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Apple Inc


Apple is probably the most well-known company when it comes to the making of technology that
is cutting edge and something that everyone wants to have in their possession. Apple Computer
first came to be a company in 1976 when Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak when they released
the Apple I and was located in Cupertino, California. These two young men dropped out of
college, and were often viewed as outcasts in most of the places that they were at, including
schools, which could have been the reason that they dropped out of college. As most people
have heard, Apple really started in the basement or garage, depending on who the person talks
to rather than at some expensive business location. Which is perhaps the reason so many
people were first intrigued by the brand and could be the reason that the computers were such a
success, they were created by guys that knew what they wanted and passed this on to the rest
of the world. And what they wanted was something that other people wanted as well.

Logo of Apple Inc
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Until the nineties, the company produced some of the best personal computers that could be
found on the market, including the Apple brand, Macintosh and Power Mac computers.
However, they saw a downfall in their sales after nineties as the competition began to increase
and the company was then trying to figure out what to do differently to keep their company
running. The year 2001 was a banner year for the company since this was the year that they
introduced the Apple iPod, which is one of those devices that have many other companies
copying, though none can be as good as the original.

The first order that the two built is somewhat of an amazing feat that was the beginning of the
company. After being introduced to one another, they made a working model of their computer
and took it to a nearby computer store in order to try to make it onto the market. The owners of
the store ordered fifty of the machine that was to be fully assembled and ready to go, which
seemed to be an impossible feat. However, they did succeed as they bartered and promised
many IOU's to companies to get the parts that they would need since they had no money to buy
these on their own. They finished all fifty machines in thirty days and took them to the store to
sell, which they received around five hundred dollars apiece for these machines. They were a
hit with those that came to the store.

The company continued to stay on top of their game and improve upon their technology; they
produced such things as the iMac, which really did help to propel the company in the eyes of
many consumers. Now, Apple is a brand that most people automatically know all over the world.
They are known for their innovative technology that is usually the first of its kind on the market
and something that all people love to own and make their lives a bit easier with the
advancements that they gave people.

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Cross-Cultural Communication

The success of a business depends on its ability to communicate. Communication
serves as the medium for instruction, assessment, interpersonal relationships, group
interactions and all other interaction that takes place in business. With globalization, business is
no longer constrained within the boundaries of a single country. Large business organizations
have corporate offices in different parts of the world. They need to communicate in order to
promote coordination and also in multinational companies people from different parts of the
world.


Apple has two completely different styles when communicating internally and externally.
Internally Apple is open, holding many meetings and presentations to make sure everyone know
the same information on everything that pertains to them. Externally executive might have
developed a relationship with a customer, but these were respectively tied to either a sales
event or a problem that had been escalated to executive levels. Neither situation constituted a
real dialogue between the parties. Apple tried to abstract the customer and had its former CEO,
Steve Jobs, basically act as a customer advocate, which was impressively successful in that he
both seemed to have a good sense of what people wanted and/or how to convince people that
they wanted what Apple sold. But this was less communications than it was gaming human
behavior. Once again, the problem was scaling communications, and real dialogues didnt
scale.

Apple culture also is as distinct as its products are groundbreaking. Thats no accident;
one leads to the other. Its evident in every aspect of the company, every interaction with every
employee from executive management to the salespeople in its renowned Apple stores.

This will allow customers to communicate with companies and executives to talk with
customers, but in a way that scales both up and down. It will aggregate customer needs and
auto-escalate problems with inbound information, and auto-customize and disseminate
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outbound communication with the decision engine in the middle, handling much of the load.
Ironically, it will have taken us centuries and a ton of technology to restore the pre-Industrial
Revolution connection between company and customer.

