Leadership and Change Management at Apple: A Case Study Analysis

This case study examines the leadership challenges faced by Apple, particularly focusing on Steve Jobs' strategies for managing change and innovation. The assignment analyzes the company's transition, highlighting the impact of leadership decisions on market share and profitability. It explores how Jobs addressed leadership issues, implemented innovative product launches like the iMac, iPod, and iPhone, and restructured the company's approach to sales and distribution. The study emphasizes the importance of timely strategic adjustments, such as recognizing effective outlets for increasing sales and reconfiguring product distribution strategies. The case also touches upon the significance of innovative leadership, continuous product updates, and effective problem-solving in maintaining a competitive edge in the market. The case study draws from academic references and discusses the strategies used by Apple to navigate the complexities of change within the business environment. The case study discusses how Steve Jobs was able to implement strategies for changing the cost structure and decided to outsource the manufacturing of some of the components used as raw materials in the preparation of the Apple products.

Running Head: LEADERSHIP CHALLENGE INVOLVED IN CHANGE MANAGEMENT
LEADERSHIP CHALLENGE INVOLVED IN CHANGE MANAGEMENT
Name of the Student
Nam e of the University
Author Note

Leadership Challenge Involved in Change Management
The case study of Apple reflects the leadership issues faced by the company and the steps
taken by the company as well as the CEO Steve Jobs to solve issues related to leadership and
manage change. Further this study shows how the imprudent strategies taken by the CEOs after
Steve Jobs make the stock price decline to a rate of $2. Thus prudent leadership and change in
the procedures of managing stocks became essential for Apple.
After Steve jobs rejoined the company he faced leadership issues in incorporating
necessary changes like- replacing ineffective board members, innovations like launching iMac
Personal Computer (Kahney, 2004), the iPod was released to compete with traditional MP3
players, In 2007 Apple joined with AT&T and introduced the iPhone. The stylish designs of
iMac Personal Computer, iPod, iPhones, caught the minds of the customers and Apple became
able to raise its market shares, implementing profit enhancement strategies like ‘store within a
store’ and so on. Finally he was able to replace board members with people having fresh and
innovative ideas, as people with new ideas would help him to renovate strategies for
incorporating changes. Another strategic move that Steve Jobs was able to initiate was ‘store
within a store’. In order to implement this strategy Steve Jobs encouraged Apple to be partnered
with CompUSA, so that an entire department can be created, in each of the CompUSA’s 148
stores which would offer Apple products only. Along with this he also implemented strategies
for changing the cost structure and decided to outsource the manufacturing of some of the
components used as raw materials in the preparation of the Apple products.
The Strengths of leadership to manage the changes were-Continuous innovation,
Updatation, launching new versions of laptops, good understanding of the situation, specific
requirements for problem solving, agility to implement strategies, determination to manage
changes and regain profits. If the recognition of effective outlets for increasing sales was not

Leadership Challenge Involved in Change Management
delayed and reconfiguration of the product distribution strategies were done timely, the
leadership in managing the necessary changes would have been improved (Finkle and Mallin
2010).

Leadership Challenge Involved in Change Management
References
Finkle, T.A. and Mallin, M.L., 2010. Steve Jobs and Apple, Inc. Journal of the International
Academy for Case Studies, 16(7), p.31.
Heracleous, L. and Papachroni, A., 2016. Strategic Leadership and Innovation at Apple Inc.
SAGE Publications Ltd.