Apple Inc: Organizational Culture Analysis - Essay Example

? An Analysis of the Culture of an Organization Paper Organizational Culture Organizational culture contributes towards the behaviors and values that are unique in psychological and social environment of the organization. It basically depicts an organization’s philosophy and experiences towards its goals and also symbolizes organization’s expectations and values that hold it together(Naicker, 2008). The culture of an organization also focuses on the inner working environment as well as organization’s relation with the outer world environment. As the culture of an organization plays a very important role towards development and prosperity of an organization, a number of organizational culture models have been introduced in order to be implemented in different organizations. 2- introduction of Apple Inc: Apple Inc. is one of the America’s leading multinational organizations. This company is the leading manufacturer of electronic products as well as softwares. Its key products are Macintosh computers and Apple iPods and iPhones. The Apple Inc. company was established in California in April 1976 with the name “Apple Computers”. As the company expanded its product range to a variety of consumer electronic products, it dropped the word “Computers” from its name. Now this company is having more than 35000 employees worldwide. In 2008 Apple Inc. did business of more than US$32. 48 billion. Therefore, fortune magazine has regarded Apple as the most admired company of 2008-2009. Apple Inc.’s first ever product was an Apple 1, which was a handmade computer kit made by the co-founder of Apple, Steve Wozniak. It was not introduced publicly as it was not provided with a good graphical user interface. Steve Jobs, another co-founder, convinced Wozniak to introduce this product as a commercial computer. Therefore first ever computer named Apple 1 was sold in1976. After that it passed through a number of stages of modification and got the shape of today’s Apple Computers which is entirely different from Apple 1. After the launch of Apple1 this company got fame and earned a good business. In mid 1980s Apple faced some critical time because of the launch of Apple Lisa which was flopped badly. Also Mac1 and Newton does not earn a good business and resulted in lowering the shares of the company. In 1985, Steve Jobs left Apple Inc. because of having clashes with the CEO of the company. He joined the company again after 14 years when the company was about to bankrupt and was facing many challenges. He came with the intention to save the company. After his return he introduced new organizational culture. Although the company was following the corporate culture but Steve Jobs applied few modifications to that culture in order to save the company. The company was facing a critical time due to a number of reasons caused by bad organizational structure. 3-Schein’s Theoretical Model of Organizational Culture: Schein defined culture as an abstraction in which various forces that are generated as a result of some specific situations that are arising in the organization as a part of culture are much more powerful. If these forces are not interpreted initially then they badly affect the structure of the organization. He explained that the culture of an organization is adopted with the passage of time; it is not the matter of days. Therefore, it plays a very important role in the well being of its structure as well as working. Schein’s theory of organizational culture is defined as (Schein, 2004): “A pattern of shared basic assumptions that a group has learned as it solved its problems of external adaptation and internal integration, that has worked well enough to be considered valid and therefore, to be taught to new members as the correct way to perceive, think, and feel in relation to those problems.” Schein basically developed a model of organizational culture defined in three levels(Hatch, 1993). Cultural Artifacts: This level is more concerned with the physical behavior and appearance of the organization. Artifacts are that cultural aspects of an organization which can easily be viewed or felt by an individual like, employee’s behavior, goal of organization, facilities etc. Values: This is the second level of organizational culture which is more concerned with the individual values of employees and its effect on the culture of organization. The way how employees of an organization think and respond to different scenarios directly affects the working environment of the workplace and hence the organizational culture. Basic Assumptions: This level of organizational culture cannot be observed or measured directly but has a significant effect on culture. Each and every organization has some hidden rules and facts that are followed by the employees in general but these things greatly affect culture of an organization and must be counted when working on the culture of a specific organization. These three levels of organization culture are much helpful in studying the overall behavior of an organization as well as the behavior of individual employee that directly affects the working of that particular organization. Critical Analysis of Schein’s Model:After the introduction of Schein’s model, a number of critiques appeared against this model. Some were having the opinion that while observing an organization’s behavior as well as culture, one should consider the underlying factors that gives proper insight into the relations among employees of that organization(M.Alvesson, 2002, Jan 2, p.163). A number of limitations can be observed in the implementation of this model in terms of various other authors: In a particular region, all the organizations working are mostly having the same nature of organizational structure which stops you from implementing a purely defined model (Debra Meyerson, May 5, 2007, p. 623-647). If an organization is independent or working in a group then its cultural perspective entirely depends upon the dynamics associated with its working (Hills, M. D., 2002). Some critics have the opinion that the set of assumptions of basic dimensions represents the crossed-organizational analysis within the company. Also the assumptions of basic dimensions can easily be reduced to thes fundamental assumptions of that organization (Dyer, W. G., Dec 9, 2010). Hofstede Model of Organizational Culture: Prof. Greet Hofstede has worked on cultural differences among various organizations and has come up with various aspects which can be formalized to measure these differences. Hofstede model of organizational culture is also applicable on cultural aspects of various nations. Hofstede defined organizational culture as(Hatch, 1993): “The collective programming of the mind that distinguishes the members of one