Steven Jobs

CEO: Steven Jobs (APPLE, PIXAR, NEXT)

Steven Jobs is not your "run of the mill" CEO. This statement sounds clichй and it should because every CEO in some way is different. Steven Jobs with considerable confidence can be called the most ingenious, unconventional CEO's in the world. First off, it is important to look at his upbringing because it proves his approach to management is pure personality. Job's runs his company with an innovative edge that is far from collaborative.

Steve Jobs' management techniques are a direct reflection of his upbringing. As a child, Jobs pursued his tasks and goals with a passion and aggression for success. Steven Paul Jobs was an orphan adopted by Paul and Clara Jobs of Mountain View, California in February 1955. his school he simply asked to move to a new one.

So instead of attending either Berkeley or Stanford, he decided on the very liberal Reed University in Oregon. This is where Jobs was introduced to philosophies and ideas that would shape how he would treat the business world. At this time school was not important and he withdrew after the first semester of college. When he returned home, he was thin and disheveled. He embraced a new goal of traveling to India in pursuit of what a friend termed "the electric atmosphere of love."

business world.

Jobs work with Apple is where he exploits the best examples of his good and bad management styles. When Jobs started with Apple he had no specific function. He kept himself busy initially by successfully supervising the designs for the company logo and for the hard plastic shell that encased the Apple II. The fact is Jobs was talented at most everything or at least seeming like he was. "'If you have a hardware man there, Steve can't talk hardware. If you have a software man, Steve can't talk software. He can help design computer cases"' (qtd. in Butcher 103). Job's was not satisfied with this role and Markkula, who maneuvered himself into a position of great power at Apple." (Butcher 90-105).

Job's was smart in that he positioned himself for success. He knew how to be at the right place at the right time. The downside to this was he always wanted more. The He had a hard time putting his vision down in a practical manner. He saw a computer with an elegant exterior but the problem with his vision was that the way he had to have it would make production nearly impossible. "These unreal expectations resulted in "miscommunication between marketing, engineering, and the all-important personal computer infrastructure" (Butcher 141).

An important and rather sad side to Jobs was the way he treated his employees at Macintosh. Jobs had the technical know how to oversee the company but the way he dictated the company could only prove disastrous. He was extremely negative about the success of the Apple II and became extremely partial to his project the Macintosh. Jobs couldn't participate in the success of the Apple II because it wasn't his idea. If you did not work in the Macintosh division he treated you like an entirely separate person. "The Macintosh division received higher salaries, invitations to company sponsored parties, and front row seats to company meetings" (Butcher 136-48).

"While Mr. Jobs' stated positions on management techniques are all quite noble and worthy, in practice he is a dreadful manager. It is an unfortunate case of mouthing the right ideas but not believing in or executing them when it comes time to do something . . . . Job's regularly misses appointments. He does not give credit where due. Job's also has favorites, who can do no wrong--and others who can do no right. He interrupts and doesn't listen. He doesn't keep promises. He is a prime example of a manager who takes the credit for his optimistic schedules and then blames the workers when deadlines are not met." (qtd. in Butcher 161)

No one can figure out if Job's has learned from his mistakes at Apple and if he will succeed with his new company "Next".

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