Apple Values and Alignment
The importance of values in guiding a company’s mission and vision cannot be overstated. Values shape a company’s identity and influence its actions. It is crucial for both individuals and companies to uphold their values openly and consistently. Apple, Inc. has established a set of core values that drive their success in serving their employees, customers, and overall business.
The analysis will evaluate the alignment of individual actions and behaviors with Apple’s plans and actions. It will also examine the origins and growth of personal and workplace values, which were initially established by Steve Jobs’ visionary leadership at Apple Inc. These core vision and values are deeply embedded in all aspects of the company, and it is the duty of every person at Apple to uphold them.
According to Steve Jobs, in a statement made in 2013, Apple’s values are deeply ingrained and will continue to lead to success, regardless of the people occupying different roles within the company (Investor Relations, 2013). Apple assigns value to every product and aspect of the business, including its employees. The company’s actions and transformations will leave a lasting impression. Additionally, CEO Tim Cook emphasized Apple’s core belief in creating outstanding products, as reported by Alexander in 2012 (Alexander, 2012).
We prioritize simplicity and control over complexity in our products’ core technologies. We focus on markets where we can make a significant impact, choosing only a few projects that hold great importance to us. By rejecting numerous other opportunities, we can fully devote ourselves to these meaningful endeavors. Through extensive collaboration and idea exchange within our teams, we are able to innovate in distinctive ways.
We are committed to excellence in all aspects of our organization and refuse to settle for anything less. We have the bravery to acknowledge our mistakes and the determination to implement necessary changes. Apple Inc.’s founder, Steve Jobs, was dedicated to shaping how both the public and competitors perceived the company. He strongly believed that individuals’ passion for their work is reflected in the value they produce. Steve Jobs’ innovative thinking and disruptive vision greatly contributed to Apple’s success. Whenever he sensed his team drifting away from their core values and vision, he took proactive steps like creating a short video to realign their focus.
Jobs implemented a “Think Different” approach to regain authority and bring Apple back to its core principles (Unknown, 2011). It is important to acknowledge the impact of personal values on our actions and behaviors and assess their alignment. Our values are shaped by our upbringing, cultural preferences, and social environment.
Our personal values have a significant impact on the choices we make in various aspects of life, such as hitting the snooze button, choosing a job, or deciding where to eat. These values are crucial in guiding our actions and behaviors. For example, if an individual does not value punctuality, they are likely to frequently be late or prefer sleeping in rather than waking up early. They may also choose alternative routes instead of using the freeway.
An analysis reveals that Steve Jobs’ actions and behaviors were consistent with his values. He highly valued individuality, excellence, and honesty as important principles to live by.
This was evident in his actions and behaviors. In terms of individuality, he inspired employees at all levels to be innovative rather than repetitive. Additionally, he established initiatives and platforms for employees to showcase their own unique electronic creations to a review board, with the potential to receive awards, such as recognition, monetary rewards, or even mass production of their product. Moreover, he directed the company’s focus towards developing products that catered to the demands of individuals rather than corporations. As for excellence, this was evident with every new product launch, as it consistently showcased cutting-edge technology and exceptional design.
The main focus of the text is on Apple Inc.’s products and their impact on the market. The company demonstrates its commitment to honesty by promptly addressing any product that does not meet excellence standards, offering recalls, refunds, or credits as needed. To assess whether Apple’s stated values align with their actual plans and actions, one can examine their mission and vision statements.
According to Apple’s mission statement, they aim to create exceptional personal computers, lead the digital music revolution through iPods and iTunes, redefine mobile phones with iPhone and App Store, and shape the future of mobile media and computing devices with iPad. Similarly, Apple’s vision statement highlights their dedication to providing the best global personal computing experience through innovative hardware, software, and Internet offerings.
However,in recent years ,Apple has lost its once-renowned position of innovation leadership in the technology market.
Samsung has released the Galaxy S3 and S4 smartphones, as well as the Galaxy Note. These new devices are larger and more advanced than Apple’s recent iPhones. To regain dominance, Apple must improve their technology in line with their mission and vision statement. It is crucial to assess the alignment between our values and Apple’s through evaluating disparities. As a team, we will compare Apple’s values with our own.
We share a common understanding that our values are perfectly in sync with Apple. We acknowledge the profound impact managers have on employees, and we believe that in order for employees and programs to foster creativity, managers must prioritize trust and integrity. Together, we aim for ambitious goals and actively strive to reach them, which is also a value we share with Apple. However, the one point of disagreement we encountered is that Apple appears to be inadequate in the manufacturing department, despite its strong commitment to high principles and values.
According to Apple’s 1993 Employee Handbook, the company is dedicated to acknowledging individual contributions by providing both psychological and financial rewards. Apple also claims to operate their business with empathy. However, Apple has been accused of employing cheap labor and maintaining substandard humanitarian conditions for workers in China. In the 2000s, they shifted their operations overseas after realizing they could easily hire willing individuals at extremely low wages without any prior notice. These actions do not align with Apple’s declared values and are also inconsistent with our team’s values.
In 2012, Apple joined the Fair Labor Association, leaving us curious about the potential impact of this decision. It remains uncertain whether this move was merely a public relations strategy or if it will bring about meaningful changes. Apple’s ongoing success is attributed to its values of quality, customs, standards, and principles. Nevertheless, it is important to question the extent to which a company will go above industry norms. Additionally, one must consider the ethical implications of pursuing profits by relocating manufacturing operations to countries with cheap labor and desperate workers instead of improving local manufacturing standards.
References Alexander, A. (2012). Apple’s mission statement. Retrieved from http://alvinalexander. com/blog/post/mac-os-x/apple-business-philosophy-mission-statement Apply Employee Handbook, (1993). Retrieved from http://www. seanet. com/~jonpugh/applevalues. html Apple Inc. mission statement is not very innovative and barely a mission at all. (2013). Retrieved from http://retailindustry. about. com/od/retailbestpractices/ig/Company-Mission-Statements/Apple-Inc–Mission-Statement. htm Investor Relations: Frequently asked
