M182LON CW Individual Portfolio Assignment Sample
Here’s the best sample of M182LON CW Individual Portfolio Assignment.
Introduction:
Apple is one of the most transformative companies of today and continues to grow exponentially in the competitive market. Tim Cook, the current CEO of Apple is the major pillar of success as the person who was key to how Apple went from near bankruptcy to its current situation as one of the world’s largest companies (Kerrissey & Edmondson, 2020). The role of the leader ensures that a company can survive the biggest threats by having innovative ideas and a strong workforce to execute the ideas into reality. The effectiveness of the leadership in Apple will be discussed in this report. The report covers three topics such as leadership and organisational change, leadership styles and theories and leading, coaching and monitoring.
Evaluation of Leadership and Organisational Change:
Issues and processes associated with the management and leadership:
There are several issues associated with current management and leadership: (i) failure to communicate (ii) lack of accountability (iii) lack of alignment (iv) lack of clear vision (v) poor execution (vi) a company culture by default. Due to the complexity of today’s business world, leaders are required to communicate on different levels. They create the vision and also need to inspire others to make that their vision as well. A leader is also required to build trust and have a commitment to having effective communication with the workforce (Lumpkin & Achen, 2018). Often the biggest ideas fail due to lack of accountability, thus there is a requirement for tracking results which requires discipline, focus and self-improvement. When the entire team is not on the same page, the tasks may not show expected results, thus it is important for the leader to ensure everyone is aligned with the decision. Effective leaders create a compelling vision to keep the team motivated and build trust. There are many reasons why a leader fails to execute ideas such as not following the plan with discipline, not having the right people for the right jobs and more. Leaders can take advantage of company culture when it is created to foster desired behaviour.
The CEO of Apple does not face issues with communication as the person follows three Es of communication; empathy, express vs. impress and emotional control. “People will try to convince you that you should keep your empathy out of your career. Don’t accept this false premise.” – shows how Cook can transcend his vision well. Tim Cook’s accountability and responsibility have been shown in terms of expanding the brand in a way that Steve Jobs (the former CEO of Apple) used to resist (Kim, 2020). Tim Cook has always been extremely well-aware of what the vision is about and ensure everyone agrees to that and work effectively to reach the goal. Cook transformed Apple into an economic and cultural force which is one of the reasons why the brand ushers the era of outsourced manufacturing and made to order products. Hence, Tim Cook is a great leader who has been able to execute his plan well. The CEO’s cautions, collaborative and tactical leadership is what changed the organisational behaviour of the company and established a culture of the relaxed workplace.
The processes associated with management and leadership are four activities such as planning and decision making, organising, leading and controlling. First, the planning and decision-making are about determining the courses of action, next is about coordinating activities and resources, leading is about managing, motivating and directing people and controlling is monitoring and evaluating activities. The CEO plans and finalises decisions by focusing and attentively listening to everyone associated with the discussion, organisation of the actions are done by trusting others involved in the business and believe what is done to the date and take actions to reflect that. The person has been controlled all of the projects with hard work and utter dedication. It is the reason why Tim Cook’s joining during the crisis was not easy but leads to Apple’s revenue and sales skyrocketed.
Organisational change:
The majority of the population vividly reminds Steve Jobs as an innovative face of Apple and his charisma inspired the world on new ways of thinking about computers, phones, and music that effectively carried Apple in the starting years. However, the brand went through a major change when Steve passed away and Cook was chosen to succeed him. The concept of organisational change is about a process of growth, decline and transformation within a company (Waddell, et al., 2019 ). There are four different types of organisational change such as people-centric organisational change, structural change, strategic transformational change and remedial change. Thus, the changes brought to Apple by Tim Cook fall under people-centric organisational change. Cook has a stabiliser (SC) personality which is why his leadership approach was different in terms of leading than jobs whose personality was assertive initiator (DI) type. Tim Cook was laid back and relaxed in terms of leading people thus he avoided exiting people with inspiring speeches and giving direct and self-assured orders. The CEO considered listening and process before offering advice. The difference or change was made in organisational behaviour or culture as Steve was dominant, full-force and fast-moving but Cook has been considerate to other opinions and taking time to form proper vision. Cook did not follow the former CEO’s way of leading with fast-paced and fiery enthusiasm but continued to lead with patience and practicality.