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Cross-Cultural Negotiation

Here are five tactics Jobs used to negotiate throughout the exchangewithout once
being pushy or rude:
Be willing to walk awayFirst, Jobs makes it clear that HarperCollins needs Apple
more than Apple needs HarperCollins. They already have other publishers on board.
While he makes it clear that they would like to work with HarperCollins, they will let the
deal fall through before giving in to their demands. Let the other person know youre
ready to move on if terms arent met.
Sell others on the big pictureJobs says that he believes an e-book revolution is
coming and that Apple will be at the center of it. And he uses numbers to back up his
claims: Apple sells more iPads than any other company, Apple has 120 million
customers with credit cards already in their system, and Apple led this same revolution
in the music industry with its iTunes store. Back up your demands with evidence.
Make the other person try to compromise firstSilence is a common tactic used in
face-to-face negotiation because it makes the other person uncomfortable. When
someone feels uncomfortable, they start to fill dead air by revealing their bottom line or
willingness to compromise. The next time you are in a negotiation, practice silence.
Youll notice that the other person immediately begins to negotiate against him or herself
(unless he or she knows this negotiation secret, of course).
Jobs did not engage in any negotiation with HarperCollins; he essentially re-explained
Apples terms and let Murdoch negotiate with himself. In his next email, Murdoch pushes for
compromise, hoping that Jobs would give a little as well. Thats when Jobs went in for the kill
with his final email.
Lay out the other persons options as you see themThis is a common tactic used
in negotiation; you lay out the other persons options as you see them to make sure that
what you want looks like the most attractive option. Jobs did this by declaring to
Murdoch that he only had three options:
1. Accept Apples terms
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2. Distribute only through Amazon and see his product devalued, which meant decreased
margins in the medium-term
3. Pull e-books completely from both stores (and face rampant piracy)
In reality, Murdoch probably had plenty of other options, but this simple list instills fear. In
contrast with the second and third options, Apples terms dont seem so bad.
Use Social ProofIn his emails, Jobs shares social proof such as: All the major
publishers tell us that Amazons $9.99 price for new releases is eroding the value
perception of their products in customers minds. Of course, not all major publishers
believe this; HarperCollins, the publisher hes trying to get on board, obviously does not
agree!
Here's another: Apple is the only other company [besides Amazon] currently capable of
making a serious impact [with e-books], and we have 4 of the 6 big publishers signed up
already. Its hard to argue with the fact that four out of the Big 6 publishers had already agreed
to Apples terms. People prefer to do the less risky thing, so if you can convince a few, you can
use their initial endorsement to convince the rest.

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Cross-Cultural Motivation

Most of successful organization shares a common attribute that employees play a
significant role in business performance. Therefore, each firm has their different strategy to
motivate their employee. These strategies still mainly focus on the Maslows hierarchy of needs.
As Apple Inc, a leader in technology industry has proved the efficiency in their strategy of
workers encouragement by turning into the most innovative and admired company in the world.

In Apples position, they have fulfilled their employee needs of physiological by setting
an average salary which basically can ensure survival. Then Apple also provides a wide range
of application to protect the safety need of workers such as the development of health and
safety standard training more employees to identify hazards or providing safety equipment.
Furthermore, the improvement in Apple research to provide employee a better workplace
including support of social networks, work group and enhance worker-supervisor relationships.

Beside the satisfaction of priority needs in Maslows theory, Apple Inc is focusing more
on the higher-order needs. As an example of assuring the Esteem need, Apple rewarded its
executives by giving them a recognition bonus of salary from 3 to 5 percent. This method
indicates the approval of Apple to its employees who has effectively finished their works.
Another good example for esteem need is that Apples worker can receive a free Iphones. It is
not only a benefit to worker but also an effective motivator because it would increase employee
responsibilities when they see the end result of their effort. At the highest needs in Maslows
hierarchy.

Apple has successfully motivated its workers by creating more opportunities for
employees to participate in education and development program over 200,000 employees since
2008. Importantly, as Borchers, who is an engineer for Apple said that Steve Jobs didnt have a
specific device in mind, and he only gave the team a mission create a phone that people would
love so much that they would never leave the house without it. As a result, this mission has
been wildly successful because Apple corporate gave their employee the chance to be creative
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growth and also breaking the rule. In conclusion, motivation employees are critically important
for the successful of a company. And Apple is worth as a leader, their strategy is a perfect
example because they was not only getting employee to do something or fulfill their needs, but
also getting these employees want to do and work for Apple.


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Apple Motivation System

Apple applies different motivational tools to get their employees up to the mark. The
Sales Manager is normally, acutely aware of the importance of having a team that is highly
motivated so that the set tasks are achieved and the organization moves closer towards its set
goals. Apple motivation system determines all variables in affecting the motivational levels of
employees, and one of them is Job Satisfaction.

Creating a culture of trust leverage the power of peer recognition and focusing on the
enablers and tools that help sales people reach their potential in an increasingly complex
business environment. These are all the critical parts of the overall picture of motivating sales
force that Apple use.

