Growth and Development of Entrepreneurial Ventures - Apple - Term Paper Example

GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF ENTREPRENEURAL VENTURES Introduction The success of any company depends on the kinds of leadership and management structure created. A management structure that his highly responsive to the needs of its human resources is often in a better place to create an organisational culture that motivates and elicits better performance from them. Human resources that are motivated and satisfied with company operations often deliver their duties and responsibilities in the most effective way. They actively take part in the management process through contributing to the establishment of sound strategies and approaches to meet its set goals and objectives. Leadership is the driving force behind the success and failure of business organisations. It determines the way resources are utilized and human capital is led for the welfare of the entire company. The kind of leadership that a company has is responsible for its growth and expansion and the creation of competitive advantages in the environment (Noe 2013, 24). Successful businesses have leaders who understand the changing business trends and devises strategies that are in tandem with these changes. This paper examines the human resource practices are Apple Inc., showing how they have been essential in steering the company to its status as one of the best company in the manufacture of various kinds of consumer electronics. Apple Inc Apple Incorporation is an American company that is among the world’s leading companies in the productions of electronics and related peripherals. The company’s main line of operation is production of computer softwares and other related electronics such as mobile phones among other gadgets (Grady 2009, 7). Some of the products that the company has been well known for include the iPad, iPhone, iPod as well as Mac computers. The company has been expanding and increasing is presence in many countries, it is estimated that at the start of 2014, it had established close to 400 retail stores in more than 15 countries worldwide (Grady 2009, 11). In addition, the company has developed online stores to appeal to clients who do shopping online, on this stores, the company sells computer hardware as well as different other related softwares. However, despite the progress that the company has been making, training employees remains its main activity in a bid to remain competitive and keep pace with rivals. Human Resource Functions at Apple Inc Human resource functions at Apple Inc., have been significant in the process of helping the company to remain relevant and competitive amidst the changing business environment. It is important to realize that the consumer technologies industry is one of those that are highly competitive with the entry of many companies that are emerging to reduce the market share that has been held by Apple and other established companies. This realization has made Apple Inc., to create a human resource department that is more involved in the company’s general management than being a recipient and implementer of set strategies and approaches. The human resource department has been very successful in creating succession planning and talent management, so that the company continues to retain top quality human resources that understand the company’s innovative organisational culture. All these functions have made the company to be renowned in terms of strategic management and leadership with a low staff turnover and incredible business turnover, something that has continued to make it one of the most successful companies not only in the United States but also in the whole world. the succession planning practices by the HR department is something that the company hopes to rely on in its future endeavors Motivation All businesses have a common understanding that employee motivation is critical to the success of the business. In this case, each firm tries to develop its approaches towards effective employee motivation to enhance its performance and success. All of the strategies that business firm’s use in their human resource motivation tends to focus on the hierarchy of needs developed by Abraham Maslow in his analysis of human motivation. Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs (Noe, 2013) In its human resource functions, Apple Inc relies on various methods in order to enhance the motivation and effective performance by its employees. According to Abraham Maslow, the first priority in motivating people is focusing on law and order. At Apple, all these has been developed, the company has achieved this priority through the development of a standard and average basic salary for all its staff, which is estimated as $108,483, this is a standard pay that ensures its human resources can effectively survive with as they grow in the ranks at the company. Apple also offers a variety of application that are aimed at protecting the safety needs of its human resources. For instance, the company has developed a range of safety and health stands that have to be implemented to ensure that workers are safe in course of discharging their duties at the company. It also provides various kinds of training to its human resources so that they can effectively identify health hazards and know how to avoid. In the process, the company offers safety equipment in order to reduce incidences of accidents and other unprecedented activities that can be harmful to its works in the course of their functioning. In order to ensure that the company remains steadfast in articulating and enhancing the welfare of its workers, Apple has invested