Tim Cook looks to mold a more streamlined Apple

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
Apple CEO Tim Cook is starting to initiate change at the tech giant, looking to create a more streamlined and disciplined organization without straying from the company's forward thinking culture.



In a report released on Tuesday, the Wall Street Journal notes that Apple has seen a more streamlined operating structure with improved internal communication since Tim Cook took the helm as CEO in August, suggesting that he has already begun to effect change within the company.



Cook is described as a competent and organized manager who is already tweaking the structure of the world's most valuable tech company, including a restructuring of Apple's education division, making high-level promotions and being open to suggestions from employees. The changes have prompted one analyst to call Cook a contrast of late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs.



"Steve thought he had all the answers," said Toni Sacconaghi, a research analyst for Sanford Bernstein & Co. "I am not sure Tim thinks he has all the answers."



Despite the changes that Cook initiated, the CEO is not expected to completely overhaul the company as he "isn't a fan of reorganizations," said a person familiar with the matter.



Cook is also a strong believer in Apple's culture of product development and design, though his colleagues and friends say that he is "not a product guy," an observation also noted by Jobs in Walter Isaacson's recently published biography about the former Apple chief. In a briefing of a new service Cook asked an employee, "tell me again how this helps me sell more phones?"



Apple CEO Tim Cook speaks at Apple's Steve Jobs celebration



What Cook lacks in product knowledge he makes up for in a clear-minded and open approach to management, something that Jobs eschewed in place of gut intuition.



One of the first managerial moves Cook made in his first days as CEO was to mete responsibility to senior executives like vice president of worldwide product marketing Phil Schiller and sales executive John Brandon. Eddy Cue was also promoted to senior vice president of Internet software and services, a very visible position within the company.



Another corporate-level change is recently-announced charitable matching program that calls for Apple to match employee donations up to $10,000 per year, a change from the Jobs who was reportedly against giving money away.



Looking to the future of Apple, many investors are anticipating Cook will eventually focus on what the company will do with its $81.6 billion cash hoard. It was reported that Jobs was opposed to stock buybacks, but Cook said that he was "not religious about holding cash or not holding it," during the company's fourth quarter earnings call last month.



Some investment banks suggest that Apple could offer either dividends or stock buybacks, however the final decision would be up to the board of directors, of which Cook is a member.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 118
    ikolikol Posts: 369member
    Here we go. Don't say you haven't been warned.
  • Reply 2 of 118
    macrrmacrr Posts: 488member
    Toni Sacconaghi!? How embarrassing to quote a FAIL like him for an article.



    he doesn't understand apple at all. They may as well ask the homeless woman in my hood what she thinks Cook will do or think.



    Fukeeng JOKE.
  • Reply 3 of 118
    asdasdasdasd Posts: 5,686member
    WEll, lets give the man a chance. Probably Apple is doomed. but lets wait and see.
  • Reply 4 of 118
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by iKol View Post


    Here we go. Don't say you haven't been warned.



    Remember iTroll, that Steve told Tim not to ask "What would Steve do?"



    By saying so, Steve was telling Tim he had enough faith in him that he would keep the Apple ship moving on an upward trajectory based on what he knew he could do.
  • Reply 5 of 118
    If Tim Cook is not a "product guy" then who is, now that Steve is gone? That's what concerns me the most, looking at the 10-year picture.
  • Reply 6 of 118
    asdasdasdasd Posts: 5,686member
    sell now before the rout.
  • Reply 7 of 118
    ikolikol Posts: 369member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Psych_guy View Post


    Remember iTroll, that Steve told Tim not to ask "What would Steve do?"



    By saying so, Steve was telling Tim he had enough faith in him that he would keep the Apple ship moving on an upward trajectory based on what he knew he could do.



    Steve Jobs was a genius not a soothsayer- you mean what he "thought" he could do.

    Remember Steve Jobs brought John Sculley to Apple too.
  • Reply 8 of 118
    tylerk36tylerk36 Posts: 1,037member
    Steve recommended him to be CEO. The board approved it. I would think that the board has some say as to serious changes that may effect the company as a whole. I think that it is important to remember what Tim Said at Steve's memorial at 1 infinite loop. We should remember that Tim told us "Apple was going to continue in the direction that was laid down by Steve".
  • Reply 9 of 118
    cgjcgj Posts: 276member
    Haven't people put iKol on ignore? O_o



    Either way. I think that what Tim is doing is keeping Apple going. He will still make the final decision, but he would rather have multiple people to suggest ideas and keep the ball rolling then to just... Stop. I'm pretty sure Steve knew that this would be the way Tim would run the company.
  • Reply 10 of 118
    asdasdasdasd Posts: 5,686member
    they should sell the buildings for scrap and hand the money back to the shareholders. the rest is worthless. Tim is doing stuff differently. Doomed, Apple is. selling both my stocks.
  • Reply 11 of 118
    mr. hmr. h Posts: 4,870member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Suddenly Newton View Post


    If Tim Cook is not a "product guy" then who is, now that Steve is gone?



