Apple Inc. is one of the biggest tech companies in the world manufacturing high-end consumer electronics, computer software, as well as other online services. Apple Inc.’s products include wearables, home accessories, iPhone, iPad, and Mac. The company also runs its iOS operating systems from its line of smartphones as compared to all other manufactures on the market that depend on Android OS.
Apple attracts different forms of criticism and praises at the same time on the market. However, the company has been enormously influential and proved a continued dominance of the tech industry as a result of its management practices. Therefore, this paper aims to benchmark Apple Inc. for management best practices including examples related to the company’s vision and mission statement as well to the fundamental principles of management.
At the core of every successful company is the fundamental principles of management that consist of organizing, controlling, planning, leading, and staffing. It needs to be effectively executed by a firm’s management. The success of Apple Inc. is primarily built upon the idea of being a huge startup that focuses on cultivating ideas and leveraging the skills of its staff (Male, 2010). Apple also promotes an engineer-focused working environment that allows staff to bring their ideas on the table, experiment, and build upon them. In addition, most critics argue that Apple Inc.’s success engraved on the company’s continued emphasis on minimal bureaucracy. Male, B. (2010) describes the experience of an engineer who worked at Apple Inc. for six years. In his experience, the engineer describes Apple’s management as one that is run and controlled by engineers and not managers. Unlike most in most companies, those who oversee projects and processes at Apple Inc. are engineers themselves and not MBAs or product people. In this case, managers understand what is supposed to be done at every level of production rather than just expecting excellence from the engineering teams. In addition, the relationship between managers is relatable because they both understand the technology and have ideas that complement each other in creating necessary projects (Snhu.edu, 2018).
Another best practice at Apple Inc. is that company promotes a culture of respect between managers and employees. Since Apple fancies its engineer-based model, most employees and managers have engineering backgrounds and therefore there is less division between them (Yarow, 2012). Being in a working environment where managers and employees have ideas, skills, and professional background that complement each commands a great amount of respect among the management and the staff. Most of the company’s best practices are also in line with its vision and mission statement. In its mission, Apple aims to enhance user experience by delivering innovative services, software, and hardware. In this case, employees at Apple have the freedom to own and improve products. As mentioned earlier, there is less bureaucracy at Apple and therefore employees need less approval to improve projects or fix issues related to individual products. All they need is to file and report and get on with the fix needed. All projects at Apple are driven by long-term goals which are shared by the whole team. The company also requires managers to challenge employees and be keen on deadlines (Snhu.edu, 2018). In most cases, doing the same thing every time gets boring which is the reason why Apple promotes challenges. Employees are given harder tasks that help them to learn and enhance their skills with the help of teams. In addition, Apple also thrives on hiring candidates who are insanely passionate about its products. With such a workforce, the company has been able to generate unending motivation that translates into general profitability and productivity. Lastly, the company emphasizes work/life balance as well as maintaining the startup culture even if the company is a multi-billion tech-empire.
Apple has enjoyed market dominance and great success as a result of its management best practices and its unique organizational culture. There are various lessons that other organizations can learn from Apple management. For example, the company believes that success can only be achieved if an organization focuses their best people on their fundamental projects. The company is also obsessed over small details that define the uniqueness in their products. The secret of Apple’s success also lies in its staffing function that seeks only the best talent whose qualities and skills complement those who already exist in the firm to promote creation of new ideas and manage effective production. Respect among employees and managers has also promoted accountability within the organization.
References
Male, B. (2010). 8 Management Lessons I Learned Working At Apple. Business Insider. Retrieved 4 November 2021, from https://www.businessinsider.com/management-lessons-i-learned-working-at-apple-2010-7?r=US&IR=T#its-important-to-emphasize-worklife-balance-8.
Snhu.edu. (2018, Dec 10). OL-215 Steve Jobs talks about managing people CC [Video]. YouTube. Retrieved 4 November 2021, from https://youtu.be/nTGIOCEBh9c.
Yarow, J. (2012). Apple Management Lessons Every Company Should Steal. Business Insider. Retrieved 4 November 2021, from https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-run-your-company-like-apple-2012-2?r=US&IR=T#hold-individuals-accountable-8.