Leadership Model : Apple's Five Discipline Model

Apple is a company that everyone in the world knows about today, and most people own at least one Apple product, but Apple did not start out as a huge company. It started out with Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak working on computers in the garage of Steve Jobs. Jobs and Wozniak

With the creation of a company like Apple, room for innovation and renovation was always possible. The free enterprise system allowed room for great financial success and greatly appealed to consumer demand needs or wants. Their very first launch of the first PC and Ipod MP3 Music Player grasped the attention quickly in the consumer demand market. His technology skyrocketed as he innovated goods that were advances for the people in their daily lives. Apple was greatly set up with their great alliances in the enterprise industry with companies such as: IBM, Cisco, SAP, JAMF, etc. Apple also includes OS (operating

One key element of Apple’s strategy in computers, personal media players, tablet computers, and smart phones is product innovation, diversification and development. Over the years Apple has been very successful in integrating software and hardware in new developing products. Despite the struggling economy in recent years, Apple has been able to grow their market share and stay ahead of the game.

At first, technology is the most crucial element that shaping the brand of Apple and it operations. There are three components in this element are innovation, convenience and internal development. Firstly, let talk about innovation, one of the components that fabricated the success of Apple. Years ago, Nokia and Motorola were companies that dominated the mobile phone and software market. Therefore, in order to survive, prospect and remain competitive, Apple applied the philosophy of innovation by creating new products with unique design and function (Nonaka & Kenny, .n.d.). The circumstance forced Steve Jobs to become not only creative, but also demanding, strict and persuasive executive to motivate employee in the process of creating new mobile phone device and software, which led to the creation of the IOS system, iphone and Mac software. In every operation, he is extremely strict and even autocratic in setting goal and strategy and reward based on employee’s performance with the standard of excellent result and has no qualm in berating

Particularly under Steve Job, the structure was so centralized that Job was in charge of all final tasks, supervisions and decision makings. Although such autocracy getting better through the years by the effort of transformational leaders like, Tim cook, by attempting to implement a more flatter structure, the chain of command remains the same. Such hierarchal and centralized structure is a set back for innovation as well as it obstructs effective communication. The distance between the top management and front line employee not only demotivate employees but limits commitment. Therefore for Apple as technology and innovation-based company their ability or willingness to share ideas The more decentralized organizational approach promote new ideas while motivating

Technology change has naturally been a major factor in Apple's success. The company played a major role in the shift to a mobile computing society, by developing the personal technology devices that would

Another aspect of their success is their approach to product designing. In Apple, product design always precedes engineering. They envisage their product, engineer one way to the goal, and start from scratch if anything does not seem right. They have always tried to make products which are easy to use and does everything better than a similar product in the market. This approach has worked pretty well so

Apple corporate culture has played a major role in its success; the corporate culture is founded on values, traits, morals, principles and standards that are believed to be crucial in assisting it and its employees to succeed. The corporate culture is the foundation for what is done in Apple and how it is done. Cumulatively, the distinctive values make Apple a unique company. Apple’s core corporate culture is founded on innovation and nurturing talents of creative people. The company strives to build highly innovative products that not only meets but exceeds the expectations of the customer. Apple’s products embody outstanding designs and styles that attract consumers across the world. Since its inception, Apple has always been associated with cutting edge technology; the company boasts of the most

Apple's corporate culture encourages team work and sharing of ideas with colleagues. Apple employees work

Apple’s strategy has evolved as technology does. At the beginning, Apple focused on the computer industry

From its start-up until the present, Apple’s corporate structure hasn’t changed a lot. Before his death, Steve Jobs was the one to make the calls regarding all the decisions; everything had to be passed through him. The company’s decision making processes were and still are centralized, in which the CEO makes all the decisions but it is incorporating more of a collaborative approach. The company is doing so by encouraging its hardware and software teams to collaborate. This approach however, never existed when Jobs was the CEO. Apple is considered a centralized company because it makes high capital investments that encourage centralization. It is highly competitive, offers high technology products, has a homogeneous product line, low product diversification, and has a lot of experience doing international business. Furthermore, it is organized on different basis; functional, divisional and geographical. Its functional structure is that the innovations and visions essentially come from top management and flow down the organization. Top management includes the board of directors in which they oversee and ensure that shareholders’ interests are being served for a long-term. Also, its functional structure is departmentalized and includes marketing, engineering, manufacturing, financing, IT, research and development. Its divisional functions include the products the company is offering, the market it is operating in and geographical areas. Apple has four product categories; the

Apple has done an excellent job of developing a very distinct strategy through industry leading innovation. This strategy has allowed them to be the frontrunners in new product introductions and the improvement of existing products. Apple has employed a differentiation strategy in an attempt to meet the needs of a global market by offering customers innovative new products and improved existing products. An important part of their strategy involves meeting the needs of the evolving digital electronics and computer markets. Apple has chosen to implement its strategy by designing and developing its

Apple prides itself on offering innovative technology to a society that has become dependent on it. In markets inundated with companies offering similar products and services, Apple has had to rise above and distinguish itself from the masses. While their products have a cultivated a devoted-customer following (our family is one of them), their organization and the values it espouses are what will help them to remain a relevant and successful company in the tech world.

Nowadays, Apple has positioned itself to be an innovator in the personal computer industry and Apple has developed by offering modern products compared to its competitors. According to Apple’s mission statement last year, “Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the world, along with OS X, iLife, iWork and professional software. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store. Apple has reinvented the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App store, and is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices with iPad.” (Business Management,

Apple Inc. is the most revered corporation of the USA, both in terms of brand equity and market capitalization. The company’s international competitive strategy is focused on the innovative product development, which Apple controls through its eight business segments: Portables, Desktops, iPads, iPhones, Music related products and services, peripherals and hardware (Lam et al. 2005).