How Apple works: Inside the world's biggest startup. From Steve Jobs down to the janitor: How America's most successful - and most secretive - big company really operates.
Editor's note: This article appeared in the May 23, 2011 issue of Fortune magazine. A shorter version of it originally appeared on Fortune.com on May 9, 2011. FORTUNE -- Apple doesn't often fail, and when it does, it isn't a pretty sight at 1 Infinite Loop. In the summer of 2008, when Apple launched the first version of its iPhone that worked on third-generation mobile networks, it also debuted MobileMe, an e-mail system that was supposed to provide the seamless synchronization features that corporate users love about their BlackBerry smartphones.
MobileMe was a dud. For the next half-hour Jobs berated the group. Jobs' handling of the MobileMe debacle offers a rare glimpse of how Apple (AAPL) really operates. Apple CEO and co-founder Steve Jobs on March 2, 2011, emerged from a medical leave of absence to introduce the second generation of the iPad. Meet Apple's all-stars. Apple 101: Jobs’ Success Factors.
If you haven’t read the Fortune 500 article “Inside Apple,” you simply must.
The story, adeptly reported by Adam Lashinsky, reveals what many suspect of Steve Jobs – that he’s dictatorial, uncompromising and relentless in pursuit of excellence. What the article reveals in detail is how Jobs’ philosophy, style and management permeates the entire organization. Everyone at Apple knows what Steve Jobs expects of them and the company.
The article opens with a recount of the release of the iPhone 3G and the concurrent launch of the MobileMe email system. MobileMe promised enterprise functionality for iPhones that many enterprise Blackberry users desired. No doubt that Jobs is the heart and soul of the Apple organization. Solution providers and other vendors can learn from of the simple lessons revealed in Fortune’s Apple article. Absolute Accountability Apple product development teams are held to absolute standards for performance and productivity. Remove Money as a Distraction. Apple's corporate innovation? The 'directly responsible individual' Now that Steve Jobs has gone on to his reward, the negative stories are coming out about him.
I found this story about a failed product launch at Apple to be fairly interesting: Shortly after the launch event, he summoned the MobileMe team, gathering them in the Town Hall auditorium in Building 4 of Apple's campus, the venue the company uses for intimate product unveilings for journalists. According to a participant in the meeting, Jobs walked in, clad in his trademark black mock turtleneck and blue jeans, clasped his hands together, and asked a simple question: "Can anyone tell me what MobileMe is supposed to do? " Having received a satisfactory answer, he continued, "So why the f--- doesn't it do that? " For the next half-hour Jobs berated the group. My favorite defense blogger, Tom Ricks, find this to be actually a good thing ("In fact, what Jobs did strikes me as simply enforcing accountability -- which is what leaders should do.
") Directly responsible individual. A Look Inside Apple's Magic Kingdom : Reference Point. Interesting article in the current Fortune < Some interesting takeaways to me (confirming Steve Jobs' remarkable contrarianism as perhaps the key to his tremendous success).
Matrix Is the Ladder to Success. Pro: Look at the Track Record by Jay R.
Galbraith, Galbraith Management Consultants Many companies are discovering they have no choice but to learn how to effectively execute a matrix organization. These companies operate with multiple business units in multiple countries. They distribute through multiple channels to different customer segments. If you are a company spending 4% or more on R&D, you will need a strong global business unit head to achieve the global scale and integration to profit from the R&D.
The New Matrix Management – the future of Organizational Success - Training & Development - HR Management US. Surviving Matrix Management - Gill Corkindale. By Gill Corkindale | 11:33 AM June 19, 2008 Matrix management has been around for 40 years, but there have been few challenges to its efficacy and viability.
Most writers and management theorists remain convinced that a matrix approach is superior to a hierarchy, but is it really the only alternative? Are there different ways to manage – for example, a truly integrated hierarchical/matrix system or do we need to think about a different system altogether? Lost in Matrix Management - Gill Corkindale. By Gill Corkindale | 6:52 AM June 4, 2008 One theme has emerged loud and clear from executives I have been coaching this year: the utter frustration of operating in complex and shifting matrix management systems.
The complaints are legion: multiple and complex reporting lines, confusion over accountability, competing geographical and functional targets, lack of role clarity, too many people involved in decisions, lack of support from senior managers, and the politics and conflicts arising from continual organisational restructuring. Only last week I heard one senior executive’s attempts to explain his direct, indirect and ‘dual solid’ lines of reporting across multiple functions, product lines, and geographic regions. He told me that in addition to running his own virtual team that spanned three time zones, he had responsibility for several head office projects, with the added problem of dealing with a line manager on one project who was his peer on another.