heavily in the research about the different ways of employee motivation so that it can creating a work place that understands and offers all the needed support for the effective performance of its human resources. This has the company establish different kinds of social networks and work groups in the process of creating a reliable and sustainable worker-supervisor relationship. Apart from satisfying the priority needs as outlined in Abraham Maslow’s theory. The company has also been focusing more on other needs in the higher order. For instance, in achieving the esteem needs, Apple Inc., offers different forms of rewards to its highly successful human resources as a form of recognition bonus. This is an essential practice since in makes its employees to work extra hard and be more innovative for the growth and success of the company. Besides the recognition bonus, the company also offers free iPhones to each of its employees. This basic motivating factor ensures its employees can be very effective in achieving the desired outcomes in the company. Additionally, the company has developed various programs by which its employees can take part in education and other kinds of development programs. Generally, employee motivation is something that companies cannot leave to chance in the process of creating their competitive advantages and market position (Phipps & Burbach 2010, 143). Apple has set a good example in the process of creating a work environment that understands and improves the welfare of its employees through various forms of employee motivations practices. The result has been an improvement in company performance through achievement of its set goals and objectives. Leadership Most successful companies have often relied on strategic leadership and management in the process of establishing the growth of their companies. Strategic leadership is critical in the provision of a direction and vision, which is essential for the business’ growth as well as success at present and in the future (Quong & Walker 2010, 35). Business and organisational leaders are often expected to have certain skills and experience in order to use in the process of formulating strategies and implementing them to strategically position their companies for success. People management in organisations requires that strategic leaders be put in place because they can offer a sense of purpose and direction (Phipps & Burbach 2010, 144); additionally, they can also create ownership and other forms of alignments in the workgroups created in the organisation so that change can be implemented (Quong & Walker 2010, 35). Steve jobs; one of the founders of Apple was that kind of a strategic and visionary leader who also doubled up as the company’s chief innovator (Dormehl 2012, 28). Steve’s influence on the company has been profound in ensuring that Apple ah remained successful despite his absence. In his leadership approach, Steve emphasized that in the process of innovation, it is paramount that a company should have an organizational culture that is product-oriented (Dormehl 2012, 29). Many companies have several tons of professional and other experts needed in the execution of the company functions. However, the success of these experts and other strategies in the company depends on the company’s ability to have a gravitational force which attracts and binds all this people and company strategies together (Phipps & Burbach 2010, 145). At Apple, Steve did all he could in order to create this gravitational force. Currently, the company has managed to create a very successful management structure whereby managers that are always hands-on often lead the different management teams. The innovation strategy at Apple is always customer centric; in this case, Apple Inc., aims at providing all the fundamental needs and creating a desire that its customers can have in the process of interacting with the products they make. In this case, the basic objective of the company is to develop products that its customers can easily identify with and love. Strategic leadership at Apple Inc has been focusing on the pursuit for product improvement such that the products they make appeal to the changing needs and preferences of the customers in the market. Apple often maps out the innovation cycle of its products from 5 to 10 years so that the products they make remain relevant and reliable in the future. On this note, it is important to ensure that technology is one of the highly perishable resources that businesses have. This is because; it keeps on changing from time to time. It is this understanding that has made Apple to be strategic in its product development so that they are relevant and reliable for a long time. Strategic leadership at Apple has also been helpful in enabling the company to focus on the needs of its customers and developing products that fulfill them effectively (Quong & Walker 2010, 37). This is something that has made Apple to become one of the leading companies in the development and sell of different kinds of consumer technologies in the world. Bibliography Dormehl, L. 2012. Different thinking: Steve Jobs, the counterculture and how Apple Inc. took over the world. Virgin, London. Grady, J. 2009. Apple Inc. Greenwood Press, Westport, Conn. Noe, R. A. 2013. Employee training and development. McGraw-Hill/Irwin. Singapore. Phipps, K. A., & Burbach, M. E. 2010. Strategic Leadership in the Nonprofit Sector: Opportunities for Research. Journal Of Behavioral and Applied Management, Vol 12, no, 3, 137-154. Quong, T & Walker, A. 2010. Seven Principles of Strategic Leadership International Studies and Education Administration. Oxford University Press, Oxford. Read More