The Uneasily Defined Organizational Structure of Apple
The Uneasily Defined Organizational Structure of Apple
Anna Windust
MGT/230
January 20, 2013
Christi Monk
The Uneasily Defined Organizational Structure of Apple Organizational structures have been used for centuries to help people within organizations to understand who holds authoritative roles and how it is ordered, who has certain responsibilities and how they are organized and executed, and how communication flows between the tiers of management (“BusinessDictionary,” 2013). There are many types of organizational structures; the common ones are functional, divisional, and matrix organizational structures.
Apple is a company in which the organizational structure is somewhat of a mystery; therefore, it is a very interesting organization to research. It operates in its own kind of structure system that surprisingly allows it to be very successful. Apple looks at business very differently than other technology companies. They create innovative products and put them on the market rather than researching what the market needs and making products they think will be profitable. Because of their ability to create user-friendly products in simple and compact designs they have been quite successful with their product lines.
One word to sum up Apple’s organizational structure would be simplicity. There are intentionally no committees within the walls of Apple. The late Steve Job was known for claiming that Apple is the greatest startup in the world. They have been successful by putting small teams together to complete projects. There are very few people working for Apple who need to fulfill multiple roles because of the way the company is structured. Employees with specialized training and skills are placed into teams to work on projects. Their focus and responsibilities are not stretched thin due to complicated management structures. When Steve Jobs was overlooking the company, he would meet weekly with the head operating officers and review what
Anna Windust
MGT/230
January 20, 2013
Christi Monk
The Uneasily Defined Organizational Structure of Apple Organizational structures have been used for centuries to help people within organizations to understand who holds authoritative roles and how it is ordered, who has certain responsibilities and how they are organized and executed, and how communication flows between the tiers of management (“BusinessDictionary,” 2013). There are many types of organizational structures; the common ones are functional, divisional, and matrix organizational structures.
Apple is a company in which the organizational structure is somewhat of a mystery; therefore, it is a very interesting organization to research. It operates in its own kind of structure system that surprisingly allows it to be very successful. Apple looks at business very differently than other technology companies. They create innovative products and put them on the market rather than researching what the market needs and making products they think will be profitable. Because of their ability to create user-friendly products in simple and compact designs they have been quite successful with their product lines.
One word to sum up Apple’s organizational structure would be simplicity. There are intentionally no committees within the walls of Apple. The late Steve Job was known for claiming that Apple is the greatest startup in the world. They have been successful by putting small teams together to complete projects. There are very few people working for Apple who need to fulfill multiple roles because of the way the company is structured. Employees with specialized training and skills are placed into teams to work on projects. Their focus and responsibilities are not stretched thin due to complicated management structures. When Steve Jobs was overlooking the company, he would meet weekly with the head operating officers and review what
Bibliography: Business Blog. (2009). Retrieved from http://justinkmchan.blogspot.com/2009/11/dells- organizational-chart_09.html. BusinessDictionary. (2013). Retrieved from http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/ organizational-structure.html. International Business Blog. (2010). Retrieved from http://tortora.wordpress.com/2010/04/07/ hps-organizational-structure/. Lashinsky, A. (2011, August 25). How Apple works: Inside the world 's biggest startup. CNNMoney. Retrieved from http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2011/08/25/how-apple-works- inside-the-worlds-biggest-startup/.