How Do People and Organisation Help Innovation to Happen in Apple - Case Study Example

How Innovation Happened in Apple The current business environment the world over has over the last three decades witnessed increased competitiveness with the expansion of globalisation. This increased competition has resulted in companies devising strategies to overcome the challenges and realize competitive advantage over rival firms. At the same time, some organisations have seen drastic reduction in business and thus growth. Apple is one of the companies that have initiated some of the best innovative strategies since late 1970s to overcome competition and lead the pack in designing and production of computer hardware and software. Innovation at apple has been a long journey of persistence and sheer consistency rather than an eventful or accidental exercise. It is worth noting that within the same period that apple observed persistent growth many fierce competitors also emerged. Apple’s case is one that has marvelled both technological gurus and industry experts. With the mention of Apple comes Steve Jobs who co-founded the company in 1976 but was later removed in 1985 through boardroom disputes. He returned to Apple in 1997 after selling to it his company NeXT. At this time, Apple’s future was quite uncertain but with Jobs at the helm with his creative and innovative mind, the company’s fortunes changed drastically. Apple’s success story is undoubtedly hinged on its ability, over the years, to proactively and successfully manage its innovation strategy through various facets. The core facets of the innovation strategy have revolved around software-driven product innovation, creativity, business model innovation, customer experience and innovative leadership (Thomke and Feinberg, January 2009). This paper examines Apple from innovation standpoint and how it has managed to outshine itself and the competitors as well as the factors that underlie this innovation and success. Apple’s software-driven product innovation was initiated shortly after Jobs joined in 1997. This was an approach copy pasted from NeXT where WebObjects was born which is largely used to support iTunes store and the company website. The company ensures it has the best brains behind software development because virtually all the innovative products have to rely on unique and new platforms. Apple’s mastery on how to synergise ideas and creativity to breed innovation has proved worthwhile. The culture at Apple is such that all ideas are welcome because it is from them that amazing products develop. This is a risky undertaking but the company understands that without a substantial amount risk nothing much can be achieved. Apple has also taken this risk further by venturing into new markets and taking up other companies’ territories thereby triggering new lines of competition. The Think Different approach to developing product innovation was initiated by Steve Jobs bringing in the iMac and iPod and later the iPad and iPhone. Each of these products stirred up its respect market and only left competitors grappling to catch up. Changing the business model is another innovation aspect whose impact is felt in apple to date (Conway and Steward, 2009). Apple recognised that superb products coupled with ready markets alone cannot result to sustained growth. The company changed its marketing strategies through brand positioning and venturing into partnerships across the globe to reduce the shock of entering new markets all the time. Apple has also made innovations in regards to the customer experience through their stores both retail and online. iTunes also forms a part of this innovation as well as a top-notch customer service experience. Apple’s combination of leadership and innovation starts with the return of Steve Jobs and hiring of highly qualified innovators and engineers. This combination under a good working environment can only lead to breathtaking products. Apple came to the market with the sole aim of changing the world technologically by bringing in highly innovating products that are also easy to use. The Design Thinking opened the doors to imagination and research with designers envisioning customers’ needs vis-à-vis what was available in the market. Through the Macintosh project in the mid 1970s apple delved into making computers for personal use. At this time, computers were only used in big organisations and government facilities and in very restricted and discrete locations. This change in the use of computers required a drastic change in reduced complexity of the machine. It is this kind of thinking that led to apple being the designer of some of the most interactive technological equipments to date (Tidd, Bessant and Pavitt, 2013). The company went on to produce computers and led in their change of design and functionality to what they are today. For example, for long the diskette was a major component but apple was first to eliminate it and replace it with external devices. This was move widely criticised by users and competitors alike but today, all have adopted the lead. Then the company produced the iPod, iPhone and iPad in 2001, 2007 and 2010 respectively, which are all unmatched innovations of the last decade. Surprisingly and unlike many other company’s product launches, apple’s innovative products have always surpassed global sales expectations right from the launch dates. As indicated before, to successfully achieve these milestones in innovation and consumer appetite for its products, apple has deliberately employed its innovation strategy from a multifaceted approach. The first important step to innovation is for the management to design an organisational culture that is geared towards this goal (Davila, Epstein and Shelton, 2012). Organisational culture forms the norms and behaviours by which every employee, from the management to the junior most, is identified. Apple’s culture is truly distinct and it is clearly manifested in every facet of the organisation. The culture is anchored on the principle of Think Different which can be well identified with Steve Jobs. Some of the basic aspects of this culture include employee ownership, laid-back approach and heightened entrepreneurial spirit in all employees from top to bottom. These aspects of organisational culture are not written anywhere but when on interacts with any of apple’s employees from the top management to those working in Apple stores, it all comes out effortlessly. Apple is a leader when it comes to empowering employees into believing they can make a difference through the slogan, Make a Dent in the Universe (Trott, 2011). The casual working environment also works well in instilling a sense of responsibility towards an employee’s duties: as long as one gets the job done they are free to attend to their errands. This aspect of Valuing what is Important is alien in many organisations around the world and more so the technological based. Managers usually fear that when employees are flexible they easily get poached and highly disregard their work. Fortunately, apple’s scenario has proved this wrong even to its competitors that a culture of employee freedom and flexibility can