Current Status of Apple - Research Proposal Example

Organizational Development Apple, Inc Executive Summary Apple, Inc. is undergoing frequent changes in terms of their internal business structure and marketing directions that are outlined throughout the following organizational development model. The nature of the company as one of the primary producers of computer technology is such that frequent changes in the corporate structure must be made to answer the changing demands of the market. There are a variety of information and feedback collection models that are proposed. The first concerns questionnaires that will be included within the technology; for example, consumers will be given complimentary iPhone apps for filling out a survey. The other method concerns internal interviews of company members. The human process interventions that have been proposed relate to the position of Apple as reliant on technological development. What has been proposed is that Apple restructures the workforce around freelance, or short-term, contracts to make Apple, Inc. more mobile in terms of development. With short term employees, the company is able to hire specific individuals with specialized visions and skills to ensure that Apple remains at the forefront of innovation in the field of creative technology. Similarly, the marketing aims will adopt an approach more in-tune with artistic and creative projects to capitalize on a hybrid vision that combines artistic credibility and market sales. The major technostructural interventions call for structuring in a more malleable form that would allow for swift and constant reevaluation of company marketing and technology development. This is embodied in the proposed evaluation process that incorporates monthly group interviews with previously disparate department heads. III. Current Status of Apple and the Ongoing Change Introduction It has been rightly observed by the analysts and the scholars of the industry and the academia that the only constant thing in the dynamic world of today is the word ‘change’. With the massive development in the information technology and in the communication processes, the business organizations of all across the globe has to remain flexible and adaptable to have sustainable growth and survival in this dynamic environment. It is truer for a major player of the high - end technology industry like that of Apple, Inc. The paper deals with the change management of the company along with the procedures of establishing a contract with the company. Apple, Inc The present day giant in the high definition electronics industry, Apple Inc was established in the year of 1976 with the name of Apple Computer in a garage of the founding member Steve Jobs. Jobs was partnered with Stephen Wozniak and was eventually joined by A. C. Marakkula within the year of 1976 and the company was incorporated in the early 1977. The initial mission of the company was ‘one person – one computer’ (Freedman & Vohr, 1998). Current State and Change Management It can be said without doubt that the initial years of the company exhibited great prospects for Apple Computer, Inc. But soon the company had massive fall in the sale of the products. This was primarily because of the technological failure than any other reason. Apple Computer basically produced micro computers which was a way forward from the computers that were produced by the IBM i.e. the main frame computers of IBM. Though the Apple I started off very well but soon the in the early years of 1980s, the sales for Apple Computers drastically reduced as the platform (Mackintosh) of the Apple were not compatible with the prevalent computers of the time. This had impacted in the profitability of the company which compelled the company to reduce the expansion plans and think twice before launching new products. In the mid years of the eight decade of the twentieth century therefore, major shifts were experienced in the management of the company. Even the founding member of the Apple Computers, Steve Jobs had to leave the company. Soon, with more emphasis on the research and development especially on that of Mackintosh operating systems, the company could turn their financial performance in to green figures and in the late years of the same decade it went for massive expansion plans. Apple Computers almost doubled the employee force in that period. But again the company was affected with the introduction of Microsoft – DOS in to the industry in the early years of the last decade. Soon, the market leadership of Apple was a thing of past as Microsoft was much user friendly. In the mid years, the company realized that the diversification could be the key to the success and after a number of chief executive officers failed to ensure profitability or most importantly, the road to success, Steve Jobs was again chipped in to the company. The inclusion of Jobs, the founding member, called for series of new ideas. The company emphasized on innovation and commenced to produce items like iPhones, iTunes, iPods and iPads that became immensely popular all across the globe. From the name Apple Computers, the company shifted to Apple, Inc so that it could enable the buyers to understand that the company also produced other items apart from computers. Also, the aggressive advertisements along with expansion plans did the trick for the company. Such innovation was backed by thorough research. The company even tied up with Intel as the chip provider instead of IBM. Therefore, it is evident from the above analysis that timely management of change helped the company to retain its glory and pride. Organizational Entry and Contracting Process Being a global brand of repute, there is a certain procedure for the entry in the organization of Apple. In the present scenario, the company basically hires professionals with certain years of job experience in the technical fields. In