Leadership can be defined as the ability of an individual or group of individuals that allows them to guide and influence their followers or team members in an organization (Cashman, 2017). Leadership style is the approach and manner of providing direction, motivating people and implementing plans. From the point of view of the employees, it includes total patterns of implicit and explicit actions performed by their leaders. The different leadership styles adopted by the organizations are transactional leadership, transformational leadership, autocratic leadership, democratic leadership, laissez- faire leadership and charismatic leadership (Huffman, Hipp, Pankake and Moller, 2014). Each leadership style is useful in different situations. ‘Apple Inc.’ has been selected as the organization for understanding the effect of leadership styles and skills on the teams and organizational objectives. The report further assesses the leadership styles prevailing in the organization and its impact on the performance of teams and organizational objectives. Also, the ethical and value- based approach of the organization to leadership has been discussed in this report.
Apple Inc. is the multinational technology company from America headquartered in California which is engaged in the development, designing and selling of computer software, computer electronics and online services. The operations of the company are spread all across the world including United Kingdom. The popular products of Apple Inc. are iPhone, iPod, Apple Watch, etc. However, among all the products, the most popular product of Apple Inc. is iPhone which a smartphone that runs of iOS operating system. The company was founded by Ronald Wayne, Steve Jobs, and Steve Woznaik in the year 1976 for the purpose of developing and selling personal computers. The vision of Apple Inc. provides for making constant innovation in its products through the use of emerging technologies. The exceptional products and services provided by the organization have made it the market leader of the industry. The prices of the products of the company are high as compared to the products of the other brands but still the company has been able to increase its sales due to its brand reputation. Tim Cook is the current CEO and the leader of the organization (Apple, 2018).
Leadership is a quality with the help of which the leaders become capable of influencing a group of people towards the attainment of the goals and objectives of the organization. The impact is different in accordance with style of leadership applied in the given situation. Similarly, this also has an impact on the strategic decisions required to be taken by the organization for its growth and success. Different situations are faced by an organization which can be effectively dealt with the help of the required leadership style. There are a number of leadership styles which can be implemented in Apple Inc. as the requirement. Since Apple is a multinational corporation, it works on a large scale with the help of a number of employees.
Situation 1 – When the task orientation of Apple Inc. reduces, it leads to a fall in the work productivity of the employees. This further results in a gap between skills of the employees and their productivity levels. Then the need arises of an autocratic leader who is capable of leading the organization by taking responsibility and for the achievement of the organizational objectives. Furthermore, an autocratic leader will be capable of monitoring the whole working structure.
Autocratic leadership style will be suitable for the time when Apple Inc. faces the above mentioned situation. Autocratic leadership can be characterized by individual control over the decision making process and the obtainment of little input from the followers or group members. In other words, an autocratic leader has absolute power over the members of the team. With the help of this leadership styles, the leaders can obtain an instant control over the chaos occurring in Apple Inc. The characteristics of an autocratic leader provide that they are more involved in the close supervision and monitoring of the team in order to cover the gaps in the performance of the employees. The entire reliance of the autocratic leaders are on themselves and they only announce the decisions made by them to their teams for the purpose of meeting the organizational objectives (Mauri, 2017).
Situation 2- When Apple Inc. will suffer from crisis, it will need to implement reward or punishment system so that the employees meet the desired productivity levels. Sometimes, the environment of the organization prevents the employees from meeting the productivity standards due to lack of motivation. They are required to be motivated with the help of a reward system which will provide them incentives when they will meet the set criteria. Similarly, for the employees who are unable to meet the productivity standards, punishment system is required to be set in place in the form of penalties, deductions, etc. such that employees put their best efforts for the purpose of achieving the goals of Apple Inc.
Transactional leadership model will be effective in cases when such situations arise in Apple Inc. transactional leadership style have its main focus on the supervision, group performance and organization. by the adoption of transactional leadership style by the leaders of Apple, a clear structure will be created in the organization with the help of which the expectations from each member of the team can be clearly outlined. Rewards will be highlighted by the structures that will be attached to the fulfillment of various roles throughout the process (Deichmann and Stam, 2015). The punishments are not necessarily outlined within these structures. Management by exception will be utilized by the leaders of Apple Inc. during the adoption of transactional leadership style. In this way, the team members will be encouraged by the leaders through punishments and rewards. Furthermore, a chain of command will be defined in which the employees will operate thereby improving their overall performance. When the performance of the employees will improve, the organization will become capable of meeting its objectives (Larsson, Eriksson, Olofsson and Simonsson, 2015).
