Apple Inc. Organizational Behavior: Culture, Leadership & Structure

Introduction to Organizational Behavior

Organizational behavior is a field of study that encompasses the examination and analysis of the influence that individuals, groups, and structure have on behavior within organizations, with the primary intent of applying such understanding to make organizations function more effectively. In other words, it is the analysis of what individuals undertake in an organization and how their behavior influences organizational performance. By understanding the manner in which interrelation and working together with others occurs within the organization, improvements can be identified and implemented. A key characteristic of organizational behavior is discerning the detailed behaviors of personnel or groups of workers in diverse settings, or how they respond to certain occasions and circumstances (Robbins and Judge, 2013).

Apple Inc., formerly known as Apple Computer, Inc., is a transnational American corporation headquartered in California that designs, develops, and retails consumer electronics, computer software, and personal computers. The company is renowned for its hardware products such as the MacBook line of computers, the iPod, the iPhone, and the iPad. The organization was founded in 1976 and incorporated as Apple Computer, Inc., but altered its name in 2007 to reflect its growing concentration on consumer electronics following the unveiling of the iPhone. Apple is among the largest publicly traded companies globally by market capitalization, with over three hundred and fifty retail stores in approximately ten countries, over sixty thousand permanent full-time employees, and approximately three thousand provisional full-time employees worldwide. Apple Inc. is the second largest company in the information technology sector by revenue, ranking just below Samsung Electronics. Apple efficaciously makes use of several key organizational behavior concepts to strengthen the organization. This paper analyzes, evaluates, and offers recommendations on three of these concepts: organizational culture, organizational leadership, and organizational structure.

Organizational Culture at Apple Inc.

Organizational culture — also referred to as corporate culture — encompasses the relationships and affiliations among members of an organization and the manner in which they interact as they undertake their duties. Sharing common objectives and expectations within an organization is what defines its organizational culture. An organization with resilient, mutually held beliefs that strives toward a common vision is able to achieve effective and efficient business operations. Organizational culture has observable characteristics that include day-to-day work practices, or individual insights from members who are directly affected by organizational events (Stokyo, 2009).

Increasingly, managers are drawing on the concept of organizational or corporate culture, and it is not difficult to understand why. Many managers want to understand how individuals discuss insights, outlooks, and shared understandings, and how workplace representations shape individual experience and action. The objective is not necessarily conformity, as there are numerous advantages to cognitive diversity. Nevertheless, there is a widely held conviction that certain forms of cohesion can reduce unproductive conflict, encourage teamwork, and align work toward a shared purpose — all without the need for domineering administration. Cultural pride can also boost morale and motivate employees toward organizational goals. Organizational culture is, therefore, a theoretically influential force (Stokyo, 2009).

Values are considered the core of organizational culture, consisting of vital philosophies and notions mutually shared by an organization's employees. The fundamental reasoning that supports the need for ethical guidelines is that activities in organizations result from human decisions, and human beings tend to seek justification for their actions beyond monetary gain alone (Price, 2007). Business ethics are a set of principles and philosophies to which an organization adheres. They encompass the organization's obligations to its stakeholders, shareholders, employees, consumers, and the general public, as well as its relationship to the economy, political affairs, and the environment (Ferrell, 2004). The essential ethical standard at Apple Inc. is considered to be the use of sound judgment. The company states clearly in its mission statement that it is dedicated to safeguarding the environment and ensuring the health and safety of its employees and the global community (Blodget, 2013).

Despite having established a code of business ethics, Apple Inc. has not been wholly successful in executing it and has not fully nurtured a comprehensive ethical corporate culture. The vital principles laid out in the organization's mission statement are not always mirrored in how it conducts business. It can be considered unethical for the company to pursue profit maximization for its shareholders while disregarding the work-life balance of its employees. Generating profit is not itself inappropriate, but the manner in which the organization overworks employees to attain revenue is problematic. Apple has been keen on increasing working hours with the primary intent of generating greater revenues while failing to adequately consider the work-life balance of its workforce (Koetsier, 2013).

Milton Friedman argued that the sole social responsibility of a business is to use its resources to increase profit, provided it operates within the rules, engages in open competition, and avoids deception (Lahdesmaki, 2012). However, Apple operates quite differently. The company functions under a strict confidential business information policy. Apple Inc. maintains a culture of secrecy and enforces severe penalties on employees who violate this policy by disclosing information (Edwards, 2013). This corporate culture of secrecy draws criticism for its lack of transparency and raises questions about the company's openness. Its preoccupation with maintaining security could harm the corporation and its brand in an era that increasingly demands stakeholder transparency. That said, the secretive information protection policy has enabled the company to maintain the discretion of its proprietary products and safeguard trade secrets. Nevertheless, the component of secrecy that has enabled this has become progressively more costly and is increasingly difficult to justify on ethical grounds (Daniels Fund Ethics Initiative, 2012).

