Moving out of Apple, Steve Jobs Life - Essay Example

?ABC XYZ Management 15 April Steve Jobs Steve Jobs was one of the most visionary business leaders. He cofounded Apple with Steve Wozniak in the year 1976 and had to leave the organization in the year 1985. He again rejoined Apple in the year 1997 when Apple was at the brink of bankruptcy and has led the firm to become one of the leading technology organizations in the world. During this brief period, Jobs strived to modify seven industries: animated movies, personal computing, music, retail stores, tablet computing, digital publishing and phones. He is not only a great visionary and a leader but one of the foremost innovators of modern age (Issacson, 21 - 30) a) Early history of the visionary leader Steve Jobs was born on 24th February, 1955 and was adapted by Clara and Paul Jobs. He was named as Steven Paul Jobs. In the year 1960, the Jobs family moved to Santa Clara which is popularly known as Silicon Valley. By the age of thirteen, he managed to get a summer job at HP. He was extremely good at computers and his instructors in schools wanted to skip him several classes ahead, which his parents declined. His interest in computers developed at an early age and he was inspired by the machinist work performed by his father. b) Professional career sketch of Steve Jobs Jobs dropped out of college in the very first semester and went to India in quest of spirituality. At the young age of 21, Steve cofounded Apple Computers with Steve Wozniac and Ron Wayne. Jobs was responsible for marketing Apple Computers and Wozniac headed the technical department of Apple and they started selling affordable computer solutions to Americans. The Apple Computers were smaller in size and could be purchased by the middle class American people. The organization further developed Apple II which became more popular and this resulted in augmented sales by around seventy percent. By the year, 1980, Apple Computers became a publicly traded firm and registered a market value of USD 1.2 billion on the initial day of trading (BusinessNewsDaily, 2013). Individual 2 Moving out of Apple The next few years witnessed a downfall in Apple due to serious flaws in designs and disappointment by consumers. Along with this, Apple faced stiff competition from IBM which had registered augmented growth in sales as compared with Apple. The Macintosh was released by Apple in the year 1984 and it was effectively marketed as a machine which was youthful, romantic and creative. Despite registering favourable growth in sales with Macintosh, Apple was still not able to effectively compete with IBM. This was because the computers designed by IBM were far more superior as compared with Macintosh. Following this, the then President of Apple, Scully believed that Steve Jobs was not able to steer the organization to a path of growth and subsequently Jobs had to resign from Apple in the year 1985. He commenced a new hardware and software firm known as NeXT, Inc. The very next year, an animation firm was purchased by Jobs which later came to be known as Pixar Animation Studios. The animation film studio produced successful and popular animated movies like The Incredibles, Finding Nemo and Toy Story. In the year 2006, Pixar merged with Walt Disney Studios and Steve Jobs became one of the largest shareholders of Walt Disney. Back to Apple Pixar Animation Studio resulted as an extremely successful business venture. However, NeXT Inc., failed to achieve success and was eventually acquired by Apple in the year 1997. In the year 1997, Steve Jobs again became the CEO of Apple. The success of Apple in the 1990s is credited to the business acumen of Steve Jobs. He formed a new management team, imposed himself to a salary of $1 per annum and modified the stock options, thereby leading the organization into a path of success (The Wall Street Journal, 2011). The consumers became awed by innovative design solutions like iMac, iPad, iPod and the like, stylish designs and excellent branding and marketing campaigns and sale of Apple products soared ahead. c) Attributes of Steve Jobs One of the critical factors for achieving success in business ventures is having the characteristics of creativity by means of innovation. Most organizations are plagued by quick modifications in the environment and technology, globalization and short life cycle of services and products. This is especially true for technology centric firms like Apple which need to constantly apply innovation and creativity in order to grow, survive, compete and lead (Jung, Chow & Wu 528 - 530). Locus of control Locus of control is one of the most significant leadership traits. It may be explained as the belief about controlling one’s environment and lives. Academic scholars have further explained locus of control as a measurement having two antagonistic differentiates. These measurements show about an individual’s perception about the various forces within their control and forces which are beyond the control of the individuals. People having an internal locus of control perceive the result of their activities to be a consequence of their own efforts. Such individuals believe that sheer personal efficiencies and hard work lead to attaining favourable results (Carrim, Basson & Coetzee, 69). Leaders having a high locus of control are those who tend to take accountability for their performance and work, develop their own identity and also strive hard for the betterment of the organization or the department they are heading. Such individuals believe that critical connections exist between outcomes and behaviours and between personal pains and results (April, Dharani & Peters, 125). Steve Jobs was one such leader who believed in excelling the performance of the organization and steered Apple from the brink of bankruptcy in the year 1997 to a path of success. Individuals having an external locus of control perceive that the consequences of their act depend on