Steve Jobs leadership and management - Essay Example

? A paper about Steve Jobs leadership and management The success of businesses in the global market is strongly depended on their ability to identifythe needs of customers and to develop product/ services that best respond to these needs. This fact is reflected in the strategies of firms, which own an important share of their industry; these firms tend to prioritize their targets in order to ensure that risks are minimizing. In all cases it has been proved that the ability of firms to develop competitive plans is related to their leaders. Of course, managers are highly involved in such initiatives but it is mainly the leader of each firm who sets the rules on which organizational strategies will be based – taking into consideration the mission of the organization but also the market’s pressures and the resources available. On the other hand, there are leaders who can perform higher compared to their counterparts in most organizations internationally. These leaders are known as charismatic leaders and can respond to organizational issues and challenges requiring either leadership or managerial skills. Steve Jobs is one of these leaders. The research on the material published on the work of Steve Jobs in Apple leads to the assumption that the particular individual is both a leader and a manager, being able to respond to the needs of both roles. The above issue is analyzed in the sections that follow. Reference is also made to the contribution of Steve Jobs in the development of Apple as a key competitor in the global IT industry. It is proved that the continuous increase of this firm’s performance in the international market is related to the exceptional leadership and management skills of Steve Jobs, as reflected in his decisions on critical organizational issues. Four resources of different characteristics have been employed in this paper in order to explain the leadership skills of Steve Jobs not just regarding his work in Apple but also regarding his contribution in the development of leadership, as a factor influencing the performance of organizations operating in all industries. The article of Conaty and Charan, published in 2011, explains analytically the characteristics of leadership style of Steve Jobs. On the other hand, a report published by the Stanford News referring to Steve Job’s Commencement Address in 2005 has been considered as valuable including Steve Job’s personal views on the facts, which most influenced his leadership style. A recent financial statement of Apple has been also used in order to indicate the firm’s performance, under the influence of Steve Job’s leadership style. Finally, the article of Thoma published in 2010 in regard to the leadership style of Steve Jobs has been included in the resources of this paper as it emphasizes on the management skills of Steve Jobs, an issue which should be also discussed when evaluating the involvement of Steve Jobs in organizational issues which are normally handled by leaders but also in those which are likely to be handled by managers. The leadership style of Steve Jobs can be characterized as unique even if it can be partially related to existing leadership theories. The key advantage of Steve Jobs compared to the leaders of most organizations seems to be the following one: Steve Jobs can ‘identify the product that appeals to the customers and act decisively’ (Conaty and Charan, online article). The specific fact is reflected in the following tale – referring to Steve Jobs’ first participation in the board meeting of Apple. It is noted that after entering the room, Steve Jobs focused on the company’s products, which were set on display and ‘began taking them down, one at a time; when he was done, only four were left’ (Conaty and Charan, online article). He explained that only these products, among the firm’s products, could help the firm to develop a competitive advantage towards its rivals. The above tale reflects the approach of Jobs in highlighting the products on which Apple should invest for increasing its market share. In other words, the key difference between Jobs and the leaders of other organizations is his ability to understand the customers’ needs and preferences and emphasize on the products, which most meet the relevant criteria. Another important advantage of Steve Jobs, as described in the article of Conaty and Charan, is the following one: Jobs emphasizes on the value of cooperation for the development of effective products. It is noted that every Monday Jobs has a meeting with experts in ‘software, hardware, design and the technologies of metal, plastic and glass’ (Conaty and Charan, online article). In this way, he is informed on the potential advances of technology, as they could help towards the improvement of Apple’s existing products or the design of new products that could further increase the firm’s market share. Taking into consideration the Job’s leadership style it could be stated that Jobs has developed his talent becoming more capable in understanding the consumers’ preferences, not just now but also in the future (Conaty and Charan, online article). The above characteristic of Job’s – identifying future customers’ needs – should be regarded as his key advantage towards the leaders of other organizations. The talent of Jobs as a leader is also reflected in the following fact: Jobs is able to identify the potentials and skills of employees suggesting the roles, which are more appropriate for each employee. In other words, his is capable of understanding the ability of each candidate to perform successfully in the particular organization and contribute in the achievement of organizational goals (Conaty and Charan, online article). In this way, employee performance is kept at high levels while failures in production and delivery of products are minimized; the customer support service of the organization also manages to respond to the needs of the organization’s customers, setting the basis for the further improvement of the firm’s ‘image’ in its industry. The effective management of HR, as an element of Steve Job’s leadership reveals the following fact: Steve Jobs is not just a successful leader but also a successful manager. This fact is made clear in the article of Thoma. In the specific article it is explained that Steve Jobs managed effectively the organization’s resources – staff, funds and technology – in such way that the firm was able to achieve a rapid growth (Thoma, online article). In other words, Steve Jobs did not delegate the design of the organization’s functions and activities to others; reference is made particularly to the initial projects of the organization, especially the design and the development of Mac. It is made clear that Jobs set as a priority ‘to assemble the team to build and program the Mac’ (Thoma, online article). Moreover, for quite a long after the design of Mac, Jobs had the main responsibility for the recruitment process; in the article of Thoma it is noted that ‘the duty of hiring skilled employees fell solely on Jobs’ (Thoma, online article). In other words, it was not the leadership style of Jobs that helped Apple to develop a competitive advantage towards its rivals; rather, the management competencies of Jobs also contributed in the success