It is recommended that the company be more open to the public regarding its activities without revealing sensitive operational details. This approach can benefit all parties: consumers will no longer feel harassed or threatened when seeking information about company operations, and Apple can build greater trust with its stakeholder base.

Organizational Leadership at Apple Inc.

Robbins and Judge (2013) define leadership as the capability to influence a group toward achieving a set of objectives. It is important to note that leadership does not arise purely from formally designated managers or supervisors; leadership can also emerge outside the official structure of the organization. There is a great need for both strong leadership and effective management within organizations in order to attain optimum efficiency. Leaders in the present day must challenge the status quo, generate ideas for the future, and motivate members of the organization to strive toward established goals and objectives.

Different managers employ different styles of leadership, ranging from authoritarian and controlling styles to laissez-faire and facilitative approaches. Transformational and transactional styles of leadership are stark contrasts with respect to their fundamental philosophies of management and motivation. These two styles were developed by Bass (1985) and Burns (1978). Transactional leadership occurs when a leader initiates contact with followers in order to exchange something of value — in other words, the leader approaches the followers on the basis of reciprocal exchange. Transformational leadership, by contrast, goes beyond mere compliance; it encompasses a change in the values, desires, and ideals of the followers. The outcome of transformational leadership is a relationship of shared motivation that can elevate followers into leaders and leaders into ethical agents of change (Kuhnert and Lewis, 1987).

Apple has experienced both of these styles of organizational leadership. Steve Jobs, the former CEO of Apple Inc., was an enigmatic leader who possessed a strong desire for innovation and a remarkable capacity to motivate others. Based on the models developed by Bass and Burns, Jobs can be characterized as a transformational leader, given that he succeeded in stimulating employees to achieve exceptional levels of productivity. The advancement and progression of Apple were greatly aided by his extraordinary energy, compelling personality, and articulate vision (Reschke, 2014). Transformational leaders employ their influence to fundamentally restructure and alter established ways of doing things. This is precisely what Jobs did: experts observe that he motivated Apple's workforce to create original and exceptional products by thinking differently from other companies. However, a downside of this leadership style is that task completion tends to be prioritized over personal attention. Reports indicate that Apple employees perceived the organization as a club rather than a family, and that the organization valued assignment completion and achievement more highly than relationships. An additional limitation of transformational leadership is the perception of the leader as an indispensable figure, since the system is centered on the individual leader (Kuhnert and Lewis, 1987). Apple's anxiety about what the organization would look like without Steve Jobs reflected this dependence acutely.

Tim Cook, Jobs's successor, is the current CEO of Apple Inc. Cook's leadership style differs markedly from that of Jobs. Based on the models of Bass and Burns, Cook can be characterized as a transactional leader: he has focused on sustaining the organization at its existing high level by making use of existing capital rather than driving the creation of fundamentally new products (Lashinksky, 2012). Since the release of the iPad — which occurred before Jobs's death — Apple has not introduced a genuinely new product category. Instead, the company has continued to iterate on existing models, such as successive iPhone versions (Associated Press, 2014). Cook has also used company returns to pay dividends to shareholders (Reschke, 2014). Transactional leaders tend to focus on sustaining existing relationships — both within and outside the organization — rather than driving innovation (Kuhnert and Lewis, 1987). This is the approach Cook has taken at Apple. However, the weakness of this style is that the organization may concentrate on shareholder and employee relationships at the expense of innovation and productivity. Rival companies such as Samsung have introduced innovative products such as wearable devices, and Google has developed products such as Google Glass. It is therefore recommended that Apple critically reconsider its leadership approach, as continued reliance on a transactional model risks undermining the company's reputation as the world's most innovative technology firm.

Conclusion

Organizational leadership, culture, and structure are elements of organizational behavior that shape how personnel behave based on their attitudes and values, and govern how they execute the business ideals and strategy of the organization. As demonstrated in this paper, through the consistent and considered application of organizational behavior concepts, Apple Inc. has the ability to govern and regulate its workforce and implement its policies at different strategic levels. The analysis also draws on academic models of human resource management and organizational culture to build a deeper understanding of Apple as a company — one that is compelling precisely because of its remarkable history, innovative capacity, and distinctive structure.

In conclusion, several areas of Apple's organizational behavior require change and modification in order for the company to remain competitive both within its industry and globally, and to ensure its long-term sustainability. These areas include the need to reduce over-dependence on a transactional style of leadership, which has diminished the company's focus on ingenuity and original product development. Another critical area is the need for Apple to genuinely address the work-life balance of its employees rather than pursuing profit maximization at the expense of its workforce. By acting on these recommendations, Apple Inc. can work to restore and sustain the organizational strengths that made it one of the most admired companies in the world.

References

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