Analyzing Apple’s Democratic Leadership Style

Quality Sources Required for Critical Report

Apple is the largest American Multinational technology company. Headquarter of the company is in Cupertino, California and the emphasis of the company is on the latest designs and computer services.  Apple is considered as the largest big companies of technology along with Amazon and Google. The CEO of the company is Tim cook and the Founders are Steve jobs and Ronald Wayne. Apple was established on 1st April, 1976 in US (Apple, 2015).

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It has been stated that leadership and management is considered as one of the important factor that can help to boost the overall operations of the company in the competitive market.  Without leadership and management it is not possible for the company to manage the overall operations in effective manner.

The CEO of Apple Tim Cook, consider the democratic leadership style.  It has been observed that the leader of Apple possess one of the qualities related to charismatic and also the experience of the leader can be characterized by emphasizing on the existing products and also it enhance the business in relation to the relation of the employees (Gamelearn, 2015).

It has been analyzed that in democratic leadership style, respect and participation of the people is also considered as it can help in accomplishing the set goals. Also, one of the important characteristic related to democratic leadership style is democratic in which the employees are offered equal opportunity to share their views and opinions. The leaders who consider democratic leadership style have the high level of self-confidence and also they consider the basic responsibilities that can help the team to involve in the overall decision making process (Pine II and Gilmore, 2016).

Delegation and trust are the factors that are considered in relation to the democratic leaders. Tim Cook has confidence towards the team members and also they hire skilled and experienced people in the particular areas.  The delegation of the responsibility is done by him after analyzing the capabilities and skills of the employee towards the particular task.  One of the major reasons of growth is related with the hiring and assigning the duties to the employees. Tim cook has a positive attitude towards the work and due to this the culture of the company is positive. The employees are cooperative with each other which led to the overall growth in the competitive market (Frost, 2014).

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Valuing collaboration is also one of the qualities possessed in Tim cook.  It has been observed that the view point of Cook is to “look for people who appreciate various points of view and also people who care about work”. Being humble is also one of the attitude which showed by Tim through words and actions. He focuses on placing the value of humility in others which he stated in his interview and he said that “Look for people who are not involve in politics and also the people who are not bureaucrats”.  In 2012,  when the former software executive, Scott Forestall do not sign an apology for the flawed map software in the IPHONE5, the cook signed the apology and took the responsibility to solve the issue. This is one of the unfaltering trends in the overall attitude and also it inspired the people to follow him just due to the trust and strength of him.  It has also been stated by Cook that “the leaders who consider similar humility and responsibility can do great things” (Hedayati, 2015).

Apple’s History and Overview

Due to democratic leadership style considered by the leader, it has been seen that positive culture in the workplace is created. Tim Cook maintained the culture and he showed how $700 billion Company enhanced its culture. The leader started hiring and Cook said that we need the diverse group with the diverse life experiences who look at every issue. He offer opportunity to the employees to share their views and opinions with the top management and also emphasis is given on the training program. The training programs are designed so that employees can gain the knowledge of the activities and operations which are done in Apple.  The core theme designed by the leader is “Arrive at the easy solutions to complex issues”.  The leadership style considered by Steve is correct as it helped him to achieve success on the global platform (Baer, 2015). So, on management positive impact has been seen just because of the leadership style considered by the leader of the company.  This leadership style boosted the confidence level and motivation level of the employee towards their assigned work. So, the positive impact can be analyzed on the overall management of the company as it is easy to accomplish the set goals and objectives in the competitive market (Goffee and Jones, 2015).

The management style considered by the leader is democratic as it has been seen that Tim Cook participates in the overall activities of the company related to decentralization and also focuses on giving direction to the workers. The democratic management style considered by the company boosted the growth of the company and also maintained the positive culture in the workplace.   It helps the employees to share their views and opinion in the workplace and also towards the activities of the company.

Power and politics are the factors that are controlled and managed by the leaders of the company. Power is related with the leader in which they have authority and responsibility that should be followed in the workplace.  The official power takes place when the authority of the company is accepted.  In this it is the responsibility of the leader to control the resources and to reward and punish others so that the overall activities of the company can be maintained. Referent power also emphasizes on the trust and also at the time of making the decision the leader consults the employees as it can help in making the right decision in the workplace (Northouse, 2017).

The Importance and Impacts of Leadership and Management

It can be stated authority is one of the important aspect and the leader of the company consider the democratic leadership style in which it states that Tim Cook emphasizes on motivating the employees. The leader of the company considers the Maslow hierarchy of needs theory as it helps to satisfy the needs and wants of the employees.  In context to Maslow hierarchy of needs, low order needs are important to be considered.  In the Apple Company, the physiological needs of the employee are fulfilled. The company focused on offering the average salary of $108,484 which satisfies the basic need of the employees to survive (Kane, 2015).  Apple Company also offers a range of the applications so that protection can be given to the workers. Safety needs is offered to the employees in context to development of health and safety standard and also emphasis is given on training the workers so that hazards can be considered.  In context to belonging need it has been analyzed that the company emphasizes on offering a better workplace by giving support of the social networks, work groups and also it increase the workers and top management relationship in the workplace.

In context to the higher needs, it can be identified that Apple rewards its executives by offering a recognition bonus of the salary from 3 to 5 percent.  Also, the employees of the Apple Company can receive a free IPHONE as it will enhance the motivation factor of the employees and also the responsibilities of the employees will be enhanced with the effective results.  In context to self-actualization need it can be noted that, Apple has motivated the employees by offering more opportunities in relation to the education and development programs (Krapfl and Kruja, 2015).   

