Apple case study_Leadership

Apple Case Study I Abstract During the time, leadership has become a major subject in the management literature and there are many definitions of leadership The purpose of this paper is present leadership style of Steve Jobs – one of the most successful management in the world Through this analysis, it will be clear to understand the different theories of leadership styles This research is based on a literature review Result shows Jobs is an autocratic and a transformational leader with his self-confidence and intelligence This paper is a good facilitation to understand modern leadership and provides a platform on which to build further studies on the same subject II Introduction These days, leadership plays an important role in the management subject and this is a popular topic that was thought, written and taught in amount of organizations all over the world John C Maxwell, (2001) said: “The single biggest way to impact an organization is to focus on leadership development” To answer the question how to manage an organization effectively, many reports have been studied and researched to identify the personal traits and behaviors of a successful leader This paper will analyze the leadership of Steve Jobs and how he creates the Apple Inc culture that influences the organization and its performance In addition, the purpose of study is giving some recommendations for corporation, especially Tim Cook – current CEO of Apple This research is based on a literature review The structure has four main parts The first part of this study presents some different definitions of leadership Besides, analyzing Jobs’ leadership and comparing the different of leadership skills between Steve Jobs and Tim Cook are included in the next part The third part suggests some recommendations for Apple Inc and Tim Cook Finally, it is followed by conclusion III Literature Review There are various ways to define leadership that help to deal with some extent the ambiguous definition Mullins (2002) stated leadership essentially as a relationship through which one person influences the behavior or actions of other people Amount of theories were presented to explain the leadership behavior such as the trait theories, Behavioral and style theories and Situational and contingency theories There are three main approaches in leadership theories: The trait approach, the behavioral approach and the situational approach The trait approach is the earliest approach in leadership theories The characteristics or traits of a leader were examined to understand leadership According to Kirkpatrick and Locke (1991) and Judge, Bono, Ilies and Gerhardt (2002), there are traits that associate with leadership which are drive, desire, honesty and integrity, self-confidence, intelligence, job-relevant knowledge and extraversion An effective leader might possess the appropriate traits However, identifying effective leader bases on the interaction of leader and follower as well as situational factors (Robbins, 2011) The behavioral approach illustrates the difference between effectively leader and ineffective leader is isolating behaviors There are a plenty of behavioral styles, but four of the most popular theories are: Kurt Lewin’s studies at University of Iowa, the Ohio State studies, the University of Michigan studies and The Managerial Grid The University of Iowa studies was researched by Kurt Lewin The studies concentrated on the leadership style of the manager Three main leadership behaviors were identified: autocratic, democratic and laissez-faire Leaders who centralize their power, authority, not allow employees make decision has autocratic leadership style (Robbins, 2011) According to Robbins (2011): “A leader with a democratic style tends to involve employees in decision making, delegates authority, encourage participation in deciding work methods and goals, and uses feedback as an opportunity to coach employees” Leader who decentralize their power, allow employees total freedom in making decision has laissez-faire style (Robbins, 2011) The newest situational approach is contemporary approach There are three contemporary view of leadership: charismatic leadership, transactional leadership and transformational leadership Charismatic leadership was defined that the followers really admire the leaders because of his charm and persuasiveness (Robbins, 2011) Transactional leadership means that leaders trade with employees and encourage employees to achieve goals by giving them rewards (Robbins, 2011) Transformational leadership means leaders inspires employees to beyond their abilities and expected performance (Robbins, 2011) This research will use three approaches to analysis Steve Jobs’ leadership Jobs was successful manager, his leadership was really complex It was difficult to understand his leadership style thoughtfully by basing on one or two approach in leadership theories Three theories in three approaches will give sufficiently information so that there is a comprehensive view about Steve Jobs’ leadership IV Findings and Analysis Steve Jobs was a successful leader with a complex personality He had all personal traits of leader but his main personal traits that everybody can realize clearly were selfconfident and intelligence Being self-confident plays an important role in leadership position and Jobs proved it was important to have confidence with his product He also encouraged his employees to try their best to create some of the most innovative technology things in the world Susan (2012) told that Steve Jobs decided the front of the iPhone need to have special type of glass and an employee told that it was impossible, him said “Yes you can it You can deliver, don’t be afraid.” This type of confidence made Jobs to become famous the leader It was not only in himself but also in others Moreover, Jobs was a CEO of Apple Inc.