of Apple in the global market – even if through the years the direct involvement of Jobs in management – related tasks had to be limited because of the increase of the volume of work, as resulted by the firm’s expansion internationally. It should be mentioned that Jobs’ management style was characterized by the following fact: Jobs expected from employees that they inform him on the project they work; in other words, Jobs wants to be continuously aware of the employees’ tasks, aiming to have an overview of the progress of production (Thoma, online article). However, this target was not always achieved; in fact, the specific requirement has often caused internal conflicts, which have been effectively handled by Jobs without negatively affect the organization’s performance or image. In the article of Thoma reference is made to the manager of the firm’s software development department; this manager, Bob, has often stated his opposition to deadlines, a fact that has led to conflicts with Jobs but also with other members of the staff. The importance of deadlines for Jobs has been another factor for his success. It is explained that Jobs highly appreciates the ability of employees to meet deadlines. In fact, it is only in this way that another practice of Jobs could be feasible: since the first appearance of the firm in the market, Jobs used to ask the potential customers – meaning mostly investors or corporate customers – to have a view at the product’s prototype before the entrance of the product in the market (Thoma, online article). This practice has become part of the firm’s strategy. Up today, when the firm launches a new product, the event is published through the media – often, before the entrance of the product in the market. Jobs follows this practice in order to keep the morale of the staff high. Indeed, through such events employees feel that their efforts are appreciated; also, they can see how their product can affect the market and which the response of the customers is expected to be. In this way, employee performance is kept at high levels, while employee cooperation is improved, another aspect of Jobs’ management skills. At this point it could be noted that the success of Steve Jobs as a leader can be related to the characteristics of the industry in which he chose to enter. More specifically, the IT industry is quite powerful in the global market. Firms, which have been able to develop products that can suit to various needs of customers, are more likely to achieve high profits compared to firms that choose to avoid innovation trying to control the potential risks. However, innovation is a key prerequisite for the success of modern organizations. By trying to reduce risks – meaning the effort to support products which have been proved particularly successful in the past – firms have to face another threat: their products become less competitive compared to those of their rivals. Thus, the profits from the specific products are expected to be lower – compared to the high profits from products that are unique, at least compared to the products with similar characteristics available in the particular industry. This means, that if Steve Jobs had been involved in a different industrial sector, his success as a leader, would not be so high. However, such assumption would not be accurate. As explained above, Steve Jobs has born a leader – he was not developed into a leader. This means that the development of his skills has been independent from the IT industry. In an industrial sector with different characteristics, Steve Jobs would be able to develop his leadership and management skills. This fact is made clear in the Commencement address of Steve Jobs in Stanford University in 2005. It was there where Steve Jobs explained that his studies had contributed in his success, but there was no such prospect. As an example, he refers to the course of calligraphy, which he chose because he had no other option available, not being able to choose among the normal classes of his college. Through calligraphy he understood the importance of spacing in characters, a fact which influenced the introduction of spaced fonts in Mac, being one of the advantages of the above computer towards its rivals (Stanford News, online report). In other words, Steve Jobs had not set strict criteria regarding his future – meaning the involvement in a particular industry. Rather, he managed to use the knowledge he acquired during his studies for developing a product, which could respond to certain market needs – referring to the Apple I designed in 1976. Gradually, it was made clear that the involvement of Steve Jobs in this industry was not random; rather, this industry offered to Steve Jobs the chance to fully show his competencies. In accordance with the above, it should be noted that Steve Jobs was born a leader; he was not developed into a leader. Indeed, his skills are not likely to exist in other leaders worldwide – meaning that such combination of leadership and management skills is quite difficult to be identified. In fact, there may be leaders who have been involved in critical organizational operations; however, no similar combination of leadership and management skill has been identified, as proved through the research of relevant literature. It seems that Steve Jobs had already advanced leadership skills before his entrance in Apple. The involvement of Steve Jobs in the update of Apple’s existing operational and marketing practices has revealed the quality of Steve Jobs as a leader with strong management skills. The review of the firm’s current performance, as revealed in the report of Reuters (2011), proves that the firm is able to face the market turbulences avoiding losses – at least compared to other firms in the same industry. In the above report it is explained that the current firm’s stock price is increased by +2.26%, which is an important fact taking into consideration the strong turbulences in the global market, being still under the influence of the global recession. This fact is also revealed through the firm’s financial performance from 2009 onwards. In the fourth quarter of 2009 the firm’s profits were estimated to 11880.0 (in millions of US dollars), while in 2010, for the same period, the firm’s profits reached the 15683.0 (in millions of US dollars); based on the firm’s current performance it is expected that the firm’s profits for the fourth quarter will reach the 26741.0 (Reuters 2010), which is a significant performance having in mind the instability in the global market. It seems that the unique leadership and management skills of Jobs, as explained above, have helped the firm to build a strong strategic framework, being able to face strong market pressures without limiting its potentials for growth. Works Cited Apple Inc (AAPL.O) Financial Statement | Reuters.com." Business & Financial News. Reuters.com, 26 Mar. 2011. Web. 29 June 2011. Conaty, Bill, and Ram Charan. "How Steve Jobs Gets Things Done - Fortune Management." Review. CNN Money 25 Jan. 2011. Management and Career. Web. 29 June 2011. Jobs, Steve. "Steve Jobs' Commencement Address (2005)." Stanford News. 14 June 2005. Web. 29 June 2011. Thoma, Cory. "Steve Jobs as a Manager." Information Technology Leadership | ITL 100. 15 Dec. 2010. Web. 29 June 2011. Read More