The case study is primarily concerned with the leadership problem in Apple company after the death of its CEO, Steve Jobs. Jobs’ charismatic leadership was clearly vital to Apple’s success. Yet, it is possible that Apple succeeds without him since, during his work, Jobs has created a long-term vision and mission of the company, which are vital responsibilities of a leader (Williams, 2021). However, to continue success without him, the company needs to divide the tasks of a leader and a manager, both of which were done by Jobs. Moreover, to substitute his leadership, Apple needs to reconsider its authoritative structure and create new possibilities for the company’s development. It seems that the system under Jobs worked out only with his guidance, which is ineffective. Hence, more participation of the other executives of the organization should be encouraged.
Moreover, Tim Cook might be the right leader to replace Jobs if his leadership style would not emulate Jobs. The acceptance or effectiveness of one’s leadership depends not only on the person in this job position but on the general environment in and outside the organization. There have been changes in the technology industry as well as in Apple; hence, Jobs’ style might be inappropriate for the new realities. For example, the creative approach was functional when modern technologies emerged; yet, there are established standards now so that the style might be less creative but more adaptive to the changes. To deal with these opportunities and challenges, Tim Cook should focus on leading Apple rather than managing since it would provide more chances that the organizational structure of the company would be reestablished.
Finally, the need to re-establish the system of the company is determined by the ineffectiveness of the previous approach. According to Williams (2021), more participative, involving more managers and employees’ organizations perform better than authority-based ones due to more cohesion among the workers. Thus, if I were in charge at Apple, I would attempt to change the existing passive role of the employees and encourage them to participate more in the company.
Reference
Williams, C. (2021). MGMT (12th ed.). South-Western College Publishing.