Operation Management in Winning - Book Report/Review Example

Operation Management in Winning The biography of Steve Jobs, written by Walter Isaacson, draws the reader’s attention to various concerns of modern day leadership, addressing the various strengths and shortcomings of Steve Jobs’ leadership practices. The bibliography of Steve Job describes his entire life, beginning from his birth to his adaptations of technological knowledge in the early years of computing and his inventions. The book is based on a series of interviews conducted by Walter Isaacson, the author of the book, and Steve Jobs. In addition to this Walter Isaacson has also included information gathered from people who were close to Steve Jobs and could throw light to his bearings. The bibliography also describes the founding of Apple Incorporation by Steve Jobs along with his mate Steve Woznaik. Among the various facts those exhibited the gradual development in the skills possessed by Steve Jobs, the author delivers considerable stress on the tough competition faced by the introduction of Microsoft in the computing technology market, which indicates his entrepreneurial and leadership techniques. As observed, to face competition, it is necessary to be aggressive, which was the perspective of Steve Jobs, who also perceived that only differentiation could increase potentials of success for his company. Consequently, Apple became much emphasised on introducing new products more rapidly, as a measure for its competitive benchmarking, which emerged as a nearly impossible challenge for other entities in the market. Thus, the leadership practices of Steve Jobs indicate the importance of technology innovations and its overall impacts on the industry practices (Isaacson, 2013). Based on the narration provided by Walter Isaacson in this book, the entrepreneurial journey of Steve Jobs certainly inspires to develop an understanding with respect to the needs and developments of technology innovations. The bibliography unveils the many struggles and the inhabitations that Steve Jobs faced when he initiated to become an entrepreneur. Nevertheless, overcoming all the challenges, it was his passion and excellent understanding of market demands that led to the successful foundation of the organisation. Additionally, the importance of engineering and technology was prime to Steve Jobs that also influenced his passion to creation and innovation (Isaacson, 2013). The introduction of Steve Jobs to “Silicon Valley technology” facilitated the interests of many others towards electronics and technical designing, and thus, stating that Steve Jobs was a pioneer in the industry will be worthwhile. The first project developed by Steve Jobs and his friend was the creation of the blue box. The blue box was designed in such a manner that it enabled computer users to make free calls and therefore, proved a worthy choice for virtual communication. It is clear from the understanding of the book that the introduction of the blue box was likely to be beneficial for the general public, as it enabled easy communication between people. Taking these examples of the inventions made by Steve Jobs for his entire life, the main operational concepts those he regarded as crucial were the engineering and technical skills along with the leadership drive towards innovations in the telecommunications sector (Isaacson, 2013). The concept of semiconductor was also introduced by Steve Jobs in Silicon Valley technology, which also suffices the notion drawn above. In addition, Steve Jobs also gained fame and a leading position in the industry by developing transistors using silicon rather than using germanium, which was more expensive and hence, also ensured that his products were affordable by the targeted customer groups. The company later introduced the concept of microprocessors, replacing the use of microchips, making computing easier and faster. Illustratively, the introduction of Intel 4004 indicates the central processing unit in one chip that resulted development of personal computer. The development of personal computer subsequently reduced manual working and made tasks more time efficient. The development of personal computer by Intel thus acted as a base for the development and innovations taking place in present day (Isaacson, 2013). The development of computer was followed by software inventions by Steve Jobs that has allowed the display of images on computer screen and had developed the entire process to be more interactive. The idea of modern personal computer suggested by Wozniak and the innovative idea of Jobs resulted in the introduction of Apple Computer. The introduction of Apple I was followed by II and subsequently by many other designs and techniques, which were better than the previous. The innovative ideas of Jobs and the associated members thus proved effective in drawing customers’ attention and keeping them loyal to the brand (Isaacson, 2013). The success of Apple further facilitated the introduction of another key concept of the Initial Public Offering, causing a long-term impact on industry performances and structuring. It was considered as an essential mean to develop more wealth for the concerned company but surely, confirming its responsibilities towards its stakeholders. The idea of initial public offering enabled the organizational members to develop relation with the stakeholders. This in turn affected the profitability as well as growth and success of the concerned organization in the long run (Isaacson, 2013). The book also indicates the introduction of Macintosh, which was the next generation modern personal computer by Steve Jobs, which was another benchmark innovation made by him. The principle aim behind the development of Macintosh was to develop affordable computers so that it is affordable by a large group of customers. Initially, the computers developed in the early stages were expensive and therefore, was not within the limits of general public. However, Macintosh was developed in such manner that it could be easily managed and was cheaper at cost as compared to the other available models of personal computers in the then scenario (Isaacson, 2013). A struggle for power and life was very much observable in the bibliography of Steve Jobs. The takeover of Macintosh project by Steve Jobs indicates success of power and leadership over the company. While Apple was growing successfully, competition was also faced from IBM that came up as a strong competitor in the personal computer market. The improvement in technology and innovations increased competition in the market as result of which, it became essential for the competitors to produce more affordable as well as innovative products driving industry expansion and growth (Isaacson, 2013). Later the concept of operating software was introduced by Microsoft, which was a computer software system that was capable of managing the functions of its hardware system for greater efficiency. In addition, the operating system also provided the necessary resources liable for the development of the software programmes in an advanced manner. In order to face the increase in competition, Microsoft thus developed Windows, which is an operating system that makes effective use of graphical interface and was much similar to the operations of Macintosh but had the virtues of low cost and easier usability. The development and introduction of a varied range of personal computers gradually led Apple to develop more aggressively in the telecommunications industry that further resulted in the development of new products (Isaacson, 2013). The book also discloses Steve Jobs’ passion for design that motivated him to start a new venture called ‘NeXT’ with the aim to fulfil the need of computing power for the educational institutes. Steve Jobs always wanted to do something new with the products because of his passion for innovative design. However, owing to competition as well as limited scope of diversity, his project NeXT was a failure. However, learning from his failure with NeXT, he concentrated on a new venture in producing affordable computers that finally resulted into a shift of his focus from the computer industry to animation industry. Steve Jobs thus obtained a stake on Lucasfilm and renamed it as Pixar. The business enterprise was mainly engaged in the business of developing products including hardware, software and animated films, which was having an increasing market in the global platform (Isaacson, 2013). The book also relates the concept of marketing and promotion campaign along with the introduction of new innovative products. Jobs believed in the concept of thinking differently. This concept was implemented in case of Apple, wherein the company had to refocus on redesigning computers and laptops continually, for its better usability. This further assisted the company to face the rising challenges the global economy (Isaacson, 2013). The skill of marketing along with designing principles also imposes a positive effect on the simplicity as well as packaging of the products. As the prices of the products served by Apple was becoming a rising concern for consumers, iMac was designed that was affordable for a larger number of casual users. The idea of serving customers through Apple stores and therefore maintaining differentiation also raised the importance of control over retail activities. In addition, employees of the organizations were asked to participate in providing new innovate ideas for product development, such as the innovation of Digital hubs that indicated the use of personal computers with the aim of controlling other devices, for example music players and printers. The increase in music piracy also resulted in the fall of music sales and therefore, the concept of iTune store was developed based on the uses of digital technology. Arguably thus, the secret behind the success of Steve Jobs was his learning from the past with an increasing focus towards certain essential variables including costs, innovative designing and product differentiation (Isaacson, 2013). Reference Isaacson, W. (2013). Steve Jobs. New York: Simon and Schuster. Read More