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 is a multibillion-dollar company that we thought would be very useful to analyze since they have had so much success with their products and marketing techniques, specifically the Mac computers. We saw the opportunity to learn a lot from their different marketing approaches and strategies with their computers against the competitors.
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 organizational structure is relevant to the research article “Geeks in Toyland” as it demonstrates Steve Jobs’ role at Apple, and the importance of various departments (which
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,
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
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
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).
When someone thinks about Apple, they realize that it is the biggest company in the world. This is because it has more than $700 billion in market capitalization, more than twice the second company. The immense appeal of the company is based on the fact that is has really embraced this concept of spirituality in the workplace. This is done through this philosophy of design and customer oriented focus. Through these two principles, they have innovated and developed some of the most popular devices people use today. In fact, they have created an almost cult-like following where people are very loyal to the brand and it is clear that it takes its position as seriously by encouraging creativity and being bold in their
Apple is strong today because of the way that it was built by its co-founder Steve jobs. With his leadership skills, the culture he put into place and the socialization process of the new employees, incorporating them into the company’s beliefs and values, were just building blocks to the bigger picture. Apple is also successful due to the fact that it has good communication within it that improved after a specific incident in the past by implementing what is known as a “Direct Responsible Individual” (DRI). A mistake at Apple will almost never go unpunished and because of this, Apple employees perform at 110%.
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
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
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. 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.
Apple is one of the world 's top user electronics and personal computer companies. The Cupertino, California-based Company was founded in 1977 as Apple Computer Inc. It dropped the "Computer" from its name in early 2007. Apple 's present place in the international market place is a faraway cry from its humble starts, by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne marketing hand-made private computer tools in the late '70s. Company continual to focus on individual computers for the next decades, but in recent years that focus has lifted more to customer electronics such as the Ipod, iPad and iPhone. But, Apple moreover sells a range of associated software, services and applications, with certain of the best prominent non-electronics goods being the iCloud, iOS, Mac OS and Apple TV. The company has great work knowledge. According to its authorized website, there are 3 main sorts of jobs offered for staffs. They are business, retail warehouse and students and college graduates. Jobs are broken down to humble and separate duties then every worker will be tasked based on their talents for example, hardware and software engineering, selling store manager and on-campus representative. But, even their jobs are broken down definitely to employees’ talent.