Management and Operations: Leadership Qualities and Theoretical Approaches for Addressing Issues at Apple
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This report discusses the scenario about Apple company, their managerial skills and leadership qualities, actions and achievements of Steve Jobs and Tim Cook, strengths and weaknesses of leaders, theoretical approaches for addressing the issues, and potential factors in the company’s business environment.
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MANAGEMENT AND OPERATIONS 1
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TABLE OF CONTENT INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3 TASK 1............................................................................................................................................3 PART A...........................................................................................................................................3 1(a):Specific situation which demonstrate the managerial skills and leadership qualities of Apple’s top manager....................................................................................................................3 1 (b) Actions and achievements of Steve jobs and Tim cook......................................................4 2(a):Strengths and weakness of leader in various situation:......................................................4 2 b) Manager action regarding situational, system and contingency theory...............................5 2 C) Critically analysis of the theories........................................................................................6 PART B...........................................................................................................................................6 1 a) Theoretical approach to address the issues...........................................................................6 1 b) Evaluation of approach that would address issues and strength or weakness of approaches .....................................................................................................................................................7 1c) Role of leadership in recommended approach and business values for addressing issues....7 2 (a): Factors in business environment at apple that impacts on realistic possibility for approaches...................................................................................................................................8 2b) Factors that impact on manager decision..............................................................................9 CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................9 REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................10 2
INTRODUCTION Management and operation are the business practices to develop the great level of productivity within the organisation. Productivity in such makes the business to accomplish all their desired goals and objectives (Törnblom,2018). Leadership in management plays an significant role to align the organisational resources for better utilisation. An effective leader possesses the better skills, knowledge, communication and other relevant skills to lead the team. This report will discuss the scenario about apple company. They have diversification in their product and services which deliver across world-wide. Following report will cover the specific situation where the managerial skills and leadership qualities are demonstrated by company’s top leaders. It also covers the actions and achievement of Steve jobs and Tim cook. Moving on further it will lay out strength and weakness of leaders and discuss the theoretical approach for addressing the issuesand also lay out the potential factor in company’s business environment. TASK 1 PART A 1(a):Specific situation which demonstrate the managerial skills and leadership qualities of Apple’s top manager Apple is the leading company in their sector, it is because of their better leadership which is played by Steve jobs and Tim cook. They manage the work place system efficiently, there created the apple work culture as highly innovative which lead them to deliver better and unique product in the market. Specific situation are as follows- When Steve jobs returns to Apple company in year 1997, where the company was focusing on manufacturing the computer array and distinct version of Mackintosh. He doesn’t like the approach which the company were following, he leads the team to focus on the products which are able to give better result. Thus Steve cancelled all products which he does not find potential. It is found that leadership style of was autocratic, he likes to be surrounded with the people who have innovative vision (Ahmed and Lodhi, 2021). Thus his managerial skills as better mentoring and communication helps in leading the team to manufacture the products. And better leadership skill to enable team to focus on the products which will save the company from big loss. 3
