Apple picker When Steve Jobs officially vacated the post of CEO of Apple in August 2011, most people wondered what would happen next for the company. Already during several long-term medical leaves in the previous two years, Jobs was always represented by then Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook. It was clear who Steve trusted the most in the company in his final months. Tim Cook was named the new CEO of Apple on August 24, 2011.
A very interesting article about developments in the most valuable company in the world after the arrival of a new boss was prepared by Adam Lashinsky, writing for CNN. He describes the differences in the actions of Jobs and Cook, and although he looks for differences in places where they are not at all obvious, he still brings some interesting observations.
Relations with investors
In February of this year, the annual visit of major investors took place at Apple's headquarters in Cupertino. Steve Jobs never attended these visits, apparently because he had a very cold relationship with investors in general. Probably because it was the investors who put pressure on the board of directors who arranged Jobs' departure from Apple in 1985. The mentioned negotiations were therefore mostly led by the financial director Peter Oppenheimer. This time, however, something unusual happened. For the first time in years, Tim Cook also arrived at this meeting. As managing director, he offered answers to any questions investors might have. When he answered, he spoke calmly and confidently, like a man who knows exactly what he is doing and saying. Those who invested their money in Apple had the CEO himself for the first time, and according to some, he instilled confidence in them. Cook also showed a positive attitude towards shareholders by approving the payment of dividends. A move that Jobs rejected at the time.
Comparing CEOs
One of Steve Jobs' main efforts was to never allow his company to become a shapeless colossus full of bureaucracy, diverted from product creation and focused on finance. So he tried to build Apple on the model of a smaller company, which means fewer divisions, groups and departments - instead putting the main emphasis on product creation. This strategy saved Apple in 1997. Today, however, this company is already the most valuable company in the world with tens of thousands of employees. So Tim Cook tries to perfect the organization and efficiency of the company, which sometimes means making decisions different from what Jobs would probably have done. It is this conflict that continues to occur in the media, where every writer tries to guess 'how Steve would have wanted it' and judge Cook's actions accordingly. However, the truth is that one of the last wishes of Steve Jobs was that the management of the company should not decide what he would probably want, but to do what is best for Apple. Additionally, Cook's incredible ability as COO to build a highly functional product distribution process has also greatly contributed to the company's value today.
Who is Tim Cook?
Cook joined Apple 14 years ago as director of operations and distribution, so he knows the company inside out — and in some ways better than Jobs. His negotiating skills allowed Apple to build a highly efficient network of contract factories around the world that produce Apple products. Ever since he took up the post of executive director of Apple, he has been under the watchful eye of both employees and fans of this company, as well as opponents in the market. However, he is not making the competition much happy yet, because he has shown himself to be a confident and strong, but calmer, leader. Shares rose rapidly after his arrival, but this could also be due to the time overlap of his arrival with the release of the iPhone 4S and later with the Christmas season, which is the best for Apple every year. So we'll have to wait a few more years for a more accurate comparison of Tim's ability to lead Apple as a pioneer in technology and design. The Cupertino company now has incredible momentum and is still 'riding' on products from the Jobs era.
Employees describe Cook as a kinder boss, but one they respect. On the other hand, Lashinsky's article also mentioned cases of greater relaxation of employees, which could already be harmful. But this is information that is mostly from former employees who no longer know the current situation.
What does it matter?
As much as we want to compare the ongoing changes at Apple based primarily on guesswork and one-employee-talk style information, we really don't know what's currently changing inside Apple. To be fair, I agree with Daringfireball.com's John Gruber, who says that more or less nothing is changing there. People continue to work on products in progress, they will continue to try to be first in everything and innovate in ways that no one else in the world can. Cook may be changing the organization of the company and the CEO's relationship with employees, but he will hold very hard to the quality of the company that Jobs handed him. Perhaps we'll know more later this year, as Cook promised in March after the introduction of the new iPad that we have more to look forward to this year.
So maybe we shouldn't be asking if Tim Cook can replace Steve Jobs. Perhaps we should rather hope that he will maintain the creativity and technological edge of Apple and will do everything best according to his conscience and conscience. After all, Steve himself chose him.
Author Jan Dvorský
Sources: CNN.com, 9to5Mac.com, daringfireball.net
Comments:
Silicon Valley:
'Silicon Valley' is the southernmost area on the coast of San Francisco, USA. The name comes from 1971, when the American magazine Electronic News began publishing a weekly column "Silicon Valley USA" by Don Hoefler about the large concentration of silicon microchip and computer companies. Silicon Valley itself consists of 19 headquarters of companies such as Apple, Google, Cisco, Facebook, HP, Intel, Oracle and others.
I also hope that everything goes well with Apple. So I miss Jobs, and it's not that Cook is worse, I'm not saying that, I'd say he's better in some ways. Well, if I look at the keynote with Cook and the keynote with Jobs, it's a hell of a big difference, and that's probably where I miss Jobs the most.
I agree with the keynote. When Steve was presenting it, it was more emotional, faster and had some emphasis. As soon as I saw the keynote with Cook, I immediately stopped enjoying it and fell asleep with it, and I felt it in the audience as well. I don't mean to say that Cook is bad, it just sounds like a scary fish to me.
they guys are going to nail it and WWDC is going to be one heck of a treat, I believe it
Exactly, Steve knew what people wanted to hear and he knew how they wanted to hear it, and he also knew how
when and what to say He mastered the art of speech absolutely perfectly.
APPLE will survive ... it doesn't matter if Jobs is here or not ... He would have left anyway ... Jobs was nothing more than other people who could captivate people - he could, like great dictators, get excellent people around him ... nothing more
Read the book Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson and then you will understand for yourself that it is best to delete your nonsense.
APPLE will survive ... it doesn't matter if Jobs is here or not ... He would have left anyway ... Jobs was nothing more than other people who could captivate people - he could, like great dictators, get excellent people around him ... nothing more
—————————I agree with Guest.
First read the book Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson before you start writing nonsense that he was an ordinary person - he was a genius!
APPLE will survive ... it doesn't matter if Jobs is here or not ... He would have left anyway ... Jobs was nothing more than other people who could captivate people - he could, like great dictators, get excellent people around him ... nothing more
—————————I agree with Guest.
First read the book Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson before you start writing nonsense that he was an ordinary person - he was a genius!
I'll borrow the last sub-heading "What does it matter?" That a corporation the size of Apple never rests on one person.
It reminds me of our history, Masaryk and Beneš... Masaryk was a visionary, an idealist and a person full of life and ideas... He chose Beneš as his successor because he was a good politician and a calm force... But Masaryk was only one and there are many Benes in history... .
And isn't it, according to the Czech translation of Jobs' biography, Silicon Valley? :D