There are many speculations of Cook’s effectiveness in terms of upholding Jobs’ outstanding presentations and innovative ideas, but the person is the reason Apple has changed its product design and become a household name across the world. Since Cook became the leader or CEO of Apple in 2011, the stock of the company increased by over 480% which demonstrated how his leadership made the company more innovative and agile (CNBC, 2020). Apple also was the first-ever company to reach a market capital of $1 trillion and the change also made the company not only famous for generation-defining technology but also how the company is led. The major aspects of Tim Cook being stabiliser (SC) changed the way Apple worked are the person steps back to listen and let others share their opinions, showcase great care for the value of the company, ask questions to gather key information, take sufficient time to analyse information before making any decision and expanded Apple on what it was already good at.
Evaluation of Leadership Styles and Theories:
Leadership style of the CEO:
The leadership style of Tim Cook can be broadly considered a democratic style of leadership. On the other hand, Cook did not entirely stand in complete contrast with former CEO Steve Jobs but adopted some of his existing practices and developed a unique leadership approach. To discuss Cook’s leadership style in detail, the discussion on the democratic style needs to be done. Democratic leadership is also known as participative or shared leadership where members of a group take a significant role of participation in the decision-making (Mohiuddin, 2017). Arguably, it is one of the leadership styles that gives equal participation for everyone in the decision-making process. The decision-making process inspired by democratic leadership does not only involve a higher management team but also every employees in the decision-making process. However, the leader finalises the decision but employees participate equally while brainstorming and finding a solution to a problem. It is the reason why it is called participative or shared leadership. Such leaders also understand they do not have any power without an efficient and productive workforce that maintains work consistency. Therefore, democratic leadership means achieving success with mutual respect and collaborative effort.
The evaluation of the democratic leadership style can be done by weighing its advantages. Firstly, the advantages of democratic leadership need to be discussed. Such leaders’ increases staff productivity as shared leadership can enhance employee engagement and input. Employees become happier when they understand their opinion matter and works hard for company’s success. Such leadership also helps to gather diverse ideas as inputs mostly come from seniors and frontline employees thus there are better chances of making the right decisions. In terms of innovation and creativity, employees can collaborate effectively as a team and develop fresh new ideas. One of the major reasons why they can deliver expected business results. When a team work together, the team members spend a lot of time making a stronger team. They understand the significance of teamwork and develop trust and admiration with mutual respect. Democratic leaders listen to employees and their concerns and being heard is one of the major reasons for job satisfaction and improved job performance. In addition to all that, democratic leadership increases worker’s awareness of the company’s values. With such leadership, every employee shows active commitment and the leader share objectives, vision, mission and values.
Tim Cook has always been open to hearing about others ideas and thoughts which shows a major attribute of participative leadership (Heracleous & Papachroni, 2016). Apple has become more inclusive company due to his ability to set aside own bias and listen to others. The CEO does not push his own ideas but relies on people within the company who might have more knowledge in some of the areas. Cook is an even more trusting delegator as compared to Steve Jobs and does not highly engage in product development. The demonstrative leadership is shown in terms of shifting Apple’s focus on being the major tech innovator to focus on the company’s environment, working conditions in the factory and the advancement of health measurements. Even though such actions of Cook has been questionable at first in terms of shareholders from an ROI point of view but has set a huge example for other companies.
The characteristics of effective leadership and its impact on overall success of Apple:
Effective leadership concept focuses on executing the vision of a company, setting the tone and the overall culture of particular organisation. The major or key aspect of such leadership is exhibiting strong character. The characteristics of effective leadership are the ability to influence others, transparency to some extent, encourage risk-taking and innovation, value integrity and ethics, act decisively and balance hard truth and optimism. Such characteristics of effective leadership exercised by leaders’ shows simplicity of purpose, motivate and guide the company to realise its mission. The effective leadership traits of Tim Cook has made a core contribution to Apple’s success. From the public remarks and surfaced data, Cook does not appear as a risk-taker but he also knows that Apple needs to take risks and innovate to succeed. Cook claimed that “but without the possibility of failure there is no possibility of success” in an interview (NYTIMES, 2011). For example, Apple launched iWatch which was a risky endeavour but proved successful. Cook has been successful in influencing everyone around him by focusing and listening to them. Thus, the CEO leverage the knowledge and experience of others around him which shows a valuing integrity. The effective leadership of Cook is also seen in terms of admitting mistakes, remaining transparent and refusing to overthink things. The philosophy of the CEO is to carry forward when has already been done successfully in the past and if the person fails to do that is automatic to be responsible one. In such terms, the ethics of Cook is visible. For example, Apple Maps Project did not run as it was expected by Cook and the person apologised for its drawbacks and told customers that its service was not up to the standard in an online letter.
