Deconstructing Apple-pt1. By Gary Hamel In 1997, or about three centuries ago in tech years, I bought an e-tablet from A.T. Cross, the pen company. Co-developed with IBM, the CrossPad was heralded as a game changer that would open up a whole new product category—Portable Digital Notepads. I’m a copious note-taker, so the idea of turning my scribblings into digital files was too seductive to ignore. Yet within a month, the CrossPad was sharing shelf space with all the other paradigm-busting products that had promised, and failed, to change my life. Truth is, I’m not so much an early adopter as an easy mark—a sucker for the utopian dreams of technology mystics, no matter how commercially tainted their visions might be. There are many in the blogosphere who are betting against the iPad. Over the past decade, the pride of Cupertino has produced a mind-boggling parade of accomplishments.
Some might say you have to start with Steve Jobs, Apple’s prescient and exacting boss. Focuses heavily on design. Deconstructing Apple-p2. By Gary Hamel In my last post I summarized the core elements of Apple’s strategy—a strategy that : Focuses heavily on design. Fuses hardware and software Integrates a broad array of complementary technologies Locks up customers with velvet handcuffs Harnesses the efforts of independent software vendors Leverages the company’s deep competencies into new markets Nevertheless, I don’t think it’s a particular strategy that makes Apple Apple. Nor can you attribute all of the company’s success to the executive abilities of Steve Jobs. Instead, I believe the company’s extraordinary run of success reflects an unstinting devotion to a particular set of values. Within the universe of inventors, designers and artists, these values aren’t particularly remarkable; but within the universe of Fortune 500 companies, they are as rare as a rose in winter.
Before going further, I should make it clear that my take on Apple’s signature values isn’t the product of any in-company research I’ve conducted. Apple. World's Most Admired Companies: Who does business trust? - Mar. By Anna Bernasek, contributorMarch 4, 2010: 2:02 PM ET (Fortune Magazine) -- Whew, what a year! Last January bankers looked positively sheepish in their new role as federal employees. But by the end of 2009 they had ditched their government bosses and begun swaggering again. During the same period Ford went from the worst loss in its history to the top of U.S. car companies, its stock up more than 300% -- while Toyota began what would become a dramatic fall. The financial crisis may finally be abating, but after a year of dramatic ups and downs, there's little doubt that corporate reputation matters more than ever before. Perhaps it's no surprise, then, that while entire industries adjust to wrenching changes as the economy starts to stabilize, a ranking of who's admired and who's not would have particular import.
Indeed, our annual comprehensive Most Admired Companies survey this year generated the highest response rate in its history. What exactly does it mean to be admired? Apple and the Leadership Pause - Rosabeth Moss Kanter - Harvard. Back when Apple was first an entrepreneurial wonder and I was a baby consultant often in Cupertino, I used to think of Apple in baseball analogies. Apple was the Boston Red Sox, exciting and colorful but doomed to be second to IBM’s New York Yankee-like deep pockets and market domination. Not any longer. The tech leagues have expanded, and while IBM is still a powerhouse, it does not play in consumer markets. Apple is now a game-definer and game-changer, in major consumer segments. Behind Apple’s recent successes, including strong prospects for the iPad launched on April 3, is a remarkable leadership phenomenon: a founder who returns after a long pause to rescue the company, bringing a new mindset rather than trying to restore former glory.
Jobs and friends incorporated Apple in 1977. He left angry; he returned triumphant. Apple’s biggest mistake under Jobs I was a closed system. “App,” by the way, is a great play on words.