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How Apple Became What It Is Research Paper

Organizational behavior is a study that encompasses the examination and analysis of the influence that persons, groups, and structure have on behavior within organizations with the main intent of employing such understanding on behavior so as to make organizations function in a more effective manner. In other words, it is the analysis of what individuals undertake in an organization and how their behavior has an influence on the performance of the organization. By having an understanding of the manner in which interrelation and working together with others in the organization, followed by improvements can be undertaken for a company. An apparent characteristic of organizational behavior is discerning the detailed behaviors of personnel or groups of workers in diverse settings or how they respond to certain occasions or circumstances (Robbins and Judge, 2013). Organization's Background and Nature of its Business

Apple Inc., formerly known as Apple Computer, Inc., is a transnational American organization that is based in the state of California that creates, develops, and retails end user electronics, computer software and separate PCs. The company is renowned for its hardware products such as the Macbooks which is a product line of computers, the iPod, the iPhone, and the iPad. The organization was founded in the year 1976 and registered as Apple Computer, Inc. But the organization altered its name in the year 2007 replicating its enthused concentration and emphasis on consumer electronics once the company unveiled the iPhone. Apple is by far the largest publicly traded company globally in terms of market capitalization with just over three hundred and fifty retail stores in about ten different nations and over sixty thousand permanent and full-time personnel and just about three thousand provisional full-time employees across the whole world. Apple Inc. is the second biggest company in the information technology sector, ranking just below Samsung Electronics on the basis of revenue generated. Apple Inc. efficaciously makes use of interlacing numerous key organizational behavior concepts to greatly improve and augment the strength of the organization. This paper will make an analysis, evaluation and recommendation of three of these concepts which include organizational leadership, organizational culture, and organizational structure.

Organizational Culture

Organizational culture also referred to as corporate culture is considered to encompass the association and affiliation between members of the organization and the manner in which they interact and interconnect with each other as they undertake their duties and roles for the organization. Having confidence in and partaking in similar objectives and expectations within an organization is what outlines the organizational culture. An organization that has resilient and solid mutual beliefs and strives towards a common objective and vision is able to have an effective and efficient business operation. Organizational culture has noticeable features and characteristics that take account of day-to-day observations of work practices within the organization or through individual considerations or understandings from members of the organization who are directly influenced by occurrences that have taken place (Stokyo, 2009).

Progressively more managers are making use of the aspect of organizational or corporate culture. This is not quite difficult to understand exactly why. Several managers want to be acquainted with the manner in which individuals come to discuss and talk about insights, understandings, and outlooks, in addition to how place of work representation forms the manner in which individuals experience and act. The objective might not be conformism as such, as there are innumerable advantages to logical diversity. Nevertheless, there is an extensive conviction that certain kinds of logical cohesion can decrease fruitless conflict, encourage teamwork, and line up work in the direction of a sole determination, all devoid of the necessity for domineering administration. In addition, cultural pride can boost the emotions and stimulate the minds to attaining the objective or purpose. Organizational culture is a theoretically influential dynamism (Stokyo, 2009).

This paper will analyze, evaluate and recommend the manner in which to improve the organizational culture of Apple Inc. through different elements of organizational culture as follows:

1. Business Ethics

Value is deemed to be the core or center of organizational culture which consists of vital and significant philosophies and notions that are mutually shared by the employees of an organization. The basic reasoning that offers a backing for the necessity for ethical guiding principles is that activities in organizations are the outcome of decisions by individuals and human beings have a tendency to seek out validation for their activities further than the tenet of cash (Price, 2007). Business ethics...

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As a whole, it encompasses its obligation to its stakeholders, stockholders, personnel, consumer and the general public. It also concerns itself with the economy, political affairs and the environs as well (Ferrell, 2004). The vital and essential belief or standard of business ethics in Apple Inc. is considered to be the use of good judgment. The company clearly and evidently in its mission statement as the organization asserts that it is devoted and dedicated to safeguarding the environment and making certain of the health and safety of its personnel as well as that of the global community (Blodget, 2013).
In as much as Apple Inc. has established a constant and steady code of business ethics, the organization has not been fruitful in executing them and in turn has not nurtured a comprehensive ethical corporate culture. The vital principles and ideals laid out by the organization in its mission statement are not mirrored in the manner in which they undertake business. It can be deemed unethical for the company to undertake profit maximization to its stockholders with the disregard of the work and life balance of its personnel. Generation of profits is not considered inappropriate, but the manner in which the organization overworks itself to attain revenues is deemed wrong. Apple as an organization is keen on increasing working hours for its employees with the main intent of generating even greater revenues but fails to consider the work life balance of its employees which they lack (Koetsier, 2013).

