Since apple establishment in 1975
apple is changing the world as we
normally know. In this paper we are analysis Apple continues innovation practices including organization culture.
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Apple Inc. Innovation Timeline
1. MOT 612
Innovation Management
Spring 2010
Apple Innovation Analysis
By:
Name: Al-Motaz Bellah Alaa ElDin Al-Agamawi
ID: 102027
2. Since apple establishment in 1975
apple is changing the world as we
normally know. In 1977 the Apple
II kicked off the PC era, and an
itroduced the first ever PC as we know today. The graphical user interface
launched by Macintosh in 1984 has been aped by every other computer since. The
"desktop publishing," gave the world the laser printer, and pioneered personal
computer networks. In 1997 and then again in 2001, Apple changed the dynamics
of consumer electronics with the iPod, and persuaded the music industry, the
television networks, and Hollywood to distribute their wares with the iTunes
Music Store. In 2007 Apple's entry into the cellular telephone business with the
iPhone with a new emazing user experience, distrupting the cell phones industry
and making original cell phone market leaders trying to follow. This year in 2010
Apple again through the Ipad is expected to change books and ebooks industry. It
is clear for any one that Apple allover its history is leading the innovation world
wide through diffusing to consumers a new, reliable, innovative and special user
experience solutions.
On the other side Apple is one of the few companies who have passed through two
compeltely different management styles in it life time. In 1975 and until 19851,
Apple was managed by the most innovative and powerful businessman2, Steve
Jobs. Steve Jobs management style is a combination of innovators and
entrepreneurial management. In 1985 Friction began between the entrepreneur and
the manager and the board sided Scully3 and Jobs was removed from his
1
In 1985, Apple was facing problems! Market share was going down everyday. Apple - relied on high profit
margins to maintain their massive R&D budget
2
Bassed on CNN money rank: money.cnn.com
3
Scully is Jobs successor as Apple CEO from 1985 to 1993
3. managerial duties. Both Jobs & Wozniak4 left Apple taking with them the
entrepreneurship spirit and its soul. Scully a very traditional stewardship
management style CEO, as he was coming from Pepsi, Scully started to change the
vision and have more focus over operation, polices and procedures. In 1993, Scully
was resigned and Spindler took over the management as the second stewardship
and tradition CEO for Apple. Things goes worest and Apple is loosing
marketshare, profits and shares, In 1996, another traditional CEO, Apple Sales
dropped and market share became 10% instead of 14%. During his era, there were
2,500 more layoffs, and he freezed executive salaries, canned some projects, and
cut R&D budgets by more than $100 Mil a year. In 1997 Apple board of
directores approached Jobs to return and managed Apple and another inflection
point had started. As a conslusion a company like Apple managed by two different
apporaches for a while of its life time having the culture of both innovative,
entrepreneural and stewardship management. A mix of both is a good result found
in Apple culture through the different decades.
Today Apple innovation ranks and consumer
admiration rank is amazing. Based on CNN
most admired company in America and most
innovative company. Apple Innovation rank
is number one, iPod, iPhone, iMac. Apple is
the "i" word in action. Led by Steve Jobs, in
the last ten years only the company has
disrupted three different industries computers (the Mac), music (the iPod) and
movies (Pixar). In 2008, CNN most admired company rank, Apple hold the first
position with an over all score of 7.42. First rank in innovation, people
4
Stephen Wozniak is Apple co-founder and could be consider as the inventor or the technical Guro.
4. management and quality of product and services. Rank number three for usage of
corporate assets, financial soundness, quality of management and longterm
investment. Finally rank number five for social responsibility.
On the other side there are some main techniques and concpets allied in Apple
management steel, in addition to a unique culture which helps the boast of such
continues achievement under the management of Jobs. The following are just some
examples of Apple culture and management techniques:
Apple focuses on a select group of products, to think that a multi-billion dollar
company only has 30 major products is astounding, because their neighbors at that
level of revenues have thousands of products in hundreds of different SKUs.
Apple owns their entire system, they own the OS, they own the software, and they
own the hardware. No other consumer electronics organization can easily do what
Apple does.
Apple does not do market research, because everything Apple designs is based on
Jobs’ and his team’s perceptions of what they think is cool.
Apple has a maniacal focus on perfection, they are willing to spend the money to
make sure everything is perfect, because that is their mission.
Pixel-perfect mockups, pixel perfect means the designers of a piece of Apple
software create an exact image—down to the very pixel for every single interface
screen and feature.
10 to 3 to 1, Take the pixel-perfect approach , Apple designers expect to design 10
different mockups of any new feature under consideration. Then, by using
specified criteria, they narrow these 10 ideas down to three options, until they
5. finally narrow down to the one final concept that truly represents their best work
for production.
Apple thinks good design is a present, No other mass-consumer products company
puts as much attention to detail into the fit and finish of the box, let alone the out-
of-box experience. Apple “wraps great ideas inside great ideas,” Apple’s OS X
operating system is the present waiting inside its sleek, beautiful hardware; its
hardware is the present, artfully unveiled from inside the box.
Paired design meetings, Every week, the teams of engineers and designers get
together for two complementary meetings.
Brainstorm meeting, leave your hang-ups at the door and go crazy in developing
various approaches to solving particular problems or enhancing existing designs.
This meeting involves free thinking with absolutely no rules.
Production meeting, the absolute opposite of the brainstorm meeting, where the
aim is to put structure around the crazy ideas and define the how to, why, and
when.