In 1976 Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak created their first computer, the Apple I.They invested a mere $1,300 and set up business in Jobs’s garage. Three
decades later, their business—Apple Inc.—has become one of the world’s
most influential and successful companies. Did you ever wonder why Apple
flourished while so many other young companies failed? How did it grow
from a garage start-up to a company generating $24 billion in sales? How
was it able to transform itself from a nearly bankrupt firm to a
multinational corporation with locations all around the world? You might
conclude that it was the company’s products, such as the Apple I and
II, the Macintosh, or more recently its wildly popular iPod and iPhone.
Or you might decide that it was its people: its dedicated employees and
loyal customers. Perhaps you will decide it was luck—Apple simply was in
the right place at the right time. Or maybe you will attribute the
company’s success to management’s willingness to take calculated risks.
Perhaps you will attribute Apple’s initial accomplishments and
reemergence to its cofounder, Steve Jobs. After all, Jobs was
instrumental in the original design of the Apple I and, after being
ousted from his position with the company, returned to save the firm
from destruction and lead it onto its current path.
Before
we decide what made Apple what it is today and what will propel it into a
successful future, let’s see if you have all the facts about the
possible choices: its products, its customers, luck, willingness to take
risks, or Steve Jobs. We’re confident that you’re aware of Apple’s
products and understand that “Apple customers are a loyal bunch. Though
they’re only a small percentage of all computer users, they make up for
it with their passion and outspokenness.” We believe you can understand the role that luck or risk taking could
play in Apple’s success. But you might like to learn more about Steve
Jobs, the company’s cofounder and CEO, before arriving at your final
decision.
Growing
up, Jobs had an interest in computers. He attended lectures at
Hewlett-Packard after school and worked for the company during the
summer months. He took a job at Atari after graduating from high school
and saved his money to make a pilgrimage to India to search for
spiritual enlightenment. Following his India trip, he attended Steve
Wozniak’s “Homebrew Computer Club” meetings, where the idea for building
a personal computer surfaced.
“Many colleagues describe Jobs as a brilliant man who can be a great
motivator and positively charming. At the same time his drive for
perfection is so strong that employees who do not meet his demands are
faced with blistering verbal attacks.”Not everyone at Apple appreciated Jobs’s brilliance and ability to
motivate. Nor did they all go along with his willingness to spend
whatever it took to produce an innovative, attractive, high-quality
product. So at age thirty, Jobs found himself ousted from Apple by John
Sculley, whom Jobs himself had hired as president of the company several
years earlier. It seems that Sculley wanted to cut costs and thought it
would be easier to do so without Jobs around. Jobs sold $20 million of
his stock and went on a two-month vacation to figure out what he would
do for the rest of his life. His solution: start a new personal computer
company called NextStep. In 1993, he was invited back to Apple (a good
thing, because neither his new company nor Apple was doing well).Steve Jobs is definitely not humble, but he is a visionary and has a
right to be proud of his accomplishments. Some have commented that
“Apple’s most successful days have occurred with Steve Jobs at the helm,
both in the early days with the original Macintosh and more recently
with the first iMac and the iPod."Jobs did what many successful CEOs and managers do: he learned, adjusted, and improvised.Perhaps the most important statement that can be made about him is
this: he never gave up on the company that once turned its back on him.
So now you have the facts. Here’s a multiple-choice question that you
can’t get wrong: Apple’s success is due to (a) its products, (b) its
customers, (c) luck, (d) willingness to take risks, (e) Steve Jobs, or
(f) some combination of these options.
SOURCE: catalog.flatworldknowledge.com/
SOURCE: catalog.flatworldknowledge.com/
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