ASSIGNMENT COVER SHEET

ASSIGNMENT COVER SHEET

AIB student ID number:

A001426589

Student name:

Christopher Oliver Williams

Course name:

Master of Business Generic

Subject name:

Leadership

Subject facilitator:

Abraham Ogowewo

Teaching Centre:

Nations University

No. of pages:

14

Word count:

2651

DECLARATION

I, the above named student, confirm that by submitting, or causing the attached assignment to be submitted, to AIB, I have not plagiarised any other persons work in this assignment and except where appropriately acknowledged, this assignment is my own work, has been expressed in my own words, and has not previously been submitted for assessment.

ASSESSMENT SHEET

(to be completed by the examiner)

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COMMENTS

Principles learnt (for example, number and understanding of principles referred to, their influence on the structure of this paper, number and correct citations ofreferences, use of appropriate jargon)

/4

Application of principles. That is, theanalysis and evaluation of the example problem based on the principles, including the final recommendations and their justification

/8

How well the example problem was described, including the extent and depth of information (including the data) about it that was accessed

/4

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GRAND TOTAL

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Title: Leadership Analysis of a twenty first century business leader

Assignment Topic

Using relevant theories and models critically evaluate and analyse the leadership of a 21st century business leader. If you were in the position of the leader, what could you do to be a better leader and make a stronger impact on the followers and on situation/s?

For this assignment you can select a leader from a large or a small organisation. It could be a CEO of an international organisation whom you have read about in the newspapers/biographies, or a family member who runs a small business with a few staff members. The choice of leader is yours.

Executive Summary

This assignment critically evaluates and analyses the leadership of a 21st century business leader. The leader chosen for this assignment is Steve Jobs of Apple Inc. I will be using management tools and further research to analyse both the positives and negatives of the leadership styles of the chosen leader. I will describe the business and the leader on which the assignment is based on. I will provide background on both the leader and the business. I will also be stating what I would do differently if I was in the position of the leader. I will also be writing a conclusion of the research. Tables have been placed in the appendix to add further support to my findings.

Contents

41.Introduction

52.Background

52.1.The Company

52.2.The leader

63.Leadership behaviour

63.1.Leadership Grid

63.2.Myers-Briggs Type Indicator

74.Transformational Leadership

85.Trait Leadership

96.Power

107.Contingency Theories

128.Conclusion

129.Recommendations

1310.Reference

1411.Appendices

1. Introduction

A leader is a person who commands and convinces others to follow his/ her rules and instructions. A person can lead a group, an organisation or even a country. Leadership is defined as the ability to lead and inspire persons to perform a particular function.

There are a number of characteristics and qualities we normally expect to find in a leader. These include honesty, forward-looking, competent, inspiring, intelligent, fair-minded, broad-minded, supportive, straightforward, dependable, cooperative, determined, imaginative, ambitious, courageous, caring, mature, loyal, self-controlled and independent.

This assignment examines Steve Jobs, co-founder and former CEO and Chairman of Apple Inc, as a leader, using various leadership theories and concepts. I will also be stating how I would lead differently, if I was in the same situation.

2. Background2.1. The Company

Apple Inc is an American corporation headquartered in Cupertino, California. It designs and sells consumer electronics , computer software and hardware, online services such as itunes, and personal computers. It is the manufacturer of such stables as the iphone line of smart phones, the ipad tablets, and the ipod media player.It is the second largest information technology company in the world by revenue, and in 2014, it was valued at 483.15 billion dollars (Worlds Most Valuable Brands 2014). Apple Inc.s main competitors are Samsung, Google and Microsoft, all of which are billion dollar companies. Apple Inc.s generic strategy is that of a broad differentiator, as it products and services targets a wide spectrum of customers, but are different enough to stand apart from its competitors products (Thompson et al, 2014).

2.2. The leader

Steve Jobs was born in San Francisco in 1955 to parents who were both in university at that time, and were unable to take on such a responsibility. He was adopted by the Jobs family who raised him in Mountain View, California. Steve briefly attended Reed College but dropped out supposedly due to boredom. He worked for a bit at Atari, but soon left for a trip in search for enlightenment to the sub-continent of India (Kahney 2008). When he returned to California, he met Steve Wazniak with whom he created Apple in his parents garage. There was a third person who started the business with them, by the name of Ronald Wayne, who was the one to design the first Apple logo, and to write the Apple 1 manual (Desborough n.d.). Unfortunately, for Ron, he sold his shares to the team for eight hundred dollars in 1976(those shares are worth 35 billion dollars today (Desborough n.d.).