2. Secrecy / Privacy

Milton Friedman made the argument that the sole social responsibility of an organization is to employ its resources and dynamism on activities that are planned and intended to increase the level of profit with the understanding that it remains within the guidelines, taking part in open commercial activities and devoid of dishonesty (Lahdesmaki, 2012). However, Apple as an organization operated differently from this. The company activates and functions on a secured and sealed business information policy. Apple Inc. sustains a culture of privacy or secrecy and in turn enforces or carries out severe penalties on workers who encroach upon the regulation by distributing information (Edwards, 2013). The corporate culture of secrecy of the organization to some extent brings about disapproval and condemnation on their absence of transparency and results in several inquiries regarding their genuineness. The organization's fascination with sustaining security could harm the corporation and its trademark in the postmodern epoch of providing stakeholders and the general public with transparency. However, bearing this in mind, it is imperative to take note that the secretive protection policy of information that is executed by the company has facilitated it in maintaining the discretion of its patented products and safeguard its trade top-secret information. Nevertheless the component of privacy that has empowered this has suffered a progressively more expensive price and has come to be ethically and morally unjustifiable (Daniels Fund Ethics Initiative, 2012). It is recommended that the company can be open to the public regarding its activities without revealing too much detail. This in turn can be effective for all the parties as all the consumers will stop being harassed and threatened over information being sought out about company operations.

Organizational Leadership

Robbins and Judge (2013) define leadership to be the capability or proficiency of influencing a group in the direction of achieving or attaining a purpose or a set of objectives. It is imperative to note that leadership does not purely arise from managers or supervisors who are handed such positions but there is leadership which emanates outside the official structure of the organization. There is a great necessity for strong levels of leadership and also management in organizations in order to attain optimum levels of efficiency. There is a great need for leaders in the present day to contest and defy the status quo, come up with ideas for the forthcoming periods, and motivate and inspire members of the organizations to strive to achieve the goals and objectives that are set out.

Different Styles of Leadership

Different managers make use of particularly different styles of management which vary and extend from dictatorial and controlling styles to laissez-faire and facilitative styles of leadership. Transformational and transactional styles of leadership are stark contraries with regards to the fundamental philosophies of management and motivation. These two styles of leadership were developed by Bass (1985) and Burns (1978). Transactional leadership takes place when one individual makes the move in contacting other individuals with the resolve to interchange something valuable. In other words, it is the leaders who make the approach to…

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References

Associated Press. (2014). Steve Jobs vs. Tim Cook: The Apple CEOs' Major Differences. Billboard. Retrieved from: http://www.billboard.com/biz/articles/news/legal-and-management/6084813/steve-jobs-vs.-tim-cook-differences-apple-ceos

Blodget, H. (2013). Apple's 'Mission Statement' Is Making People Worry That The Company Has Gone To Hell. Business Insider. Retrieved from: http://www.businessinsider.com/apples-new-mission-statement-2013-8

Daniels Fund Ethics Initiative. (2012). Apple Inc.'s Ethical Success and Challenges. University of New Mexico.

Edwards, J. (2013). What Apple Employees Say About The Company's Internal Corporate Culture, Business Insider. Retrieved from: http://www.businessinsider.com/what-apple-employees-say-about-the-companys-internal-corporate-culture-2013-10?op=1
Koetsier, J. (2013). Apple CEO Tim Cook's employee approval rating dips, but still high in spite of issues. Venture Beat. Retrieved from: http://venturebeat.com/2013/05/24/apple-ceo-tim-cooks-employee-approval-rating-dipping-but-still-high-in-spite-of-issues/
Lashinksy, A. (2012). How Tim Cook is changing Apple. Fortune. Retrieved from: http://fortune.com/2012/05/24/how-tim-cook-is-changing-apple/
Reschke, M. (2014). Tim Cook, Changing The Culture At Apple, TGAAP. Retrieved from: http://www.t-gaap.com/2014/8/18/tim-cook-changing-the-culture-at-apple
Yarow, J. (2013). Apple's New Organizational Structure Could Help It Move Faster, Yahoo Finance. Retrieved from: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/apples-organizational-structure-could-help-140200372.html
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