organization from others.” According to Professor G. Hofstede (Piepenburg, K., 2011)., intercultural comparison can be done based on four dimensional model, discussed here in detail: Power Distance: Power distance is basically used to measure impact of social equality and inequality among people within a society. Power distance is said to be higher if people within a society are not discriminated on the basis of status and power; and if this discrimination is dominant within a society then it is said to have low power distance. Individualism: Individualism refers to the collective behavior of a society whether or not it supports individualism or collectiveness within it. If the society is scored high in individualism then it is said to promote individual right's dominance. On the other hand low individualism is supported by a society in which rights collective behaviors are observed. On the other hand, low individualism score supports strong society, in which collective behavior is observed. Uncertainty Avoidance: Uncertainty avoidance is the measure that depicts the flexibility of acceptance of any change introduced within the society. Higher index of uncertainty avoidance shows that the society welcomes any changes within it and is also having good attributes of following the law. On the other hand lower index shows that the society is having a lower acceptance level of changes occurring and is strict in following its customs. Masculinity: Masculinity is the concerned with the dominance of males within the society. Having a high masculinity index shows that the society is under the influence of higher power and status holders. On the other hand, lower masculinity index shows that the society follows equality among genders as well as provides equal rights to all citizens. Handy/Harrison Model: In 1972 Handy/Harrison introduced an organizational culture model based on four types. Either an organization has any one of these cultures implemented or every part of an organization can have a mix of these models. Most common of these structures are(Naoum, 2001): Power Culture: the power culture makes use of a single central source from where resources move outwards and expand among different areas of the organization. In large organizations the structure gets divisionalized from that central source just like a spider web. Person Culture: in such cultures, an individual is regarded as a central source rather than any part of an organization. The structure that is designed next to it is to serve all the individuals within that structure. Task Culture: In such cultures teams are formed to perform and accomplish tasks within an organization. Role Culture: In this sort of culture each employee is having his own role or task assigned to him individually. After discussing all the models that are successfully being implemented among most of the companies our focus is on critically discussing the organizational culture of Apple Inc. Apple Inc. and Schein’s Model Apple Inc. started as a good company but faced many challenges after Jobs left. During Jobs time this company flourished well and gained a significant position in the market of electronic consumer goods. Just after Jobs left, the company started declining and a stage came when the company was about to bankrupt and was facing many challenges in terms of its products as well as the environment. It has been just five months before bankruptcy when Jobs joined Apple Inc. again. Apple Inc when faced bankruptcy(MacroAxis), Jobs implemented modifications on the basis of Schein’s model in the working corporate model of the organization. Jobs, in this regard, really worked hard to hold the company and get it stabilized in such a short interval(TNW-Academy) and now Apple is one the leading companies in the world of electronic consumer products. When Jobs joined Apple Inc. again, the company was facing serious bankruptcy issues and also its shares dropped in value and price. Not only this, but Apple was also having serious issues with the cash flows. In order to overcome all these issues jobs introduced a number of changes to the organizational structure of the company on the basis of Schein’s theory. Before implementing the new structure, Apple’s employees were not following any privacy strategy for the ongoing projects of their company(Hughes, 2010). The projects were discussed openly in the market rather than being under proprietry of the company. Therefore, Jobs focused on having a “closed door” strategy so that the ongoing projects in the company remain the property of the company only not the market as a whole. Here Basic Assumption model of the Schein theory was implemented to determine the issue and hence overcoming it. Jobs also focused on introducing a flattened organizational structure rather than complex hierarchical structure involving layers of management. The flattened organizational structure is really helpful in today’s era of rapidly growing changes which helps in employing rapid flow of information. To cope with the immediate implementation of changes to occur within the globalized world, employees should get the appropriate powers to help the organization work well. Therefore, Jobs focused on giving some authorities to employees so that they work as a part of an organization rather than just being employees (Linda K. Trevino, K. A. N., 2011). According to Schein, in such structures employees are given the position of the evangelists, who are supposed to promote the product. They work as if they own the company and spread knowledge of their products and advertise in the best possible way in order to increase sales of their product(Schein, 2004). According to Schein, for having an organized and successful organizations, employees should be given first preference(Schein, 1992). Therefore, this flattened organizational culture also helped Apple in eliminating bureaucracy as each and every employee is independent in his/her place and a good observer of the other one(McShane, 2003). Also the new corporate culture defined by Schein does not support the traditional 9a.m. -5p.m. working hours system but it supports entirely flexible corporate system. In such system customers always find the employees of Apple in touch with them at any time of the day. Apple Inc. successfully implemented Schein’s organizational model and gained much success. This model helped company alot in overcoming all the possible deficiencies within the company’s network and structure(Gianluca Spina, 2000). Jobs focused on all the aspects of Schein’s model to overcome bankruptcy issue. By critically looking at all the artifacts that were responsible to make the overall company’s environment critical, helped recovering from bankruptcy issue. He also focused on changing values of the company’s employees. Employees were