By gaining a deeper knowledge of human motivation, Apple sales system focus on
encouraging and rewarding the behavior that help produce high performance. Apple identifies
the motivational factors that the whole company relies on as: - Recognition
New challenges.
Opportunities to meet new people.
A chance to learn and develop new skills.
Autonomy being given extra responsibility.
Clear Goals: A chance to achieve tangible outcomes.
Feeling involved.
Status : A new title or privileges

The next are the tools used by the sales manager to motivate Apple sales team. 1-
Encourage sales team by Involve them in making important decisions. Employees are motivated
when they feel appreciated. Patting people on the back for a job well done is a good first step
but asking them for their input is even more powerful. Apple job enrichment support the way
sales managers can challenge the sales representative is to give them big responsibilities,
authority & contests over their jobs.
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Cross-Cultural Decision Making

Decision making is the process of choosing a course of action among alternatives.
Decision making can either be centralized or decentralized. Decision making is centralized if
most of the important decisions are made at the top. If decision making is decentralized,
decisions are delegated to operating personnel. Apple is one of the largest technological
companies in the world. Its large size is one of the main reasons it is a centralized company. For
2012, Apple planned a capital investment of $8 billion, an astronomical amount. Thus
companies with high capital investment encourage centralization.

As for Apple, the top executives make many decisions in a centralized organization and
convey the decisions to managers at lower levels, creating a top-down management style. All
divisions and locations are expected to adhere to policies and procedures approved by top-level
managers. While this may seem like all employees are expected to conform to one way of
thinking, stifling creative problem solving, centralization creates streamlined processes and
allows the entire organization to utilize the same resources throughout the company. This can
create process efficiency, but centralization typically does not allow employees to make and
implement their own decisions without approval from levels higher up.

Even though Apple is a centralized company but not all of the decision is made by the
top management. This is because the CEO believes that decision making is made from the
ideas from the employees too. He also meets with his team of people and works on ideas and
solves their problem that occurs. Moreover Apple hire great people and have the stay working
for the company the employees are given the opportunity to make a lot of decisions and he
once quoted you have to run by ideas, not hierarchy. The best ideas have to win, otherwise
good people dont stay . Thus in order to make the organization more effective and efficient the
company is flexible in doing the decision making according to certain situation.

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Human Resource Management

Unlike many organizations, Apple Computer, based in Cupertino, California, hasn't had
to make the shift from a paternalistic company to one that encourages employees to take
responsibility for them. This isn't because the company still believes it has a benevolent need to
care for its workers, but because it never felt this way to begin with. Apple's philosophy on
employee career development is plainly stated in its career-management brochure: "Apple can't
guarantee lifelong employment. Your responsibility is to drive your own development and
career."

This doesn't mean, however, that Apple has absolved itself of all responsibilities related
to employee career development. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth. For a company
that promotes empowerment and personal responsibility, Apple has made a great many
resources available to help employees with career management. As Nancy Dewey, employee-
relations manager, explains, "We view career management as a partnership."

For the employees, the company's career-management strategy is intended to help them
identify skills and abilities, making them ready for current or future career opportunities. For
Apple, career management is intended to help ensure that the company has the talent and skills
needed for the business to succeed. The company views career self-management as central to
its success, believing such a program can attract, develop and retain versatile and qualified
employees.

Among the resources that are offered to employees through Apple's career-management
program are:
A comprehensive career resource library.
It is a collection of current information on careers through a variety of sources, including
newspapers, magazines, books and audio/video tapes. The library also offers a listing of job
opportunities to help employees identify internal positions with Apple and positions with other
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industries. Furthermore, the library houses a bulletin board that features up-to-date information
on industry trends and professional associations.
Brown bag seminars.
These informal, one-hour sessions help employees keep current on industry, business and
career trends.
Assessment and counseling.
Apple's Career Resource Center offers a variety of skills and interest assessments to help
employees understand themselves and appreciate how different personality types approach
career planning and career choices. Confidential one-on-one counseling also is available to
employees who want to discuss on-the-job career development issues.
Networking groups.
Weekly networking groups help employees who are interested in getting to know more about
the functional areas at Apple, from either a developmental or career-change perspective.
Members of networking groups also share leads and information on work outside the company.
Online job posting.
Apple encourages employees to pursue internal transfers through its electronic Job Finder.
Employees can access job postings at any time through their desktop computers.

Until 1993, Apple's career resources only were available to employees who were victims
of downsizing. (It was the period of recession when companies cut 10% of its work force.
(1992)), however, Apple's HR managers realized it would be a smart business move to help all
employees proactively manage their careers. Why? "Our industry changes rapidly, and we're no
longer certain what business we're going to be in at any given time," Dewey says. "We can't
offer job security, but we can offer tools, resources and information."

