The imperfect organizational culture of Apple can be caused by different factors and key among them is the issue of power sharing in the organization. The Company is known to be one of the organizations where power is not effectively being used. For instance, the employees are not authorized to perform tasks outside their area of expertise.
Applicable Course Concepts
The organizational culture challenges at Apple relate to the course concepts learned in the chapter on power: its uses and abuses in an organization. Some of the applicable course concepts in this chapter include the types of organizational power leaders can have such as the following.
Coercive power
Coercive power is the worst type of power that can exist in an organization. According to Greenberg, coercive power occurs when a leader threatens a follower with a form of punishment if a particular activity or duty is not being performed or completed accordingly. It is not a good type of power, but can be applied when an organization is trying to reduce the personnel due to management transitions and shifts.
Legitimate power
It occurs when followers comply with orders given to them since they trust that the person who holds the position gives him or her right to apply the power. It can be improved by ensuring that the organization has a clearly defined organizational structure and chain of command (Greenberg).
Reward power
According to Greenberg, reward power occurs when workers are motivated by incentives and rewards to comply with orders given to them by their leader. It triggers the human being part that appreciates being acknowledged for high job performance.
Referent power
It is the type of power that is being gained due to a leader being admired by followers in the organization. Leaders gain referent power because they entrust their subordinates with increased roles and responsibilities in how to carry out their jobs (Greenberg).
Analysis of the applicable course concepts
The type of power that exists at Apple can be categorized as a legitimate power. Even though legitimate power is considered to be a good type of power, it is not good for organizations such as Apple Company that requires their employees to be highly motivated. The leaders of Apple Company have not entrusted their subordinates with increased responsibilities in how to execute their jobs. Legitimate power does not allow employees to perform their duties outside their specified roles and responsibilities. Therefore, it does not allow for idea generation that is being characterized as workers who are free to perform beyond their specified roles and responsibilities (Clegg & Courpasson).
The type of power that exists at Apple also does not allow for better ways of resolving issues in the organization. This is because the power is mainly concentrated within the top leadership. Because employees are also not being given more duties for their jobs, they are not likely to bring better ways of resolving different related work issues.
Recommendations
Apple Company can adopt the following recommendations to enhance how power is shared and used in the organization and by extension improve its organizational culture.
Adopt a referent power
A referent power is one that is gained by a leader only after entrusting employees with increased roles and responsibility. This type of power will, therefore, be an ideal solution for improving the status quo of Apple Company where employees are not allowed to perform outside their area of expertise.
Effectively sharing power
Effectively sharing of power within the organization will ensure that power is used appropriately by Apple Company. Therefore, employees will have more responsibility for their jobs, and work-related issues will be handled well than before.
Apple Inc. Case Study Analysis 2
The challenge of organizational culture that is being experienced at Apple Company is also due to the poor organizational culture of the company. The company’s culture does not promote the creativity of employees since they are only restricted to work within their specified responsibilities.
Applicable Course Concepts
The cultural challenge that is being experienced at Apple Company relates to the ways of promoting creativity in the organization in the chapter on organizational culture, creativity, and innovation. Some of the effective ways of promoting the creativity of employees in an organization include the following.
Open work environment
According to Greenberg, open work environment allows employees to be more creative and innovative. This is because employees they will have the freedom to work in different sections of the organizations and thus come up with new ways of handling work related issues.
Diversity
Creativity and innovation usually thrive in organizations where there is work diversity. Work diversity in an organization allows employees to perform their jobs outside their specified roles and duties and thus encourage the exchange of ideas in the organization through the interaction of the employees (Greenberg).
Analysis of the applicable course concepts
The open work environment is an important factor when it comes to enhancing creativity and innovation in an organization. The work environment of Apple Company cannot be considered open because it does not allow employees to perform their work outside their specified roles and responsibilities. According to Thompson, an open work environment supports the greater mental flexibility that in turn results in high creativity and innovation among employees.
Work diversity is also an important factor that encourages creativity and innovativeness of the employees in an organization. Apple Company does not allow for the different styles of performing tasks by employees and, therefore, to some extent they do not support creativity and innovation in the organization.
Recommendations
Apple Company can also adopt the following recommendations to promote the creativity and innovation of employees and thus improve its organizational culture.
Fostering an open work environment
Apple Company should foster an open work environment that allows their employees to work even outside their areas of expertise. In the process, their employees will be more creative and innovative.
Encouraging work diversity
Apple Company should also encourage work diversity by allowing for different working styles. The company should allow for different viewpoints to promote creativity and innovation in the organization.
Works Cited
Clegg, Stewart, and David Courpasson. Power and Organizations. London: SAGE, 2009. Print.
Greenberg, Jerald. Behavior in Organizations. 10th Edition - Pearson International ed. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 2011. Print.
Thompson, Leigh L. Creativity and Innovation in Organizational Teams. Mahwah, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2008. Print.
