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steve jobs
Business Leadership – A Study on Steve Jobs

This is one my assignments for my MBA programme, it took me a lot of time, effort and hard work to complete this paper, it isn 't perfect but its mine. I am posting this in my blog as a reference and guidance for others. Now, i am not asking you not to copy, feel free to use or republish any parts of this paper, but please do have a link of the source back to this site. I hope you will, as some papers are being sold at a hefty price, i am publishing this for free with a simple request, acknowledgement.
Cheers,
Viknesh Rajandran
Executive Summary
This assignment attempts to study the leadership of Steve Jobs. A visionary innovator, a marketing guru and an autocratic leader admired by many. The first part of the assignment will study and analyze how Jobs leadership is similar to the traits and models found in textbooks. Jobs is analyzed by using McGregor’s theory X & Y. Jobs leadership traits and skills are compared with Stogdill’s theory while also looking at how Jobs applied contingency theory. The reports studies how Jobs changed Apple’s direction from an ailing company to a consumer giant.
When Jobs speaks, everybody stops and listens to him, be it a meeting or a Worldwide Developer Conference. Jobs just had the charisma to capture people’s attention. Jobs autocratic leadership style was accepted by his employees, some may not have liked it but they stood with him and the company and never regretted their decision. The study also found Jobs to be a meticulous perfectionist. Jobs never approves a product without fully testing them, him being a beta tester for all of Apple’s product had made sure Apple delivered what the market wanted.
The second part of this study is set to look at the differences and compare the leadership skills of Steve Jobs, Michael Dell and Bill Gates. Jobs’ leadership skills were different from both Dell and Gates. Jobs lead Apple to its height with his own flair. His leadership style



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Philadelphia: Vanguard Press, p.79.. Elliot, J. (2011j) The Steve Jobs Way : iLeadership for a New Generation. Philadelphia: Vanguard Press, p.28.. Elliot, J. (2011k) The Steve Jobs Way : iLeadership for a New Generation. Philadelphia: Vanguard Press, p.149. Elliot, J. (2011l) The Steve Jobs Way : iLeadership for a New Generation. Philadelphia: Vanguard Press, p.46. Elliot, J. (2011m) The Steve Jobs Way : iLeadership for a New Generation. Philadelphia: Vanguard Press, p.58. Fiedler, F. E. (1967). A theory of leadership effectiveness, New York: McGraw-Hill. Forbes.com (2012b) 10 Leadership Tips from Steve Jobs. [online] Available at: http://www.forbes.com/sites/susankalla/2012/04/02/10-leadership-tips-from-steve-jobs/2/ [Accessed: 5 Jun 2012]. Forbes.com (2012c) 10 Leadership Tips from Steve Jobs. [online] Available at: http://www.forbes.com/sites/susankalla/2012/04/02/10-leadership-tips-from-steve-jobs/2/ [Accessed: 5 Jun 2012]. Forbes.com (2012d) New Insight Into How Steve Jobs Thought Different - Forbes. [online] Available at: http://www.forbes.com/sites/susanadams/2012/04/02/new-insight-into-how-steve-jobs-thought-different/ [Accessed: 21 Jun 2012]. Forbes.com (2011) Charitable Giving By Steve Jobs May Forever Remain A Mystery. [online] Available at: http://www.forbes.com/sites/deborahljacobs/2011/10/06/charitable-giving-by-steve-jobs-may-forever-remain-a-mystery/ [Accessed: 8 Jun 2012]. hbr.org (2012) The Real Leadership Lessons of Steve Jobs - Harvard Business Review. [online] Available at: http://hbr.org/2012/04/the-real-leadership-lessons-of-steve-jobs/ar/3 [Accessed: 29 May 2012] hbr.org (2011a) Idolize Bill Gates, Not Steve Jobs hbr.org (2011b) Steve Jobs and Management by Meaning - Roberto Verganti - Harvard Business Review. [online] Available at: http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2011/10/steve_jobs_and_management_by_m.html [Accessed: 8 Jun 2012]. hbr.org (2008) Bill Gates: Entrepreneur, Manager, and Leader. [online] Available at: http://blogs.hbr.org/krishnamurthy/2008/06/bill-gates-entrepreneur-manage.html [Accessed: 20 Jun 2012]. Isaacson, W. (2011a) Steve Jobs. New York: Simon & Schuster, p32. Isaacson, W. (2011b) Steve Jobs. New York: Simon & Schuster, p27-28.. Jago, A. (1982) Leadership: Perspectives in theory and research. Management Science, 28 (3), p.315-336. Jobs, S. (2008) AMERICA 'S MOST ADMIRED COMPANIES Steve Jobs speaks out. Interviewed by Betsy Morris [in person] Hawaii, March 07 Kahney, L Kahney, L. (2008b) Inside Steve 's Brain. New York: Penguin Group. Kahney, L. (2008c) Steve Jobs Still Parking In Handicapped Spaces — The Pictures. [online] Available at: http://www.cultofmac.com/2613/steve-jobs-still-parking-in-handicapped-spaces-the-pictures/ [Accessed: 23 Jun 2012]. Microsoft.com (2012) Product Portfolio. [online] Available at: http://www.microsoft.com/en/us/sitemap.aspx [Accessed: 20 Jun 2012]. McGregor, D. and Gershenfeld, C.J. 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