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CEO at Apple

It isn't easy being CEO, especially at a high-tech, industry-leading company such as Apple. It is even harder to succeed a founder who is world renowned for his innovativeness. The following report looks back at Steve Jobs's tenure as CEO of Apple and, by doing so, highlights the challenges that faced Tim Cook, Apple's new CEO.

You will need to understand the functions and tasks of managers, the skills they need, and their types and levels in order to complete this exercise. Additionally, you should be aware of the challenges facing managers in the coming years.

Read the case below and answer the questions that follow.

What is high-performance management? In 2011, Tim Cook took full management control of Apple as its CEO six weeks after Steve Jobs stepped down as its CEO before his untimely death. Cook had been Apple's long-time chief operating officer and had been responsible for organizing and controlling its global supply chain to bring its innovative products to market as quickly and efficiently as possible. One of Apple's major strengths is to continuously introduce new and improved products such as its iPhones and iPads, often at six-month and yearly intervals, in order to offer customers more options and to stay ahead of the competition. Cook was acknowledged as the leader who controlled Apple's purchasing and manufacturing operations, and of course he had intimate knowledge of Apple's new product design and engineering. However, Steve Jobs had been the manager who ultimately decided what kinds of new products Apple would develop and the design of their hardware and software.

Starting with Apple's founding in 1977, Jobs saw his main task as leading the planning process to develop new and improved PCs. Although this was a good strategy, his management style was often arbitrary and overbearing. For example, Jobs often played favorites among the many project teams he created. His approach caused many conflicts and led to fierce competition, many misunderstandings, and growing distrust among members of the different teams.

Jobs's abrasive management style also brought him into conflict with John Sculley, Apple's CEO. Employees became unsure whether Jobs (the chairman) or Sculley was leading the company. Both managers were so busy competing for control of Apple that the task of ensuring its resources were being used efficiently was neglected. Apple's costs soared and its performance and profits fell. Apple's directors became convinced Jobs's management style was the heart of the problem and asked him to resign.

After he left Apple, Jobs started new ventures such as PC maker NEXT, which developed powerful new PCs, and Pixar, the computer animation company that become a huge success after it made blockbuster movies such as Toy Story and Finding Nemo, both distributed by Walt Disney. In both these companies, Jobs developed a clear vision for managers to follow, and he built strong management teams to lead the project teams developing the new PCs and movies. Jobs saw his main task as planning the companies' future product development strategies. However, he left the actual tasks of leading and organizing to managers below him. He gave them them autonomy to put his vision into practice. In 1996 Jobs convinced Apple to buy NEXT and use its powerful operating system in new Apple PCs. Jobs began working inside Apple to lead its turnaround and was so successful that, in 1997, he was asked to become its CEO. Jobs agreed and continued to put the new management skills he had developed over time to good use.

Mintzberg would describe Jobs's role at Apple, NEXT, and Pixar as primarily a(n)

Multiple Choice

• resource allocator.
• entrepreneur.

• negotiator.

• disseminator.
• monitor.

As CEO and COO, Jobs and Cook were members of the _______ team.

Multiple Choice

• outsourcing

• materials management

• top management

• arbitration

• first-line management