the earlier days, the company primarily looked for hackers but now that is not the case. They select candidates from the campuses of the various educational institutes of repute or higher through the website of the company and the department of human resource of the company. The contract with Apple, Inc is primarily based upon ‘Short Term Purchase Agreement Request’ that remains valid for six months and becomes due for further renewal. The various organizations that are eligible for establishing business contracts include that of educational institutions, business enterprises (all types of companies, sole – proprietorships, partnerships along with corporations), government agencies (state, local or federal) of any part of the world and any segment of the United States government. The agreement aims to reduce delays and therefore provides with all the clauses of the contract and takes the billing information of the other party (Apple, n.d.). Conclusion The above study clearly depicts that Apple, Inc could successfully implement change management as and when required within the organization. It would not be wrong to note that such success was correlated with the current state of the company. Also, the company maintains a standard procedure for organizational entry and a process for establishing a contract. IV. Contracting Process The initial stage of planned change is the contracting process. The contract functions in accord with managers and corporate administrators to agree to terms for organizational development. The consultant then functions in the OD role as outlined by the contractual elements. While they function in a general consultation capacity, the exact extent of the consultants involvement, and the scope of their deliverables is specified by the specific contract. (http://managementhelp.org/misc/Sample-Proposal.pdf) In addition, the contract functions to address its length, scope, as well as methods of evaluation. V. Feedback Collection Feedback Processes 1. Questionnaires Questionnaires are considered one of the most efficient means of collecting feedback because they are easy for participants to respond to as they require minimal time, using fixed responses. They are also capable of being compiled and statistically analyzed with relative efficiency as their quantitative means of understanding allows organizations to merely institute technological processes in the analytic process. There exist a number of already established questionnaire models that can be implemented for a number of diverse reasons, so corporate entities rarely are required to develop a questionnaire from scratch. When considering the incorporation of a questionnaire for the Apple Corporation there are a number of diverse means one can envision it being implemented that could aid substantially in furthering the company’s market potential. As Apple is a purveyor of information technology (IT) it has the unique advantage of frontline access to consumer attitudes. Questionnaires could be integrated in creative means within the systems themselves to gain better understanding of the changes and future direction of IT development. For instance, Apple’s iTunes program, which must be used with Apple technology, could have a mandatory survey questionnaire as a requirement of download. Similar market insights could be gained through the integration of questionnaire feedback data and a variety of products. Another example of this includes granting free eBook downloads for the iPad or iPhone Applications that have ready means of customer complaint methods when problems arise; Microsoft has already implemented this date collection technology in its Windows platform. 2. Interviews Another prominent means of collecting feedback data is through the interview process. Interviews are perhaps the most frequent means of collecting feedback data within organizational development. (Cummings & Worley 2008) The interview process itself has a number of sub-means of collecting interview data. There are both structured and unstructured interviews with varying degrees of direction. In the structured interview process there are set questions respondents answer; whereas the unstructured interview process is a more freeform context where respondents are encouraged to respond openly in a creative means to the problems being posed for debate. The unstructured interview process also includes more broad questions. Cummings & Worley (2008, pg. 118) give the examples such as: “What are the major goals or objectives of the organization or department? What barriers stand in the way of good performance? How does the organization currently perform with respect to these purposes?” The focus group or sensing meeting is another opportunity where managers are able to gain in-depth data from employees at different levels. While the depth of information obtained from the interview process is generally greater than with questionnaire instruments, one drawback is that considerable time is required to carry out the interviews. Another concerns the personal nature of the inter-organizational interview process with many employees wary to divulge critical or potentially sensitive information. Consider the Apple Corporation interviews could be conducted to gain a more thorough understanding of corporate efficiency and to better develop an understanding of things that may be hindering workplace production and advancement. The interviews could be conducted by an impartial outside entity; the corporation itself needs to cultivate an attitude of openness and creativity that would allow for more open responses from participants. VI. Intervention Process Cummings & Worley (2008, pg. 151) note that the effective aspects of interventions are determined by, “ (1) the extent to which it fits the needs of the organization; (2) the degree to which it is based on causal knowledge of intended outcomes; and (3) the