Analyzing Organizational Change and Leadership: Apple & Microsoft

This report delves into the organizational changes experienced by Apple and Microsoft, examining the drivers of change, both internal and external, and their impact on leadership, team dynamics, and individual behaviors. The analysis includes the leadership transitions in both companies and assesses how factors like globalization, technology, and competition influenced their strategies and operations. The report further explores PEST and SWOT analyses for both companies, providing a comprehensive understanding of the environments in which they operate. It also evaluates measures to minimize the negative effects of organizational change on employee behavior and overall performance, providing a detailed understanding of the challenges and opportunities presented by change within these prominent technology companies. The report concludes with an examination of different leadership approaches and how they can be applied to manage change effectively in various organizational contexts, offering valuable insights for leadership and management.

UNDERSTANDING AND
LEADING CHANGE
1

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION ...........................................................................................................................................3
TASK 1..........................................................................................................................................................3
P1: Assess the different drivers for change in Apple and Microsoft........................................................3
CONCLUSION ..............................................................................................................................................5
P2: Ways in which different drivers of change (internal and external) affect leadership, team and
individual behaviors in Apple and Microsoft. ..........................................................................................5
P3: Evaluate measures that can be taken to minimize negative impacts of change on organizational
behavior...................................................................................................................................................9
CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................................................11
TASK 2........................................................................................................................................................11
P4: Different barriers for change and determine how they influence leadership decision-making in a
given organizational context..................................................................................................................11
TASK 3........................................................................................................................................................14
P5: Apply different leadership approaches to dealing with change in a range of organizational contexts
...............................................................................................................................................................14
CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................................................14
REFERENCES ..............................................................................................................................................16
2

INTRODUCTION
Organizational change is a process in which managerial structure as well as business
processes are reviewed so that they can be in tune with new situation and market scenario
(Kuipers and et. al., 2014). The organizational change is an inevitable process and hence must be
accepted by firms in order to maintain long term sustainability (Cameron and Green, 2015). The
present study has thus laid emphasis on organizational changes that took place in Apple and
Microsoft in during different times.
TASK 1
P1: Assess the different drivers for change in Apple and Microsoft.
Change can be defined as an alteration in work environment of a company with respect to
organizational structure, technology, procedures or even culture (Bohn, 2018). A comparison has
been done with respect to organizational changes that took place in Apple and Microsoft with
respect to leadership. In case of Apple, Steve Jobs joined the company while the new CEO of
Microsoft was Satya Nadella. Both the forms of changes were not planned one rather they were
emergent in nature. This was on account of the deteriorating conditions of the two firms that
have been discussed below. There are some driver of change which both company may faces
such as:
Globalization: It is a process that is help a company to develop international operations
and they also have create pressure on the tough competition which they may face in a market
(Umoh, 2017). That is why Apple and Microsoft make different strategy in order to cope up with
different situation such as improvements in global communication that affect the distribution of
work.
Information and communication Technology: It is one of the most affecting driver of
change for Apple as well as Microsoft because in this modern world, at very second a new
technology is introduced and as a result, the company did not easily adopt this sudden change
into the working area. ICT also creates a huge challenges in process and product or services
which are offered by company (Williams, 2017).
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Demographic change and Competitor: It is another driver that create pressure to
change the process. Demand of people are changes as trends change and as a result, to meet out
the demand of their customers, firm has to provide different service or products (Weinberger,
2018). On the other side, Apple also faces tough competition with other companies and due to
this all firm make changes in their pricing strategy so that it may not affect their financial
performance.
Government: Government policies are also consider another driver of change because it
apply new tax or rules on company and that is why the price of their offered products are
suddenly increases and as a result, this firm faces fluctuation in their financial performance.
Impact of changes on strategy, operations, people and processes of organization
Apple
Impact on operations and processes - The impact of change on operations of Apple was that
iMac product was a great hit with the company and there was a sale of around 800000 units in
first five months. This change happened on account of the extraordinary vision and leadership
style adopted by Mr. Jobs (Mejia, 2018). This not only saved the firm from bankruptcy but also
guided it to become the most innovative and technological firm of the world.