Leaders are those who have leadership quality, vision, persistence to influence others to follow their instruction. Tim cook is one of them he was itself recruited by Steve jobs. His managerial and leadership skills lead the Apple company to successfully launch Air Pods, Wearable Apple watch and other apple music. Tim cook usually follow democratic leadership style, which helps him to allow every member of Apple will equally contribute towards company’s success. There was a time when apple was suffering from low demand but its cook’s decision to ensure apple success, as he did not allow the delivery of apple’s product and services to be outrun by demand, even when the demand in market was stratospheric. Thus it helps the company to develop good revenues. 1 (b) Actions and achievements of Steve jobs and Tim cook Manager plays an effective role in organisation, they manage the organisational resources so that can be utilised in productive manner. As for manager it is important to have effective communication,problemsolvinganddecisionmakingskill,toalignthebusinesstask accordingly. For the leader it is important to have persistence, time management, problem solvinganddecisionmakingskill,aseffectiveleaderensuresthepositiveworkplace environment which lead to innovation and drive motivation among the employees (Cremene, 2022). In context with the apple company’s scenario, Steve jobs took action which usually help out the Apple company, because of his risk taking mind set always led to better decision. As for the Steve job he learner marketing and other skills because his background was not related to computer engineer, also practiced different skills set. All helped him to become a successful leader of Apple. He has been rewarded with 450 patents for the technologies. Tim’s action led company’ stock inventory to go down from 30 days to only 6 days. It helps in saving money which was achieved by decreasing the number of warehouses by developing good relationship with the contract manufacturers. Due to his better management strategy lead the apple company to gain big revenues. 2(a):Strengths and weakness of leader in various situation: It is important for both leaders and manager to have enough knowledge to solve any complex problem or to lead the company in better direction. It is their risk taking ability and 4
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decision making skills which helps them in find out better solution. As for the Apple scenario, it is seen that company have faced tough situation when Steve jobs was not there but after re- joining the company in year 1997, when the company was focusing on producing computer array and other products, he saves the company from big loss as their strategy was not in line and proper thus Steve lead the team to manufacture those products which have assurance for greater profitability (Ali and Anwar, 2021). Thus his innovative thinking and critical problem solving strength saves the company from big loss. Also helps in solving the complexities associated with the project. Weakness of Steve jobs have found in his extreme imposing working style, he always been a goal oriented and allow only those members to work with him who have good knowledge and skills and also he usually has the destructive behaviour towards the team mates. But still with his good management and leadership lead the company to achieve good milestones. As for the Tim cook his strength to develop teamwork and promote collaboration among the employee helps Apple company in many situations. He always listens to the employees and allows them to share their opinions to lay out better decision for company. His strength lead him to slash some suppliers for apple, also for reducing the warehouses lead company to save money. With this apple company is able to turnover their inventory in very five days. His weakness is found in his leadership as it is slowed pace for innovation, he has better vision but not like Steve jobs which guarantees success (Zheng and et.al 2020). But his strength lead them to manage the complexity that is associated with company’s supply chain, also motivates the team to adapt the change in supply chain for better performance. 2 b) Manager action regarding situational, system and contingency theory Situational leadership refer as to adapt the unique management style for distinct situation and to meet the requirement of team. It usually involves better communication, guidance and collaboration which the manager promote in teams. It is found that Steve job mainly focuses on situational leadership to guide others and most of his actions are based on situation. Although Tim cook also focuses on situational leadership to make apple company efficient. Thus it helps both of them to make the Apple company largest market shared firm. System leadership is combination of skills and knowledge which the manager has to support the system level changes. As by using this approach manager will be able to reflect back on their skills and to test their 5
