Organizational Behavior Problem: An Analysis of Apple Inc.

This report examines the organizational behavior (OB) problems at Apple Inc., specifically addressing concerns about a toxic working environment where employees feel unsafe and undervalued. The report analyzes the problem from both employee and management perspectives, highlighting issues such as gender harassment and the management's inadequate responses. It delves into the adverse impacts on employee mental health, productivity, and the potential damage to the company's reputation and employee retention. Furthermore, the report proposes an intervention strategy based on human relations management theory, including steps for identifying the root cause, conducting open forums, analyzing impacts, developing action plans incorporating democratic leadership, encouraging employee participation, and observing results. The report also suggests additional interventions and developing performance indicators to measure the effectiveness of the proposed solutions.

ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR
STUDENT DETAILS
STUDENT DETAIL

INTERNAL PROBLEMS 1
Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
Overview of Apple Inc...............................................................................................................3
Problem statement......................................................................................................................4
Problem analysis........................................................................................................................5
From the employee’s perspective:.........................................................................................6
From management’s perspective:..........................................................................................8
Utilization of human relation management theory to overcome the problem.........................10
Intervention strategy.................................................................................................................12
Step 1: Identify the cause of problem..................................................................................12
Step 2: Higher level management should conduct a meeting session with the employees on
the open forum.....................................................................................................................12
Step 3: Analyses specific adverse impact that the problem has left in the company...........13
Step 4: Management should make their action plan to deal with the problem by
incorporating the democratic leadership style......................................................................13
Step 5: Management should encourage the participation of the employees in their action
plan.......................................................................................................................................14
Step 6: Observing the results of the action plan...................................................................15
Additional interventions.......................................................................................................15
Developing indicators..............................................................................................................16
Conclusion................................................................................................................................18
References................................................................................................................................19

INTERNAL PROBLEMS 2
Introduction
Organizational behaviour (OB) incorporates the analyses of employee’s behaviour in
an association. The principles of OB are utilized in an association for directing employee’s
behaviour in the appropriate direction so that they can help the association to accomplish the
common goal of the company in an effective and efficient way (Bialik, 2020). OB principles
and tactics can be utilized in an organization for improving the productivity of the employees,
to boost their morale, foster better leadership, etc. OB has four primary elements that are
people, structure, external environment and technology (Bjørnstad, Patil & Raanaas, 2016).
Moreover, the OB operates on three specific levels that are the individual level, the group
level and the organizational level. The selected company for this report is "Apple Inc". In this
report, there will be discussion about the OB problem of Apple Inc. This report will also
include a brief overview about the company. After that, the detailed analyses of the OB
problem will be done. This analysis will be done from the aspects of OB theories and
measures. Apart from this, an intervention will be suggested to overcome their identified
problem. In the end, a specific indicator will be suggested to the company so that they can
measure the performance of the suggested intervention in the effective and efficient way.
Overview of Apple Inc.
Apple Inc. is an American multinational company. The headquarter of the company is
located in Cupertino, California. The company is also counted among the four big technology
companies in the world alongside Amazon, Google and Microsoft. The company develops
and sells consumer electronics such as iPhone, iPad, Mac PC, Apple Watch, Apple TV,
Airpods, Home pods, etc. They also have a wide range of software programs such as macOS,
iOS, etc (Gallagher, 2019). The company was founded in 1974 by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak

INTERNAL PROBLEMS 3
and Ronald Wayne. The first product of the company was Apple I – motherboard with CPU
and RAM. On 3rd January 1977, the company incorporates as Apple Computer Inc. Before
incorporation, Ronald Wayne sold his shares to the Steve Jobs for $800. He decided to sold
his share only after 12 days from the date of incorporation. After some time, Mike Markkula
has funded $250,000 during the incorporation of the company. It was noted that during the
first five years, revenues of the company grows at a rapid rate. From September 1977 to
September 1980 their annual sales grew from $775,000 to $118Million. Since then they had
achieved major victories including the success of Macintosh (Csimarket.com, 2020).
After that, Steve Jobs introduced the iPhone with is the great move by the company.
iPhone incorporates many features and it also allows users to delete and download the
application in their phone as per their convenience. Apart from this, in 2019, the net revenue
of the company was $260.174billion with an operating income of $63.93billion. In the
meanwhile, they have developed a loyal customer base because of their product quality,
customer service and goodwill in the market (Macrotrends.net, 2019). Not all the products of
the company achieved great success, some of the products are rejected by the consumer also.
Such as: MacBook Pro was rejected by the consumer because their targeted audience found
that the new MacBook Pro is very much identical to the MacBook and in the pro version
there is no such major innovation. Currently, there are over 137,000 employees of the
company (Statista.com, 2019). The company also has the subsidiaries companies which are
Braeburn Capital, Beats Electronics, Claris, Apple Services, Apple Energy, etc. The share
price of the company is $267.99 (as on 9th April, 2020).
Problem statement
From the perspective of the OB, the identified problem is that employees of Apple
Inc. reveal that they feel unsafe in the current working environment of the association and the

INTERNAL PROBLEMS 4
management do not value them. The majority of the employees even express their concern
regarding the adverse working environment to their higher authorities. It can be analysed that
the company only theoretically accepts that their employees are an asset for them but on the
practical scenario they fail to express the same. The company should take appropriate actions
in a sophisticated way to overcome this challenge in an effective and efficient way. If
employees continuous to feel the same then it can also create legal trouble for the company
under the laws of the National Labour Relations Board, USA (Chua & Chan, 2018).
Problem analysis
It can be analysed that above-stated problem of the company is linked with the
situation whereas employees feel unsatisfied due to the adverse working environment. One of
the issues regarding the toxic environment in the company is highlighted by the employee
name as Danielle. She stated that her co-workers slay rape jokes to her. She also stated that in
the initial stage she ignored other employees but after some time when her colleagues
continue to cracks rape jokes and intolerable statements then she reported that issue to the
compliance department of the company but management ignore her company. This is only
one issue that was formally recognised, however there are various other issues in the
company which are related with the toxic working environment (Bjørnstad, Patil & Raanaas,
2016). It is also noted that not only Danielle but other female staff members also felt unsafe
due to the limited presence of other staff members. Apart from female staff members, even
male staff members also had experience gender harassment in the workplace. According to
the employees, management of the company also noticed the same but they provided them an
unsatisfactory solution to them. Employees stated that the solution offered by the
management are unsatisfactory for them and management should take strict actions to
overcome such issues in an effective and efficient way. For instance: after sending formal
written 3 times to the compliance department, the assigned authorities of complaint suggested

INTERNAL PROBLEMS 5
her that either she should accept a demotion or she should make herself adaptable to this
environment only. It can be analysed that such kind of solutions are not acceptable in any
case (Chua & Chan, 2018).
When such kind of issues arises whereas female employees do not feel safe in the
work place then the management should take strict to overcome such a scenario instead of
offering an unsatisfactory solution. Moreover, it is also noticed that the majority of the
employees experience an adverse working environment and instead of taking appropriate
actions, the management is continuously neglecting the complaints arisen by the employees.
According to the OB principles, issues which are related with the toxic working environment
should be treated in a more sophisticated manner then performance-related issues (Gagné,
2018).
When the working environment of the company starts turning in a toxic environment
then it also affects the productivity of the employees in an adverse way. Apart from this, toxic
environment also affects the mental health of the employees. It can be analysed that
employees of Apple Inc. who are considering the company’s working environment as toxic,
experience sleeping disorder, show the symptoms of insomnia, depression and lack of
attention towards the work. Working in a toxic environment arises the hostile like feeling
among the employees (Gelfand, Aycan, Erez & Leung, 2017).
From the employee’s perspective:
This section will conduct a specific point analyses that are linked with the toxic
working environment of Apple Inc. It is extremely important to analyse that what adverse
outcomes this problem can generate from employee’s perspective.