Strategy – The impact on Apples strategy was to select only those people who very extremely
talented in their work. Other than this, focus was also given on increased innovation in the
research department so as to create breakthrough products and services.
People – the employees got extremely focused on their work and rendered perfection in whatever
was done by them. They focused on gaining excellence rather than running beyond money and
also started taking risks (Williams, 2017).
Microsoft
Impact on operations and processes - Nadella helped to bring the company on success path and
also managed to convert Apple fans to windows (Sheridan, 2015). The company was now able to
serve consumers in a better manner than ever before.
Strategy – the new leadership impacted work strategy of Microsoft as Nadella focused on
creating curiosity among his employees so that they can clear their doubts and work on providing
product that are demanded by consumers.
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Employees – The staff was also able to work with increased morale and motivation and showed
loyalty towards the company and the work that was delivered by them.
CONCLUSION
It can be concluded that both Apple and Microsoft underwent changes in leadership in
different years. The drivers for Apple were lack of products and services that appealed to
audience and the firm was also on the verge of being bankrupted. In case of Microsoft, the driver
of change was stagnant growth and decrease in market share and sales revenue.
P2: Ways in which different drivers of change (internal and external) affect leadership, team and
individual behaviors in Apple and Microsoft.
The term leadership can be defined as the skill set which is used by a person to provide
direction as well as guidance to employees. This concept is very essential for creating a futuristic
vision for employees and motivating them to get engaged with the vision (Cameron and Green,
2015). Change was not easy in case of both Microsoft and Apple but there was a presence of
many internal and external drivers that put an impact on leadership, team and individual
behaviors. Drivers of change can be defined as a set of those factors that alter the actions of any
organization due to which its work flow changes (Kuipers and et.al., 2014).
PEST of Apple
Political factor Economical factor
 UK has stable government and Apple
also maintain all laws and customs that
is why it creates positive impact upon
company.
 Because of stable government,
company also hold top position in
world.
 During 2nd world war, UK become
motivates and grow financial strength
with effectiveness. But inflation rate
also affect the company's position and
forces their customer to change their
buying.
Social factor Technological
 People generally prefer to live stylish
life and that is why they use different
products and this change in trends will
 As UK is fond of technology and also
adopt all new technology in order to
accept the change. So, Apple is also
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also affect the company's profitability
in adverse way.
enriched with technology and also
invent new products in order to meet
out the demands of their customers.
SWOT of Apple
Strength Weaknesses
 Company has brand image in market
and brand equity.
 Good financial strength and global
presence.
 Apple also have good loyalty of
customers and also focus on
innovations.
 Company has premium image and have
limited product portfolio.
 Products are not fully compatible with
other brands.
Opportunity Threats
 Always launches new products in order
to meet out demand of their customers.
 To expand its market, company also
made different acquisition.
 Invest in sustainability can be a better
opportunity for it.
 Heavy competition with others.
 Strong dollar and economic fluctuation
is another threat.
PEST of Apple
Political factor Economical factor
 Government policies affect the
company's brand image and new tax
rates also affect the company's brand
image in adverse way.
 Because of economic fluctuation,
company also faces problems. Inflation
rate also creates affect the financial
position in negative way.
6

 Microsoft is In favorable positions and
also follow all laws or taxes.
Social factor Technological
 Sudden change in customer's point of
view also creates negative impact upon
the change in management process.
Therefore, it is quite necessary for the
firm to cope up with the market.
 It has been analyses that once the new
technology is introduced then old one is
thrown away and never be used. That is
why, to cope up with Microsoft also
make new products by using advance
techniques.
SWOT of Apple
Strength Weaknesses
 Present at global level and consider one
of the top company who easily accepts
new techniques.
 Strong financial status at world level.
 Security flaws is consider one of the
weaknesses.
 Sometime Company did not compute
the mobile signals and as a result, many
customers faces problem.
