Apple is a leading manufacturer of profusion electronics based in the United States. The luxurious products manufactured by the company have earned a household name, particularly in the United States. One of the primary reasons consumers like being associated by with the company s its rich culture and excellent leadership. When Steve Jobs conceived the company’s idea, he was determined to move beyond the mediocrity of being an average electronic company. Even after his death, the organizational culture, leadership, and ethics that he had nurtured remain core to the operations of the corporation.
Apple’s Organizational Culture
The company’s culture has been a distinguishing factor between it and other close competitors. Research indicates that the ability of the management to tailor the organizational culture to contribute to the objectives and goals enables the mission and vision to remain on track. Apple’s management has been tuning the corporation’s culture to reflect the dynamics of the industry. The company’s internal culture revolves around excellence, creativity, innovation, confidentiality, and non-combativeness. The internal policy requires the management to hire only the outstanding candidates to fill any arising vacancies(Garsten, 2014). Jobs, the pioneer, set the bar so high that some workers who did not meet the expectations were relieved of their duties. Tim Cook has perpetuated the culture. The implication of this tendency is observed in the continued excellence of the products that the company presents to the consumer.
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Secondly, the company is founded on creativity. Steve Jobs believed in the eminence of new ideas other than importing blueprints that could easily be emulated by others. The culture enables the company to develop the iPhone, iPod and the Apple Laptop. The iPhone is one of its kind in the market since it uses a rare operating system which has been patented by the company. The culture of uniqueness attracts high-spending consumers who prefer possessing ostentatious products(Garsten, 2014).
According to Garsten (2014), innovation is also an inherent culture in the company. New employees are put through a process of rigorous training and mentorship to trigger their creativity. The corporation’s workplace is regarded as the innovative in the globe. The management allows them to be autonomous in research, decisionmaking and making trials to encourage the employees to introduce new ideas To encourage the employees to introduce new ideas. Also, to remain relevant in the industry, Apple ensure that the innovation is rapid(Garsten, 2014).
Secrecy is also a core internal value that employees observe. In the competitive industry, most companies scout for talents and this puts the intellectual property rights and information at the risk of leaking. In Apple, the workers have been nurtured to conduct their work with passion and objectivity. Theyare also rewardedhandsomely, and this minimizes the chances of the innovations being emulated by the rivals through the luring of the employees(Garsten, 2014).
Under Tim Cook, the company has assumed the culture of being less combative. Steve Jobs had a tendency of challenging the employees and sometimes pushing them to the limit of their abilities. Although this was meant to trigger their innovation, it resulted in pressure and less satisfaction in work. Tim Cook, however, adopted a less combative approach that is more casual. As Garsten (2014) observes, the executive believes that this will intensify the workers’ efforts since it makes them more autonomous and self-challenging.
Apple’s Organizational Leadership
Leadership has played a central role in Apple in propelling it to the current position. The leaders who have held the top position have been described as both charismatic and democratic. At the corporation, charisma is imperative for the young workers to emulate the highly performing leaders and innovators. Thiswas observed in Steve Jobs who not only oversaw the course of activities in the company but also formed a critical part of the research and development team.
Unlike other rival companies that capitalize on expanding the market, Apple’s leadership focuses on meeting the needs of the existing clients while gradually getting new consumers in the different niches(Abraham, 2014). For instance, Tim Cook is very particular with the American market. It is noteworthy that Apple is a household name in the country. Concentrating on manufacturing products that are appealing to the consumers almost to the point of surprising them has enabled him to be seen as a better leader than his predecessor.
As ademocratic leader, Cook is passionate about the plight of the company’s employees. The approach has developed at the corporation over time, itis largely instigated by the need to create autonomy and retain talents. Having worked under Job, Cook was aware of the several shortcomings that were in the organization, and he started resolving the immediately earned a place in the influential position. The company’s leadership can also be termed as casual and collaborative. Since Job’s era, there existed no barrier to accessing the management for consultation(Abraham, 2014). The managers work closely with the employees, and they are all leaders of highly effective teams.