problem solving skills for laying out better decision. Contingency theory suggests that there might be possibility when the leader’s decision suits particular situation and to be ineffective in other situation. Regarding Steve job, he usually reflects the contingency in his leadership to lash out the employee when they are not working properly. 2 C) Critically analysis of the theories Situational leadership, suggest the leader to implement leadership on the basis of situation. It can be applied when the team requires the deep supervision and continuous guidance, leaders makes the decision and the communicate it with the team members. It is often productive in someaspectsbutcanalsocreatetheconfusionbecauseleaderconstantlychangetheir approaches. For such it is important for leader to have better skills and knowledgeotherwise they will not be able to guide team (Holt,Hall and Gilley,2018). Contingency theory enables the leader to make situation basis decision which can be effective for one situation and can be inefficient for other situation. Such type of leadership is time consuming especially when there is static or constant external environment. In such it is leader’s ability to make decision which result as effective for organisation. PART B 1 a) Theoretical approach to address the issues Applecompanyispopularlyknownfortheirinnovativeproductswhichishighly anticipating the technology market. They have diversification in their products and services. But company is mow been facing two issues with their latest product, thus for addressing the issues two theoretical approaches are as follows: Six Sigma:This framework allows the organisation a tools to improvise their ability to run the smooth business process. It leads to increase in performance and to reduce the process variation as result it helps in decrease all defect possibilities, thus with this it creates positive work place environment, employees feels more dedicated towards their work. As for the Apple are facing issues as Order fulfilment issue and quality issue (KONDA RAMADOSS, 2020). Company can begin to implement this approach, initially they require to inform all about implementation from senior level to entry level workers. Company also required to arrange all resources, thus with this they can easily reduce the waste which helps in saving time and cost, as with formal training employee will be able to know proper utilisation of resources thus there will be no such chances 6
for errors. Therefore, Apple company can also be benefited to provide order at a time and also this model focuses on the quality, with this company can be able to resolve the quality issues. TQM:A management approach to give long term better result by offering better customer satisfaction by delivering better IT qualitative services. With This apple company will be able to focus on their customer as they are the ultimate judge who determines the quality, therefore for ensuring better quality they need to involve all employees towards central goal and to provide them training opportunities to deal with the software and technologies (Touriki and et.al 2022). With this they can easily focus on process thinking as to buy input from suppliers and to deliver as output to customer, with this monitoring they will be able to address the unexpected variations. Therefore, with this they will be able to fulfil the order issue and also to provide better qualitative products. 1 b) Evaluation of approach that would address issues and strength or weakness of approaches Apple company, will proceed implement both Six sigma and TQM framework, both are efficient in addressing their both order fulfilment and quality issues. With the help of Six sigma they will be able to eliminate the chances for mistakes and in result they will easily meet the organisational goals by fulfilling customer satisfaction (B2C). Therefore, with this Company can easily resolve the order fulfilment issues as this methodology will lead them to analyse the possibilities of problems, then lean can be utilised to target the wastage areas and promote better performance (Sutrisno and Ardyan, 2020). With TQM company can easily focus on quality management system for providing better customer experience, it will empower employees and helpful in proper planning and implementation to deliver better quality product. Thus both frameworks can be used to address both issues. Main strength of six sigma’s is its proven success to improvise the sales its limitation is it restricts the use of technical tools and methods. Strength of TQM is to deliver high quality products as to reduce the waste and time. Its limitation is that it is not cost efficient because quality requires the better resources. 1c) Role of leadership in recommended approach and business values for addressing issues Leaders plays a prominent role in company’s success, in Six sigma entire process is depend on the interest and dedication of top management, they implement the six sigma work culture. Thus 7
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with this leader lead the team to analyse the problem and found better solution. Leader’ in TQM implementationwillhelpAppletooffertheunitypurposebydevelopingorganisational direction, they maintain the internal environment to make sure quality does not suffer. Thus leader will lead the team so that they will find the loop holes which is causing order fulfilment and quality issue. Thus leaders are the one who made several decisions, they require to involve the team members in every process, so that qualitative output can come out. As by using TQM approach Leaders in Apple will be able to provides inspiring vision to team which helps in making the strategic decisions, thus they can be able to address the issue (Graffeo,2018). By addressing the issues company will be able to drive valuable progress, as well as they will be abletoprovidebettercustomersatisfactionandalsomoveforwardtostreamlinetheir functionalities in order to cope up with the issues. 