Opportunity Threats
 Cloud computing can be opportunity
for it.
 Faces tough competition in market.
 Sudden change in Laws also create
threat for Microsoft.
Impact on individual
This change affected individual behavior in Microsoft as employee now focused more on
work related responsibilities and did not indulged in politics. They started giving more efforts
and worked with increased compassion and energy. The staff also developed positive feelings
about overall work culture which led to a decrease in dissatisfaction and boosted up morale.
The individual in Apple on account of change showed a focused approach to work and started
working diligently under supervision of Mr. Steve Jobs. However, on a negative note, the
7

employees also feared about unknown. This tendency was more prevalent in not so competent
employees who were getting anxious about job safety (Mejia, 2018).
Impact on team
An impact was also observed on team behavior in Microsoft as employees started
supporting each other and worked together as a cross functional team rather than individual unit.
There was a decrease in conflict and a free expression of ideas and opinion. Along with this, the
concept of engagement that was used by Mr. Nadella ensured that employees embraced change
in a positive way (Bohn, 2018). The impact was in form of happy and motivated staff members
who worked with more confidence and generated better ideas.
Team working in Apple was also impacted on account of said changes as employees now started
supporting each other and also freely shared ideas and opinions. They further worked closely
with the clients in order to assess their needs and make products accordingly. This was needed in
order to favor process of innovation within organization and generate breakthrough products
(Cameron and Green, 2015).
Impact on leadership
Leadership was affected in Microsoft as the leaders had to provide a direction to
employees and make them feel that their work has a real meaning for company. The leaders also
had the responsibility to make positive work culture for employees and increase their motivation
from time to time. The impact was thus in form of adopting a supportive system of leadership
that focused on elements of increased employee participation and consultation (Kuipers and
et.al., 2014).
The changes within Apple led to adoption of a new leadership style by Mr. Steve Jobs
where he became more focused in order to remove the confusion about hardware system (Umoh,
2017). In order to attain this goal, he streamlined the working of all team members so that they
can attain best from available set of resources. He further adopted a commanding style leadership
so as to get the work done in a timely manner. Leadership style of Steve Jobs further generated
an innovative capability in employees which led to making of many revolutionary products like
Apple iTunes; iPod among others.
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P3: Evaluate measures that can be taken to minimize negative impacts of change on
organizational behavior
The company can undertake various measures to minimize the impact of changes on
employees within both Microsoft and Apple. These have been described below;
Lewin’s model for change
This is a three-step change model given by Kurt Lewin during 1940 and focuses on three
stages being unfreeze, change and refreeze (Cameron and Green, 2015).
Figure 1 Lewin’s model for change
(Source: Mullholand, 2017)
In first step, management of both Apple and Microsoft should realize that change is
essential in company and they must communicate the same to employees. The employees should
be aware about why the changes are taking place in organization and what benefit it will bring
for firm. This will help the employees for sticking to process of change (Kuipers and et.al.,
2014). In the next step there is a need to deploy changes in organization and guiding the
employees to adapt them with it. Communication, support as well as education will play a key
role in this respect and issues can then be reduced to a great extent (Ng and Ng, 2017). Last step
is refreezing where the need is to set in new rules ad ensure that employees stick to new ways of
working. Reviews can also be carried out on regular basis so as to ensure that new techniques are
followed. Any deviation and issues can then be worked upon so as per need of situation
(Cameron and Green, 2015).
Bridges Transition Model
This is a model which makes the management understand how employees feel while
change process is going on and they can then guide them through the process (Mooney and
Burdon, 2017).
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Figure 2: Bridges transition model
(Source: Ng and Ng, 2017)
The company can also make use of this model as the need here is to deal with emotional
response of employees that have aroused on account of change in leadership and restricting
within Apple and Microsoft.
For example, the appointment of a strict leader such as Steve Jobs in Apple and
restructuring process in Microsoft has led to range of emotions in employees. These are in form
of fear, confusion, shock, denial among others. The only way to combat change is through
communication and convincing them that change is good for company as well as the employee.
