The Development of Apple’s Organization Design
Introduction to the development of Apple Inc.
Apple Inc., formerly Apple Computer Inc., is an American multinational corporation with a focus on designing and manufacturing consumer electronics and closely related software products. Apple’s 32-year history is full of up and down, as the legend story of Steven Paul Jobs, the co-founder, Chairman, and CEO of Apple Inc.Apple made several big successful product introductions over the years. But they have also completely fallen on their face on several occasions.
They struggled mightily while Jobs was not a part of the organization. Apple had been suffering losses on price because machines based on Microsoft's Windows are much cheaper. Apple also was a big loser compared with Windows based on the availability and breadth of applications. Apple reached a point where many thought they would not survive. From 1999 to 2002, Apple's share of the global PC market has shrunk from 9.4% to 2.6%.Against a backdrop of unparalleled profitability in information technology, It may be that the business model at Apple is somewhat flawed. When asked in late 1997 what Jobs should do as head of Apple, Dell Inc.'s (DELL) then-CEO Michael S. Dell said at an investor conference: "I'd shut it down and give the money back to the shareholders.” ?1?
After Jobs returned to the company in 1996, he did some brutal housekeeping and made some harsh decisions of remarkable changes on Apple's
products, structure, personnel, manufacturing, distribution, and marketing. In March 1998, in order to concentrate Apple's efforts on returning to profitability, Jobs immediately terminated a number of projects such as Newton, Cyberdog, and OpenDoc. After 32 Years develop and strategy cha ...