Apple Inc Culture Has Both

Advantages And Disadvantages

Business Essay
Introduction
Apple Inc, a multinational company delivers high standard computer products,
communication products, and entertainment product such as Mac Computers,
Iphones, Ipads and Ipods. The American company was developed and formed
in Cupertino, California in the year 1976. The company was incorporated in
1977 as Apple Computer, Inc. The company started as computer
manufacturer, and over the years the company grew rapidly was soon more
than a computer manufacturer. The high standard operating system Mac OS
made them unique among the competitors from the same industry. At the
moment Apple, Inc is one among the top rated in the fortune companies and
is well established as a PC, Mobile phone, and software developers and
distributors worldwide.
The company was formed in the year of 1976 the incorporation took place in
the year of 1977; also the first computer was introduced in the year of 1977.
The founders of Apple Inc (founded as Apple Computer Inc) are Steven Paul
Jobs, Stephen Gary Wozniak, and Ronald Gerald Wayne. But Wayne has left
Apple before the incorporation, the real twist in its growth and development
was with the entry of Mike Markkula who was the former marketing manager
at Intel Corporation. Markkula offered a financial support for Apple Computer
Inc. He had invested $ 250, 000 and some expertise for expanding Apples
business.
At first, they manufactured a computer without key boards and monitors, the
computers even sold without a case. The first computer is named as Apple I.
Following Apple I the company had launched Apple II which covers all the
drawbacks of Apple I. Apple II had added advantages over its predecessor,
including a colour display and a cassette storage drive. The introduction of
Apple II was a great success and it enhanced $ 1 million annual sales.
By the year 1979 Apple launched Apple II+ computers which came out with
better memory and features that Apple II.
During the 1980s Apple introduced their Apple III computers. The launch was
a big failure. The analysts stated that the PC had launched without sufficient
tests, as a result many of the units turned out to be defective.
Following that Apple continued to remain innovative in product development.
One of their greatest innovations was their Ipods which is able to store and
play music files with the help of their own Itune software. The unique design
and ultra portability made the product favorite for all kinds of customers.
Following that they have introduced their first mobile phone, which was there
entry in to the booming mobile phones industry. The mobile phone is top
rated for their unique features, and enormous designs. It was great success in
the smart phones category. With all their high standard products and
innovations the company had remained top rated even in the recession.
According to the second quarter report Apple Inc, the 2010 second quarter
revenues raised up to $ 13.5 billion, the second quarter revenue of 2009
reported as $ 9.08 billion. Also the profit margin raised from $ 39.9 % to $ 41.
7 %, Mac PCs shows 33 % unit growth and Ipones shows 131 % unit growth
compared to the previous quarter. Whereas, Ipods shows 1 % decline in unit
growth, the major portion of the revenue is contributed by Iphones.

Organisational behaviour
According to Mullins, (2005), Organizational behavior as the study and
understanding of individual and group behavior, and patterns of structure in
order to help improve organizational performance and effectiveness, (Mullins,
2005, p.26)
Organizational culture is complex and multi-faceted. Culture is intangible and
varies from organization to organization. Many authors came up with relevant
theories regarding these subjects. It can be defined in simple terms as the
way things are done in an organization.
Mullins, 2005 stated that according to Handy there are 4 main ways that
organizational culture can be classified, they are as follows:
Power Culture
Role Culture
Task Culture
Person Culture
Power Culture
Organization in this category tend to have minimal rules and regulations, also
it is largely dependant on a central character. The decisions are made by this
central character or a central group. The focus group of Apple Inc have
proved to be best at what they are doing so far. Though this type of culture is
adopted by small enterprises, Apple Inc have adopted this due to the fact that
they emphasise on delivering quality over anything else.
Role Culture
The organization in this category, tend to have a bureaucratic way of
organizational culture. It very much sticks to the rules and regulations of the
company. In this culture, organizations tend to work as the strong pillars,
where individual values have less importance, whereas the positions play
important roles. In Apple Inc, there involved a level of secracy as individual
opinions were not acepted at all points and there were flaws in communication
as well. While looked upon from a human resource view, this proved to have
affected the product development at various stages. Where as, when looked
upon from a product development prospective, this proved to be a more
challenging and more demanding quality of significant importance. In most
cases the pillars are controlled by the role, also roles and job descriptions are
more important than individual performance.
Task Culture
In this culture, organizations are more concerned about the objective and
tasks. It does not pay much importance to HR rules and regulations as this
culture is more tasks oriented. Expertise and individual performance are more
valued than the positions and roles. The communication tends to be both
ways and the employees are free to express their ideas and suggestions at
Apple Inc. Also decision making is not relied on information from a single
source and the employees take part in expressing their opinion or the
managers gathered ideas from the co-workers.
But reports at Apple Inc show that this culture can be difficult to achieve
economies of scales. In todays fast moving digital world, many companies
including Apple Inc adopted this style of operation. In olden days this has
been seen in the aeronautic engineering, but now-a-days some of the
multinational IT companies are adopting this style, because they are keen
about their organisational goals and tasks.
Person Culture
Individuals are the key factors for this concepts, this culture is normally seen
in animal protection organizations.
According to Mullins, (2005) Geert Hofstede also identified four dimensions to
organizational culture and work place differences. They are as follows:

