Apple Board of Directors at 'crossroads' after death of Steve Jobs

12346

Comments

  • Reply 101 of 121
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,718member
    "Business as usual, or time for a change?" .... mmmm let me think about this for a second ...
  • Reply 102 of 121
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by kellya74u View Post


    Hp's recently available, former CEO Leo Apotheker, would bring a whole new vision to Apple, & may just be what Apple needs to free itself from the closed, limited thinking of Steve Jobs. Apple would benefit from the new perspectives Leo could offer in terms of 'thinking outside the box,' copying vs innovation, & streamlining the Apple operations i.e. killing off such products like the Mac Air as a waste of aluminum, replacing them with a lower-cost plastic counterpart. After all, that's why plastic was invented, to make our lives better. How could Steve have been so clueless & self-indulgent to lead Apple in the wrong direction for so many years?



    Yes, new blood & vision of people who think like Leo will set Apple on a new course. The first order of business would be to dismantle the Apple University that teaches employees Steve's success of visionary strategies. Otherwise, you would have an entire company of workers that would be fighting the 'New Apple' leaders who would proclaim a new message, of "that was then, this is now, either get on board or your out, as we are innovating an entire new business model." Any failures of the new company would be blamed on those employees who refused to change & 'just didn't get it.'



    We don't need no stinkin' HP has been. The new course Leo would set is to the outhouse.
  • Reply 103 of 121
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,718member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Doctor David View Post


    He was vice president of the country during it's most prosperous times in recent decades.



    Plus I heard he invented the internet



    I'm sure you are well aware of the facts and are being humorous but sadly many I come across that parrot this twisting of the truth don't know the difference between the world wide web and the internet .



    Again for the record, didn't say "invented" but said "he took the initiative in creating" which was a reference to the High Performance Computing and Communication Act of 1991. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Pe...on_Act_of_1991



    BTW I avoid politics on this blog but this is in direct reference to the history of computing as we know it today and therefor IMHO relevant here.
  • Reply 104 of 121
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by digitalclips View Post


    I'm sure you are well aware of the facts and are being humorous but sadly many I come across that parrot this twisting of the truth don't know the difference between the world wide web and the internet .



    Again for the record, didn't say "invented" but said "he took the initiative in creating" which was a reference to the High Performance Computing and Communication Act of 1991. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Pe...on_Act_of_1991



    BTW I avoid politics on this blog but this is in direct reference to the history of computing as we know it today and therefor IMHO relevant here.



    Your assumption is correct.

    Good post.
  • Reply 105 of 121
    4fx4fx Posts: 258member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by ConradJoe View Post


    Companies like Apple exist to generate shareholder value.



    Wallstreet exists to "generate shareholder value". Companies with any integrity exist to provide customers with quality products or services, with profits following only as a secondary reason.



    Obviously profit is important, but the fastest way to become mediocre is to focus on it alone, which some companies appear to do. Jobs did not create Apple, nor return to it, just because of profit. He wanted to "change the world". And that he did.
  • Reply 106 of 121
    conradjoeconradjoe Posts: 1,887member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by 4fx View Post


    Companies with any integrity exist to provide customers with quality products or services, with profits following only as a secondary reason.




    Is that why huge Hedge Funds invest in Apple? Get real.
  • Reply 107 of 121
    flaneurflaneur Posts: 4,526member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by 4fx View Post


    Wallstreet exists to "generate shareholder value". Companies with any integrity exist to provide customers with quality products or services, with profits following only as a secondary reason.



    Obviously profit is important, but the fastest way to become mediocre is to focus on it alone, which some companies appear to do. Jobs did not create Apple, nor return to it, just because of profit. He wanted to "change the world". And that he did.



    You are right. ConradJoe is just being his old self, wrong.
  • Reply 108 of 121
    maestro64maestro64 Posts: 5,043member
    Do not F with it, Boards and Wall Street screwed up too many companies. Job and Apple were successful because they told the Business types and Wall Street to go F themselves and they know how to do their business and what is good for the customer. If Apple listen to the Board or Walls street they would be more worried about inventory turns and earing ratios than making good products.



    Apple does not need a strong board to shake things up or create tension, just leave as it is, be advisers to make sure they thing things through and let them people in the company run the company
  • Reply 109 of 121
    jmkazajmkaza Posts: 10member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by izacmann View Post


    What better young visionary is out there who could continue the innovation that Steve Jobs has started?



    I think Mr. Z should be a member of the board of directors and be given an opportunity to Chair one day. He is brilliant and tenacious and creative and ruthless and innovative and........



    Zuck? Visionary? Na, he got lucky a few ears ago and hit a homerun. I vote Elon Musk.
  • Reply 110 of 121
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by ConradJoe View Post


    Apple is a huge corporation, and it exists to generate profits. It is not a shrine. It is not a club. It is not a lifestyle or a fashion statement.



    Apple makes profits by being a lifestyle and a fashion statement, and much more. Most companies don't realise the little things make a difference.



