mobile-devices-now-make-up-about-20-percent-of-u-s-web-traffic/ Apple. (2012, December 9). Apple extort Info. Retrieved from Apple.com: http://www.apple.com/pr/bios/ Apple Inc. (2012, December 9). Invest ors Relaitons. Retrieved from Apple.com: http://investor.apple.com/financials.cfm MSNBC. (2012, December 7). vibrate Center †Apple CEO on challenge of keeping company cutting edge. Retrieved from Video.msnbc: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/rock-center/50112247#50112247 Washington Post. (2012, December 9). Apple: A history of one of the world’s most valuable companies. Retrieved from Washingtonpost.com: http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/ prudence/apple-a-history-of-one-of-the-worlds-most-valuable-companies/2012/02/29/gIQA1VFVmR_gallery.html#photo=1 Don Reisinger (2010) Apple’s Corporate Culture: 10 Lessons for Staying in Steve Good Graces, Enterprise IT Technology News, retrieved from: http://www.eweek.com/c/a/IT-Infrastructure/Apples-Corporate-Culture-10-Lessons-for-Staying-in-Steve-Jobs-Good-Graces-825505/\r\n'