In the company, it is necessary for the leader to emphasize on controlling the operations by taking into consideration the authority. The authority of the leaders is to delegate the activities to the workers and also to consider the decisions which are beneficial for the company. But democratic leadership style taken into consideration by the management can consider the workers in the process of decision making but the leaders are not involved in the office politics. But they try to implement the policies which can reduce the office politics. The politics can take place in the company due to the reason related to favoritism offered by the leaders to the workers (Mauri, 2017).

Analyzing Tim Cook’s Democratic Leadership Style

 It can be stated that the leader has taken into consideration the democratic style of leadership and also referent is the power related to it. It helps to minimize the overall office politics in the company and can enhance the working pattern of the employees in the workplace. Tim Cook provides the chance to the workers and they have the opportunity to share the views and opinions so that decisions can be considered in reference to the employees (Kaliannan and Ponnusamy, 2014).

It has been seen that leader has set some of the principles of the business conduct which is related to honesty, respect, compliance and confidentiality. To survive in the company for long time it is important to follow the principles so that it can be easy to maintain the culture of the company. So, Tim Cook is one of the democratic leaders, he emphasized on considering the principles of business conduct. In this the principles and policies are applied on the employees and also on the consultants so that workplace culture can be maintained. It can be stated that the principle is also related with securing the confidentiality of the Apple data and also of the customers, suppliers and customers (Heib, 2015).

So, by considering these principles, the company focused to reduce the office politics as it can help in maintaining the overall culture of the company and also boost the image in the competitive market. Therefore, it can be stated that democratic leadership style can be taken into consideration as the leaders does not involve in the office politics and they try to minimize it by offering the equal chance to the workers and the equal opportunity is offered to the employees in relation to the process of decision making (Chikhale and Mansouri, 2015).

The management of the company focuses on the democratic leadership style and it has influence on the culture of the organization. By focusing on the overall style, it can be stated that culture of the company is positive and they offer equal chance to the employees to share their views and opinions in the workplace. Also, employees are offered equal rights in which they give their suggestion and opinion to the workers which also help to maintain the flow of communication in the workplace.  In Apple Company, the employees have the choice to share their views and opinion with the top management and it helps to boost the culture of the company (Vielmetter and Sell, 2014).

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Theory in Practice at Apple

Also, to maintain the organizational culture, the company emphasizes on considering the motivation theory in which the needs are satisfied of the employees. When needs of the employees are satisfied then it can be easy for the employees to give their best towards the entire activities of the company (Mitchell, 2014).

The motivational theory considered by Apple Company helps to minimize the politics in the office. It is necessary for the top management to emphasize on minimizing the politics in the workplace as it can help in creating the positive behavior of the employees towards their work and also towards the goals of the company.

The culture of the company is related with innovation and also creativity at the workplace.  The main feature of the company is to maintain the overall innovation level and also the leader maintain their secrecy with the employees as it can help in bring improvisation in the overall operation of the company.

The effectiveness of the company is maintained by emphasizing on the culture related with the policy of hiring. It has been noted that the leader of the company who was Steve Jobs emphasizes on firing the employees who are not able to meet the expectation level and this is continued now by Tim Cook. This type of traditions helps to maintain the corporate culture that boost and appreciate the excellence in the workers. Institutionalized is one of the cultural traits which are considered by the company. Like in this the company focuses on various programs that recognize and offer rewards to the employees. Excellence focuses on the overall success factor in the organization and mainly it is related with product design and development which is considered as one of the growth strategy considered by the Apple Company under the Tim Cook leadership (Bennis, 2015).

Innovation is also one of the factors which are considered by the company and it also maintains the organizational culture and its effectiveness. It can be noted that Apple is one of the frequently appraised company and by emphasizing on its cultural trait it can be stated that the company trains and motivates its employees to be innovative in relation to the overall work performance and contribution towards the process of product development.  It can be stated that the corporate culture facilitates the rapid innovation which also contributes towards the introduction of the new products that are profitable and attractive to the target consumers (Rauf, 2014).

Controlling Power and Politics at Apple

So, it can be stated that democratic leadership is taken into consideration by the organization as it affect the effectiveness of the routine activities. The motivation level of workers is boosted when the leader involve in the employees in the process of decision making and consider the opinion of the employees. Cook does not involve in the politics and this is one of the biggest reasons of the overall growth of the company in the market. Due to less politics the employees are able to their best towards the activities at the workplace (Richtel and Chen, 2014).

Conclusion:

By analyzing the overall paper, it can be concluded that in Apple Company, the leaders emphasize on the democratic leadership style. Also, the quality of the leader is related with honesty and trust and due to these qualities the company is able to achieve success in the market. Equal opportunities are offered to the workers which enhance the engagement level of the employees towards the organizational activities. Cook engages the employees towards the overall activities of the organization and it has boosted the growth and boosted positive culture of the company in the competitive market.  

Just because of the effective style of leadership considered by the leader at the workplace, politics has been reduced which enhanced the ration of employee retention in the workplace. So, it can be stated that there should be proper leadership and management in the workplace as it can help the company to accomplish the set goals and targets. It has also assisted in maintaining the culture of the company.

References: 

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