Situation 3- Apple Inc. often suffers from the situation of being unable to utilize the full potential of the employees employed by them within teams and organization. There is a requirement for adopting creativity and ideas in the organization in order to maintain the competitive edge in the marketplace. Also, there is a need to get the best out of the teams in order to meet the organizational teams by engaging and empowering the staff. The employees of Apple are well educated and have knowledge and skills which can lead the organization towards new heights (Cairns, 2017).
Democratic leadership model is currently being adopted by the leaders of Apple Inc. for the purpose of maintaining its competitive edge in the market. A democratic leadership style can often be regarded as an open approach to leading where the use of shared decision making is made and the views and opinions of all the members of the team are taken into consideration before making any decision in the organization. The adoption of this leadership style by leader Tim Cook has enhanced the creativity levels of the employees. The democratic leadership style is also known as the participative leadership style. This is the fact behind the ability of the company to keep their employees happy and satisfied as they are allowing their participation in the various decisions and processes (Meyer and Meijers, 2017).
Situation 4- Sometimes situations may arise in Apple company where there is a need for the leaders who can effectively improve the relationships with the subordinates such that the understanding of the mutually expected behavior can be created. Since there is a defined structure existing within the organization, the employees need a leader who can establish openness in the communication of new ideas in the workplace along with maintaining a balance between the long- term goals and short- term vision (Tannenbaum and Schmidt, 2017).
Transformational leadership style can be defined as the type of leadership through which positive changes can be brought in the followers such as enthusiasm, passion and energy for the achievement of organizational goals. By way of adopting transformational leadership model, Tim Cook will be able to enhance the morale, motivation and job performance of the followers with the help of a number of mechanisms (Kao, 2018). In this way, this framework will assist Apple in the achievement of the desired results.
Effective leadership is contingent on matching the style of the leaders to the right setting. Contingency theory of leadership provides that the success of the leader is the function of various contingencies in the form of task, subordinate and group variables. It further provides that the leadership style should be used according to the organizational situation.
If in the above- mentioned situations, Apple adopts the suggested leadership style, then it will be able to handle such situation effectively. The adoption of an appropriate leadership style will also boost the morale of the employees and will motivate them to improve their productivity levels. When the employees will be able to meet their goals in an effective manner, it will facilitate Apple to reach new heights in the market.
Tim Cook who is the current leader of Apple adopts a number of leadership styles in order to deal with different situations which mean that he has his own leadership style for the purpose of meeting the needs of the employees and attainment of the success of the organization. Basically, Tim Cook is a democratic leader and follows democracy by way of providing the needed opportunities to the employees such that they can present their ideas in front of the higher authorities of the organization. This leads to the better of the organization as it keeps the employees satisfied and provides a number of innovative ideas to the company. Also, Laissez- faire leadership style is adopted by the leader Tim Cook by way of providing the needed authority and autonomy to the employees. Coaching leadership styles is also possessed by Tim Cook for the purpose of inspiring the followers, along with motivating and encouraging them (Kane, 2015).
These leadership styles have significantly impacted the performance of the teams and the entire organization thereby making Tim Cook an inspirational leader. The leadership style of Tim Cook has definitely improved the team performance and the organizational performance. It is often said that the employees of Apple are more productive as compared to the employees of other organization. This is due to the fact that they are provided enough guidance, support and motivation for the effective performance of their duties in the organization (Olson, 2014). The teams performed better as rewards were linked to the performance of the teams. Furthermore, an individual employee was not eligible for the rewards until the entire team performed good during a specific period of time. This leadership style of the leader of Apple inspired the employees at work thereby improving their productivity levels. Furthermore, inspiring ideas are obtained from the employees from time to time which are often implemented in the organization (Holten and Brenner, 2015). These satisfied employees have put their best efforts into the achievement of the organizational goals and have improved the overall performance of Apple over a period of time. After the passing away of Steve Jobs, the appointment of Tim Cook was made as the CEO and leader of Apple whose leadership skills and style exceptional improvement in the performance of the organization was observed. Through his leadership style, Tim Cook became capable of bringing an increase in the stock shares of Apply by 80% (Renko, El Tarabishy, Carsrud and Brännback, 2015).
Tim Cook often made difficult and risky decisions that even affected the operations of the entire organization and the employees as well. Tim Cook was aware of the fact that in order to remain competitive in the market, it is essential to make risky decisions from time to time. The risks may even lead to the failure of the entire business but without the possibility of failure there is no possibility of success as well. Tim Cook took such calculated risks and provided effective guidance to the employees which assisted him in achieving the organizational objectives (Johnson, 2017).
