Apple Case – Leadership Theory
Steve Jobs fits best with the trait theory which is also called the “great man” theory of leadership. The main believe of trait theories are that they can develop through experience and learning. As a matter of fact that apple is well-known as learning and innovative company due to Steve Jobs amazing management style. Jobs has faced a lot of different market situations along with his career and almost in all he has succeeded, although he suffered from a”trailblazing start” in 1980s. Interestingly, he has a vision a goal which he tried to achieve with his followers. According to the case, which describes some typical behaviors of charismatic leadership. To be accurate, Jobs possess a vision, willingness to take personal risks to achieve that vision, sensitivity to follower needs, intelligence, self-confidence, level of energy and activity as well as task-relevant knowledge.
Firstly, the vision of Apple is: to focus on software rather than hardware; at the point when he has delivered music to online consumers he set out to „develop the best customer experience”.
Moreover, Apple took many risks to achieve their vision and goals. Cooperating with his rival Bill Gates is a good example fort hat. The deal was Gates supply Apple with Office, Internet Explorer programs, and purchase 150 million dollars of Apples stock. Though this deal was good for Microsoft, it was even better for Apple. As a result, apple was no longer a competitior for Microsoft. Furthermore, the production of iPod was also a risky game. Jobs
pushed his managers as well as the engineer team for innovative thinking, which was a huge challenge for everyone.
Thirdly, Steve was self-confident. The fact that he created a video-editing program even without the help of Adobe shows very good this