In case of Apple there will be a removal of company from bankruptcy and it will led to job
security of employees. While in context of Microsoft, change will help in developing better
relations between employees and management (Al-Haddad and Kotnour, 2015).
Then comes neutral stage where employees are in middle of the road with respect to
changes rather than being scared or nervous (Samuel, Found and Williams, 2015). Hence the
need on part of management is to motivate the employees. Apple management can help the
employees in carrying out work in a focused manner. Trainings and other sessions can be taken
for them so that they can be in tune with work strategy of Steve Jobs (Kuipers and et.al., 2014).
Last stage is the New Beginning where employees may start witnessing new changes that have
taken place. They may even find out how the work strategy of Steve Jobs has pulled the firm out
of bankruptcy and led to creation of revolutionary products. In same lines, Microsoft employees
may find out about that there has been a development of positive work culture followed by
streamlined processes (Jayatilleke and Lai, 2018). After seeing positive results of changes,
employees may feel an increase in level of motivation and change initiatives can then be put into
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final stages. It is best to reward employees who have given best efforts so that an example can be
set in front of them (Cameron and Green, 2015).
CONCLUSION
A lot of benefits have been derived by organization after reducing the negative impact of
change. These are in form of increased acceptance towards the changes that are taking place in
the organization. There was a creation of better work culture with less politics about the ongoing
changes.
TASK 2
P4: Different barriers for change and determine how they influence leadership decision-making
in a given organizational context.
As per Schein's model of organizational culture, the barriers in both the organization are
quite visible to employees and the external parties. These form Artefacts and symbols level of
Scheins model and are in form of fear of unknown in terms of job loss of employee or decrease
in power. Some of the staff members have also developed a negative attitude towards change and
there is also a failure to involve employees in change process by management (Bohn, 2018).
Other than this, the barriers of change are also found in next level of organizational culture being
Espoused Values. the overall structure of Microsoft is also very complex one that is acting as a
major barrier. There can be a generation of force field analysis in order to assess drivers as well
as resistors for change in organization. Force field analysis can be defined as a strategic tool for
understanding what strategies are needed for change in corporate and personal environment
(Mooney and Burdon, 2017).
On the other hand, resisting forces associated with change in Microsoft are fearfulness of
staff members towards unknown; loss of power and job. There is also a non-compromising
attitude of managers towards structural change. This is as the present structure was suitable to
their work responsibility. Some managers feared that they may lose control over employees
which made them develop a feeling of powerlessness (Muratbekova-Touron and Galindo, 2018).
Hence, they started resisting changes within organization. Most importantly the change in
structure may make the employees look less competent and they may be forced to change their
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way of working. As the employees did not wanted to learn new skill set and were comfortable in
their way of working hence they resisted changes (McCray, Gonzalez and Darling, 2011). As a
matter of fact, the tendency to resist change was more prevalent among senior management team
as they had to work directly under the leadership of Satya Nadella (Mathieu and et.al., 2014).
1 2 3 4 5
Forces
favoring
change
Competitive
rivalry in
various units
of Microsoft
Decrease in
employee
motivation
and team
morale
A need to
increase
profit of
company
A need to be
more
innovative
Competition
from Google
and Apple
Need to be in
tune with new
technology
Forces
resistin
g
change
Fear of job
loss
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Change in
way of
working
Lack of
authority over
employees
Change may
make
employees
look less
competent
Decline in
support
system
The above set of driving as well as resisting forces is influencing the leadership decision
making within Microsoft. This is driving forces such as competition in different units; Decrease
in employee motivation and team morale; rivalry from outside firms; A need to increase profit of
company; A need to be more innovative and a Need to be in tune with new technology are
making the management take actions in form of implementing changes in fast manner (Cameron
and Green, 2015). On other hand, resisting forces changing are Fear of job loss, change in way of
working, Lack of authority over employees, Change may make employees look less competent
and Decline in support system are slowing down change implementation process hence the
leaders have to take decision about how to motivate the employees and make them accept
changes in ready manner.
