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Introduction
The organization considered for research is Apple Inc. which has been considered as one of the most successful organization under the leadership of Steve Jobs. He was amongst the two founders of Apple and had served as the CEO of the company during the various innovations and successes that the company was going through.
Apple was founded by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak in 1976. The first computer that was launched was a hand built master piece that had become the most “collectible” computers in the history. Steve Jobs due to his whimsical flight of ideas was fired after a decade by the board of directors. This decision was then rectified in 1997 when Apple was facing huge losses. It has been since then that Steve and Apple has blessed this world with wonders like iphone, ipod and ipad that has able to change the daily life of a human. (The Apple Revolution: 10 key moments, 2009).
For this paper, I would discuss how Steve Jobs used the various organizational behavior tools to management, increase and appraise the performance of the employees in the organization.
One of the most commonly used personality test in organizations is the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator which has identified four pairs of inclinations which refers to the way an individual deals with various social and organizational decision making. It includes how an individual choose to communicate with another person, how he organizes stuff and what factors helps him in making decisions.
Steve Jobs is discussed as an epitome of focus. He had always been much focused and to the point which made him very clear and arbitrate on what he envisioned. He had a quality of objectively judging situations and coming up to a rational conclusion. This also made him extremely result oriented along with being very curious and diligent about anything he did. Despite of delivering some of the most remarkable speeches, Jobs had always been an introvert.
Steve can be classified as ISTP due to his diligence and objectivity towards everything. Being an introvert and maintaining a focus are some of the core attributes of being ISTP. ("MBTI Test Steve Jobs Personality Type ISTP | Career Assessment Site")
Motivators
Steve jobs were an ardent believer of being motivated intrinsically rather than extrinsic rewards. He practiced the self-determination theory of motivation with his employees. The self-determination theory discusses that by providing autonomy to the employees they are able to perform with greater competence and are able to portray greater persistence and creativity. He pushed his employees so that they become intrinsically motivated and then gave them autonomy to perform their best.
What pressed Steve to push boundaries were his passion and his determination towards his work. He had himself always been intrinsically motivated due to which he was committed to create amazing experience for the customers and come with beautiful phones. He would never run after profit maximization but had always spent millions on ensuring that his customers would get the best phone along with unparalleled user experience through his phone. He believed that pursuing extrinsic goal would eventually lead a person to lose his interest.
This was the reason why he had always chosen those people in his team who were intrinsically motivated and provided them with a suitable environment to do wonders. (Kutsar "Leadership Analysis Using Management Tools: Steve Jobs")
Decision making
Steve Jobs has been labeled as an autocratic leader for his leadership style. An autocratic leader is the one who makes managerial decisions himself without consulting others. Jobs held on to his supremacy as a leader and took the decisions based on his analysis. He expected people to follow his decisions and deliver with perfectionism. Though his autocratic decision making may be questioned by many, but due to that he was able to make decisions quickly and was always ready to own all his decisions.
Objectivity and rationale were the core factors behind every decision that Steve took. He was very clear with his objectives which helped him in making decisions rationally. This has also contributed heavily in the unparalleled success that Steve has achieved. (Kutsar "Leadership Analysis Using Management Tools: Steve Jobs")
Team building
Steve was not a people’s person and at many occasions had proved that he was not one of the best managers. He had a lot of time shown less regard for people and had fires them for various insignificant reasons. Despite of this, his clear visionary thinking made him able to choose only the best for his team. His autocratic style pushed him to be tight with his employees and he always demanded excellence. He was very harsh and difficult but at the same time his vision and focus inspired people to do their best. He was an inspiration for the many who worked with him as he would lit that fire of passion within those working with him. (Allen "Steve Jobs Broke Every Leadership Rule. Don't Try It Yourself.")