Ethical Practices in Apple
According to Lunenburg (2012), companies have to strike a balance between raking in profits and maintaining desirable ethics in the contexts in which they operate. Although Apple boasts as one of the most successful companies in the electronics industry, it has been criticized for bending various ethical considerations. Due to the increasing cost of production, Apple has contracted electronic companies in Asia to manufacture computer parts, screens, batteries, and microchips. However, the company has not been strict in monitoring the activities of the companies, particularly their hiring processes and human resource management. The corporation has been strict on quality and timely delivery of the products.Tofurtherreduce the operating cost, the companies, especially in China, employ underage children with the intention of exploiting the. Also, they have been in thelimelight of the media for overworking employees and failing to pay them appropriately for the extra hours spent in the workplace. For instance, Foxconn, a company that has been outsourced by Apple has been faulted for disregarding basic employee rights.
According to Wopschall (2016),the ethical responsibilitytrickles down to Apple because the management did not conduct a thorough background of the companies before awarding the tenders. The practice also contradicts the popularized moral conducted indicated by the company in its human resource briefs. According to the company, their employees are treated according to the internally set standards of human and labor rights as well as the internally best practices. The corporation’s workers are not required to work for more than 60 hours a week and are entitled to a day off after every six days (Apple Inc., 2014). Although the supplier has not been in a position to meet ball the requirements, the blame has been shifted to Apple for failing to settle for the compliant companies.
Secondly, Apple has been accused of exploiting its consumer base in Australia. In the country, Apple enjoys a bigger market share than its rivals. The precision and luxury derived from its products have earned it the admiration of the consumers. However, the devices have varying prices in the United States and Australia (Wopschall, 2016).Also, the company has been under heavy criticism for exploiting consumers and providing software that restricts distribution rights.
Apple has also been accused of taking partin deceptive advertising campaigns aimed at concealing some vital information regarding the products, particularly with iPhone 4. According to Wopschall (2016), engaging in misleading promotions can only benefit an enterprise in the short-run but become detrimental in future. There have been several cases in court with Apple being sued withholding the information on iPhone 4’s battery charging capacity. On average, the battery can only be charged between 300 and 400 times meaning that it has a useful life of one year(Wopschall, 2016). It was utterly unethical to advertise such a highly valued commodity with disclosing such damaging facts. The increasing number of consumer and stakeholder complaints triggered the management to form the Audit and Finance Committee that advises the management on ethical compliance.
Power and Political Behavior in Apple
The dynamics of power are visible in almost every organization. In Apple, there is an immense influence in the leadership. Tim Cook has the final say on most decision-making matters even after engaging the input of various stakeholders. As the CEO he also enjoys rewarding power (Lunenburg, 2012). The highly innovative culture that is coupled with internal competition thatwasnurtured by Job is still operation in the company. Cook and his teamdecideon how to reward the outstanding workers for exemplary performance as well as punishing those who do not perform to their expectations. He also exudes expert power. By being an innovator and a leader in the company for many years, his expertise makes him the most preferred candidate to replace Jobs. As a result, he commands respect among the junior and senior members who acknowledge his outstanding management skills that have enabled the company to continue earning huge profits in a highly competitive environment.
Political behavior is also observed in in the management rewarding criteria. The expectations and threshold of innovation are set according to the best that the company can offer. For instance, when Steve Jobs was the CEO, he challenged the employees and pushed them to be like him. Since his skills were unmatched, some employees bowed to the workplace pressure and left. Those who remained were rewarded according to their level of innovation. Although Jobs’ move was to retain the best talents, the tendency was more of political behavior. The same is observed with the current management, although with more mild intensity.
In conclusion, organization culture, leadership, ethics, and power behavior determine the effectiveness of the activities that an organization engages in both in the short and long-run. Organization culture is imperative in realizing the objectives and consequently the mission. Apple Corporation has a competitive culture built on creativity, innovation, and secrecy. However, the company has been criticized for tolerating exploitative labor practices and providing false information on iPhone 4. Power and politics are also evident in internal appointments, innovation standards, and rewarding.
References
Abraham, M. (2014). Five Leadership skills that made Steve Jobs transform Apple .
Apple Inc. (2014). Ethical Practice: Apple Inc . Retrieved from https://rmtheory2practice.wordpress.com/2014/10/19/ethical-practice-apple-inc/
Garsten, C. (2014). Apple World: Core and Periphery in a Transnational Organizational Culture: A Study of Apple Computer Inc . United Kingdom U.K.: Coronet Books.
Lunenburg, F. C. (2012). Power and leadership: an influence process. International Journal of Management, Business, and Administration , 15 (1), 1-9.
Wopschall, C. (2016). Business Ethics Case Analyses . Retrieved from http://businessethicscases.blogspot.co.ke/2016/04/apple-inc-severe-employee-abuse-2011.html