The basic aim of Apple is to stay at the forefront of innovation and for this, unique and different minded individuals are required who can assist in creating the future. As the leader of the company which is structured over innovative technology and skills, Tim Cook understands that there is a requirement of individuals who are capable of offering a different insight to the organization. Diversity of thoughts is possible only through the employment of diverse individuals within the workplace (Vermeeren, Kuipers and Steijn, 2014). Along with bringing out the best out of people, Tim Cook also works on the refinement of the skills of the employees.
The reason behind the positive impact on the team performance of Apple is the development of trust and loyalty among the team members by the leader. Tim Cook possesses great inspiring and empowering capabilities through which the actions of the teams can be easily influenced. The most important factor behind the improved performance of the teams and organization is the adjustment of leadership style as per the requirements and situations (Jing and Avery, 2016). For the purpose of creating a culture of trust, the leaders of Apple Inc. should lead by example. In other words, the leaders will be trusted by the employees only when they will become trustworthy. There should be fairness and honesty in dealing with the employees in all kinds of business dealings. Along with this, a practice of acknowledgement should be adopted for a job well done. Tim Cook can also adopt the practice of acknowledging the success of the employees through a recognition or reward program (Antonakis and Day, 2017).
The steps involved in the development of the culture of professionalism, respect, mutual trust, respect and support within the organization are as follows:
Vision- Firstly, a vision needs to be created in relation to a particular environment for both present and future (Deveau and McGill, 2014). Then the actions will be based on the vision created in this step and a culture will be developed which will be in harmony with the ethics and values of Apple.
Defining it- The culture must be defined by the leader that is in harmony with the environment and has minimum discrepancy with the employees of the organization. Mutual trust, professionalism, support and respect are the values that are required to be emphasized for the purpose of accentuating their importance (Northouse, 2017).
Communicating It- Communication is regarded as the most essential factor for the development of an effective culture within an organization. The above process can be pushed only with the help of establishing effective communication with the employees (Mishra, 2017).
Teaching it- there is a strong need to instill the values in the minds of the employees working for the organization in order to strengthen culture development. The teaching process is also required to be set in place for the purpose of making it a reality. However, its effectiveness can be enhanced through the adoption of formal and informal ways of teaching (Mulki, Caemmerer and Heggde, 2015).
Living it- The leaders are completely trusted by the people in the organization and therefore their words and directions are followed as a final decision. Therefore, there is strong need for the leaders to themselves adopt the values like professionalism, mutual trust and respect such that they become capable of influencing people through these values (Daft, 2014).
Respect and support will be automatically developed within teams when the leaders of the organization will take effective steps for the management and resolution of conflicts. Conflicts should not be ignored by the leaders as it has serious implications of the productivity of the teams and the individual employees. Therefore, conflicts should be addressed by the leaders on timely basis. The employees can be provided better understanding of the organizational goals and objectives by way of establishing good communication in Apple. There is a serious need to encourage feedback in order to assist the employees in cases where they have any issues and questions to be addressed (Rao, 2015). Moreover, the leaders of Apple should also aim at building positive working relationships within the organization. This will be possible only with the help of knowing the team members individually on a personal level and not only on a professional level. Mutual trust will be created when the leaders will also admit their mistakes along with acknowledging their limitations. Professionalism can be created by the leaders within the organization Apple with the help of creation of an environment that have vision for both present and future. Furthermore, professionalism can be developed by way of instilling the vales in the minds of people for strengthening the development of culture (Fairhurst and Connaughton, 2014).
The leaders of Apple have adopted an ethical and value- based approach to leadership. The values of Apple are the customs, qualities, principles and standards that the company believes will assist the company and its employees in achieving success. The values governing the business conduct of Apple are team spirit, good management, achievement/ aggressiveness, empathy for users/ customers, individual performance, positive social contribution, individual reward and quality/ excellence. Value- based leadership can be defined as motivating the employees by linking the goals of the organization to the personal values of the employees (Frost, 2014). As a part of value based leadership, Tim Cook communicates the values of Apple that assists the employees in understanding how to behave for the purpose of achieving the mission of the organization. However, the leader of Apple communicates the values of the organization in a manner such that the employees can relate their personal values with it. In this way, Tim Cook portrays the values of the organization in his leadership style. The leader aims at improve the performance of all the employees and the entire team by adequate reward systems. They are given proper recognition in front of all the employees for the efforts made by them during a specific period of time. The rewards to linked to the performance of the team assists in the creation of team spirit which are also a part of the values of the organization (Li, Gupta, Loon and Casimir, 2016).
