Multinational Management and Organizations in Global Environment

Question: Discuss about the Multinational Management and Organizations in Global Environment. Answer: Introduction Apple is one of the most reputed American multinational companies which are headquartered in California (Apple, 2016). The key products of the company include Mac (personal computer), iPhone (smartphone), iPod (portable media player), Apple Watch, iOS and others (Apple, 2016). It is considered as one of the largest companies in the information technology industry in terms of revenue (Apple, 2016). It is also considered as the second largest smartphone manufacturer in the world. The organizational culture of Apple is considered as one of the crucial factors in deciding the organizational success (Apple, 2016). This paper would explore the organizational culture as well as management of the company. The organizational structures and the organizational design would also be evaluated. Apple is known to have an organizational culture which has a certain element of secrecy. This is an inherent business strategy of the organization which is done to minimize the theft of the proprietary info rmation (Apple, 2016). It also protects the organization regarding intellectual property rights. Discussion Apple has taken great initiatives for improving the organizational culture of the company so that a greater level of business success can be attained (Finkle, 2012). The world class organizational culture has also led to the leading market position of the company. The organizational culture of Apple is characterized by creativity, moderate combativeness, enhanced excellence and culture of innovation (Bschgens, Bausch and Balkin, 2013). The excellence policy of the organization believes in the hiring of the best employees who can perform the organizational duty in the best possible manner (Finkle, 2012). The creativity component of the organization focuses on the fact that the employees must be recruited based on the skills, knowledge and their creative abilities. It also selects its employees based on their product design as well as development. The organizational culture of the company is highly innovative culture which is concerned with the individual performances of the employees as well as ideas regarding the product development process of the firms (Bschgens, Bausch and Balkin, 2013). Apple has an organizational culture which has moderate combativeness (Fisher, Pillemer and Amabile, 2013). The senior management believes in the challenging the employees to get their work done when working with the organization. The organization is looking for diverse workforces who can fulfill the objectives of the organization (Bschgens, Bausch and Balkin, 2013). The work culture of the organization is based on the drive for creating new innovative products. The organizational culture also believes in the fact the employees need to have recreation activities along with their regular job duties. This makes them attentive and also increases their motivation level. This also increases the employee productivity. The management of Apple Inc. is constantly evolving and it is being adapted as per the needs of the market (Heracleous, 2013). Steve Jobs focused on the clear vision of the business as well as the formulation of innovative ideas. The organization believes in complete privacy of its business policies. It is known for keeping the organizational policies secret and they do not reveal them to anyone. The company is against the idea of sharing its business ideas with anyone, not even with its employees (Robertson, Hannah and Lautsch, 2015). The company has stringent policies regarding the circulation of organizational information and terminates employees who are found to be divulging crucial information to external stakeholders, including the media (Heracleous, 2013). The company is concerned about the privacy of the technology used in the organizational procedures (Robertson, Hannah and Lautsch, 2015). It prohibited the senior management to engage with the boards of other organizations, which is widely acceptable in other organizations. Steve Jobs did not give importance to the emerging distractions. He believed in the fact that if there are minimum number of distractions then the employees would be able to focus on the important matters of the organization (Chen, Yang and Lin 2013). The company also believes in the fact that is important to restrict the flow of information regarding the profit and loss statements of the company (Heracleous, 2013). This would make the company more productive if they do not need to worry about the organizational expenses. Apple follows a unique organizational structure, which fosters the organization to continue providing innovative products (Heracleous, 2013). The organizational structure supported the development of the unique concept behind Apple Watch. There organizational structure of Apple is characterized by three components namely Function based grouping- The senior management of Apple follows a functional pattern of the organizational structure. All the senior leaders who report to Mr. Tim Cook is responsible for particular business functions (Heracleous, 2013). The top leaders of the organization handles the organizations business needs as far as functional areas are concerned (Cornelissen, 2014). Spoke and wheel hierarchy- The birds eye view of the company shows considerable hierarchy. Steve Jobs was responsible for all the major decisions of the company (Altman, Nagle and Tushman, 2014). After the appointment of Tim Cook, there were considerable changes in the collaboration between different sections of the business. There has been increased flexibility in the organizational structure (Altman, Nagle and Tushman, 2014). The company follows spoke and wheel hierarchy where Tim Cook occupies the central position and the employees as well as the business units surrounds it. Product based grouping- This kind of organizational culture is prevalent in the lower organizational structure of Apple. It is a primary characteristic of the divisional category of the organizational structure. The middle management of the company is responsible for different products and different outputs. The leaders are responsible for different products of the company (Altman, Nagle and Tushman, 2014). There is a vice president for consumer apps, another vice president for iOS, vice president for iPad and others. Apple believes in the concept of unitary organizational structure which can also be compared to a functional organization (Bidwell, 2012). In functional organizational structure, the employees are grouped together which is based on the common experience, expertise and resources. The organizational culture revolves around the expertise of the employees which makes the company to deliver innovative product solutions (Bidwell, 2012). It relies on the multi divisional form of the organization in which the different product categories are managed by different organizational leaders. This increases the operational efficiency as the respective managers are responsible for specific products. Steve Jobs is considered to be the central person in the organizational structure. He is considered to be the driving force behind all the major operational decisions that are taken by the company. Conclusion Apple is considered as a world renowned company which has its presence all over the world. The company is known to have excellent organizational culture in which there is high emphasis on innovation as well as creativity. The organizational culture of Apple is highly innovative in which the employees constantly strive to develop innovative products. The company also believes in the principle of secrecy in which it doesnt allow its business practices to be known by anyone, not even their employees. The company is also selective regarding the passage of information from the organization to the external stakeholders. This is done by reducing the number of distractions faced by the employees so that they can focus on their job duties well. The organizational structure is based on function based grouping, spoke and wheel hierarchy and product based grouping. It follows the unitary organizational structure. This paper would broaden the understanding of the organizational structure and the organizational culture of Apple and provides key insights to the organizational management. References Altman, E.J., Nagle, F. and Tushman, M., 2014. Innovating without information constraints: Organizations, communities, and innovation when information costs approach zero.Harvard Business School Organizational Behavior Unit Working Paper, (14-043). 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