“So many people, particularly, I think, CEOs and top executives, they get so planted in their old ideas, and they refuse or don’t have the courage to admit that they’re now wrong. Maybe the most underappreciated thing about Steve was that he had the courage to change his mind. And you know – it’s a talent. It’s a talent.”- Tim Cook (WASHINGTONPOST, 2012)
Under Tim Cook’s leadership, there has been drastic restructuring in the Apple Service division which involves Apple Pay, Apple Care, the App Store, iCloud and Apple music. In this area of business, Apple has witnessed in the last few years which is considered to be the biggest achievement of tenure so far. On the other hand, Cook’s biggest achievement which might not be exciting to customers is his influence on the workplace environment especially with the relationship with employees. Cook’s open-door policy and encouraging a collaborative environment has contributed to the high esteem of the staff. Overall, such numbers and employee engagement have shown the effective leadership of Tim Cook.
Evaluation of Leading, Coaching and Monitoring:
The development of organisational behaviour:
The concept of organisational behaviour can be considered as the study of human behaviour in terms of other elements of a company such as structure, technology and social systems. Organisation behaviour (OB) is complex as it deals with individuals and groups of people working in a team against situational factors. No two people act in a similar way in a particular work situation. On the other hand, the human aspect provides a major contribution to productivity which is why the critical analysis of human behaviour is important. It can be done considering the contingency theory of organisational behaviour. The theory depicts that there is no particular way or effective way to organise a company, lead a company or make decisions. But, the leader’s key actions are dependent on internal and external situations. In 2014, Apple broke the sales record with the release of two iPhone 6 models with larger screens to compete with rivals. Even after an enormous number of sales, there has been speculation about growth on a massive scale especially growth outside the iPhone (CNBC, 2020). Based on the external issues regarding how Apple can deal with worldwide success and ensure it further improves. Tim Cook inspired a major improvement in its structure. The company’s actions and overall strategy was only focused on iPhone. But, Cook has been able to drive a change in employee behaviour by asking for better market engagement. The CEO’s utmost hard work, sincerity and positive attitude has inspired people across the different level in the organisation. With the application of the system’s theory of organisational behaviour, the current organisational behaviour of employees at Apple can be further assessed. Systems theory is about developing an organisation with interdependent parts where each has a particular function and interrelated responsibilities. In order to ensure, everyone at the same page and aligns with the vision, the leader takes decisions by analysing thoughts and analysis of others. Such internal factors also reflect on how Apple now mainly talks about its services that include iCloud storage, app store sales, Apple card and music subscriptions. The idea of the “Apple Prime” subscription bundle is an idea that is driven by both internal and external forces to reaching to more people and providing high-end services. In addition to that, the collaborative work of both the leader and employees also helped Apple to reach further success in terms of wearable (Apple Watch, Airpods, Airpods Pro and more) and 5G optimism. Apple has been successful in terms of sales and also for establishing a collaborative workplace. The successful blend of all of the aspects of staffs, operations, leader’s approach and brand value is the reason why Apple is the biggest company in the world right now.