The team developing MAC was one of Steve’s best people in the organization. During the development phase he had been very harsh with his team, pushing them to excellence. The team used to work extra hours and a lot of times were being yelled at by Steve. What motivated this team was Steve’s clear vision and passion towards what he wanted. This pushed them to do their best and Steve’s vision and passion pushed them to in turn produce the best machine in the world.
Communication
Apple has been far known for its secrecy that is maintained within the organization. Not a lot of internal communication is being published publicly. The company refrains for sharing things to public. This culture is also seen within the organization where information sharing is limited and not everything is accessible to the middle tier management. (Denning "Inside Apple: Can It Thrive Without Steve?") The flow of communication practiced is a downward communication process where the information flows from top to bottom of the hierarchy levels. Steve being an autocratic leader, used to impose most of his decision to the employees enabling a downward flow of communication.
However, I feel the most ideal form of communication is the upward communication where the flow is two ways. The lower level is also encouraged to suggest to the higher management. This ensures a healthy relationship between the various tiers of the organization. This sort of communication eradicates the most common barrier which is due to the designations. Many people feel hesitant to give suggestions to their seniors. ("Kinds (Types) of Communication employed by Business Organisations")
Leadership traits
Leadership style of Steve Jobs has been studied by various authors and writers. He has had one of the most inspiring personalities that is able to impress people even today. He was a man of vision who would exactly know what he wanted and how he wanted to get it done. He was a charismatic leader with a risk taking attitude. One of the examples of the risk he took was partnering with Bill Gates for Microsoft.
He was a courageous leader who used to lead his team from the front. When he took over Apple he was well aware about the fact that Apple may face bankruptcy. He was already successful through Pixar but he still went ahead and took the charge of Apple depicting immense courage and chivalry.
His inspiring personality was also a source of motivation for many. Steve may not be good with words but he knew how to light the spark for others. He had introduced intrinsic remarks in his organization in order to ensure that the people remain passionate towards their goals.
Focus was another most important factor that attributed towards Steve’s success. He was focused towards giving his customers a wonderful experience and this was what pushed him to introduce iphone and ipads to the world. He had never run after profit maximization, but his focus had always been to provide his customers with the best. (Kutsar "Leadership Analysis Using Management Tools: Steve Jobs")
Conclusion
Steve has left this world with various successful case studies on leadership and motivation. His inspiring and charismatic personality has not only motivated people working within Apple but also the working people around the globe. His focus and vision has been the major contributors to Apple’s success.
Work Cited
"The Apple Revolution: 10 Key Moments." Time. Time Inc., 23 Jan. 2009. Web. 6 Dec. 2014. <http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1873486_1873491_1873530,00.html>.
Denning, Steve. "Inside Apple: Can It Thrive Without Steve?" Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 20 Feb. 2012. Web. 6 Dec. 2014. <http://www.forbes.com/sites/stevedenning/2012/02/02/inside-apple-can-it-thrive-without-steve/>.
Allen, Frederick. "Steve Jobs Broke Every Leadership Rule. Don't Try It Yourself." Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 27 Aug. 2011. Web. 6 Dec. 2014. <http://www.forbes.com/sites/frederickallen/2011/08/27/steve-jobs-broke-every-leadership-rule-dont-try-that-yourself/>.
Kutsar, Vadim, Nabarun Ghose, and Yuriy Kutsar. "Leadership Analysis Using Management Tools: Steve Jobs." American International Journal of Contemporary Research 4.2 (2014). The University of Findlay. Web. 6 Dec. 2014. <http://www.aijcrnet.com/journals/Vol_4_No_2_February_2014/17.pdf>.
"Kinds (Types) of Communication Employed by Business Organisations." Communication Theory RSS. Web. 6 Dec. 2014. <http://communicationtheory.org/kinds-types-of-communication-employed-by-business-organisations/>.
"MBTI Test Steve Jobs Personality Type ISTP | Career Assessment Site." Career Assessment Site. Web. 6 Dec. 2014. <http://careerassessmentsite.com/assessments/mbti/965-celebrity-personality-type-steve-jobs/>.
