Steve Jobs as a leader: US management and leadership

Résumé du document

In the last century, we have seen major changes in the business world. Companies from all over the world have evolved from being small local companies to big international companies conducting activities all over the world. The modern business environment has evolved so much that management practices had to follow and adapt to the changes. They became more and more complex and had to face a growing number of challenges.

International activities meant you had to deal with different cultures and therefore different ways of managing. The management practices also depended on the manager or the leader. Companies are so different from one another that it is difficult to find the right leader who can provide a management that is well adapted to one particular company. Each leader or manager has different communication skills and leadership styles. Bennett (2009) identifies leadership as determining the ultimate success or failure of the organization.

In this paper, we are going to look more into one of the most famous and successful leader of all time: Steve Jobs. As we all know, he was the Chairman and CEO of Apple Computers Inc. He founded the company in the 1970s but had to leave it in the 1980s because of internal problems and bad business decisions. He started two other companies Next and Pixar.

He was able to return to Apple, when his company, NeXT, was acquired by the computer company in 1996. He became once again CEO of the company and managed to bring the company back at the top of the industry. He revolutionized the technology market with products like the MacBook, the iPod, the iPhone and the iPad. He died in October 2011, in Palo Alto, California. Today, Steve Jobs is known for his difficult character and his very unconventional leadership style, especially since his autobiography written by Walter Isaacson was released to the public.

Extraits

[...] Despite all the negative aspects of his personality traits and his leadership behavior, Steve Jobs was seen as a very charismatic leader, which was able to promote change and innovate. Steve Jobs didn't really follow the leadership and management technique we usually study in business schools and has proven to us that his leadership style could be very effective. Today he is considered as one of the most successful company leader and his particular leadership style is now studied all over the world. Bibliography Bennett T. A Study of the Management Leadership Style Prefererred by It Subordinates. [...]

[...] He didn't really count of his employees to find and propose new ideas. He always had a clear vision of how his products should be and therefore had to give directives. Steve Jobs behavior was considered as being very rude and straightforward. He didn't hesitate to speak his mind even if it meant to yell at his employees when he wasn't satisfied. The fact that he was so rude and unpredictable could scare people and dissuade them from sharing their opinion with him. [...]

[...] Forbes. April http://www.forbes.com/sites/susankalla/2012/04/02/10-leadership- tips-from-steve-jobs/ Apple keynote: Apple's public presentations, where its new products are often unveiled. [...]

[...] Companies are so different from one another that it is difficult to find the right leader who can provide a management that is well adapted to one particular company. Each leader or manager has different communication skills and leadership styles. Bennett (2009) identifies leadership as determining the ultimate success or failure of the organization. In this paper, we are going to look more into one of the most famous and successful leader of all time: Steve Jobs. As we all know, he was the Chairman and CEO of Apple Computers Inc. [...]

[...] One of its major innovations was the creation of one of the first graphic interface as an operating system. Computers went from very complex user interface that required to type lines of codes in order to launch programs, to a more visual and understandable interface that could be easily manipulated using a cursor and a This was one of its major creations that really show his plan to change the technology industry. It is another feature of leadership within Steve Jobs' character. [...]