The Uneasily Defined Organizational Structure of Apple
Anna Windust
MGT/230
January 20, 2013
Christi Monk
The Uneasily Defined Organizational Structure of Apple Organizational structures have been used for centuries to help people within organizations to understand who holds authoritative roles and how it is ordered, who has certain responsibilities and how they are organized and executed, and how communication flows between the tiers of management (“BusinessDictionary,” 2013). There are many types of organizational structures; the common ones are functional, divisional, and matrix organizational structures.
Apple is a company in which the organizational structure is somewhat of a mystery; therefore, it is a very interesting
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It was rare that any employee would not have a clear understanding of what Job’s direction was going and what his objectives of any given week were. There was such a personal connection to the CEO that employees at all levels generally believed they were an instrumental and working part of the organization. Jobs wanted the very best person in each specific job; therefore, employees were held accountable for their own positions. Lashinsky (2011) noted the odd culture and organizational structure of Apple:
To Apple's legion of admirers, the company is like a tech version of Wonka's factory, an enigmatic but enchanted place that produces wonderful items they can't get enough of.
That characterization is true, but Apple also is a brutal and unforgiving place, where accountability is strictly enforced, decisions are swift, and communication is articulated clearly from the top. (para. 3)
The organizational structure at Apple would make most people uneasy, yet surprisingly the employee turn-over is quite low. Employees have a good understanding of what the company wants to achieve, believes in the products that they are creating, and wants the company to succeed. These beliefs have helped employees to meet the organizational goals of Apple, making it one of the most successful companies in the United States. Apple has a reputation for providing top-quality customer service. Employees are required to have a
In Hiring employees for Apple, Ive made sure the quality in these employees matched that of the culture. Team members must be willing to accept constructive criticism, open to new ideas and learn to work as a team and if there are and successes or failures, team should take full responsibility.
Apple has researched the uncontrollable social environment so effectively that they perhaps border on controlling it. There ability to adapt to changes in social pop-culture, and appeal to the current times and trends have earned them the sales they most definitely deserve. One cannot not deny the
Apple is a global company represented in many parts of the world, but born in the United States by computer wizards by the names of Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak who founded the company back in 1976 (Capon, 2008). The organization deals with the design and sale of computer hardware, software and offers tech support to its customers. Examples of the hardware the company manufactures and sells include mobile phones, personal computers, iPads, tablets and iTunes with associated brands, like the MacBook and iPhones that represent Apple’s driving force towards its success. It is recognized as a brand leader in consumer electronics by the world in terms of quality and customer satisfaction and despite the wide product range, Apple manages each product in a distinct way that is a single business unit (Mittan, 2010).
Founded in 1977 Apple Inc. has provided an extended range of products and services to meet the increasing demands of consumers worldwide. Apple has multiple lines of consumer goods including. Computer software and cell phones along with consumer electronic products globally Apple values their shareholders and consistently creates new goods and ideas is a way of life for Apple. Apple has over 300 locations across ten different countries giving them a significant presence in the market. Apple has become a prime example of a prosperous business organization that is thriving globally. Apple is known for their high levels of customer satisfaction and retention and is one of the most well known global organizations (Graziano,2013).
Apple’s products have always been created by small teams working closely together, with no outside intervention (apart from the management’s directions). This was the case when it was first founded in 1976 with only three people, and is true today with almost 25,000 people employed. In Apple’s early existence, these teams consisted of talented people hand-picked by the senior management (particularly Steve Jobs).
Steve Jobs, one of whom established Apple, led Apple to achieve widespread success with its products. He is the man whom led Apple to be the largest cell phone provider, the second largest company in the world, and the most innovative company. In addition, he is the reason why Apple has the unique corporate culture. Unfortunately, Steve Jobs has passed away because of cancer. Thus, Tim Cook, the chief operating officer has taken his position to manage the whole company. Although Apple Inc. still has the most of market share in the world; there are some potential problems in Apple Inc. The metaphors described in Gareth Morgan's book “Images of Organizations” can help us to maintain a professional stance about the situations. They also help us to find new ways to give recommendations. Specifically, the machine, living system, brain, culture,
There is an extraordinary breadth and depth and tenure among the Apple executive team, and these executives lead over 35,000 employees that I would call “all wicked smart.” And that’s in all areas of the company, from engineering to marketing to operations and sales and all the rest. And the values of our company are
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,
The most important of Apple’s organizational structure are Spoke-and-Wheel Hierarchy, Product-Based Grouping and Function-Based Grouping. In the past, everything went through Steve Jobs’ office and he made all the major decisions. Nonetheless, the hierarchy in Apple’s organizational structure has slightly changed when under Tim Cook’s leadership. There is now more consociation among different parts of the company, such as software teams and hardware teams. Apple’s vice presidents have more autonomy and the company’s organizational structure is now less stiff, but still has a spoke-and-wheel hierarchy where Tim Cook is at the center. Besides, the lower level of Apple’s organizational structure has product-based grouping, which is an element derived from the divisional type of organizational structure. Below the senior vice presidents, there are many vice presidents for different outputs or products. For example, Apple has a vice president for every product and this aspect of the organizational structure enables Apple to address specific products or product components. Lastly, the upper level of Apple’s organizational structure has function-based grouping, which is elements derived from the functional type of organizational structure. For instance, each senior vice president need to reports to Tim Cook who deal with the business
Meyer (2015) states the main features of Apple’s Organizational Structure and she defines it to be their
Apple 's vision mirrors the business ' comprehensive methodology in ensuring continuous growth and achievement of goals. The company helps direct decision-makers and all other employees in working towards the achievement of continuous worldwide success and innovation. Moreover, the company 's mission is to create and implement the best tailor made individual computer machinery
Apple is an American multinational corporation which designs, manufactures and markets a range of consumer electronics and software products (Apple Inc., 2008). At the end of last fiscal year, Apple’s worldwide annual sales amounted to $32.5 billion, an increase of 35% from 2007 (Apple Inc., 2008). Not surprisingly then, was Apple voted America’s most admired company, also topping the global survey (Fortune,
Both Bolman & Deal’s frame of organization and Morgan’s Metaphors provided a number of insights into the nature of organizations and structure. Most of these theories can be applied separately or jointly to examine organization as well as to diagnose problems that guide managers into a better understanding of their organization. Therefore, the main purpose of this analysis aims to make sense of Apple Inc. as an organization and to identify its
What the structure of apple company is customized management institution,the ice of bureaucratic hurdles was broken by this creative simplifies structure. It is the creative culture that Apple Company has launched the new technology new products come out every year.
Apple Inc. has provided some services or benefits to the workers in the company so that Apple Inc. can achieve job satisfaction and organizational commitment to the employees. When employees know what they are doing matters they will do their best. If the employee is satisfied with his or her job they will deliver the same level of work ethic and do a good job.