INTERNAL PROBLEMS 6
Adverse impact on their mental health: Working in the toxic environment resultant
in the two major challenges as stated in the above diagram. Toxic or adverse working
environment puts the mental pressure which impacts their psychological state. It is noted that
the majority of the employees of Apple Inc. have identified the symptoms in them which are
related to depression, insomnia and other mental disorders. However, it can be said that toxic
environments directly impact psychological conditions and it indirectly impacts their
physiological condition. For example: when employees identified symptoms, which are
related to a mental disorder such as sleeping disorder, anxiety, etc. then these mental diseases
affect an individual’s eating orders, sleeping orders, it put an adverse effect on the
functioning of the immune system in the body, etc.
According to the psychologists, situation (such as a toxic working environment)
which put adverse impact on the mental health should be identified immediately and such a
situation requires immediate action to solve them. The major challenge is that people do not
simply agree that they are in depression or insomnia. However, in this context of Apple Inc.
Identified problem will
resultant in two major
sub-challenges:
1. It affects the mental
health of the
employees.
2. Working in toxic
environement degrades their
productivity.

INTERNAL PROBLEMS 7
is it great that employees themselves identified that toxic working environment is affecting
their mental health (Goldstein, Pulakos, Semedo & Passmore, 2017).
It degrades their productivity: When the environment of the company becomes
toxic for its employees then it put an adverse impact on employee's performance. It can be
noticed that employees who work in a toxic environment deliver less productive output. In
such case, it is the duty of the management that they should take the immediate actions to
solve the workplace-related challenge because it is extremely important that employees
should feel satisfied while working in the company because when employees feel satisfied in
company’s working environment then it enables them to deliver more productive output. So,
in this context of Apple Inc. it can be said that management should take appropriate action to
create a positive working environment for their employees. As, the positive working
environment will allow the employees to deliver more productive output (Grotto, Hyland,
Caputo & Semedo, 2017).
From management’s perspective:
Identified problem will
resultant in two major
sub-challenges:
1. It can degrade the
reputation of the
company in the
market
2. This problem can enhance
the employee attirtion rate in
the comapny

INTERNAL PROBLEMS 8
It can degrade the reputation of the company: Apple landed at 20th position on the
Reputation Institute's Global Rep Trak 100 rundown during the main quarter of 2017, down
ten spots from a similar time a year ago. The investigation allocates rankings to huge
companies over various enterprises, including tech, car, buyer products and extravagance
brands. If such kind of news that employees are not feeling safe in the working environment
of the company then it can put an adverse impact on the company’s reputation. Currently,
Apple Inc. has a 48.5% market share whereas Samsung had only 15.7% market in the
consumer market. News related to the toxic working environment can put an adverse effect
on the company’s reputation. Thus, the management should take strict actions to solve the
problem of the toxic working environment. Although, management should not solve only
because of the reason that it will hamper their market reputation but it is the responsibility of
the management to give a positive working environment to their employees in an effective
and efficient way. So, the management should take measures to fulfil their duties in an
effective and efficient way (Gupta & Howard, 2018).
It can also increase employees attrition ratio:
Normally, there will be changing expenses with respect to turnover, similarly as there
are fluctuating degrees of pay. With each worker lost, HR needs to invest their energy in
another contract and the director is investing time getting a move on. Yet, worker turnover
has a ton of concealed expenses also. There's group disturbance, lost profitability, lost
institutional information, and at last, due to these costs, less business. The general effect of
every one of these expenses can truly place a gouge in any organization's primary concern. It
costs more to supplant a representative than meets the eye. It's not unexpected to imagine that
it costs $5,000 – $10,000 to supplant a representative acquiring $50,000. This works out to
10% – 20% of the yearly remuneration for the position.

