THE STORY OF APPLE: MANAGEMENT LESSONS

GROUP 5

INTRODUCTION

1stApril1976 – Steve Jobs forms Apple with Steve Wozniak

In January 3, 1977 they were officially incorporated as Apple Computer Inc.

First single board computer with built-in video interface.

Stages of Apple Product

Apple I

Apple II

Apple III

Lisa

Macintosh

LaserWriter and PageMaker

A tech company should be run by engineers, not managers

• Apple is completely run by its engineers.

•  Most managers are all engineers as well so that the people

overseeing projects can understand the technology and provide

necessary guidelines for a project.

• Engineering skills allow competitive advantage and productivity

for a company. As a result, Apple is the largest publicly traded

company in the world by market capitalization and the largest

technology company in the world by revenue and profit.

Give employees the freedom to own and improve the products

• At Apple, if an employee was using a product and found

an issue that bothered them, they had the freedom to go

in and fix it without having to deal with layers of

bureaucracy to get approval.

• All projects are driven by long-term goals in the Apple.

Deadlines are crucial

• Apple is very strict at deadlines.

• “In terms of quality, one can not ship things that

aren’t of 'Apple quality,'... [even if] that means

cutting something that didn't make it in time.

• Most employees never miss their deadlines and the

motivation is high to reach their goal on time.

Don't play the "feature game" with your competition

• "Apple doesn’t believe in playing the

"feature game" with its product.

• That mission is "deeply engrained in the

culture”

Hire people who are insanely passionate about your product

• Apple management looks for people who are really passionate about the company, its products, and its overall style and mission.

GUARD THE FAMILY JEWELS

• “Simple” may be incredibly complicated. Going for simplicity isn’t easy. And, at least in the OS field, it may foreclose future options. It’s the trade-off that’s key. 

• Make a product that forces change but protects continuity. 

• Sometimes the tried-and-true is better than all the known alternatives.

• When your archrival offers a strategic suggestion, listen carefully.

FIND THE FUTUREWhat puts Apple in a class with the other great competitors:

• Share the vision. Make it tangible. Make it visible.

• People + strategy + dollars = a window on the future.

• The future isn’t always welcome, and—without nurturing.

• Being three years ahead of your market.

• Follow through! With no follow-through, the future can’t work. 

• If you believe in the future, and your future lies in R&D, don’t starve R&D. 

• Being forced to spend R&D dollars is a bad thing. And a good thing.

TAKE THEIR BREATH AWAY

• Form follows function. Except when it leads function, or runs alongside it.

• Finding the future isn’t enough. You also have to deliver it.

• If your product is inherently scary, go to great lengths to make it look friendly.

• Even a know-it-all doesn’t necessarily know it all.

• Don’t go halfway with your aesthetic. Go all the way.

• If you know what they want, give it to them. Ignore the skep tics.

• Innovate, but don’t force it

KEEP YOUR PROMISESIn 1985, (Macintosh Office, Apple promised far more than it could deliver, and

paid the price• A wild exaggeration can be the worst kind of broken prom ise. People figure it out, and they make you pay for it. 

• Balance the visionary with the true. Especially from a high-tech company, and especially from an innovative high-tech company, people expect a little embroidery at the margins of the vision. They just want the main story to be mainly true. 

• A defective product is a broken promise. After you break this kind of promise, the only question is, can you fix it fast enough, and on fair enough terms, to make up for the damage to your rela tions and reputation? 

• The only thing worse than recalling that defective product is not recalling it.

• Promise-keeping often involves getting good information, and using it wisely• Falling in love with a high-tech company is likely to be a frustrating experience. Most of the time, they can’t give you what you want. They break their promises. 

BUILD THE CULTBring the Jesuits around, and the rest of the

church will fol low. • Eventually, your cult needs great products from you. Eventually, you have to come up with the next reason to believe: the iMac, the iPod, and so on. 

• Get your customers to provide their own technical support. i.e mack user guides (MUG’s)

• Let the cult be your truth squad 

GET IT OUT THERE Spend the time and money to develop a sales force that’s (at least) as

good as your product

• Retailing experts are like any other experts. Sometimes they get it really wrong.

• Be nice to nerds, but don’t let them do your marketing. Let’s face it: engineers, for all of their many virtues, don’t speak “mar keting.” 

• It’s nice to be able to call the shots. But it won’t last. Few products stay hot forever. Abusing your retail network today will almost certainly haunt you tomorrow.  • fixing the distribution chain in ways that give you better numbers (Move that inventory, based on better numbers! )

• The more special your product for you, the more likely you’ll sell it yourself. 

• Design a shopping experience that defines the buyer as much as the seller.

"Apple nailed it—their motto is that we love

working here, we work hard, but when all

is said and done you should go enjoy

your life.“