Organizational Structure in Apple - Case Study Example

Research paper on Apple of the of the Table of Contents Introduction 3 2.Company overview 3 3.Company attributes 3 4.Leadership strategy in Apple 3 5.Organizational structure in Apple 4 6.Culture and processes for socialization in Apple 6 7.Human resource management practices in Apple 7 8.Change management in Apple 8 9.Teamwork and decision making in Apple 8 10.Conclusion 9 References 11 1. Introduction This paper aims to conduct an in-depth analysis of the management framework of Apple Inc. The fundamental objective is to understand the internal environment of the multinational corporation. The researcher will endeavor to highlight the leadership style exhibited by managers within the organization in order to manage a diverse workforce. Emphasis will also be given on the company’s organizational structure that supports a free flow of information in between the chain of commands. The researcher will also attempt to analyze the culture and socialization process in the company thereby focusing on the human resource management practices adopted by the managers in order to manage a culture diverse workforce. The change management strategy will also be discussed as bringing change within internal aspects has been the company’s forte. Lastly, discussions will be done regarding the teamwork and decision making approach in the organization. 2. Company overview Apple Inc, headquartered in California, US is primarily engaged in design, development and sales of computer media and mobile communication devices (iPhone, iPad), computer electronics (Mac book, Apple desktop) and portable music players (iPod). In addition, the organization also sells several associative software, accessories and digital contents of third parties. The organization is reputed for its applications and digital contents through iTunes store, iBooks and App store. Apple Inc.’s products are sold all over the world though online shopping platforms, brick and mortar stores as well as direct sales force (Bloomberg, 2015a). 3. Company attributes Apple Inc. operates in multiple industries but its main domain has been the computer hardware and consumer electronics industry. The organization ranks five in the computer hardware industry with a market share of 5.4% trailing behind market leader Lenovo, HP, Acer and Asus (Bloomberg, 2015b). However, the company still stands ahead of its long time competitor Samsung Electronics. Being headquartered in California, USA, the company has expanded to almost all of Europe, the emerging economics (Brazil, Russia, India and China) and is also predominant in Asia Pacific region. In the Smartphone segment, Apple Inc. ranks second with a market share of 11.9% falling behind Samsung Electronics (Forbes, 2014). Apple Inc. faces intense competition especially in the Smartphone segment from arch rivals Samsung Electronics and Microsoft. Off late, Chinese Smartphone companies like Xiaomi and Gionee has also shown extensive competitiveness to a company of the stature of Apple Inc (Bloomberg, 2015b). 4. Leadership strategy in Apple Apple Inc.’s magnanimous success till date has always been driven by the effective leadership strategies emulated by the organizational leaders. The fundamental reason behind the unprecedented success achieved by the company is the degree of innovation induced by the leaders in everything that the company does. The leaders have always stressed upon the need to think creative which is why they have constantly encouraged employees to come up with new ideas and share them with colleagues and senior managers. Employees are provided with the flexibility to conduct their own research which enables them to identify areas where innovation can be induced (Charnan, 2008). The managers in Apple have emphasized a lot on purposive work. They believe that purposeless work can never be enjoyed. That is why they constantly encourage their employees to enjoy what they are doing by giving them a purpose and that is to bring change. This agenda has driven the innovations that have been produced by Apple over the last decades. Apple Inc.’s managers have always thrived from development which is why their constant endeavor has been to bring about improvement in all its product segments. The managers in Apple Inc. have established a robust line of communication that facilitates free flow of information between various functional departments. This has enabled the managers to streamline several operations which in turn have boosted the operational efficiency (Holbach, 2009). Managers in Apple Inc. have engaged in frequent communication with the subordinates in order to understand their grievances and issues. These issues may be related to organizational development of personal development. The managers have been more than eager to address these issues regardless of the type and nature. This has enabled them to make the employees feel that they are being valued which in turn boost their confidence and motivation level. The managers have given equivalent emphasis on the welfare of the employees and on the productivity of the organization as a result of which Apple Inc. has been able to perform consistently over the last decade or so and has eventually gained a considerable proportion of market share. Apple’s managers have successfully established a relationship based on trust and respect with their subordinate employees which in turn have allowed the latter to gain all round development (Cooper & Robertson, 2009). Apple Inc.’s managers have always applied a transformational leadership style by encouraging employees to think beyond imagination. This has enabled the organization to make groundbreaking developments in their product and service attributes that beats the competition in the industry. Their leadership style is evident in the way the employees cater to address the needs of the company’s customer base. The managers have always given importance to training and development programs in order to equip their officers, sales force and store ushers with adequate skills in order to for them to be able to influence the purchase behavior of their customers (Hughes & Beatty, 2011). 