Power Distance
Uncertainty Avoidance
Individualism
Masculinity
Power Distance
In this culture there is high level of disparity. According to Hofstede this culture
is totally dependent on the management; in this concept subordinates should
obey the superiors. Communication tends to flow from top to down. It is seen
in military operations, at the moment organisations are trying to reduce power
distance and putting their maximum efforts to bring equality in organizations.
Apple had this within the management and this was a factor that affected the
overall performance to a certain extend.
Uncertainty Avoidance
As Hofstede linked the national culture and organizational culture, uncertainty
avoidance refers to the unexpected situations or unusual situations that a
society or the employees of an organization feels that they are going to face.
Apple Inc had this problem as there was a level of secrecy maintained among
the employees. They themselves were not aware of what was happening
around them.
Individualism
Individualism refers to the individuals being capable of looking after
themselves. At Apple Inc, the context of organizational behavior is applicable
to some parts of the organization that the employees are self driven. They are
highly committed to what they do pertaining to work and were not able to take
care of themselves.
Masculinity
It refers to the gender difference in organizational behavior, in some society
the womens value is not differed from mens but in some society it differs
women has less value that the men. Automatically it affect the organizational
behavior, if an organization provide the same positions for men and women, it
may bring internal conflict in that particular organization.
Leadership
Leadership is not about the leader, it is about how he builds the confidence of
everyone else. Leaders are responsible for both the big structures that sever
as the cornerstone of confidence, and the human touches that shape a
positive emotional climate to inspire and motivate people. Leaders delivering
confidence by espousing high standards in their messages, exemplifying
these standards in the conduct they model and establishing formal
mechanism to provide a structure for acting on those standards. (Mullins J. L,
2007, p.362)
A diagrammatic representation of leadership
Subordinates-centered Leadership
Boss-Centered Leadership
Use Authority by Manager
Area of freedom for subordinates
Manager makes decisions and announce it
Managers permits subordinates to function within defined limits
Managers presents problems, gets suggestions and make decisions
Manager presents ideas and invites questions
Managers presents tentative decisions to change
subject
Manager sells decision
Managers define limits, and asks group to make
decision
(Mullins J. L, 2007, p.362)
What is good at Apple, Inc?
Innovative and task driven culture
Apple Inc is totally focused on innovation, in another word they always tries
make superior and unique products to gain competitive advantages. For this
purpose they are very keen to choose the best work force available. Hard
work and commitment is the main quality that the company seek from it
employees. There is a common saying that there is always more work to do
than the employees. A relaxed and informal atmosphere is created in the
working campus, many researches proved that the employees at Apple Inc is
relaxed and at the same time highly committed to tasks given by the
company. The company is always taking keen interest to entertain their
employees after the working hours. As discussed, the company is recognized
as innovator therefore it always prefers workaholic people. In one way the
company is adopting Handys task oriented organizational culture, in this
culture Handy described that organizations are less formal and highly task
oriented.