certain factors which are beyond their own control. Such individuals resist change and do not view this as an important criterion for modifying reinforcements. Individuals having an external locus of control are not transformational leaders. It has also been observed that individuals who have witnessed some extremely challenging incident in life have emerged to be highly successful leaders. In case of Steve Jobs, the quality of working even after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and fighting through the illness displays extreme courage and a will to control activities. Individual 3 Tolerance for ambiguity An effective organizational leader is an individual who deftly makes decisions in uncertain situations and is ready to undertake risks. In this case, the capability to process information which is ambiguous while managing conflicting and overloading requirements is one quality a successful corporate leader should possess. Academic scholars are of the opinion that the ability to tolerate ambiguity is a significant knowhow for making decisions in complicated situations (Endres, Chowdhury & Milner, 34). One of the highest qualities displayed by a successful leader like Steve Jobs is that of flexibility. The ability to constantly evolve the organization and face the challenges of leadership recognizing the significance of interpersonal knowhow is another important leadership trait which is displayed by successful leaders (White & Shullman, 96 – 99). Steve Jobs had a high level of tolerance for ambiguity. This may be displayed by his inception of NeXT Inc. and Pixar Animation Studios after resigning from Apple. He forayed into a completely different field by purchasing Pixar Animation Studios. Despite the fact that NeXT Inc. floundered, it being a software and hardware company, Pixar Animation Studios turned to be a highly successful business enterprise. The ability to change and be flexible displayed that Steve Jobs was a highly transformational and successful corporate leader. Needs for inclusion, control and affection The FIRO theory was proposed by William Schutz. According to Schutz, human beings posses the needs for inclusion, control and affection to a higher or lower extent. The need for inclusion maintains the enthusiasm displayed by an individual to maintain satisfactory and robust relationship with employees by association and interaction. Steve Jobs was an exceptional guide and mentor and ensured that communication was conveyed to even the lowest levels and every individual working with Apple had a clear notion of the tasks to be achieved and the objectives to be attained. He had an inner circle, consisting of around 100 members of Apple who met regularly. Despite the fact, the most employees of Apple did not even have the opportunity to meet Jobs, communication trickled down to the lowest levels. The need for control is the aspiration to maintain workable associations with people with reference to power and control. According to the FIRO theory, some human beings have an aspiration for being dependent and submissive and desire to have their path chalked out by other human beings. They may be judged as ones who are willing to be respectful, obedient, serve others and be trustworthy. On the other hand, there are a set of individuals who like to direct the tasks performed by subordinates. Steve Jobs belonged to this category. He had a high ambition for power and control. Apple was virtually controlled by Steve Jobs and almost all strategic decisions were taken by him. He detested failures and respected individuals and even promoted those who excelled in performance. The third quality highlighted by the FIRO theory is that of affection. According to Schutz, the desire to establish and have a workable association with other individuals with reference to affection and love is another interpersonal desire of a successful leader. In this case, take the case of the inner circle members of Apple. These were coveted individuals who were respected and valued by Steve Jobs and he interacted with them on a regular basis. This shows his desire for affection and love towards these individuals. A study conducted by academic scholars tried to analyze the effects of behaviours like aspirations for affection, control and inclusion on certain job related traits like organizational commitment, job satisfaction, work alienation and communication satisfaction in Apple Inc. The study indicated that around 88 percent of personnel responded that higher the need for affection, control and inclusion the more successful is the leader-member association and overall organizational performance (Madlock & Booth-Butterfield, 24). This shows that employees had a high level of trust and respect for Steve Jobs and believed in his vision and objectives. Cognitive Styles Cognitive styles are some aspects of the characteristics of an individual which makes him an efficient leader. The style of sensing – intuition best explains the manner in which followers take in data and accordingly emphasize on the actual and true meanings of patterns in that information. A person who has a high degree of sensitivity just requires the facts. On the other hand, a person having a high degree of intuition views meanings and patterns in the information provided. An efficient leader is one who is highly intuitive and effectively interprets information which is transmitted to the person (Thomson & Gopalan, 65). On the other hand, a person who is merely interested in facts just peruse through the information. Steve Jobs was highly intuitive in nature and this quality made him take several decisions by means of pure intuition. However, he always believed in participatory style of leadership and therefore involved his inner circle members to provide certain alternatives for issues. Take the case of product development and design. Jobs used to ask his inner circle members to provide ten products which Apple should design. Out