By suing Schein’s organisational culture model, Apple and Microsoft can easily adjust
their working and this model is describe as below:
Schein’s organizational culture model: There are three level of organization culture
sucha as:
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Artifact: It is the first level in which a firm's characteristics can be easily viewed and
heard that is known as artifact. Such that Apple and Microsoft also have different dress codes
which makes them differ from others (Nieves and Haller, 2014).
Values: In this the values of an employee are create positive impact upon the company
such that the thought process and attitude of employees also shows the culture.
Assumptions: It cannot be measured but it make difference between culture of an
organization. Inner aspect of human is creates under this. Hence, basic assumptions also consist
relationship between employees and customers.
Conclusion: In order to manage the negative impact upon the business, quoted firm may
uses Schein’s organisational culture model in which the organization can be easily fit into new
changes. Organization culture cannot be change in single day, therefore to remove all the
negative impact, firm has to adapt external environment and then solve the problems. Thus,
employees should also respect their organization culture and deliver the best output. Using this
model will also help to cope up with the different negative impact and can also influence the
leader's decision making in positive way. On the other hand, these negative effect can be easily
overcome by providing effective training which helps to raise the efficiency of the employees,
beside this, company's manager and leader has to provide effective communication which helps
to convey actual and correct information to their employees and it is also realized that promotion
is another effective strategy which helps to overcome from those negative impact. Moreover,
team working is another strategy which assist leaders to lead a team in effective way.
TASK 3
P5: Apply different leadership approaches to dealing with change in a range of organizational
contexts
Situational Leadership: There can be an application of various leadership approaches so
that change can be dealt in Microsoft in the best possible manner. In situational leadership
theory which states that there is an absence of any one best leadership style that can be applied in
all situations. Hence, the leadership style to be used by management in Microsoft will depend on
the situation. For example, the company can make use of authoritative style of leadership when
there has been a change in vision of organization and employees need proper direction.
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Telling: In this style, the decisions are made in the hands of leaders and they closely
supervise their employees and also provide direction to them.
Selling: Coaching style of leadership can be used when a change has been made in
technology and new software has been introduced (Kuipers and et.al., 2014).
Participation: The presence of Participative leadership theory which states that an ideal
leadership is the one that takes inputs from all employees into account (Cameron and Green,
2015). During any ongoing change process within Microsoft, the leaders can encourage
participation of employees in change process and contributions can also be asked from team
members.
Delegation: Leaders involvement is least and only employees are responsible for taking
any decisions such that leader of a firm also takes feedback in order to get exact results.
By using Kurt Lewin change management model, which helps Microsoft to accept the
changes or deal with the changes. This consist of three model such as:
Unfreeze: It is the first step in which people will naturally resist the changes and at that
time leader of the firm creates awareness among the employees to accept the changes. For this
reason, the communication is the foremost requirement which during this stage so that
employees become informed about the sudden change in the company. To change the
management level is not easy, therefore it is quite necessary to keep aware the employees in
order to accept the changes.
Changing: If the employees accept the changes then the next step is implemented.
Though the process may be more complicated and costly so a long term view is quite essential in
order to maintain more confidence and morale among the employees. At that time, leadership
and communication are the essential thing needed to ensure the change process is occur
effectively.
Refreeze: It is the last step in which the change is properly reinforced and sustained.
Though it may cause more cost and in this stage, people are learn new behavior and processes,
change the way of thinking which helps to accept the changes in more effective way and also
make sure that people do not revert back to their old ways of thinking such that they freeze out
with their new organization change.
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CONCLUSION
It can be concluded from above study that both Apple and Microsoft underwent
leadership changes in different times on account of critical situations faced by them. The
difference was however in the manner both the leaders led the process of change. In this respect,
there was a presence of different drivers to change such as need to maintain profit, compete with
other firms, utilize new technology, and boost up morale of employees among others.
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