It is agreed that Apple Inc is adopting an innovative and task driven culture,
but at the same time they have very strong work ethics and very strict
deadlines. The best example for this there working hour, an employee is
working 60 to 70 hours per week. The employees believe that apple is not just
for making money.
The innovations helped the company gain market reputation, at the same time
it helps the employee to learn more things every day. That is one of the main
things that employees are seeking for, especially in software and computer
related fields. The technology is changing day by day, and Apple Inc is always
trying to innovate something which can surprise the world. It helps the
employees even after they left the organization, the world knows that the
employees coming out from Apple will be highly committed, task driven and
hard working, also they can contribute expertise in to other business in which
they are selected for.
Individualism
According to Hofstede, in this culture employees are capable or expected look
after themselves. Apple Inc is allowing their employees to work themselves.
The employees must run their own shows. Because of that the company is
always seeking for the best talents, also the guidance are given occasionally,
as a result the employees are becoming self confident and self motivated, and
they clearly focused and showing high commitment to the tasks. Also they
always ready to take more responsibilities. There is common belief in the
employees mind that Apple Inc is always seeing for accomplishment rather
than the relationship building. Individual has the opportunities to prove their
ability and get the reward. The opportunity to grow is wide open in Apple Inc.
As it is highly focused on the innovation and their keen interest to launch
something new and inspiring allow the employees make the days creating and
challenging. It is widely accepted by the employees at Apple Inc is that every
day that they can learn and they can experience something new. Therefore
the individual opportunities to grow and learn is more compared to any other
multinational firms, also the employees are capable to their own tasks without
any guidance.
Diversity and Cross - functionality
Apple Inc is a multinational which is always looking for the best talents and
committed work force, therefore from all the parts of world talented people are
appointed. Employees are most often used to work with multinational
workforce. It is also allowing the employees to learn different culture and
working styles. According many studies conducted, it has been realized that
employees are often find cross functional activities to perform the
accomplishment of the companys objectives or organizational goals.
Apple Inc. took all the necessary steps to promote diversity among its work
force and also there always make sure a non homogeneous workforce.
Furthermore they have set up partnerships with various of organizations.
Apple Inc has a partnership with National Black MBAs, National society of
Hispanics MBAs and the society of Women Engineers. These Kind of
organization promote diversity and allow the employees mix with diverse work
force. Apple Inc believes that the diversity in work force is one of the important
tasks to execute a successful corporate culture

Managers are asked to do different tasks other than their working area. Many
of the multinational firms are adopted cross functional activities in order make
their employees multitask oriented and to broaden up their abilities. Many
mangers in Apple Inc, stated that they have often asked to cross functional
activities which are out of their working area. For instance according to case
study, an input manager commented that he is involved in many of the cross
functional activities, one day he may asked to involve in industrial design,
another day he may asked to involve in the product design and software
engineering. These kind of cross functionality will make the employees to
work and enhance knowledge in different fields, also they may not be stick in
position they will always be creative and active. At the same time the
organization will allocate a smooth operation in regards human resource
management, it may not stuck if one or more employees are off or on
holidays, someone can easily cover up the situations.
Bonus and Benefits
The benefits in Apple Inc are differs from locations to locations and it is also
depends on the employment status. The company has taken number of steps
to make the employees feel good about the benefits offered by the company.
The companies benefit programs starts with the insurance coverage schemes,
also they initiated Flexible spending accounts, employees stock purchase
program, 401 saving and investment plan, product discounts for the staffs, on
site fitness programs also they offered the opportunities to work in big projects
where extra bonu is offered.
As discussed the bonus and benefits somewhat depends on the performance,
in the year 1995 Apple Inc has designed and implemented a program called
Apple Fellow Program. The main aim of the program is to identify the best
performer and from which employee the company has received extra ordinary
contribution. The Fellow program winners used to be the leader and they can
guide other for companys progress activities. In return the company offered
the Flexi benefit program to its staffs. Also the studies and researches shows
that Apple Inc had given free Iphones to its staffs after the unique mobile
phone has launched in the industry.
Opportunities and Job Securities
Career opportunities are very wide in Apple Inc, as it recognized as an
innovator the employee are having wide range of opportunities to prove their
caliber and can build their career on a performance wise. Also Apple Inc
conducting many internship programs which allow the employees to gain the
thorough knowledge in different fields. The employees working with Apple Inc
is coming out with a great confidence. According to Maslows pyramid after
basic need of human it very essential that employees feel job security. In case
of Apple Inc it is not only a job security, in Apple Incs words the company is
not providing employment security but it is providing employability security.
The people coming out from Apple Inc is highly demanded, employers are
happy offer opportunities for this candidates. Employers worldwide are well
aware that these candidates have a wide range experience and they can cope
up with any organizational culture. They expect a strong contribution from
these candidates.