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Organizational Culture of Apple

Apple Inc. is a global computer manufacturing company that is going through major
changes in its organizational culture and its organizational structure due to several events of the
past few years. Apple is going through major restructuring to regain control of its operations and
finances in order to stay competitive on the global market. With the recent passing of Steve
Jobs, there has been an intense spotlight focused on both the man and the company he built.
And while much of the attention has rightfully been focused on Jobs passion and creativity, as
well as the remarkable period of innovation he presided over, there is another factor that has
flown somewhat under the radar. That factor is the critical role that company culture played in
Apples success. When people think about Apples products, the first words that come to their
mind are words such as simple, elegant, and innovative are among the first. These values were
critically important to Steve Jobs, and he instilled them into the Apples company culture.

These core values are the reason that Apple products have been so consistently
excellent, and they are the reason that you can walk into any Apple store globally and have
essentially the same experience. From sales associates to top executives, Apple is united by a
common culture. And it is that culture that ensures that Apple customers enjoy the experience
that they have come to expect whenever they interact with Apple whether by using their iPhone,
visiting an Apple store, or calling Apples technical support line.

Apples ruthless corporate culture is just one piece of a mystery that virtually every
business executive in the world would love to understand. The culture of Apple was based on
an idea that self-motivated individuals will work harder if they do not have a boss
micromanaging every action. The organizational structure of Apple was almost non-existent and
focused on placing decision making in the hands of the people in the field. At Apple there is
never any confusion as to who is responsible for what. Any effective meeting at Apple will have
an action list.

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Apple teaches their employees to accept a culture of responsibility by hosting a series of
weekly meetings that are the devices that sets the beat for the entire company. In a 2008
interview with Fortune magazine, Steve Job himself explain that every Monday they will review
the whole business and look at every single product under development. Simplicity is the key to
Apples organizational structure. Their organizational chart is deceptively straightforward with
none of the dotted-line or matrix responsibilities popular elsewhere in the corporate world.

Specialization is the norm at Apple, and as a result, Apple employees arent exposed to
functions outside their area of expertise. Learning to work at Apple takes time. To echo its own
famous ad campaign, Apple thinks differently about business. Prototypes and demos always
come before spreadsheets. For example, Microsoft tries to find pockets of unrealized revenue
and then figures out what to make but Apple is just the opposite. They think of great products,
and then sell them.

Apple also emphasize strictly on their product design. For them, design is everything.
This is because they assume that consumer will be attracted first by the design of a product
then only they will check out the technical specification of the product. On top of that, Apple first
rule for their employees is they must not talk about apple outside of the company. The general
idea is that their employee must assume that they are part of something much bigger than what
or who they are. The ideas they talk about in the hall, the neat tricks they figured out in CSS, the
new unibody machining technique, that's part of their job, something they are paid to do for
Apple's success, not something they need to blog about to satisfy their ego or needs. Lastly, all
employees of Apple work or task is peer-vetted. Apple desire and demand their employees to
practice a collaborative atmosphere.

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Recommendation

When Apple Inc first entered the computer industry, they were able to revolutionize the
way home computing was both viewed and accessed. This naturally have them a large market
share especially with the huge successes of the Apple II. Ever since then, Apple saw their
market share on the industry leaders in market share. However, when IBM also known as
International Business Machine Corporation soon entered the market with a more user friendly
and compatible computer and Apple saw their market share on the industry drop dramatically to
6.2%.

In more recent years, Apple Inc have seen many successes from targeting a smaller
market of trendy, higher quality customers that are devoted to their company. While maintaining
a low market share of the company industry, Apple has continued to produce a quality product.
This quality has been seen throughout all of its many products and is not viewed as a lesser
product compared to the competition. In addition to the quality, Apple has always been able to
make more of a profit off of its computers than other distributors. Because of the reliance of
companies like Dell and HP on Microsofts Windows operating system almost half of their
revenues are cut by paying back Microsoft for using their product. This quickly turns Apples
small market share into an extremely profitable market share. Apples low market share is
turning far more profit per percentile than their competition because while Apple is making
money, the other companies are usually only reaching their break-even point or slightly above.

In addition to the competition that is screamingly strangling Apples computer market
share they must also battle against economic downturn that has affected the whole industry.
While all companies have seen a slow in sales and a loss profits, Apple has seen a great loss in
its computer revenues. Because of the nature of Apples products, they are seen more as high-
end items and more expensive luxuries rather than as necessities. Because of this many people
are buying cheaper, lower quality computers from customized manufacturers in order to save
money. Normally, this would lean Apple towards developing a lower priced computer that could
compete with these personal computer models. However, this strategy has been tested with the
Mac Mini. What Apple found was that the sales of the Mac Mini were cannibalizing on the sales
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on other more expensive models. This Previous failure should be viewed as a warning and
disclaimer against any further pushes into the low-cost market.


