Steve Jobs—Apple

Fortune ranked Apple #1 on its list of America’s and the World’s Most Admired Companies and
Steve Jobs was ranked #1 on its Most Powerful Businesspeople in the World. But he didn’t start
at the top. Together with Apple Computer co-founder Steve Wozniak, 21-year-old Steven Paul
Jobs developed and built the personal computer (PC) in 1976 in Jobs’s family garage. The Apple
II kicked off the PC era in 1977, and in 1984 the Macintosh altered the direction of the computer
industry. Jobs is also credited with desktop publishing, laser printers, and for pioneering personal
computer networks.

Jobs went on to create Pixar technology and a new business model for creating computer-
animated feature films. More recent innovations under Jobs’s leadership include the iPod,
iTunes, iMovie, Apple TV, games, QuickTime Player (and other software), Apple Stores, and
iPhone. He is ranked #1 for his leadership and power in influencing five industries: computers,
Hollywood, music, retailing, and wireless phones. So far, no one has had more influence over a
broader range of businesses than Jobs.

Apple hasn’t left its PC computer roots. When most people think of Apple today, the “i”products
may come to mind; however, the hottest line is actually its Macintosh business because it has the
status as the company’s largest revenue source. Mac sales have grown at triple the rate of the rest
of the PC industry. Apple is growing faster because it improves its hardware and software more
often than anyone else.

Apple and Jobs have had some problems along the way in their 30+ year history. In the late
1970s and early 1980s, IBM saw the success of the Apple PC and developed its own PC for
business that was not compatible with the Apple operating system. IBM PCs were soon
outselling Apple. Jobs decided that to compete he needed to bring in professional management to
grow the company. Jobs hired John Sculley to replace him as CEO. Apple ran into problems, and
Sculley and Jobs did not agree on how to run the company. The Apple board of directors choose
Sculley over Jobs as CEO. Jobs lost control over the company he had started.

As chairman of the board, Jobs had no real power or meaningful work to do. So, Jobs left Apple
in 1985 to start NeXT (a computer platform development company specializing in the higher
education and business markets). In 1986, Steve Jobs started what became Pixar Animated
Studios and became its CEO. Jobs contracted with Disney to produce a number of computer-
animated feature films, which Disney would co-finance and distribute. Films included Toy Story,
A Bug’s Life, Monsters, Inc., Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, and Cars. In 1997, Apple acquired
NeXT to use its technology in its Apple computers and Jobs returned to Apple. Apple was still
not doing well so the board appointed Jobs to his earlier position as CEO. In 2006, Jobs sold
Pixar to Disney and remains on its board as its largest shareholder.

Back as CEO of Apple, Jobs led the company from the brink of bankruptcy through the most
dramatic corporate turnaround in the history of Silicon Valley. Jobs changed its culture back to a
more entrepreneurial atmosphere. Jobs is a visionary, and Apple’s success is born of continual
and artful innovation in every aspect Steve Jobs—Apple CASE Communication Skills The
following critical-thinking questions can be used for class discussion and/or as written
assignments to develop communication skills. Be sure to give complete explanations for all
questions.

Jobs is also among the most controversial figures in the business. People who have worked for
Jobs over the years have mixed reactions to his leadership style. Some call him temperamental,
aggressive, tough, intimidating, and very demanding. He has been known to verbally attack
people who make mistakes and are not meeting goals and expectations. Yet, employees who
perform up to expectation are well rewarded. He is outspoken and not afraid to anger employees
and customers. Even many who feared him also had great respect for him as he did inspire
loyalty, enthusiasm, and high levels of performance through continuous innovation. Even people
who left Apple say it’s often brutal and Jobs hogs the credit, but they’ve never done better work.

Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft, calls Jobs a visionary with intuitive taste. Steve makes
decisions based on a sense of people and products. He does things differently, and it’s magical.
Jobs’s ability to always come around and figure out where that next bet should be has been
phenomenal. Gates and Jobs worked together in the early days of the development of the PC.
Fortune states that Jobs “sets a dazzling new standard for innovation and mass appeal driven by
an obsessive CEO who wants his products to be practically perfect in every way.”

In summary, at age 21 Steve Jobs co-founded Apple and built the first PC business; at age 25
Jobs was running Apple with a net worth of $25 million; at age 26 he made the cover of Time
magazine; and at age 30 he was thrown out of the company he started. He went on to start two
other companies and ended up back at Apple to save it from bankruptcy and then lifted it, and
himself, to be ranked as the best in the world. Like all successful leaders, Steve Jobs wants to
bring about change, takes innovative risk, is not afraid to fail, and is not always successful; but
he comes back. At age 53 Jobs is listed as “co-founder” on 103 separate Apple patents and his
net worth exceeds $5 billion (Disney stock value $4.6 billion and Apple stock value $628
million). Steve Jobs loves his work because he discovered what he was good at and what he
enjoys doing—-the secret to career fulfillment.