yield increased productivity and creativity. At the central of apple’s innovation drivers are the innovators themselves who are well coddled thereby retaining a pool of qualified and valuable staff. This aspect of Loving and Cherishing the Innovators has richly benefitted the company. As much as a company has all levels of employees based on their individual competencies, apple has a soft spot for its innovators for their output directly results to the kind and type of products the company delivers to the market. Apple has also entrenched in its culture the notion of Not Making People Do Things, But Making Them Better at Doing Things. Every employee, therefore, believes that they are better people at apple and strife to also make others excel, and in the process result to overall company excellence (Paroutis, Heracleous and Angwin, 2013). Apple also reorganised its operations a great deal with Jobs’ re-entry. He brought with him the aspect of Do Everything Important Internally. This moved away from the norm in the IT industry where operations are traditionally wholly disaggregated. Apple adopted an approach where all the critical aspects like product design, operating systems and sales came under one roof. However, this was primarily possible because with Jobs’ come back he scrapped product lines from fifteen to just three and 70 percent of all new project initiatives leading to a lean operational workload. Innovation being a deliberate action of stretching one’s imagination to develop that which is unimaginable requires an organisation to highly value its employees through a well laid out reward strategy (Fagerberg 2006). In any organisation with unmatched business performance there is a realisation that employees perform a critical role. Apple has mastered this by maximising on each employee’s abilities, opportunities and motivation levels. The company has an array of benefits and performance related incentives which range from shareholding schemes to discounts. However, this is connected to the company’s culture where creativity forms the basis of performance. This results in sustained motivation to remain creative. Apple has, on the other hand, realised that as much as money forms one of the key motivators, it does not necessarily lead to sustained motivation. Thus, the casual working environment, room for creativity and flexibility in the work schedule all play together to ensure sustained motivation (Adair, 2006). Apple also uses recognition rewards to motivate the senior employees regardless of whether they have hit set targets. Apple has also mastered the art of offering rewards like holidays and gifts that are quite memorable. At every stage of innovation apple has been giving the new gadgets to its employees. The reward system in apple has worked so well that employees did not feel threatened by Jobs’ autocracy because they valued the rewards and the working environment more. As such, motivational aspects in apple have truly defined its success path. Innovation does not necessarily mean overly sophisticated. This is the approach apple took right from the onset and is quite visible in all their products. Their main goal in developing a product is to merge creativity and innovation with Simplicity in Design and Use (Dodgson, Gann and & Salter, 2008). The innovators are pushed to design simple gargets that are also interactive. After the design stage the innovators sit with engineers to actualise the designs. This ingenuity is thus transferred to the engineers to realise the next generation innovations. Through these professional interactions apple is able to develop products whose every inch has been thoroughly investigated and approved both at design and engineering stages. Through the sleek designs and interactive nature of the each product apple has been associated with fashion and current trends. Everyone wishes to own the next generation iPhone or iPad and this can as well be attributed to the company’s innovation in regards to marketing. Poor marketing approach has dogged many technological companies but not apple. Apple has been able to entice the customers’ imagination way before launching any product through intense pre-launch marketing campaigns on a global scale instead of using focus groups. This has resulted in every product awaiting launch to be named The Next Big Thing. The company also has a very efficient PR and communications team. The PR team in Apple is known to be quite secretive especially prior to product launches. This draws power and attention to the company from the masses as everything is left to imagination. This is what creates the hype. Therefore, mixing the trendy aspect, innovation and efficient PR leads to immediate success of apple products: Through these, apple is able to make consumers view its gadgets as Insanely Great Products (Smith, 2010). In conclusion, apple’s innovation strategy is quite wide with a multifaceted approach. Its rise to top as a technology company is no doubt a marvel but it is clear that innovation and creativity are at the centre of this success. Starting from the co-founder Steve Jobs to the current management team, creativity and innovation form the pillar in decision making and strategy formulation at every stage. Every apple employee has been trained to think differently and ensure they make a mark in the universe through creative thinking. Such a collective attitude towards work in a technology company is what has bred such kind of innovative products like the iMac, iPod, iPhone and iPads. The company has also shown a keen interest in how it manages the employees through a unique reward system that combines both financial and non-financial motivational techniques. The company’s products are now associated with being trendy and stylish and this coupled with superb marketing and PR team, every product launch has followed successful sales that have exceeded experts’ projections. It is, therefore, clear that apple’s innovation has come about owing to informed synergising of a unique organisational culture, reward system, organisation design, business model and other related strategies in order to realise unmatched achievements. References Adair, J. (2006) Leadership and motivation, London, Kogan Page. Conway, S. & Steward, F. (2009) Managing and shaping innovation, Oxford University Press. Davila, T., Epstein, M. & Shelton, R. (2012) Making innovation work: how to manage it, measure it, and profit from it, Updated Edition, FT Press. Dodgson, M., Gann, D. & Salter, A. (2008) The management of technological innovation: strategy and practice, OUP, Oxford. Fagerberg, J. et al (eds.) (2006) The Oxford handbook of innovation, OUP. Paroutis, S., Heracleous, L. & Angwin, D. (2013) Practicing strategy: text and cases, SAGE. Smith, D. (2010) Exploring innovation, London, McGraw-Hill. Thomke, S.H. & Feinberg, B. (January 2009) "Design Thinking and Innovation at Apple," Harvard Business School Case, pp. 609-066. Tidd, J., Bessant, J. & Pavitt, K. (2013) Managing innovation: integrating technological, market and organisational change, John Wiley & Sons, Chichester. Trott, P. (2011) Innovation management and new product development, FT/Prentice Hall. Read More