Leadership & Culture: The Depends On Factors that will Determine Apple’s Future?

Can Apple's CEO Tim Cook provide the right leadership to sustain the firm's reputation for innovation?That's the question posed in this short Businessweek article which looks at three key factors which may determine whether Apple's innovative culture can be sustained and nurtured.It's a good piece and well worth reading not just as an example of analysis and evaluation!

The three factors are:

Managing External Forces

Apple operates in highly competitive markets and it faces intensive competition in the race for successful innovation from the likes of Samsung, Google and Amazon. I would also add into that list Huawei, Sony, Nokia and LG - to name just four! In a competitive battle like this, shareholders will be actively looking for the most likely innovation winners - can Tim Cook convince Apple's shareholders that its innovative culture can still produce winners like the iPad and iPhone?

A Maturing Culture of Innovation

An interesting argument here that Steve Jobs may have "burned out" many of Apple's most innovative people in his pursuit of rapid product development. Tim Cook's quite different leadership style has resulted in a different organisational structure and approach. As the business matures, can it still encourage and reward risk-taking when it comes to innovation?

Leaving Apple's DNA Intact

Students at our BUSS4 exam coaching workshops might remember that we referred to organisational culture as like the "DNA" of a business. It's a great way to think of culture - something that is unique to an organisation that is hard to identify but which shapes how an organisational acts.

What is Apple's DNA? The Businessweek article points to a culture that emphasises innovation through great design. People who use Apple products know almost instinctively how to use them. Compare and contrast that with computer users who have suddenly been challenged with working out how to operate Microsoft's Windows 8!