On the other hand, ethical approach to leadership is a type of leadership which is directed by respect for ethical values and beliefs and for the right of others and dignity. It is, therefore, associated with the concepts such as consideration, honesty, fairness and charisma. Tim Cook’s opinion on ethical approach to leadership is different. While generally everyone relates ethics to accounting fraud and insider trading, Tim Cook is of different opinion. By adopting ethical approach to leadership, the leader aims at providing equal opportunities to each and every person working in the organization to do what is correct (Lee, 2017). Through his leadership, he aimed at providing the individuals clear and shared construct of what is correct and what is wrong. As a part of their ethical approach to leadership, the leaders of Apple have internalized ethical behavior along with creating a space for the teams to think. In this way, the employees of Apple are also allowed to ask questions regarding justice, integrity and fairness along with the evaluation of outcomes and behaviors.
The culture and values already persisting within an organization have a great impact on the leadership. A culturally intelligent practice is required to be adopted by the leaders for the purpose of managing the cross- cultural talent. Building trust and fostering good communication are the two major issues faced in leadership. Since Apple is a multinational corporation running on a large scale, it recruits talent from different parts of the world. The presence of a culturally diverse staff within the organization also creates new challenges for the leader of the organization. This is due to the fact that the norms and values of different cultures are different, which makes it difficult for the leaders to manage such individuals within the workplace and within teams (Bolman and Deal, 2017). The values of Apple put greater emphasis on the employees and their performance which, in turn, required the leaders of Apple to adopt cultural intelligence in order to achieve a blend of rigidity and flexibility such that the values of the organization can be retreated. There is a significant impact of the culture of an organization on its ability to execute the strategy and the achievement of goals and objectives. Apple leaders have to mould their skills in order to deal with the culture of the organization for the achievement of the desired outcomes (Iqbal, Anwar and Haider, 2015).
Leadership plays an important role in the creation of opinions and attitudes and is a huge responsibility. The values, words and actions of the leaders are very important in the organizational context as they are required to lead by example. For the purpose of dealing with the changes taking place in the legal and regulatory environment, the leaders of Apple are required to be ethical and therefore, their decisions, future directions, and goals must be flexible. Also, there is a requirement to develop a clear understanding regarding the regulatory system for the purpose of functioning in the face of reviews, directives, regulations and inspections. Constant changes are taking place in the business environment which also brings the needed changes in the legal and regulatory environment of the business which are required to be implemented with immediate effect. This is due to the fact that delays in this context can lead to negative consequences for the organization (Kunnanatt, 2016).
The needs and expectations of the stakeholders of Apple depend on a great extent on the leadership of Tim Cook. Earlier Steve Jobs provided leadership to the organization and took the company to new heights. After his death, the responsibility was handled by Tim Cook on whom the needs of the stakeholders depend. Stakeholders wants Tim Cook to lead the organization in a way such that all the employees are produce best results in the interest of the organization. Stakeholders are the individuals who have some kind of interest in the organizations such as employees, directors, government, suppliers, customers, etc. They have invested their money in the business and want returns for their investment. They get better return only when the company performs well during a specific period of time. When the profits, increase, there is an increase in the returns available to them from their investment (Krapfl and Kruja, 2015).
Conclusion:
Therefore, it can be concluded leadership is the ability of an individual or group of individuals that allows them to guide and influence their followers or team members in an organization. There are a number of leadership styles such as transactional leadership, transformational leadership, autocratic leadership, democratic leadership, laissez- faire leadership and charismatic leadership. The application of these styles is completely dependent on the given situation. This report focused on Apple Inc. and explored the influence of leadership styles and skills on the teams and organizational objectives. Furthermore, it assessed the leadership styles prevailing in the organization and its impact on the performance of teams and organizational objectives. Moreover, the ethical and value- based approach of the organization to leadership has been discussed in this report.
Apple Inc. is a multinational company which is basically involved in the development, design and sale of computer software, electronics and online services. The different leadership styles which can be used for the different situations faced by Apple are autocratic leadership, transactional leadership, democratic leadership and transformational leadership. A blend of different leadership styles such as democratic leadership, laissez- faire leadership and coaching leadership has been adopted by the current leader of Apple i.e. Tim Cook. Moreover, the ethical and value- based approach to leadership has been adopted which assists the people working in Apple to link their values with that of the organization.
This module assisted me in learning the importance of different leadership styles in different situations. I further learnt that the performance of teams and the entire organization is also dependent on the leadership style.
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