Behind the scenes at Apple

By SiliconIndia, Monday, 09 May 2011, 16:32 IST

Apple , the innovator of gadgets has always been the center of attraction for everyone all over the world. The media likes to grab its latest news and companies want to imitate its success stories. It has garnered the top spot in the hearts of its consumers. The secretive ways of work culture adopted by Apple has contributed a lot in capturing the suspicion among its consumers. Fortune Magazine has unveiled some interesting and mysterious inner working culture of Apple in its 500th edition. 

Innumerable attempts have been made to explore the secrets behind Apple's continuous success. Few former employees of Apple have released some inputs into it. The introduction of infamous MobileMe in 2008 led to a serious debacle in Apple. MobileMe automatically syncs ones email, contacts and calendars over the air across all ones devices. It also helps in finding one's lost iPhone or iPad. The technology was vehemently criticized for its email outages; downtime and it experienced about 70 bugs at the time of its launch. The failure of MobileMe was followed by the wrath of CEO Steve Jobs on the MobileMe team. He called for a meeting with the team and reportedly said that everyone in the team should hate each other for having ruined Apple's reputation. On that very spot a new executive was named by jobs to head the MobileMe team. Apart from the following showdown in the team a mail leaked out in the public where Steve said MobileMe is not the finest hour of Apple. 

Apple showcases a clear strategic intent which adds to its celebrity status. It has a culture of a group of elite among Apple employees called 'Top 100'. Every employee's dreams to be on Jobs Top 100, thi s incites the germ of working hard among its employees. The Top 100 are taken to a secret location for three days where they discuss the company's upcoming strategies like holistic product planning along with Jobs future vision with Apple. However everyone in the team is prohibited from admitting the fact that they are in the list. 

Apple's reinforced commitment and favorable corporate culture is further affirmed by creation of Apple University which is controlled and managed by the former dean of the Yale School of Management, Joel Podolny. Apple executives are the core teachers at the University; this also includes COO Tim Cook and Apple's retail boss Ron Johnson. Andy Grove and Richard Tedlow were hired academics s to write case studies about "significant decisions in Apple's recent history. This university inculcates the policy of being consistent with corporate brand principles. The University prepares and makes the candidates aware of Apple reviving turning points as an organization like establishment of Apple's retail chain. 

Apple's highly disciplined approach and quality workmanship has been the major factor for its success. Every time meeting rooms are checked for bugs before presentations. The pursuit to Apple's success is not an easy one to achieve. Its web presence and romancing photographs are so strong that one glimpse is enough to recognize if the product was coming from Apple even if the logos are removed. Its product oriented culture definitely has the sole reason for its booming market share. 

“Quality is never an accident; it is always the result of high intention, sincere effort, intelligent direction and skillful execution; it represents the wise choice of many alternatives.”