2024年7月10日发(作者：伯文康)
Apple was one of several highly successful companies founded in the 1970s
that bucked the traditional notions of what a corporate culture should look like in
organizational hierarchy. Steve Jobs often walked around the office barefoot even
after Apple was a Fortune 500 company. By the time of the "1984" TV ad, this trait
had become a key way the company attempted to differentiate itself from its
competitors. According to a 2011 report in
Fortune,
this has resulted in a
corporate culture more akin to a startup rather than a multinational corporation.
As the company has grown and been led by a series of chief executives, each
with his own idea of what Apple should be, some of its original character has
arguably been lost, but Apple still has a reputation for fostering individuality and
excellence that reliably draws talented people into its employ. This was especially
after Jobs' return. To recognize the best of its employees, Apple created the Apple
Fellows program, awarding individuals who made extraordinary technical or
leadership contributions to personal computing while at the company. The Apple
Fellowship has so far been awarded to a few individuals.
Apple is also known for strictly enforcing accountability. Each project has a
"directly responsible individual," or "DRI" in Apple jargon. As an example, when
iOS senior vice president Scott Forstall refused to sign Apple's official apology for
numerous errors in the redesigned Maps app, he was forced to resign.
Numerous employees of Apple have cited that projects without Jobs'
involvement often took longer than projects with his involvement.
At Apple, employees are specialists who are not exposed to functions outside
their area of expertise. Jobs saw this as a means of having best-in-class employees
in every role. For instance, Ron Johnson who was Senior Vice President of Retail
Operations until November 1, 2011, was responsible for site selection, in-store
service, and store layout, yet he had no control of the inventory in his stores (which
is done company wide by then-COO and now CEO Tim Cook who has a
background in supply-chain management). This is the opposite of General
Electric's corporate culture which has created well-rounded managers.
[236][236]
Under the leadership of Tim Cook who joined the company in 1998 and
ascended to his present position as CEO, Apple has developed an extremely
efficient and effective supply chain which has been ranked as the world's best for
the four years 2007–2010.
[
citation needed
]
The company's manufacturing, procurement
and logistics enables it to execute massive product launches without having to
maintain large, profit-sapping inventories; Apple's profit margins have been 40
percent compared with 10–20 percent for most other hardware companies in 2011.
Cook's catchphrase to describe his focus on the company's operational edge is
“Nobody wants to buy sour milk”. The company previously advertised its
products as being made in America up to the late 1990s, however as a result of
outsourcing initiatives in the 2000s almost all of its manufacturing is now done
abroad. According to a report by the New York Times, Apple insiders "believe the
vast scale of overseas factories as well as the flexibility, diligence and industrial
skills of foreign workers have so outpaced their American counterparts that
“Made in the U.S.A.” is no longer a viable option for most Apple products".
Unlike other major US companies, Apple has a relatively simple compensation
policy for executives, which does not include perks that other CEOs enjoy such as
country club fees and private use of company aircraft. The company usually grants
stock options to executives every other year.
2024年7月10日发(作者：伯文康)
Apple was one of several highly successful companies founded in the 1970s
that bucked the traditional notions of what a corporate culture should look like in
organizational hierarchy. Steve Jobs often walked around the office barefoot even
after Apple was a Fortune 500 company. By the time of the "1984" TV ad, this trait
had become a key way the company attempted to differentiate itself from its
competitors. According to a 2011 report in
Fortune,
this has resulted in a
corporate culture more akin to a startup rather than a multinational corporation.
As the company has grown and been led by a series of chief executives, each
with his own idea of what Apple should be, some of its original character has
arguably been lost, but Apple still has a reputation for fostering individuality and
excellence that reliably draws talented people into its employ. This was especially
after Jobs' return. To recognize the best of its employees, Apple created the Apple
Fellows program, awarding individuals who made extraordinary technical or
leadership contributions to personal computing while at the company. The Apple
Fellowship has so far been awarded to a few individuals.
Apple is also known for strictly enforcing accountability. Each project has a
"directly responsible individual," or "DRI" in Apple jargon. As an example, when
iOS senior vice president Scott Forstall refused to sign Apple's official apology for
numerous errors in the redesigned Maps app, he was forced to resign.
Numerous employees of Apple have cited that projects without Jobs'
involvement often took longer than projects with his involvement.
At Apple, employees are specialists who are not exposed to functions outside
their area of expertise. Jobs saw this as a means of having best-in-class employees
in every role. For instance, Ron Johnson who was Senior Vice President of Retail
Operations until November 1, 2011, was responsible for site selection, in-store
service, and store layout, yet he had no control of the inventory in his stores (which
is done company wide by then-COO and now CEO Tim Cook who has a
background in supply-chain management). This is the opposite of General
Electric's corporate culture which has created well-rounded managers.
[236][236]
Under the leadership of Tim Cook who joined the company in 1998 and
ascended to his present position as CEO, Apple has developed an extremely
efficient and effective supply chain which has been ranked as the world's best for
the four years 2007–2010.
[
citation needed
]
The company's manufacturing, procurement
and logistics enables it to execute massive product launches without having to
maintain large, profit-sapping inventories; Apple's profit margins have been 40
percent compared with 10–20 percent for most other hardware companies in 2011.
Cook's catchphrase to describe his focus on the company's operational edge is
“Nobody wants to buy sour milk”. The company previously advertised its
products as being made in America up to the late 1990s, however as a result of
outsourcing initiatives in the 2000s almost all of its manufacturing is now done
abroad. According to a report by the New York Times, Apple insiders "believe the
vast scale of overseas factories as well as the flexibility, diligence and industrial
skills of foreign workers have so outpaced their American counterparts that
“Made in the U.S.A.” is no longer a viable option for most Apple products".
Unlike other major US companies, Apple has a relatively simple compensation
policy for executives, which does not include perks that other CEOs enjoy such as
country club fees and private use of company aircraft. The company usually grants
stock options to executives every other year.