Leading, coaching and monitoring by management:
Apple’s management’s leading, coaching and motoring processes have been people-centric and valuing others’ opinions. Tim Cook always seems patient and thorough while the overall decision-making process. The CEO is also projected as “quiet consideration” which can be considered as thinking things through rather than fervently reaching the conclusion which was practised by former CEO Steve Jobs. Under his coaching and motoring of the tasks executed by staff, there has been greater improvement in terms of staff satisfaction and better market valuation. Thus, under Cook’s leadership, Apple spent the most time on big products that is why its products become reliable and stable. These two qualities of Cook have been effective proper execution of the collaborative ideas and thoughts. After cook took place of Jobs in 2011, many people expected that Apple needs to do further groundbreaking launches like iPhone to grow the company. Whereas, the company launched various products including Airpods and Apple watch during the leadership of Cook which was not any huge market-changing creation like the first iPhone launch. Irrespective of such actions, the company has witnessed unprecedented growth due to Cook’s ability to improve the environment and investment in its primary products. Therefore, it can be said that Tim Cook is a very tactical and empathetic person and such a combination of leadership attributes is unique and makes him different from how others lead their company. Cook has played the role of a monitor and a coach and understood what areas needed to the changed or strengthened after becoming the CEO. The major success of Apple has been because of how the CEO become efficient to make a connection between all employees of Apple and reach higher goals with a collaborative approach.
Conclusion:
The report concludes that after Steve Jobs, Tim Cook has transformed the way people used to think and work in the workplace. Cook was not entirely walked a different path but always been able to motivate and engage workers with a relaxed and laid-back approach. The CEO always listen to what others have to say to him patiently and also ask questions to gather key information regarding any new project. The staffs become a whole team and the collaboration of them made the company more successful. As Cook continued to engage staff, it improved the overall product and service delivery of Apple. Besides iPhones, the company is now thriving in terms of services and wearable.
References
CNBC, 2020. Tim Cook has had a stellar run at Apple — even without another mega-smash like the iPhone. [Online]
Available at: https://www.cnbc.com/2020/01/15/apple-ceo-tim-cook-has-had-a-stellar-run-without-a-product-like-iphone.html
[Accessed 04 August 2021].
CNBC, 2020. Tim Cook has had a stellar run at Apple — even without another mega-smash like the iPhone. [Online]
Available at: https://www.cnbc.com/2020/01/15/apple-ceo-tim-cook-has-had-a-stellar-run-without-a-product-like-iphone.html
[Accessed 04 August 2021].
Heracleous, L. & Papachroni, A., 2016. Strategic Leadership and Innovation at Apple Inc. 01 ed. London : SAGE Publications Ltd..
Kerrissey, M. & Edmondson, A., 2020. What good leadership looks like during this pandemic. Harvard Business Review, 13(01), p. 01.
Kim, H., 2020. Comparison of Strategic Leadership: Steve Jobs and Tim Cook. Business and Management Studies, 06(03), pp. 17-25.
Lumpkin, A. & Achen, R., 2018. Explicating the synergies of self‐determination theory, ethical leadership, servant leadership, and emotional intelligence. Journal of Leadership Studies, 12(01), pp. 6-20.
Mohiuddin, Z., 2017. Influence of Leadership Style on Employees performance: Evidence from Literatures. Journal of Marketing & Management, 08(01), p. 01.
NYTIMES, 2011. Big Shoes at Apple, but Maybe Not Unfillable. [Online]
Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/26/technology/at-apple-cook-has-tough-act-to-follow.html
[Accessed 04 August 2021].
Waddell, D., Creed, A., Cummings, T. & Worley, C., 2019 . Organisational change: Development and transformation. 01 ed. sydney: Cengage AU..
WASHINGTONPOST, 2012. Apple’s Tim Cook on creativity and changing your mind. [Online]
Available at: https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/on-leadership/apples-tim-cook-on-creativity-and-changing-your-mind/2012/12/06/ed81109c-3fcf-11e2-ae43-cf491b837f7b_story.html
[Accessed 04 August 2021].
Appendix- Personal Development Plan
| Focus Area | Where now? | Will be? | Activity | Resource | Timing |
| Communication skills (both verbal and non-verbal) | Good at non-verbal communication in comparison to verbal communication. Especially lack in being empathetic and transparent. | Listening to lectures on leadership | Research on data sources and reading lectures slides | Journal articles and books | By September |
| Strategic thinking and team development | Thinking outside of the box is not common and I am still need to work on my team work skills | Learning about strategic decision-making and team development theories and their application in contemporary organisations | Research on data sources and reading lectures slides | Journal articles and books | By October |
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