provided with the power to decide in case of various situations for the betterment of the company. Apple is not only having a good strategy for employees working on hardware as well as software systems of its products and those performing management tasks for the company, but it also emphasizes to have good retailers (Lynn R. Offermann and Rebecca K. Spiros, 2005, p. 376-392). Good retailers are able to welcome customers coming to Apple outlets and informing them well about the products of the customer’s choice and their specifications. The most important thing to be a good retailer is to be a motivated person with good hospitality skills. Apple focuses a lot on this aspect and therefore provides training, compensation and greater opportunities of progress to its employees. After organizing the structure of the company, Jobs focused on increasing the product range of Apple Inc. and therefore, introduced iPod in 2001. Meanwhile, this company also introduced iTunes which was another exciting software by Apple for personalizing customer’s own music libraries. Now Apple is having a vast range of electronic accessories in its stores including iPhones, iPads, desktop computers, Notebooks etc. Now Apple has gained so much success that it has successfully raised the share of its company much greater than its top competitors. Schein’s Model Implementation in Apple Inc. When Jobs was back to the organization, he saw many flaws(Golson, 2011) in the structure of organization and also organization structure Apple was not prone to accept upcoming changes within the globalized world(Taylor, 2012). Keeping all these things in mind, Jobs worked hard to achieve maximum flexibility in the working environment to make the company work well in the globalized world of new technology and innovation(White-Spaces, 2013). When implemented Schein’s model(Edgar H. Schein, 2010, p. 323) on the organizational structure of Apple it resulted in the successful working of the organization. Schein’s has divided his organizational model into three levels of culture. First one is the artifact which deals with the overall appearance of the employees. The overall appearance of employees entirely depicts the individual personality of the person. Among artifacts comes the gait of a person as well. Every person can be judged by his/her gait. Another important feature of Schein’s model is the values. This level of organization entirely deals with the organizational strategies and goals. Jobs focused most on this level. He first of all modified the basic strategy of the working organization. According to this strategy, Jobs worked for improving the goals of a company. It resulted in the increased product quality as well as the range of the product within the market. Not only had this but he also worked on the philosophy of the organization which helped him in maintaining a good working environment. He modified the structure by making employees independent at their positions for most of their instant decision(Barclay, 2009). It gave employees confidence as well as supported them in obtaining good company repute. The company has provided employees with good benefits so that they can work well in their positions meanwhile maintaining a good company repute. Another most important factor that affected Apple Inc. is the core values or basic assumptions that are a part of Schein’s model. This makes use of some basic assumptions or values that implemented within the organization but cannot be seen easily. These values are basically the companies’ habits which can be observed by the person living among the professionals of that organization. These values make use of human relationships to work within the organization. The good the relations are, the better would be the environment of the organization. There were also some limitations in implementing Scein’s model to Apple Inc.’s organizational structure. According to John Kotter, Schein’s model does pose some level of imbalance or discomfort among the employees of the organization and their values. This result in non-anxiety free environment for the individuals working in that environment (Stragalas, 2010, p. 10). Therefore, Jobs introduced some psychological safety measures to this model to improve employee's identity as well as good problem solving strategy. Some other authors are having the opinion that Schein’s model is having implementation issues with “unfreezing-changing-refreezing” of an organization(Mohd, 2005). According to this limitation, this model ignores technological issues faced by an organization. While implementing this model, organizational structure is over simplified and works well with the normal working environment and issues are observed when dealing with dynamic environment (Levinson, 2002). Conclusion Apple is one of the leading organization’s of America. Although it faced a number of challenges in the beginning but with a good approach and organized structure its founders got success. Apple is now a leading brand in electronic accessories. It has its own operating system rather than traditional windows operating system. This organization is not only working with the hardware but also works as a strong software development organization. Apple is one of the largest companies in the world with such a diversity of products and where each product is the masterpiece of its kind. Apple although faced bankruptcy after its co-founder Steve Jobs left the organization. But Jobs soon after coming back to the organization stabilized it by practicing some useful changes within the organizational structure. Before that Apple was running a traditional corporate system which was not running well with the increasing globalization. Also a company which is capable of such versatile products should actively participate in the globalized market. For that purpose he made use of Schein’s model for corporate organization and provided employees with the power of decision. This made employees to work not only as employees but also as a part of the responsible management system. This step really revolutionized the company’s position in the market and helped gaining a secure position. In order to keep the organization work well, Jobs should overcome limitations of the science model in an appropriate way so that Apple should be able to work successfully in the global dynamic environment. Jobs is needed to consider least dynamic Schein model to work in this era by making the organization more flattened and giving the employees feeling of being the part of organization. This can be done by raising the benefits and giving them confidence by distributing awards for good performance. Jobs did great work in getting Apple out of critical situations and faced the globalized market in true words. 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