INTERNAL PROBLEMS 9
This recognition neglects to represent numerous genuine costs, for example,
offboarding, onboarding, movement, preparing, and the loss of work while adjusting new
representatives. Actually, in the US, supplanting a worker costs somewhere in the range of
40% and 60% of their yearly remuneration. For a situation with basic aptitudes, it can cost
over 100% of yearly compensation. The most pessimistic scenario is the point at which a
group encounters different exits in a brief timeframe. The rest of the individuals wonder if the
grass is greener in an alternate field. A little turnover effectively prompts a basic
circumstance. The present atmosphere makes maintenance especially testing. A few present
components are adding to a huge ascent in turnover (Hanson, Peristera, Chungkham &
Westerlund, 2016).
Utilization of human relation management theory to overcome the problem
In order to overcome the stated problem, it is suggested to the management to work
on the norms of OB theories. Human relation management theory will help the company to
overcome from this adverse situation. The management should adopt the applications of this
hypothesis in order to cultivate the positive working environment in the company. This
hypothesis states about the human interactions and relationship in the company (Horwath,
2016). The hypothesis defines that there are various factors in an organization that enables
the employees to behave and work in the appropriate manner. Such as: cultivating positive
working environment, enhanced interaction with the higher-level management to the middle
and low-level management, immediate action should be taken on the issues raised by the
employees, etc (Johennesse & Chou, 2017).
This theory is views as the important element in motivating and keeping human
resources relationship stable in the company with management and with workplace’s
environment (Kanerva, Pietiläinen, Lallukka, Rahkonen & Lahti, 2018). According to

INTERNAL PROBLEMS 10
Douglas McGregor's, human relation management hypothesis should be operated under the
surveillance of the human resource department. Before implementing the functions of this
theory, it is extremely important to make strategic planning regarding the applications of
operating human resource unit in the company. Apart from this, this hypothesis also includes
the explanation of theory X and theory Y (Kanerva, Pietiläinen, Lallukka, Rahkonen & Lahti,
2018).
Apart from the applications of this hypothesis, it is also important for Apple Inc. to
incorporate various other management tactics. It is suggested that the management should
analyse about the emotions and mood of their employees. By conducting this analysis, it will
help the management to incorporate those activities in the company which deliver high
positive effects. It will also help the management to identify the common pattern of their
employees that makes them satisfied. It is also important that the management should also
work on the applications of various motivational theories. Such as self-efficacy theory,
reinforcement theory, Victor Vroom's expectancy theory, goal setting theory, etc. Utilizing
these theories will help the management to cultivate the positive working environment in the
organization (Kaur, 2017).
However, it is suggested that first management should take strict actions on the
previous complain of the employees and it is advisable to the management to come up with
the satisfactory solutions instead of unsatisfactory choices like in the case of Danielle. Apart
from this, it is also suggested to the management that the company should opt democratic
leadership style in their management because under this leadership all the other team
members will get an equivalent opportunity to take part in the decision-making process.
When employees will get the right in the decision-making process of the team then it will
send a message among the employees that the company values their opinions (Kausalya &
Kanagasabai, 2017).

INTERNAL PROBLEMS 11
Intervention strategy
In the above section, it is explained that the utilization of human relation management
theory will help the management to overcome their problem related to the toxic working
environment. This section will explain a detailed intervention plan that can be adopted by the
management:
Step 1: Identify the cause of problem
The company should first urge to identify the cause of the problem. It can be analysed
that the cause of this problem is that there are no strict policies in the company regarding the
bullying. Apart from this, another reason is that middle level management is satisfy with the
working output of lower level management. Thus, middle level management allows excessive
permission to the lower level management to do whatever they want. Moreover, another
cause can be that middle level management allows the little bullying of the lower level
employees with their colleagues to reduce the stress. In such way, it is important that the
management should first make efforts to find the exact cause of the problem so that
appropriate action can be taken to solve the problem (LaLone, et. al., 2016).
Step 2: Higher level management should conduct a meeting session with the employees
on the open forum
After identifying the cause of the problem, it is suggested that the management should
conduct a session with the employees on the open forum. Management should allow
employees to speak freely about the incidents they had faced in the past. By encouraging
employees to speak on the open forum, it will arise the faith in the employees that
management cares about them. Apart from this, another benefit of conducting a session with
employees is that the flow of communication between the higher to lower level management
will be established in the effective and efficient way. It will also resultant in the improved