One Apple product will never be viewed as a failure is the iPod. Contrary to Apples
computers, the iPod has against lead over the competition when market share is concerned.
Because of its success, it has introduced an entire generation to the Apple brand. By using the
iPod as a gateway, Apple will continue to push its trendy to new customers in order to gain more
and more computer.

Apple will look at further expanding on their small but efficient market share. However,
with the current Microsoft user base, it is going to be increasingly difficult. The company will
focus on its core competencies in order to stay successful. Apples customers are incredibly
dedicated. Many people that buy Mac computers continue to buy more Mac computers as well
as other Apple branded products, hardware and software. Even though this is deemed as a
niche market, Apple would be foolish to try to take the world of Microsoft and PC distributors
head on. The differences in market shares is far too large by focusing on their current attempt to
capture back the market share that it maintained many years ago.

The previous CEOs were able to do some great things in the name of Apple. Future
CEOs have the potential to do the same if not better. Because of the companys past, Apple is
in great position alive within the company. Jobs at then served a dual role as CEO and Chief
Advisor as he mentors the future leader of the company. If he feels that the company is not
ready for this will have the option to retain his position as CEO as he sees fit. This option gives
Apple the security it needs to ensure that it still lays the best and most capable hands possible.

The previous CEOs were able to do some great things in the name of Apple. Future
CEOs must have the potential to do the same if not better. Because of the companys past,
Apple is in great position to maintain its profitability. This continued success because of its niche
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computers as well as well as the dominating iPod brand. Apple must rely less on Steve Jobs
and rely a little more on the fact that they are a successful company with a dedicated customer
base. This is something that losing Steve Jobs cannot change.

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Conclusion
Apple Inc organizational culture is deeply influence by the nations culture. It shows in
each and every stage of the hierarchy of the organization where they practiced that you are
responsible for your own career. This emphasis of individualism is an essence in United State of
America (USA). However, the working culture is also different from the other organization in
USA as Apple Inc infuses different values and instills more employers to employee relationship
that motivates the employees to perform better then yesterday as well as boost employee
morale in being committed to the company. This show in the decentralization of decision making
that empowers employee to make the right call in consideration of the company. The seemly
lack of job security in Apple is overcome by the human resource involved of employees career
management. The usage of Apples webpage that allows the employee to find a suitable
position in the organization helps the employee to realize their true potential as well as reducing
overturns rate and keeping talented employees. Therefore, culture is an important aspect in
every business organization; it shows in their business dealing and practices. This awareness of
differentiation of culture helps us to understand as well as respect the differences in conducting
business dealings.

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Reference

What Apple Employees Say About The Company's Internal Corporate Culture. (2013, Oct 9).
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employees-say-about-the-companys-internal-corporate-culture-2013-
10?IR=T&op=1&tru=JfDFl#ixzz30p1YGnfY
Steve Jobs, Apple, And The Importance Of Company Culture. (2011, Nov 2). Apple Culture.
Retrived from Fast Company website: http://www.fastcompany.com/1792485/steve-jobs-apple-
and-importance-company-culture
Human Resource Management of Apple Inc. (2011, Jan 22) Human Resource. Retrieved from
the Management Paradise website: http://www.managementparadise.com/forums/human-
resources-management-h-r/213861-human-resource-management-apple-inc.html
Why Apple Inc. is a Centralized Company. (2012, May 5) Decision Making. Retrieved from the
Storify website: https://storify.com/gdylan10/why-apple-inc-is-a-centralized-company
Was Steve Jobs a Good Decision Maker? ( 2011, Oct 13) Decision Making. Retrieved from
HBR Blog Network website: http://blogs.hbr.org/2011/10/was-steve-jobs-a-good-decision/
HRs role in Apples success. (2012, March 28) Human Resource. Retrieved from First
Reference Talks website: http://blog.firstreference.com/2012/03/28/suzanne-c-s-post/
What Does Apple Do To Motivate Their Employees?. Motivation. Retrieved from the
Management of Apple Inc website: http://managementofapple.wordpress.com/motivation/
Apple Motivation System. (2011, May 14). Motivation. Retrieved from the Study Mode website:
http://www.studymode.com/essays/Apple-Motivation-System-701925.html
Apple Inc.2008 ( 2009, April 16) Motivation Strategy. Retrieved from SlidesShare website:
http://www.slideshare.net/mercybabu/apple-inc-2008-report

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