Analysis On How Steve Jobs Structured Apple And The Top Practices Used By Steve Jobs

Introduction

Leadership within an organization is crucial to developing a durable organizational structure. The organization can incorporate but not restricted to team-building skills, vision and culture, problem-solving skills, policy, communication, training, and conflict management skills. Apple, Inc. is not only the biggest technology organization in the world, but it is the 9th leading organization in the world, according to Forbes (Stoller, 2017). Apple is recognized for its ground-breaking technology and futuristic design. In 2011, founder and CEO, Steve Jobs, perished from pancreatic cancer, placing Tim Cook as the new CEO of Apple. This milestone will examine how Steve Jobs structured Apple, Apple’s executive team, and the top practices used by Steve Jobs. +Job’s specific leadership actions to construct and assemble a creative organization and culture will be distinguished. Lastly, illustrations of the best practices for leaders in team development and communication will be shown, utilizing three dimensions: energy, engagement, and exploration.

Organizational Structure and Executive Team

Apple’s organizational structure is one of the key reason for their success. Under Jobs, Apple was organized by the spoke-and-wheel hierarchy, which permitted Jobs to make all the key decisions for the Apple. Even under the leadership of the new CEO Tim Cook, Apple is still organized by the spoke-and-wheel hierarchy. However, decisions are made collectively by Apple’s executive team, together with the software teams and the hardware teams. The vice presidents of Apple have more authority than before and are responsible for specific groups within Apple. Steve Jobs held all the control. Under the leadership of Steve jobs there were fifteen executives which worked directly with him. These Apple executives consisted of 8 senior vice presidents, 5 vice presidents, along with the Chief Design Officer, Chief Financial Officer, and Chief Operating Officer.

Best Practices

Apple’s current vision statement is as follows: “Apple is committed to bringing the best personal computing experience to students, educators, creative professionals and consumers around the world through its innovative hardware, software, and Internet offerings” (Apple Enhances Corporate Governance, 2017). Steve Jobs wanted to give Apple consumers the best products on the market, not caring about how much money Apple would make in the process. One more practice for Apple is to employ gifted, strong-minded, artistic and driven individuals to add to Apple’s vision statement. Employing individuals with the same characteristics aids with team growth and communication within Apple (Richards, 2017).

As previously stated, Apple’s organizational structure is the fundamental factor for Apple’s success. Apple’s organizational culture is significant in sustaining the leadership because of 4 key features, including five star excellence, originality, innovation and secrecy (Meyer, 2017). Five star excellence includes a policy of selecting only the best individuals for Apple. Jobs was known for dismissing staff who did not meet his expectations and Tim Cook maintains this practice. This crucial factor has made an enormous difference in Apple, particularly in product design and advancement. The next factor is Creativity. Apple employees are selected for their innovative abilities. This attribute helps Apple remain ahead of the market and provide their consumers state-of-the-art products. The last factor is innovation, this is the heart Apple’s business. All employees under Jobs were taught and urged to impart ideas to facilitate swift innovation. Jobs had a policy of secrecy to reduce theft of intellectual property. Newly hired employees had to consent to Apple’s culture of secrecy and would be dismissed if they violate the policy. All factors help Apple to remain relevant in an aggressive market. It aids their global success, competitive advantage and rapid innovation processes (Meyer, 2017).

Development and Communication Best Practices

There are three critical elements of team development and communication, which include energy, engagement, and exploration, according to Kambil, from The Wall Street Journal. Energy is the amount of communication discussions amongst team members. Engagement is the dispersal of communications throughout team members. For instance, engagement would be minimal if majority of team members remained inaudible and a few interacted with one another. Finally, exploration is the degree to which team members correspond beyond the team to collect knowledge to resolve problems or disclose solutions (Kambil, 2015). Harvard Business Review examines how a leader can use these three dimensions to shape a team and increase communication. The article states, “The best way to build a great team is not to select individuals for their smarts or accomplishments, but to learn how they communicate and shape and guide the team so it follows successful communication patterns.” As cited before, Jobs employs people who he describes as brilliant, however he should have also looked for attributes such as communication skills and leadership style.

Conclusion

This milestone has examined how Steve Jobs organized Apple by using the spoke-and-wheel hierarchy, which permits Apple to make decisions together. The best practices used by Steve Jobs were to concentration on brilliance not income and to employ the elite individuals to make a difference in Apple. Finally, two examples were given of best practices for leaders in team development and communication, utilizing the three dimensions: energy, engagement, and exploration. These examples were the significance of not simply selecting intelligent people for hire, but with traits such as the individual communication skills and leadership style. If Apple set up a workplace that facilitates communication it will help teams development and communication.