1. Problems within the company (Beers quotes)
2. Disillusionment of managers (Harvard Business School Case Study)
2. Decisions made on company vision, not customer desires
1. Should Jobs be blamed for bad management, since nothing in his background suggests that he even likes people?
Apple Computer was founded in the early 1980s by Steve Jobs, who created an alternative operating system for a hard disc that used a graphical interface rather than the less user-friendly DOS systems invented and marketed by Bill Gates. The two operating systems compete head to head, although the market penetration of Apple is considerably smaller than that of the computers based on the Wintel operating system. (Wintel stands for Windows + Intel). The leading Wintel manufacturers -- Compaq Computer (number one in the world), Dell Computer, and IBM (and a number of clones control some 92 percent of the PC market (Hoovers, 2001).
Apple has the distinction of being on the cutting edge of technology (its CPM operating system, its graphical interface, and even its I-Mac) without being able to market the products sufficiently to maintain any kind of competitive advantage. An analysis performed by Hoover's online business research points out that the company that markets the idea of
"Think Different" practices what it preaches...[aiming] its colorful iMac (desktop) and iBook (laptop) computers at the consumer and education markets. It targets high-end consumers and professionals involved in design and publishing with its more powerful G4 portable and desktop computers. Apple also makes publishing and multimedia software, and offers Internet services such as Web page hosting. The company's FileMaker subsidiary makes database software(Hoover's, 2001, Online).
At one time, the company was the number one computer maker in the world. Today, it is relegated to being a niche producer, although a successful one. Its revenues and sales of ...