In a few short years, Steve turned the company into a multimillion dollar business. In 1985, he was ironically forced out of the company he founded by a CEO named John Sculley whom he had brought on-board from Pepsico.

During his forced hiatus, he formed another company called NeXT Inc which designed and manufactured high end computers (the first NeXT workstation was priced at $9,999.00). He also went on to purchase the Graphics Group, later renamed to Pixar, which was used to create animated films for Disney. In 1997, after Apple bought NeXT Inc, Steve re-joined Apple as the de-facto CEO after the then-CEO was fired. Before Steve returned to Apple, the company was six months away from going bankrupt and the financial turnaround the Steve was able to make is seen as one of the greatest recoveries in history (Kahney 2008).

3. Leadership behaviour3.1. Leadership Grid

The Ohio State University and University of Michigan researchers have done studies to identify leadership behaviour. As an extension to this, the University of Texas has developed a two-dimensional theory known as the leadership grid. This grid is made up of a nine by nine cell structure, as shown in table 2. The vertical axis depicts concern for people and the horizontal depicts concern for the work. The most desired cell would be the upper right cell (9,9), but most managers end up closer to the middle (5,5).

Steve Jobs would have most likely fallen into the (7,3) to (9,3) cell range, as he was more concerned with production rather than employees. Efficiency can result from arranging working conditions in such ways as to reduce human interference to the minimum. This is further reinforced by the comments that he was seen as a terrifying task master who was always screaming at workings and randomly firing them (Kahney 2008).

3.2. Myers-Briggs Type Indicator

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator is a very popular personality type test taken by over 2 million persons each year (Hughes, Ginnett and Curphy 2015). It is used at formal leadership training programs and college level leadership courses, among others. It posited that there are four basic dimensions within which people can differ which can be combined into sixteen groups (table 1). The four core types are listed below.

Extraversion-introversion this is concerned about how people get their energy. Some are very out-going while others are more withdrawn.

Sensing intuition-this is concerned with how people look at data. Sensing type leaders like facts and details, and tend to be more practical. Intuitive leaders tend to be more innovative and look more at the big picture rather than just the data that is currently before them.

Thinking-feeling-this deals with the considerations used when making decisions. Thinking leaders analyse and pay more attention to the bottom line and other operational considerations. Feeling leaders are more into empathy and are more humane.

Judging- perceiving- this deals with how much information a leader requires before a decision would be made. Judging leaders prefer to make the decisions as early as possible, sometimes with the minimum of information needed. This can mean that they sometimes jump the gun and make decisions without sufficient information. They are more methodical and organised. Perceiving leaders like to spend time collecting as much data as possible and are sometimes seen as procrastinating.

Based on the data in table 1, Steve Jobs can be said to have been in the category of ENTJ, which is known for being decisive, fearless, adventurous, arrogant, driven, critical, narcissistic and self-centred (Hughes, Ginnett and Curphy 2015).

4. Transformational Leadership

McCleskey (2014) suggests that the transformational leader focuses on convincing the followers to put the organizations wellbeing in front of their self-interest. This leader is usually charismatic and is sometimes willing to act as a coach or mentor to assist the followers to accomplish their goals or targets.

Steve Jobs was a transformational leader and his approach allowed others to share in his vision. He used his charisma to ensnare his followers to his sometimes-incredible ideas.

Isaacson (2012) suggests that Steve had the ability to influence and inspire people into believing in his passion and to believe that the impossible can be achieved.

Steve fitted the majority of the dimensions as laid out by Simic (1998):

Idealized influence-instilling trust and appreciation from followers

Inspirational motivation-inspired followers to have correct behaviour

Intellectual Stimulation-encouraging innovation and creativity

Individualized consideration- positively acknowledging needs and values of followers

5. Trait Leadership

Hughes,Ginnett and Curphy (2015) state that traits are the basic recurring trends in a persons behaviour. Traits play an important role in predicting how someone will react in an unexpected or unfamiliar situation. Familiar situations does not necessarily bring out personality traits, since there is already rules or policies created to deal with such situations (Hughes,Ginnett and Curphy 2015).

5.1. OCEAN Model of Personality

Northhouse ( 2013) suggests that the driving traits for effective leadership is shown in the OCEAN Model of Personality, namely :

Openness - Though Steve Jobs open to new ideas for products, he was often criticised for stealing ideas from his competitors and followers (Evans 2012). It does not seem as though he was really exhibiting openness as one of his leadership traits.