    Jonathan Ive
  • Reply 12 of 118
    ikolikol Posts: 369member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by asdasd View Post


    they should sell the buildings for scrap and hand the money back to the shareholders. the rest is worthless. Tim is doing stuff differently. Doomed, Apple is. selling both my stocks.



    Remember Disney in the 70's- ye gods!
  • Reply 13 of 118
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Suddenly Newton View Post


    If Tim Cook is not a "product guy" then who is, now that Steve is gone? That's what concerns me the most, looking at the 10-year picture.



    Not any one person. Steve was Apple. He was a one man company who delegated his work to other people but they did what he wanted.



    In the Steveless Apple, several people whom he groomed have taken over areas of their expertise.



    Here is what your "new Steve Jobs" looks like:







    It's not one person, it's many people.



    Tim Cook is the best at running the ship, but somebody like Jony Ive for example has taken a leadership role in his area of expertise: industrial design. Steve and him used to confer on designs. Now Ive does it himself. Jobs used to brainstorm all ads and marketing strategies with the agencies Apple dealt with. Phil Schiller was part of that. Now Phil is solely in charge.



    If you're looking for a single person who will do all that Jobs did, you won't find one, but the sum of all the men (no women strangely) does make for a very competitive Steve replacement. Upset at the word "replacement"? Don't be. Steve himself designed it.
  • Reply 14 of 118
    cgjcgj Posts: 276member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by asdasd View Post


    they should sell the buildings for scrap and hand the money back to the shareholders. the rest is worthless. Tim is doing stuff differently. Doomed, Apple is. selling both my stocks.



    Stop quoting Michael Dell
  • Reply 15 of 118
    mr. hmr. h Posts: 4,870member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by iPedro View Post


    Not any one person. Steve was Apple. He was a one man company who delegated his work to other people but they did what he wanted.



    In the Steveless Apple, several people whom he groomed have taken over areas of their expertise.



    Here is what your "new Steve Jobs" looks like:







    It's not one person, it's many people.



    Tim Cook is the best at running the ship, but somebody like Jony Ive for example has taken a leadership role in his area of expertise: industrial design. Steve and him used to confer on designs. Now Ive does it himself. Jobs used to brainstorm all ads and marketing strategies with the agencies Apple dealt with. Phil Schiller was part of that. Now Phil is solely in charge.



    If you're looking for a single person who will do all that Jobs did, you won't find one, but the sum of all the men (no women strangely) does make for a very competitive Steve replacement. Upset at the word "replacement"? Don't be. Steve himself designed it.



    Such a good post it's worth posting again



    There is one thing that worries me slightly and that is that there's no "Mac OS" equivalent to Scott Forstall.
  • Reply 16 of 118
    jd_in_sbjd_in_sb Posts: 1,600member
    Tim Cook is no John Sculley. Steve worked side-by side with Tim for 13 years, grooming him and trusting him. Same story with Jony Ive, the world's premier product designer, and marketing manager Phil Schiller. Software guru Scott Forstall goes back even further with Steve, to the NeXT days.



    Steve hand-picked these people (and others) to carry on his legacy. Let's give them a chance.
  • Reply 17 of 118
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by CGJ View Post


    Haven't people put iKol on ignore? O_o



    He's employed by AI to get the click count as high as possible.



    Thank you for doing your part.



    .. and now I've done mine.



    About Cook... he might even manage Apple better than Steve, but he'll have to work very closely with Ive. jmho
  • Reply 18 of 118
    ruel24ruel24 Posts: 432member
    I just want to know why someone would take a company so successful, that has used this formula to pull out of such a trench in the marketplace to rise to the biggest company in the world in market capitalization, and change it? Why change what isn't broken?



    Alan Mulally once said that the problem with most CEOs is that they're driving by the shareholders instead of the product. If you have the product, you have the sales, you have the revenue, you have the profits, and therefore you have the shareholders.
  • Reply 19 of 118
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Mr. H View Post


    There is one thing that worries me slightly and that is that there's no "Mac OS" equivalent to Scott Forstall.



    Having a trusted replacement for Bertrand Serlet should have been Apple's first priority when he resigned.



    Sort of makes me think of a reason that he might have resigned in the first place?
  • Reply 20 of 118
    rp2011rp2011 Posts: 159member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Suddenly Newton View Post


    If Tim Cook is not a "product guy" then who is, now that Steve is gone? That's what concerns me the most, looking at the 10-year picture.



    I was about to say the same thing. Steve loved the gadgets he was creating and dreamed of them at night. His enthusiasm was obvious and contagious. When the passion and driving force move along, we get today's Microsoft.
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