    The best thing Apple can do is try to keep doing what it's been doing for over 10 years. Not try to 'shake things up'.
  • Reply 111 of 121
    xamaxxamax Posts: 135member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by izacmann View Post


    What better young visionary is out there who could continue the innovation that Steve Jobs has started?



    I think Mr. Z should be a member of the board of directors and be given an opportunity to Chair one day. He is brilliant and tenacious and creative and ruthless and innovative and........



    Please God please please let that not happen ever.



    We want people from the Light side, not from the dark side alrightee?!?!



    Goofy smartypants LOL-type ideas, with all due respect, is what Apple does NOT need at any point in time.



    It needs experience, it needs calm perseverance DEEP thinking individuals, not lucky strike guys.



    And remember that the suggestion must be in view of a non-executive specific position.
  • Reply 112 of 121
    xamaxxamax Posts: 135member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by GregAlexander View Post


    Apple makes profits by being a lifestyle and a fashion statement, and much more. Most companies don't realise the little things make a difference.



    The best thing Apple can do is try to keep doing what it's been doing for over 10 years. Not try to 'shake things up'.



    You're right!



    Apple did strike gold big time when it started bringing out lifestyle/fashion statement products AND kept doing it, even improving, on the engineering/design function side.



    It all started with the color iBooks and iMacs, it was not out of chance. The aluminum PowerBook/ MacBook Pro. The Cube. The silver MacBook Pro. The silver iMac. The iPhone. The aluminum machined MacBook Pro. The iPad.



    And in the future the Apple 50" HDTV which won't be a TV anymore.



    Jobs second coming had fashion statement / lifestyle strategy all over.



    Good for us!
  • Reply 113 of 121
    conradjoeconradjoe Posts: 1,887member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Maestro64 View Post


    Do not F with it, Boards ... screwed up too many companies. ...Apple were successful because they told the Business types



    Steve Jobs was the Chairman of the Board of the largest publicly traded megacorporation in the world.





    Steve Jobs was a legendary Business Type.





    Why do you feel the need to act like these are not facts?
  • Reply 114 of 121
    I say promote one of the senior designers at Apple. It's a design company, they need to keep it that way.



    What else is left besides faster, lighter, holograms, Apple satellites in space? We could be plateauing in tech, so keep it easy to use, virus free, and cool.



    poured a beer for Mr. Jobs today
  • Reply 115 of 121
    Whatever they do there not going to have a replacement for Steve, the same way as Microsoft hasn't and won't ever have a replacement for Bill.



    The problem isn't that they don't have talented people, but having another person with that vision and passion just isn't availiable. There busy starting there own companies and will have their own seperate legacy.



    Apple will continue to make money and decent products. But I think the magic will slowly die as products get released that Steve would have sent back to the drawing board. When the next CEO talks, the employees won't be listening like they listened to Steve. Steve was there leader, anyone else now is just there current leader.
  • Reply 116 of 121
    meh 2meh 2 Posts: 149member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by ConradJoe View Post


    Interesting. Name a few giant megacorporations like Apple where the BOD has no legal power to replace the CEO.



    "Power" and "authority" may well be two very different things in certain contexts.
  • Reply 117 of 121
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by ConradJoe View Post


    The owners of Apple, the Hedge Funds and Pension Plans, will decide how Apple WILL work. They will do it by appointing a BOD.



    Apple is a huge corporation, and it exists to generate profits. It is not a shrine. It is not a club. It is not a lifestyle or a fashion statement.



    The big moneyed Wall Street interests can and will decide the direction that their investment will take. Its nothing different than, say, Dow Chemical or Exxon Mobil. The people who play armchair CEO are ignored. Corp[orations obey the Golden Rule: Them that got the gold make the rules.





    Then All Is Lost.
  • Reply 118 of 121
    flaneurflaneur Posts: 4,526member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by albeniz View Post


    Then All Is Lost.



    Hoping you're not serious, but if you are, you've been led astray by the new number one nattering nabob of negativity around here.
  • Reply 119 of 121
    I would liken the board right now to someone standing on a landmine. If they make one wrong move the whole thing blows up on them and wall street gets spooked and the stock tumbles. My guess is they let the forumla keep working until it runs out of steam and doesn't work anymore before they adjust anything. I'm sure you will get one or two that want to be the big hero or the next Jobs and cause a stir but really if it ain't broke I don't think anyone will tinker with it.
  • Reply 120 of 121
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by ConradJoe View Post


    If and to the extent that the long-term health of the company is in opposition to the interests of the shareholders, then the long-term health of the company should be ignored.



    For example, with some companies, it is best for the owners to liquidate and sell all the pieces to the highest bidders. In such cases, the long-term health of the company is not important.



    Companies like Apple exist to generate shareholder value. If a Board member has deviant goals, that is a huge problem.



    Doesn't Apple exist to design and sell quality products that people are drawn to buy? The shareholders have seen the value of this approach and decided to put their money into it.

    If apple loses that ethos and starts worrying about the bottom line ahead of making cutting edge stuff, then the whole reason to invest in them is weakened.
Sign In or Register to comment.