BLAKE AND MOUTON MANAGERIAL GRID FOR APPLE INC.

Article based on – Apple’s Tim Cook leads different

 

 Apple’s Tim Cook leads different. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://fortune.com/2015/03/26/tim-cook/

 

The former CEO of Apple Inc., Steve had a reputation of “bad boss” who demanded excellence from his staff and kept his expectations high always, he wasn’t easily approachable and took decisions individually, this management-style of Steve valued company’s production more than employees, more of a kind of “dictator” which made him a “produce-or -perish” manager. Apple-Inc.’s culture has taken a revolutionary turn with the help of Cook, Apple-Inc.’s current CEO.

Tim Cook has been a team manager kind of leader for the company in the beginning of his tenure who valued employees and the products equally and considered both the factors necessary for the company’s success also known as a democratic leader where employees and other leader take more part in the process of decision making. Cook was partaking a smooth and confident period being the leader, but in the year 2016, there were vicissitudes noticed by the employees in the leadership-style of Cook who determined the modification and the furtherance of the hoary products instead of formulating new ingenious products making the company less visionary and pioneering. The consistently decreasing sales of the company after the pause taken by Apple-Inc. after the launch of iWatch is the proof of diminishing vision.

This style of leadership is noted to be partially country-club leader and team-leader. This style suggests that Cook values his employees higher than the products of the company but they are not eliminated but are of less concern than the employees that is why the leadership-style lying between the country-club and team-leader.

The Cook doctrine is the reason behind the change in Cook’s leadership-style, doctrine speaks about Cook’s superstition and fear of retaining the title of “most valuable company”.

Though this attitude of Cook should have made him a country-club leader but he is more correspondent towards the team-leadership-style in the Blake and Mouton graph because of his previous style and its effects on the company. Now he values the employees more than the product for he believes that employees are the key factors in the success of products.

Although Cook himself is paying more attention and striving hard to increase the sales of the older products implementing the modification in them but has divided teams for the creation and development of new innovative products however the board members have decided to reduce Tim’s salary reason being the lack of performance and results. Off lately there has been a large turnover of the employees even the senior employees leaving the company, the primary purpose being that their skills had not been occupied to the fullest and the concentration of Tim on old products instead of new caused boredom.

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Cook can adopt the leadership-style of team-leader which concentrates equally on employees and products. Tim can do this through giving tough jobs to employees resulting in enrichment, empowerment, and enlargement. Cook also should take responsibilities on himself to produce results.

Citations

• https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/232865
• http://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/032515/what-tim-cooks-managerial-style.asp
• http://www.lifehack.org/articles/productivity/11-leadership-lessons-can-learn-from-tim-cook.html
• http://fortune.com/2015/03/26/tim-cook/

 

[1] List of Employees who left Apple Inc.