extent to which it transfers change management competence to organizational members.” In terms of Apple, Inc. this effectiveness emerges in two distinct intervention processes: group process and individual process interventions. Apple, Inc. is unique in that the corporate model is based around periodic market introductions of cutting edge technology. Recently the debut of the iPad radically altered the marketing approach of the company. (Ha, 2010) In response to these product releases the since the early 1980s Apple, Inc. has made a number of progressive and successful interventions as a means of responding to both the active changes within the information technology market, as well as internal marketing and technological development changes. (Freedman 2010) In terms of group process interventions it’s necessary for the Apple Organization to consistently undergo a thorough organizational development process. The changes that will be made function to understand the demands of the market and alter the technological development direction of the company to address future market needs. While determining the corporate vision for the future is a challenging task, the group intervention process must be closely integrated with this for future company success. In some regards, this intervention process is also an individual intervention. While motivation at Apple, Inc. isn’t a pressing issue, frequent directional changes in marketing and IT need to be instituted in order to meet market demands. On a group process scale this might involve instituting short-term employee contracts, to bring in a variety of technical skills on a short term basis to meet the changing technological demands. In terms of individual intervention this involves developing creative means by which the employee marketing and technological development departments can be restructured to meet the necessarily changing demands of the market according to the corporate vision. Clearly, the overarching challenge is developing this vision of the future, but with Apple, Inc. it necessarily means that individual interventions needs to be made commonplace in radically altering the very means that creative collaboration occurs. VII. Managing Change When considering these factors of change with regards to the Apple Corporation it’s important to consider the corporate structure and leadership model that is currently in existence at the company. Apple, Inc. is vertically integrated in regards to their business model, with their hardware and pre-installed software. The company follows a traditional corporate model with Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) leading the organization, followed by the directors, executives, and a variety of lower level employees. They select candidates from the campuses of the various educational institutes of repute or higher through the website of the company and the department of human resource of the company. The company is divided into five distinct management divisions that function in conjunction to develop products; in addition there are four distinct departments that function to promote these newly developed products, as well as advance the already established Apple, Inc. merchandise. The business contract with Apple, Inc is primarily based upon ‘Short Term Purchase Agreement Request’ that remains valid for six months and becomes due for further renewal. Since the company’s inception there have been significant and frequent levels of organizational development, with various times throughout the 1980s witnessing drastic shifts in corporate differentiation, and in the late 1980s shifting towards reaching international markets. (Apple, n.d.) Organizational Change Following initial diagnostic procedures that identity aspects within the corporate model that must be changed, the organizational development leaders act to implement and manage change. (Cummings & Worley 2008) There are a diverse means by which corporations can undergo organizational development; in the case of Apple, Inc. the process is one of considerable scope, and involves the active participation of OD consultants, company leaders, and employees in the process. One specific model of organizational development calls on OD consultants and company leaders to work in conjunction in developing a vision for change within the organization. Once this step has been undertaken, it is the responsibility of these individuals to garner political support for their proposed amendments through motivating company executives and employees and the proposed measures. Indeed, motivating change is a central aspect of organizational development as a great amount of employees are adverse to progressive measures that will change the status quo of their work place situation. It’s the responsibility of organizational development consultants and company leaders to engage in this process. (Cummings & Worley 2008) While the initial stages of organizational development can function as an informal process, with a corporation the size of Apple, Inc. the hiring of consultant professionals and the advancement into the more developed stages of the operation become fundamentally complex and formal. (Apple, n.d.) As Apple, Inc.’s corporate vision has remained fairly stable throughout its existence and has in recent years functioned to make them one of the most financial successful technological entities, recently surpassing Microsoft, the overall scope of the organizational development needed relative to the company’s size is minimal. (Smith 2010) Rather the proposed changes will involve specific departments within Apple, Inc. that must be reworked in regards to recent market and technological changes. In this regard a variety of survey instruments will be implemented in an effort to gauge areas of inefficiency, and then in conjunction with the OD consultant a plan will be coordinated in response to these