Organizational Structure Analysis Apple Inc.

Organisational Structure
Analysis Apple Inc.
Prepared by – Anubhav Tyagi,
Course Name – Organization Structure and Design
Faculty – Dr. Anshu Sharma

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Organization Structure & Design
Introduction – Apple Inc.
• Apple Inc. is an American multinational technology company.
• Apple was founded as Apple Computer Company on April 1,
1976, by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne.
• Apple specializes in consumer electronics, software and online
services.
• Apple is the largest information technology company by revenue.
• Apple enjoys a high level of brand loyalty, and is ranked as one of
the world’s most valuable brands.

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Organization Structure & Design
Core Competency & Product market Distribution – Apple Inc.
• Apple’s main core competency is innovation.
• They have a long history of developing unique and innovative
technology products, including the Mac computer, iPod, iPhone,
iPad, Apple TV, and Apple Watch.
• Even when it’s not the first company to develop a new product,
Apple is often the one that’s able to take a new product, engineer it
in a unique fashion, and make it an enormous commercial success.
Apple implement multiple distribution channels including direct and
semi-direct, company-owned stores and other authorised parties to
distribute their products and services to their target customers and
consumers.

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Organization Structure & Design
Major organisational Change – Apple Inc.
• Steve Jobs was co-founder, chairman and CEO of Apple. Steve
Jobs made every strategic decision that would affect the company.
When Tim Cook took over in 2011 following Job’s resignation,
Cook restructured the company, and part of this restructuring
included changing how the company’s hierarchy worked.
• In 2011 Tim Cook took a more different path in his leadership of
Apple. He introduced a different organizational culture that
essentially was more inclusive, balanced and allowed the
employees to contribute to the decision-making table.
• The current organizational structure adopted by Apple empowers
employees allowing them to participate in the innovations
embraced by the company entirely. Thus a significant impact of the
organizational change in Apple was felt by the employees who now
feel free to work without pressure. In turn, the leadership style
adopted by Tim Cook has resulted in improved productivity and
innovation.

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Organization Structure & Design
Organisational Strategic Change – Apple Inc.
Apple works on product differentiation strategy. Specifically,
the multinational technology company differentiates its
products and services on the basis of simple, yet attractive
design and advanced functionality.
Apple strategy consists of the following four elements:
• Focus on design and functionality of products.
• Enhancing customer experience.
• Strengthening Apple ecosystem.
• Decreasing dependence of the business on the sales of
iPhones.

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Organization Structure & Design
Organisational Structure Change – Apple Inc.
Apple uses a company structure that is commonly known as “functional
organization”. This means that the company has been organized
around areas of expertise, rather than individual products. The products
themselves are then worked on by individuals from across the different
areas of expertise.

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Organization Structure & Design
Organisational Cultural Change – Apple Inc.
Apple Inc.’s organizational culture is a key factor in the continuing
success of the business.
Through the leadership of Steve Jobs and now through the leadership
of Tim Cook, the company continues to enhance its cultural
characteristics to maximize human resource support for business
relevance in various markets around the world. Apple shapes its
corporate culture and uses it as a tool for strategic management and
success.
The following are the main characteristics of Apple’s corporate culture:
1. Top-notch excellence (No change)
2. Creativity (Changed)
3. Innovation (Changed)
4. Secrecy (No change)
5. Moderate combativeness (Changed)

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Organization Structure & Design
Factors facilitated forces to change – Apple Inc.
Internal:
• New Vision set for Innovation.
• Apple leaders needed changing work values, creation of new
products and alternative work schedules.
• Independent decision making e.g. the finance team is not involved
in the product road map meetings of engineering teams, and
engineering teams are not involved in pricing decisions.
External:
• Apple competes in markets where the rates of technological
change and disruption are high. (Highly competitive market)
• Growing the overall number of customers across all of the
company’s products, and increasing the number of products and
services they use.

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Organization Structure & Design
Factors Led to resistance/obstacles to change – Apple Inc.
Internal:
• Reduced pressure on employees is a potential risk to the
company’s reputation which was maintained during Steve Job’s
leadership through power culture.
• New learning and disruptions of stable relations.
• No direct relation with top management.
External:
• Threat to power structure
• Inertia of organizational structure
• Relationship with external stakeholders.

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Organization Structure & Design
Organizational Change Management Strategy
An organizational change management strategy is the process of
outlining, planning and implementing steps to successfully roll out
change across the organization.
Below are the steps to implement strategy change effectively:
• Define Goals and Vision
• Start from Upper Management
• Ask for Feedback and Analyze
• Build a Proper Roadmap
• Prepare to Mitigate Risks
• Communicate Effectively
• Ensure Effective Training

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Organization Structure & Design
Organizational Structure Change Benefits – Apple Inc.
• The hierarchy organizational structure in Apple Inc supports robust
control by the management.
• The control rests in the hands of the top leaders, and it ensures a
quick decision-making process.
• An essential advantage of Apple’s organizational structure is that it
makes it easy to control product-based groups and business
functions through the decisions of its CEO as well as top leaders.
• Working with different types and mindset of people helps in
improving the working style of the employees
• The company offers several incentives to its employees to
encourage employee retention and job satisfaction