Unique Corporate Culture
The organizational culture at Apple is highly focused on the jobs and
innovation, may CEQs came and made some changes in the culture, but over
the time the ultimate corporate culture is totally focused on innovation and the
jobs done. They are enjoying an informal culture at the same time they have
employed very strong deadlines and making the employees to have clear
focus on the objectives.
The founder Jobs did contributed the best of to make this Unique culture
possible for this company. Many of other multinational firms are adopting this
kind of organizational culture. The difference between these companies and
Apple Inc is that the other companies will be more flexible and they might lose
the focus and they wont be strict on the deadline like Apple Inc. On the other
hand Apple Inc is maintaining the informal culture and task oriented culture
but at the same time they are very much focused on the objectives and tasks
and they have very strong deadline with no compromise.
The corporate culture of Apple Inc, is making the employees or it is
encouraging the employees to make something Insanely Great and the CEO
Jobs said to be the founder of this culture. As discussed earlier many CEOs
came and altered the organizational corporate culture, but at the end of the
day Jobs came and restructured the culture, after he has come back he
realized that the company is lacking their original culture which was at time he
was the CEO. Experts opinioned and stated the result of this change is Imac.
What is bad at Apples, Inc
Lack of transparency of information
Apple Inc is recognized as an innovator and the products they are offering to
the market is unique and high standard. There is secret behavior has
maintained from the beginning of the business. In a way it is acceptable that
company is mainly focused on Innovations therefore a secrecy in information
is necessary, but may reports shows that the secrecy somehow making
trouble for smooth operation of the company. Their tight control over the
information caused many troubles; even it had led an employee to commit
suicide in China. Though they have not affected by the recession, considering
future growth of the company transparency of information is necessary.
Transparency of information helps the investors as well as the stake holders.
Many of the multinational companies showing keen interest in making the
information available to the public, but at Apple Inc secrecy is there part of the
corporate culture.
Reports show that the many of the product launches are surprising the staffs,
because it is kept secret, only the product developer and the senior
management are aware of the product. But thinking globally many great ideas
and suggestions can come out from the internal staffs, especially from the
marketing team, because they are the have the clear picture of market needs
and wants. Even the managers used to make wrong information product even
during the meetings.
Dysfunctional culture
There are assumptions many times that Apple Incs corporate culture moved
to dysfunctional. There are cases reported that many talented people they left
the company because they could not adjust and adopt the unique culture of
the company. According to the case study vice president is enjoying a greater
power in the company. Analysts pointed out that the company has less feeling
towards relationship with the employees but they strictly focused on the jobs.
An incident reported that vice president hired people and assigned a pay
scale twice than the senior employees working the firm.

Unfair Promotions and compensations
There are many cases that reports unfairness in promotion and analysts say
that the employees are treated unfairly. This is mainly because of their unique
corporate culture, as discussed earlier personal values have less important in
Apple Inc they prefer jobs and innovations but at the same time they are
creating a relaxed atmosphere for their employees. Also report says that only
top executives are compensated and appreciated for jobs done. The
employees claiming that even if they come out with new product, they dont
get enough appreciation. Also the promotions are given depends on the
interest of the managers. There are comments from employees that they are
not given enough opportunities grow their career.
Long Working Hours
Apple Inc is always preferred hard working people in another word they prefer
workaholic people who does not care about the working hours. An average
working hours per week in Apple Inc is 60 to 70, which is more than the
normal companies working hours. As we can see this will affect employees
family life. The job is also bit stressed and the employees must be creative
and enthusiastic all the time. For instance if an employee is working in the
product development department for 60 to 70 hours per week continuously
they might get over stressed, the particular department needs full
concentration all the time he or she is working. There case that former
employee sued Apple Inc for violating the labor law California, he complained
that he used to work 7 days every six weeks. The company is also aware of
that, there are cases after working these kinds of long hours the employees
were in therapy.
Highly Depending on Leadership
Apple Inc is highly depending on the leadership, The CEO Jobs has very
much influence on the corporate structure of Apple Inc. Analysts sees that
without Job Apple will nothing other than a normal software company. Also
analysts stated that the company will be struggling without Jobs. Looking into
the theoretical side one can see that Job the CEO of playing both democratic
and autocratic styles of leadership. In a way he is making an informal
atmosphere and creative opportunities for his employees at the same time the
company is very strict on the tasks and deadlines like a military camp. The
information are very secret and the will not tolerate any leakage of the
company information. The always kept a secret behavior.
Conclusion
Many of the issues have been discussed, it has been realized that Apple Inc
as multinational company has a unique at the same very challenging
corporate culture. Many supporters have wrote and many companies are
trying to adopt this culture, also many studies shows some of the major draw
backs of Apple Incs corporate culture. The study realized that the culture has
both advantages and disadvantages, the capacity of innovating unique and
high standard products the company attract more talented people in to their
business, the younger generation will love to work with as they can learn
something every day also they can expose themselves. On the other hand
there are some major draw backs, they have no transparency of information
also they have long working hours compared to another companies. With
some changes the corporate culture of Apple Inc can be the best in the world.
Recommendations
There are major issues that the company can change, they are as follows:
The information can be more transparent, the investor and stake holder are
always seeking transparent information. Also it can help to improve product
quality and can get tremendous ideas and suggestions from the co workers.
Transparency of information will help the company to know better the needs
and wants of the market.
The long working hours can be changed, maximum of 40 hours working hours
will help the employee to relax, a relaxed mind can produce greater idea than
a stressed and week mind.
Having multiple senior executives will allow the company to continue their
activities, eve if one senior executive left the organisation.
All the employee should be treated same, equality is another great fact for the
success of an organization, more talented people will be attracted to
organisation. Job appreciation will encourage the employees to work more
committed and task oriented.


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