findings. While the survey data will in great part determine the overriding scope and longevity of the project, it’s estimated that it can be accomplished within a 6-8 month timeframe based on previous organizational changes within Apple, Inc. (Apple, n.d.) VIII. Qualifications Our organizational development team is qualified for this consulting position as we have a long history of restructuring corporate models to achieve more fluid and dynamic companies. Our vision of the successful corporate model is in-line with Apple, Inc’s vision for the future; just as Marshall McLuhan (1967) stated that the medium is the message, we believe reshaping Apple’s financial, marketing, and development divisions, will have a profound effect on the corporate message Apple, Inc. strives to achieve. IX. Evaluating Change As it’s an essential element of the organizational development process to assure efficient and productive results, the evaluation process is a central element of this path towards change within Apple, Inc. While there are a number of market standards for evaluating progress and change (weekly progress meetings or reports, checkpoints or milestones, signoffs, or reviews), the evaluation process for this specific project exists in conjunction with the intended aims of the project itself. (Gallos 2006) The evaluation mechanisms will be achieved through monthly assessments. This will include interviews with department heads in fluid formats; that is, in keeping with the means of corporate change, diverse departments will be interviewed in conjunction. A sampling of lower-level employees and creative personal will also be interviewed at these monthly checkpoints. In addition, statistical data relating to marketing, sales, and IT development will also be assessed in relation to these qualitative interviews. X. Contract Parties to the Contract This contract is between the consultant team participating in an organizational development capacity and the client, Apple, Inc. Scope of the Contract This section details the scope of the contract. What is included is a strategic plan and is intended to provide a broad overview of the intended goals and outcomes of the organizational development intervention. It is an estimate and intended to provide a general framework to proceed with the general points agreed upon with the client. 1. Project Outcomes 1. Develop succinct corporate vision that it is more in-tune with shifting market demands. 2. Develop creative alternative to the previously administrative, management, marketing, and information technological delineations. 4. Restructure these company delineations to achieve a more dynamic corporate structure that allows Apple, Inc. to more fluidly alter their technological and marketing focus after debuting new technology 5. Stronger financial management that includes a higher number of short-term or freelance contracts 6. Stronger marketing that approaches product advertisement as a unique artistic and creative means of development; similarly, more fluid and short term contracts are necessary to achieve this efficiency 7. Enhanced credibility and image among customers. Timeline of the contract The contract is a year long. It will begin on July 1st, 2010 and end of July 1st, 2011. Deliverables The initial three months will provide the following deliverables: Development of corporate vision that is in-tune with marketing demands Announcement of the contract restructuring and move toward short term employment The following deliverables will occur as gradual elements of the entire contract period and will be reassessed as progress is achieved and emerge concurrently with Apple, Inc. product development: More fluid corporate structure that includes an overall shift to a more dynamic structure Greater creative and artistic emphasis placed on the marketing elements of the corporation Improved customer image Roles and responsibilities of the client and the consultant The client is responsible for complete participation and equal involvement. The organizational development team will provide the template and means by which Apple, Inc. can achieve the project outcomes, but it is ultimately the responsibility of Apple, Inc. for technological development and market success. Accountability mechanisms The accountability mechanisms will be achieved through monthly assessments. This will include interviews with department heads in fluid formats; that is, in keeping with the means of corporate change, diverse departments will be interviewed in conjunction. A sampling of lower-level employees and creative personal will also be interviewed at these monthly checkpoints. In addition, statistical data relating to marketing, sales, and IT development will also be assessed in relation to these qualitative interviews. Mechanism to deal with adjustments or modifications to the contract Changes to the contract and out-of-scope work will be assessed on an individual basis and amended accordingly. References Apple, (No Date). Short Term Purchase Agreement Request. Support. Retrieved Online on May 22, 2010 from http://wwss.apple.com/shorttermagreement/ Cummings, Thomas, & Worley, Christopher. (2008). Organization development & change [with online access code]. South-Western Pub. Freedman, R. & Vohr, J. Apple Computer, Inc. New York University. Retrieved Online on June 10, 2010 from http://www.stern.nyu.edu/mgt/private_file/mo/rfreedma_ca/apple.pdf Gallos, Joan. (2006) Organization Development: A Jossey-Bass Reader. Jossey-Bass. Ha, Anthony. (2010) ‘How is Apple Marketing the iPad’. Venture Beat. http://venturebeat.com/2010/01/27/apple-ipad-commercial/ McLuhan, Marshall. (1967). Medium is the Message. Gingko. ‘Sample Proposal’. ‘Authenticity Counseling’. http://managementhelp.org/misc/Sample- Proposal.pdf Smith, David. (2010). ‘Apple Passes Microsoft’. Fast Company http://www.fastcompany.com/1652810/apple-passes-microsoft Read More