5. Organizational structure in Apple Apple Inc.’s organizational structure is collaborative in nature with the company’s CEO as the nucleus. The organizational structure of the company is just like a startup company where the owner creates multiple functional departments and appoints managers for each one of them. Each of those managers has their own unit comprising of team members who assigned with a variety of responsibilities. Apple’s organizational structure has been shown in figure 1 given below: Figure 1: Apple Inc. organizational structure (Source: Word Press, 2015) Although the organization structure looks relatively complex but is simple in nature. The collaborative structure allows employees in the lower level to communicate with middle level managers as well as top tier managers. The company’s business strategies are completely aligned with the organizational structure and its chain of command. The collaborative organization structure allows the top tier managers to delegate responsibilities appropriately to the middle tier managers. The middle level managers thereafter find it relatively convenient to convey the organizational objectives to the lower level employees. Apple’s organizational structure has promoted teamwork integrated with proper coordination and collaboration. The free flow of information between the organizational employees has allowed the managers to align the operations closely to the organizational goals and objectives (Elçi, et al., 2012). Apple Inc’s organizational structure is regarded by many as very robust as it allows the managers to focus on the specialized segments. Managers are able to allocate resources efficiently in those departments that are conducting research in specialized segments. This paves way of successful product development. Given the fact that the managers in Apple are able to effectively channelize resources between all the functional departments, the company is able to realize economies of scale. This allows the managers to earn greater benefits with the utilization of lesser number of resources. The integrative organizational structure of Apple Inc provides a wider span of control and higher unity of command to the organizational managers. The top tier managers are able to oversee all operations conducted within the organization which allows them to emphasize more on the strategic plans of all functional divisions in the organization (Gardner & Cogliser, 2009). Apple Inc’s organizational structure supports a centralized decision making framework whereby managers are able to include the employees in the decision making process. This helps the organization to identify the strengths and weakness of the company and formulate appropriate improvement plans. The centralized decision making process driven by a simplistic start up oriented organizational structure enables the managers to formulate and subsequently implement effective business strategies. 6. Culture and processes for socialization in Apple Employees in Apple Inc. enjoy a very flexible yet a channelized corporate culture. The managers have their own way of leading a group of people by adopting a transformational leadership style where employees are encouraged to think beyond imagination. Apple Inc has always been defined as company of the future. This is precisely because of the fact that the company’s internal structure allows its employees to communicate freely with each other. The corporate culture in Apple supports effective knowledge transfer and idea sharing. At the end of the day managers are left with a pool of ideas that are filled with enormous degree of potential (Mulnix, 2013). The internal culture in Apple Inc allows employees to be very flexible in their approach towards any particular objective. This allows the employees to adapt themselves to the constantly changing business circumstances. Achieving organizational objectives becomes relatively easy as employees are allowed to be creative in their approaches. This enables them to tap their strengths, channelize their knowledge and combine them with their skill sets that pave way for a successful objective realization (Zehir & Erdogan, 2011). The workflow in Apple is very streamlined which allows managers to keep departmental operations in close alignment with each other. Team members are encouraged to work in a team and nurture each other in order to makes sure that the alignment between departmental operations is increased with every passing day. As far as process of socialization is concerned, managers in Apple Inc. engage in frequent communication with their employees and encourage them to share their knowledge and ideas with their peers. This enables them to build up a strong network of talented and skilled employees who are able to work with each other thereby facilitating coordinative and collaborative working. Apple Inc. managers organize various events and encourage employees to participate in those events in order to build their own networks. The managers emphasize a lot on networking precisely because it not only enables them to tap onto a wide base of employees but also allows them to promote the brand in front of large customer base (Steers, Mowday & Shapiro, 2004). Employees are encouraged to participate in tech events which in turn not only enable them to showcase their talent but also allow them to come in touch with employees from other esteemed organization. This not only increases their love for the work that they do but also allows them to keep themselves motivated. In addition to that, socializing with other people also allows the employees to broaden their horizon of knowledge and contribute towards the development of the organization. 7. Human resource management practices in Apple As far as human resource management in Apple is concerned, the organization adopts a combination of both conventional and contemporary approaches in order to pool up talented employee from all around the world. The organization hires employees by publishing advertisements in print media as well as through job recruitment employees. In addition to that, Apple Inc’s managers have also recruited employees from top colleges through referrals and social media based approaches. This has allowed the organization to blend its existing pool of talents with the new employees who come with a plethora of creative ideas. This allows the company to implement the ideas in order to ensure consistent product development (Morgan, 2009). The managers in Apple Inc have emphasized a lot on introducing appropriate training and development programs in order to ensure that they mould their employees according as per requirements. The managers in the company focus a lot on imparting necessary skills to the employees in order for the latter to be able to attain all rind development in the professional field. Apple Inc’s human resource management framework is extremely flexible that allows employees to achieve a good balance between their personal and professional life. The constant endeavor of the company’s HR department has been to enhance the engagement level of the employees towards their work and the organization as a whole (Marquis& Huston, 2011). Human resource management during the time when Steve Jobs was the company’s CEO is strikingly different from the management done in the era with Tim Cook as the company’s nucleus. The striking difference is witnessed in the ways in which the operations were managed and leadership styles were applied. Human resource management was more authoritative in nature as employees were made to work extremely hard in order to meet stringent deadlines (Morgan, 2009). The employees in that era found it considerably difficult to create a balance between their professional and personal life as a result of which the attrition level was extremely high in the company. The targets which were set during the time when Steve Jobs was the company’s CEO were less feasible which in turn made it difficult for the employees to meet the same within the stipulated deadline (Morgan, 2009). Employees had to work 12 to 16 hours a day at times in order to makes sure that targets are met. However, currently the human resource management framework in the company is very flexible which allows the employees to work at their convenience. The employees are compensated with lucrative salary packages and additional benefits which in turn enables them to contribute equivalent towards organizational development as well as towards the development of their personal life. The human resource managers in Apple Inc have successfully marshaled their workforce resources which in turn has increased the operational efficiency significantly (Losey, 2007). 