2(a):Factorsinbusinessenvironmentatapplethatimpactsonrealisticpossibilityfor approaches Stakeholder relationship:It is micro environment factor, as Six sigma and TQM both processes helpstheorganisationin improvisingthecompany’sperformanceaswellasto provide qualitative services. Thus stakeholder as suppliers, employees, consumers, shareholders have majorinfluenceinsuchTQMandsixsigmaproject.Thuswiththisapple’sconsumer stakeholder will get qualitative and affordable products. It also boosts employee morale towards their work. Competing interest:Also refer as conflict of interest, as for the apple company they have better vision for innovation to deliver way better and unique product which makes them stay ahead from their rivalries. For competitive benefit company always have better management thus it positively impacts the implementation of Six sigma and TQM theories. Sources of conflicts:Every organisation might face the conflict situation when the team members do not reach to same conclusion. Those sources can be different background, distinct skills and level of understanding ineffective communication and poor leadership. Apple company have better leadership which is helpful in managing all conflicts and to drive positive energy at work culture (De Mast and et.al 2021). Company can also proceed with conducting different activities which promotes team productivity, it reduces the chances for conflicts. 8
2b) Factors that impact on manager decision If the company do not have better stakeholder relationship then it affects the working of leaders, as they will not be able to make right decision. Thus it is important for Apple to make sure their all stakeholders are satisfied with their working style. As for competing interest factor, leaders of the apple required to streamline all resources so that team members can develop the efficiency in order to make organisation competitive (Galli and Kaviani, 2018). In conflict situation leader’s decision always impacted, in such leaders might make strict decision, thus Apple company need to provide better work place environment where no conflicts are found. These factors helps in preventing the negative execution of decision. Thus apple also require to have better management so that these factor can be manage effectively to make the positive decision. CONCLUSION From the above report it is concluded that effective management and better control over the operation leads the businesses in forward direction. Above report have illustrated the discussion over the leadership and managerial skills of the leaders through specific situation. It also covered the actions that are taken by the company’s leaders, also discussed the strength and weakness of leaders in different situations. Report further discussed the leaders action for different theories which highlighted the situational, system leadership and contingency. It has also illustrated the theoreticalapproachwhichisSixsigma,TQMforaddressingtheorganisationalissue. Furthermore, it has evaluated the role of management and potential factors that impact which mainly highlights the stakeholder relationship, competing interest and other sources of conflict factor. 9
REFERENCES Books and journals Ahmed, R. and Lodhi, K., 2021. THE EFFECT OF MANAGERIAL COMPETENCIES ON THE SUCCESS OF PUBLIC SECTOR PROJECTS.Journal Of Project Management Practice (JPMP).1(2). pp.17-33. Ali,B.J.andAnwar,G.,2021.Strategicleadershipeffectivenessanditsinfluenceon organizationaleffectiveness.InternationalJournalofElectrical,Electronicsand Computers.6(2). Cremene, L., 2022. Complex systems literacy: Social dilemmas–the setup for managerial decision-making in a complex world. InRethinking Leadership for a Green World(pp. 145-175). Routledge. De Mast, J. and et.al 2021. Exploring the process of management system implementation: a case of Six Sigma.International Journal of Operations & Production Management. Galli, B.J. and Kaviani, M.A., 2018. The impacts of risk on deploying and sustaining Lean Six Sigmainitiatives.InternationalJournalofRiskandContingencyManagement (IJRCM).7(1). pp.46-70. Graffeo,A.,2018.LeadingScienceandTechnology-BasedOrganizations:Masteringthe Fundamentals of Personal, Managerial, and Executive Leadership. CRC Press. Holt, S., Hall, A. and Gilley, A., 2018. Essential components of leadership development programs.Journal of Managerial Issues, pp.214-229. Kaur, M., Singh, K. and Singh, D., 2019. Assessing the synergy status of TQM and SCM initiatives in terms of business performance of the medium and large scale Indian manufacturing industry.International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management. KONDA RAMADOSS, D.B., 2020. Applying Six Sigma on private equity firms and their assessment on the operating performance and overall industry economic benefits. Sutrisno, T.F. and Ardyan, E., 2020. Achieving organizational performance in food companies: ThecriticalroleofleadershipandcontinuousimprovementaspartofTQM practice.Calitatea.21(177). pp.133-138. Törnblom, O., 2018. Managing complexityin organizations:Analyzing and discussing a managerialperspectiveonthenatureoforganizationalleadership.Behavioral Development.23(1). p.51. Zheng, Y. and et.al 2020. Service leadership, work engagement, and service performance: The moderating role of leader skills.Group & Organization Management.45(1). pp.43-74. 10