of these, Jobs chose only three and asked his followers to develop these with the best of creativity, excellence and innovation. This displays his quality for intuition. The next scale proposed by Jung is that of thinking – feeling. People who can think are capable of making logical scrutiny and those who feel have a high degree of concern for followers. Those who concentrate on thinking alone make decisions based only on the economic perspective for the betterment of a firm and on the other hand, those who have a high level of concern for followers try to think about the possible impact of a particular decision on others. Steve Jobs was a thinking leader and emphasized on making optimum profit for Apple. This may be witnessed by the concepts he devised for Apple – the iPad, iPod and again the concept of iCEO to motivate his employees and customers. He had made Apple products a brand name by adding the letter ‘i’ before each product. Both employees and customers began to relate Apple products with the name Steve Jobs and this is what helped the organization to be renowned and rise to the top during Job’s leadership. On the other hand, he was extremely dominant and autocratic and was blunt at times. He did not tolerate failures. This may be displayed when he took certain strategic decisions to diversify Apple to manufacturing, producing and marketing other products other than Computers. d) Strengths Development The theory of Strengths Development was proposed by Donald Clifton. Strength may be implied as the capability to provide reliable, almost accurate performance in a particular task. According to Clifton, success is directly related with strengths and personal skills other than traditional constraints which are connected with logical intelligence. Steve Jobs displayed a high score on achiever, communication and belief (Forbes.com, 2009). These three ideals were his chief strengths. Jobs ranked high on achievements. This can be witnessed by the manner in which he pulled a staggering Apple from the brink of bankruptcy to be one of the leading organizations in the world. He was an excellent mentor and a guide and ensured that communication trickled effectively across Apple. Most employees, other than the inner circle members, did not have the opportunity to meet Jobs, however, they were all aware of the important communication and well versed with their tasks and the goals they needed to fulfil. He was an excellent communicator and a team player. Steve Jobs believed in himself and believed that with hard work one is able to achieve. He was an innovator and forged ahead in uncertain market conditions. After being ousted from Apple in the year 1984, he purchased Pixar Animation Studies which proved to be a successful business venture. At the same time, he started NeXT Computers which failed miserable and was subsequently acquired by Apple. e) Leadership and emotional intelligence The capability to use, comprehend, manage and recognize emotions favourably in order to relieve stress, display empathy towards followers, enhance communication, resolve conflicts and overcome barriers and hurdles is emotional intelligence. In other words, the capability of an individual to express, appraise and accurately perceive emotion, the capability to generate and access feelings which trigger thought, the capability of an individual to have a clear comprehension of emotional knowledge and emotion and the capability to monitor emotions to encourage intellectual and emotional growth is emotional intelligence. Hence, emotional intelligence is a soft skill which is a critical element to successful leadership. The attributes of emotional intelligence are relationship management, interpersonal skills, self awareness, social awareness and self management (Harms & Crede, 10 – 12). Transformational leadership and the construct of emotional intelligence go hand in hand. Steve Jobs was a transformational leader and had a high degree of emotional intelligence which was displayed in effective communication that trickled through Apple. He efficiently managed the organization by being an effective mentor. He motivated followers to excel in performance and believed in rewarding high performers. Steve Jobs had a high level of emotional intelligence which helped him to deftly manage all issues with maturity and balance. Such individuals have a deep understanding of other human beings, are consistently focussed, have optimum levels in performance and personal productivity, attain success in almost all ventures, understand issues of significance and as a result enjoy a high level of job satisfaction (Modassir & Singh, 8 – 10). All the above qualities were displayed by Steve Jobs who constantly motivated himself as well as his followers to excel in performance. This can be displayed upon his comeback to Apple when he self imposed a salary of $1/- per year during the time when the firm was reeling under losses. f) Leadership and importance of values Values were categorized by a social scientist Rokeach. According to him, the association between society and self is values and this is essential because human beings modify by means of social meanings. Due to this, one of the most important psychological criterion which prove to be concrete precursor to making decisions at societal and individual levels of analysis. The Rokeach Value Survey established a theoretical link between behaviour and values. According to this, there are terminal and instrumental values. Steve Jobs displayed high instrumental values like ambition, capable, intellectual, independent, logical, self-controlled and responsible. He also displayed certain terminal values like social recognition, self-respect and wisdom (Cheng & Flelschmann, 20). Individual 4 g) Leadership and motivation Maslow’s need theory purports that individuals try to fulfil their lower level needs and then move on to fulfil higher level needs. The basic physiological needs have to be first