8. Change management in Apple Given the fact that Apple Inc has always been regarded as an innovative company, the managers have always thrived to bring changes within the organization. Continuous change management has always been one of the core aspects within the company’s business model. Managing and implementing change has allowed the managers to bring about constant improvements in their products. The change management is not only related to the products that are manufactured by the company but also in terms of services that are provided by the company (Hall, 2008). In order to manage and implement change, the first thing that the managers do is to brainstorm the employees in order to extract crucial ideas that are aimed towards bringing change. Upon receiving a plethora of ideas, the managers integrate those ideas and convey the need to implement this change to their superiors. This allows managers to gain support and assistance which are two of the most important drivers of change management processes. Upon gaining the support, the purpose of this change is conveyed to the organizational employees in order to encourage them to actively participate in this process. While the change is being implemented, the managers in Apple Inc. conduct a close supervision of all the processes that are being carried. They constantly monitor the delivers in order to make sure that they are aligned to the outputs that are being desired (Gardner & Cogliser, 2009). Once the change is successfully implemented, the managers in Apple Inc. make it a point to ensure that the change is successfully embedded within the organization’s core values and corporate culture (Hughes & Beatty, 2011). This has been the change manage process implemented the managers of Apple Inc. that has allowed the company to induce innovation within their operations, marketing activities, production processes, end products and services. One of the core ingredients of the company’s unprecedented success over the past decade or so, the change management framework in Apple Inc. is considered a benchmark and is followed by many organizations base all over the world (Steers, Mowday & Shapiro, 2004). 9. Teamwork and decision making in Apple Teamwork has been one of the high points of Apple Inc. Apple Inc’s managers have always emphasized a lot on strengthening collaboration and coordination between team members. Team members have been constantly encouraged by the managers to share knowledge and ideas amongst each other. This in turn actually helps the managers to nurture its pool of young talents in order to transform them into becoming matured and efficient employees. Apple Inc’s managers have constantly communicated with their subordinate employees in order for them to be able to identify the needs and requirements of the employees. These needs were then addressed immediately as they were the primary requisites to enhance teamwork. The employees have been constantly encouraged by the managers to participate in various training and development programmers that are aimed towards enhancing teamwork. Employees are made to work rigorously which in allows them to be more efficient in their choice of approach. The managers have allocated resources efficiently in order to make sure that employees are able to work in a unified manner (Marquis& Huston, 2011). The managers in Apple Inc. have established a robust communication framework in order to delegate authorities and responsibilities appropriately to the subordinate employees. This in turn allowed the latter to have a good understanding of their job responsibilities and duties. Delegating responsibilities to the employees was essential in order to facilitate effective teamwork and efficient channelization of resources. The decision making process in Apple Inc. is extremely centralized with a downward flow of command from the top level managers to the lower tier managers. The managers emphasize a lot on incorporating the opinions and feedbacks of the employees within the organizational decision making process (Steers, Mowday & Shapiro, 2004). This not only enables them to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the organization but also allows them to integrate this information within the business strategies aimed towards organizational development. Alongside that, by incorporating the view of employees within the organizational decision making process, the managers are able to make the employees feel valued thereby increasing their motivation level. 10. Conclusion The study has revealed several aspects related to the management framework of Apple Inc. Being one of the most successful and recognized multinational corporation, Apple Inc’s leadership strategy is regarded as very effective and flexible at the same time. The managers offer a lot of flexibility to the employees and at the same time encourages them to bring out their best in order to increase their productivity. This has provided ample scope to the employees to create a balance between their professional and personal life. The organization structure is very collaborative in nature which facilitates free flow of information between all functional departments thereby allowing the managers to streamline operations. The corporate culture in Apple is very flexible which has allowed employees to benefit from job based leaning and thus attain all round development. The same can be said about the human resource management framework of the company as the managers have constantly emphasized on shuffling the workforce resources so as to achieve the best output. Apple Inc. being an innovative company has successfully incorporated change management as one of the fundamental aspects of the company’s business model. This has allowed the managers to pave way for continuous business development. The company’s unprecedented success till date has been defined by the effectiveness with which teamwork is promoted by the managers combined with a centralized decision making process. This has allowed the managers to align business operations with organizational objectives and increase productivity and efficiency. References Bass, B. (2010). The Bass handbook of leadership: Theory, research, and managerial applications. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster. Bloomberg. (2015a). Company Description. Retrieved from http://www.bloomberg.com/research/stocks/snapshot/snapshot_article.asp?ticker=AAPL Bloomberg. (2015b). Bloomberg industry market leaders. Retrieved from http://www.bloomberg.com/visual-data/industries/ Charnan, R. (2008). 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