- a technology company Technology has been developing day by day and his innovation has really made the world surprised Ipod was revolution in information technology He made on-line entertainment simple to buy and manage music from one website and store it on an iPod or computer by iTunes software and the iTunes Store (Susan, 2012) According University of Iowa studies, Steve Jobs’ leadership style was autocratic He often made decision personally with minimal employee participation and he requested for perfection But his autocratic leadership style paid attention on the key projects (Kramer, 2010) In addition, because he liked to have power, he decided to his own business – NeTX Company after falling out Apple board While Tim Cook’s leadership is democratic, he inspires his employees through an open-door policy and by encouraging a collaborative environment at Apple (Investopia.com, 2016) In addition, Steve Jobs is a transformational leader Job is described as heart and soul of Apple (Patterson, 1985) He had ability to make employees to work which were in line with his decision of the company’s development He focused on encouraging employees help each other and motivate them to work with the highest performance All employees in Apple were encouraged to innovate and be creative Steve Jobs as a transformational leader is seen in his efforts to bring innovative digital technology to mass consumer so that they can open their wallet (Deutschman, 2001) Jobs inspired his employees by converting the innovative ideas into a technology although the first time he talked about his new idea, no one thought it to be a successful product Tim Cook is considered as a transformational leader In order to take high performance of employees, Steve Jobs kept under strict discipline in a working environment, but Time Cook did just the opposite, he encourages employees to share to understand each other better so that they can support each other better in the process of working In summary, Steve Jobs is an autocratic leadership, he always made decision by himself With his self-confidence and intelligence, he proved to be a great transformational leader V Recommendation Due to the progressive development of technology, it is essential to for Apple to make decision immediately bases on the actual situation However, Apple should create a workplace which has more creative freedom for the employees but not put them inside the box In contrast, Google is doing a better job at creating friendly and freedom atmosphere at workplace Moreover, Tim Cook should be a democratic leader to make comfortable workplace environment but in some situations, he needs to change his leadership style For example, in September, 2016 Samsung, one of the biggest competitor, had to withdraw Galaxy Note because of having trouble with its battery, Tim Cook should be an autocratic leader to make decision quickly A new product which has a strong and safe battery could help Apple not only to increase its market share but also to gain a huge profit Furthermore, Tim Cook needs to be more creative and innovative In fact, Iphone has brought many disappointments since it was not able to present the essential difference in comparison with Iphone It is no doubt to say that idea is the key of success in technology industry Thus, Apple needs a creative and new visionary to produce products that satisfy customer’s expectation Cook should follow his predecessor’s steps, he should tell customer what they want beside giving products which they expected In short, which leadership is appropriate depend on many factors such as situation, employees and organization culture VI Conclusion In conclusion, this research has analyzed the traits and leadership style of Jobs, gave some recommendation for Apple future It is no doubt to say that Steve Jobs was an effective leader in Apple Inc by using autocratic and transformational methods In fact, his traits and strategic leadership style helped to shape one of the most successful technology companies in the world In my opinion, other leaders of Apple should use Steven Jobs leadership style as the guideline to manage and develop the company References David, K (2010) Leadership Behaviors and Attitudes of Steve Jobs [Blog] David Kitz Kramer's Blog Available at: https://davidkramer.wordpress.com/2010/02/15/leadership-behaviours-and-attitudes-ofsteve-jobs/ [Accessed 22 Dec 2016] Deutschman, A (2011) Exit The King Newsweek, Sept, p.30-34 Investopedia (2016) Tim Cook Leads Apple Into A Record-Breaking 2015 (AAPL) [online] Available at: http://www.investopedia.com/articles/professionals/081715/how-does-tim-cooksmanagement-style-differ-steve-jobs.asp [Accessed 25 Dec 2016] Maxwell, J (2001) The 17th Irrefutable Laws of Teamwork 1st ed p.185 Mullins, L (2002) Management and Organizational Behaviour 6th ed Harlow, Essex, UK: Pearson Education Limited Robbins, S., Decenzo, D and Coulter, M (2011) Fundamentals of Management Essential Concepts and Applications 7th ed Pearson Education, Inc., pp.294-306 Susan, K (2012) 10 Leadership Tips from Steve Jobs Forbes [online] Available at: http://www.forbes.com/sites/susankalla/2012/04/02/10-leadership-tips-fromsteve-jobs/#7c977b0e5a02 [Accessed 21 Dec 2016] S A Kirkpatrick and E A Locke, “Leadership: Do Traits Really Matter?” Academy of Management Executive (May, 1991), pp 48-60 T A Judge, J E Bono, R Ilies and M W Gerhardt, “Personality and Leadership A Qualitative and Quantitative Review,” Journal of Applied Psychology (August, 2002), pp 768-780 ... after falling out Apple board While Tim Cook’s leadership is democratic, he inspires his employees through an open-door policy and by encouraging a collaborative environment at Apple (Investopia.com,... progressive development of technology, it is essential to for Apple to make decision immediately bases on the actual situation However, Apple should create a workplace which has more creative freedom... and leadership style of Jobs, gave some recommendation for Apple future It is no doubt to say that Steve Jobs was an effective leader in Apple Inc by using autocratic and transformational methods