fulfilled by an individual before trying to fulfil the social needs, ego and the need for self-actualization. Steve Jobs tried to motivate him during adverse times. Despite being diagnosed with a critical illness, he continued coming to the organization and working in the capacity of CEO of Apple. He postponed his surgery for around a year and also did not let the media and the public know about the severe illness that he had been diagnosed. After resigning from Apple in the year 1984, he acquired Pixar Animation Studios and NeXT Inc. He was a firm believer and pulled Apple from the brink of bankruptcy in the year 1997 to be one of the leading organizations of the world. h) Theories of motivation Steve Jobs displayed inspirational motivation and overcame challenges to become one of the most celebrated business leaders of the world. The leader-member exchange theory of leadership emphasizes on the association between followers and leaders. According to this theory, supervisors develop rapport with their subordinates and the quality of the interaction between supervisors and subordinates’ influences decisions, access to performance and resource and responsibilities. This theory proposes an in-group and an out-group. The members belonging to the in-group participate with decision making and are provided extra accountability. The members of the out-group are those who are monitored by the in-group members (Lunenburg, 2 - 3). Steve Jobs used leader –member exchange in order to motivate his followers. Steve Jobs had built an excellent rapport with the inner group members and he regularly met and discussed strategies and other decision making issues. The facilitative style of leadership helped Steve Jobs to acquire Pixar Animation Studies which became one of the most successful business ventures. Steve Jobs inspired and also motivated followers in order to enthuse them to work together in order to attain a shared mission and vision for the future of the organization. The goal theory of motivation was widely used by Steve Jobs in order to enhance performance among employees. It has been observed that objectives have an all encompassing authority on performance and behaviour of employees in management practice and organizations. Several programs like high performance work practices (HPWPs), management by objectives (MBO), stretch targets, benchmarking, management information systems (MIS), strategic planning and systems thinking includes developing particular objectives. The goal setting theory was proposed by Gary Latham and Edwin Locke in the year 1990. They defined goal as what a particular person is striving to perform. Objectives are a motivating factor which makes individuals formulates strategies which help them to enhance performance at distinct levels. Also by accomplishing certain objectives helps individuals to be further motivated and satisfied. On the contrary, if the objective is not attained individuals are less motivated and frustrated (Lunenburg, 2011). It is very important to accept given objectives and accordingly work to accomplish them. Steve Jobs used a tactics by which he would let his employees accept and then fulfil the objectives. He made them participate in the objective setting process. This was applicable to the inner circle members who formulated certain strategies and decided on objectives which the firm had to attain. He further made them enlist the tasks that needed to be accomplished in the near future and accordingly selected a few tasks for them to accomplish. On successful completion of the desired objectives, Steve Jobs even congratulated his team members. This helped in boosting their morale and further motivates them to enhance performance. Steve Jobs used goal theories by making his inner circle write down ten tasks which they needed to accomplish in the future. After this, he struck down seven and told employees to attain three important tasks by simply focussing to develop the best. He further encouraged them to give their best to fabricate and design the most important products which would benefit Apple. On the other hand, he hated failures and would bluntly show displeasure on employees who failed to perform well. i) Dominant style of leadership displayed by Steve Jobs The dominant leadership style used by Steve Jobs is that of transformational leadership style. A transformational leader is one who inculcates five main constructs of idealized influence, inspirational motivation, attributive charisma, individualised consideration and intellectual stimulation (Gumusloglu & Ilsev, 465 - 467). Scholars have associated a favourable relationship between transformational leadership and innovation in the organization. Transformational leaders are those who promote and support creative notions and favour innovative constructs in the firm. This trait was witnessed in Steve Jobs’ leadership style in the manner he motivated subordinates and guided them to excel in performance by boosting their self esteem, motivation and morale. Steve Jobs displayed all the above mentioned characteristics of a transformational leader. He emphasized on beliefs, values and had a strong sense to fulfil vision and mission of the firm. This displayed the quality of high idealised influence. He was an excellent mentor and a guide and attracted consumers to purchase Apple products. After his demise, there is a lot of speculation whether Apple will be able to maintain the same standards in product innovation as were maintained during the time when Jobs was the CEO of the firm. This displayed the quality of attributive charisma. Steve Jobs used certain mechanisms to boost the morale of the employees by considering predetermined objectives and the future of the company. This displayed the characteristic of inspirational motivation. He believed in conducting challenging missions and inspired subordinates to think creatively in order to find solutions to complex issues. This displayed the feature of