Conscientiousness- this was another which applied to him as he followed through with his vision and was true to himself and his beliefs, in spite of criticisms from others. He ignored what he deemed as mundane issues while focused on seemingly important matters. He was more into getting ideas and products out than in making money.

Extraversion - We can definitely say that the trait of extraversion was one of them since he was very proactive in meeting face to face with people and working directly with them.

Agreeableness it can be argued that Steve Jobs can be most disagreeable. He practiced holding meetings until after 12 midnight, he insulted workers in front of others, and other unpleasant acts like that.

Neuroticism this deals with how people react to stress, failure or personal criticism. Steve Jobs was not low in the neuroticism measurement. He was known to be neurotic due to his worry and obsession with the smallest of details. The author Joshua Kendall suggested that Steve might have had Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder (OCPD) (Lallanilla 2013).

6. Power

Hughes, Ginnett and Curphy (2015) defines power as the capacity to product effects on others or the potential to influence others. They also presented the following five bases of power by which a person can influence others, as listed below:

Expert power-this is the power of knowledge. Some leaders are able to influence others by their vast expertise in particular area. Steve Jobs was very knowledgeable in his area. He would hold weekly meetings to check on the progress of the various products, and sometimes make seemingly radical suggestions for changes that in the long run proved to be brilliant (Kahney 2008);

Referent power- This involves building strong interpersonal relationships with the followers. Hughes, Ginnett and Curphy (2015) state that when a leader is seen as a role model and is admired by his followers, the leader is said to have referent power.

Steve Jobs was admired by many and was trusted and appreciated. He was seen in the light of someone who built a company from scratch into one of the largest tech companies in the world. It would be hard to find a better role model.

Legitimate power- This power depends on the leaders formal or official position in the organisation. Some leaders depend on this to influence their followers, but Steve Jobs would have taken for granted that his orders would be obeyed, without needing to pull rank. This is so because it is one of the traits of a narcissist who feels he is always right, and does not realise that he is arrogant. He demonstrated this when he restructure the entire company, after replacing most of the board of directors (Kahney 2008).

Coercive power- this type of power depends on the leader having the ability to create punitive actions towards his followers. He has the ability to influence the followers through fear of punishment and is the opposite of Reward power.

Steve Jobs wielded this power without conscious thought, as he was known to insult workers and even dismiss them if they displeased him. Kahney (2008) mentioned that Steve would sometimes quiz an employee, and if not satisfied, fire the employee on the spot.

Reward power This involves being able to influence followers due to being in control of desired resources. This can include to power to promote, to increase salary, to assign attractive and desirable assignments etc. Steve Jobs was known to use reward power by providing stock options, pay increases and promotions.

7. Contingency Theories

Fiedlers Contingency Theory

This theory posits that that there is no one best style of leadership, that a leaders effectiveness is based on the situation. This theory is seen as the earliest and most famous of the contingency theories and seen as the opposite of the Situational Leadership Theory (Hughes, Ginnett and Curphy 2015).

It is based on assessing a leaders tendency by using the least preferred co-worker scale. The leader s asked to pick the person he has the most difficulty working with, then describe that person in groups of opposing terms such as friendly-unfriendly, and fun-boring. These rating are then converted to a numeric value. This score, strange enough, is used to represent something about the leader himself, not the follower (Hughes, Ginnett and Curphy 2015). If the score is high, the leader is said to be relationship oriented. If it is low, the leader is said to be task-oriented.

Steve Jobs would be classified as a task-oriented leader. He focused on a small number or products, keeping operations streamlined, allowing for tasks and goals to be completed more efficiently (Kahney 2008).

Steve certainly was not relationship-oriented, focusing on increased performance about human relationships. Kahney (2008) claims there were reports of Steve quizzing employees, and if not satisfied, the employee would be fired on the spot.

Leader-member Exchange (LMX) Theory

This theory is mostly about building of relationships between the leader and the follower. LMX is based on the premise that leaders do not treat all followers equally. There would be the in-group and the out-group. Those in the in-group are seen as those who are dependable and are willing to go the extra mile for the leader, as well as those who would benefit from additional mentoring and other or benefits, tangible and intangible.

The out-group members are mostly tolerated because of necessity, with nothing extra being asked of them (Hughes, Ginnett and Curphy 2015).

Steve clearly participated in the LMX theory, as can be seen where he had his in-group of those whom he considered could rival his vision and intellect. Those followers were fiercely loyal to him, seemly not noticing the abusive personality of Steve (Isaacson 2012).

8. Conclusion

Although Steve Jobs was a very respected and successful leader, there are still several areas of leadership that required improvements. While his personality traits appeared to have helped him to achieve great things, he was sadly lacking in the human aspect of leadership. He was narcissistic and an obsessive worrier. Being very creative, he was impatient with anyone up to his standard, sometimes to the point of insulting or even firing them without notice. He was not an open-minded person unless it supported something that he was looking for, and he was far from agreeable to work with. In spite of the way he treated his followers, those who stuck with him was very passionate and dedicated to him. If he had taken the time to nurture, support and guide the others, maybe Apple might have products wonders against which the iphone and ipad might have paled might in comparison.

9. Recommendations

If I was in the position in place of Steve Jobs, what would I have done differently? Several things come to mind. Listed below, in no particular order, are some of them:

Employee relations: I would strive to improve employees mental and physical well-being. Employees need to work in an environment where they feel safe and secure, not fearing that they might lose their jobs at any given moment. They should not feel the need to walk on eggs whenever the leader is around.

OCEAN model of personality: Agreeableness- I would work very hard to be an agreeable leader, while not being a push over. Steve Jobs was said to be difficult to work for and often blew his stack when things werent done the right way (his way) (Lallanilla 2013). This agreeableness trait can lead to better team building.

Leadership grid: focus less on task/results and more on my followers. I would strike a balance between results and wellbeing of my followers, striving to be in the (8,8) to (9,9) cell range on the leadership grid.

Dedicate time to training a cadre of young leaders to ensure the continued and sustained financial and productive future of the company.

Reduced conflict with followers and other managers. Steve ignored established rules, breaking as he wish and creating new ones. Employees were said to be worried that any day could be their last at Apple. I would lend consistency instead, mediate and, if needed, explain when any rule has to be circumvented.

10. Reference

Desborough, J n.d.,The unluckiest man alive:meet the forgotten Apple founder who missed out on 35 Billion dollars after selling his shares for $800 in 1976, viewed 18 January 2015, http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2388674/The-unluckiest-man-world-Meet-Ron-Wayne-Apple-Incs-forgotten-founder.html

Doyle,M & Smith,M 2001,Classical Leader, the encyclopedia of informal education, viewed 17 January 2015, http://www.infed.org/leadership/traditional_leadership.htm

Hughes,R, Ginnett,R & Curphy,G 2015, Leadership, enhancing the lessons of experience, Mc Graw-Hill Education ,New York

Isaacson,W 2012,The Real Leadership Lessons of Steve Jobs (Cover Story),Harvard Business Review, Vol 90, Iss 4

Kahney,L 2008,Inside Steves Brain, Penguin Group,New York

Lillanilla,M 2013,Obsession: the dark side of Steve Jobs Triumph,Livescience, viewed 19 January 2015, http://www.livescience.com/38933-steve-jobs-obsessive-compulsive-ocpd.html

McCleskey,J.A(2014),Situational,Transformational, and Transactional Leadership and Leadership Development Journal of Business Studies Quarterly 2014, Vol 5, no 4

Northhouse, P, 2013, The Trait Approach Manohar,viewed 18 January 2015,

http://www.sagepub.com/upm-data/30933_Northouse_Chapter_2.pdf

Simic, I. 1998, Transformational leadership - the key to successful management of transformational organizational changes, The Scientific Journal Facta Universitas, Vol. 1 no.6, pp. 51-52.

Thompson,A,Peteraf,M, Gamble,J,Strickland,& A,Jain 2014, Crafting And Executing Strategy the quest for Competitive Advantage Concepts and Cases ,McGraw Hill,New York USA

Worlds Most Valuable Brands, Forbes.com, viewed 18 January 2015,

http://www.forbes.com/companies/apple

11. Appendices

Table 1. The 16 Myers-Briggs Type Indicator Personality Types

ISTJ

ISFJ

ISTP

ISFP

ESTP

ESFP

ESTJ

ESFJ

INFJ

INTJ

INFP

INTP

ENFP

ENTP

ENFJ

ENTJ

Table 2: The Leadership Grid

High

Concern for people

Low

1,9

2,9

3,9

4,9

5,9

6,9

7,9

8,9

9,9

1,8

9,8

1,7

9,7

1,6

9,6

1,5

5,5

9,5

1,4

9,4

1,3

9,3

1,2

9,2

1,1

2,1

3,1

4,1

5,1

6,1

7,1

8,1

9,1

Low Concern for Results High