intellectual stimulation. Finally the behaviour of Steve Jobs in acting as a mentor and guide to his subordinates display the quality of individualised consideration (Khan, Rehman & Fatima, 679). It has been observed that a transformational leadership style helps in fostering innovation in the organization (Elkins and Keller, 601 - 602). The relationship between innovation in the organization and transformational leadership style is displayed by the size of the firm. Despite being one of the leading firms in the world, Apple still maintains a formal atmosphere in the organization. Jobs inspired people to grow and was an unconventional leader. He inspired people to attain the best and demanded excellent performance from his employees. He was also known for his blunt way in criticizing individual who did not match performance levels. Along with this, the quality of clearly articulating the vision of the organization to his personnel and bring together his customers, investors and employees made him one of the most successful corporate leaders (The Sydney Morning Herald, 2011). j) Leadership lessons from Steve Jobs One of the most challenging and important functions are played by Chief Executive Officers. They are the one who communicate a vision, manage culture in the organization, create collectivism in the firm and help in developing adaptive abilities in the firm. Steve Jobs had a high degree of self confidence and self assuredness. This is one of the important personality traits which has helped him to face major challenges both in professional and personal life and soar ahead. Some of the significant features displayed by this radical leader are those of displaying a high internal locus of control, self determination and courage. He had a high level of emotional stability, determination and confidence and accordingly motivated followers to excel in their performance (Resick et al. 1370 – 1372). This displays the quality of intellectual stimulation. This is one quality which needs to be inculcated from Steve Jobs. He was a great innovator and strode ahead despite uncertain market conditions. In his personal life too, he faced a lot of challenges and despite this drew a balance between personal and professional life. After being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, he refrained from letting the media and the press know about his ailment because it may cause harm to Apple. This quality shows that he was truly dedicated and wholly contributed to the welfare of the organization. According to me, the actual lessen which may be learnt from Steve Jobs is to focus on his achievements and accomplishments and the manner in which he accomplished challenging tasks. It is very easy to start a company, but taking it forward and making it one of the world’s biggest and leading organizations is where the success lies. Steve Jobs accomplished this challenging task simply because he believed in himself and showed great determination and resolution for accomplishing the task. He simply emphasized on doing the best and motivated and encouraged his followers to do the same. This is how Apple has a range of products which were not only unique when they entered the market but has now been emulated by a range of software and telecommunication firms. another interesting fact that may be learnt from this great leader is to take accurate decision by weighing pros and cons in an uncertain market situation. Take the case of Apple in the year 1997. After Steve Jobs rejoined the firm as the CEO, he advised his members to concentrate on products which suited the consumers. He further told them to emphasize on redesigning and manufacturing four computers which were either portable or desktop and could be widely used by customers. Other than these four products, he ensured that all other products which were in the offing were cancelled. One of the key learning aspects from Steve Jobs is to decide what is not to be done. He was such an enigmatic leader that even rival firm colleague sought advice from him. Take the case of Larry Page. He was about to head Google during the time Jobs was seriously ill. Despite the fact, that Apple and Google were firms, Jobs still provided some expert advice to this person. Larry Page took his advise and concentrated on two products Google + and Android and enhance them to be the leading products of the company (Issacson, 87). On the other hand, Steve Jobs was extremely blunt and did not tolerate failures. He detested failures and completely shut down divisions or department which failed to excel in performance. He completely brushed aside such individuals and did not give them a second chance. This is one trait which may not be emulated as this trait displayed less consideration for followers. He was extremely ambitions and worked taking into prime consideration the welfare of the organization and not for the welfare of the employees. As such, a balance should be drawn wherein strategies should be formulated keeping in mind the welfare of the firm as well as the employees working in the firm. Conclusion From the above character and personality sketch of Steve Jobs, it may be inferred that he is one of the most celebrated and successful leaders in recent times. He has set examples for others to follow. He had considerable charisma as Apple products sold in the name of Steve Jobs. The concept of iCEO was promoted by Jobs once he came back to Apple in the year 1997. All Apple products had the brand name of iPad, iPod and the like and this was a unique promotional measure. Works cited April, K.A., Dharani, B. & Peters, K. “Impact of locus of control expectancy on level of well-being”. Review of European Studies, 4.2(2012): 124 – 137. Print. “Steve Jobs Biography”. BusinessNewsDaily.com, 21 Mar 2003. Web. 10 Apr. 2013. Carrim, N. M. 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Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research, 62.2 (2010): 94 – 104. Read More