Corporate Culture and the Apple Juggernaut
Culture is widely regarded as fundamental to an organisations ability to generate and sustain improvement. It is the ultimate form of ‘capacity to perform’.
Thinking about capacity and performance, what is it that has helped drive the Apple Juggernaut?
It hasn’t always been cool, people forget that Apple struggled through the late 80’s and 90s and came perilously close to oblivion. It’s a remarkable story of change. A company that has built its strength on being brand and culture obsessed, the bottom line benefits have followed.
All of the evidence available about high performing brands like Apple indicates that the power of a premium brand to excite and achieve loyalty and preference with customers demands the engagement of culture internally to drive the ambition and values of the brand externally. Highly successful brands know how to create powerful and compelling brand cultures which breed loyalty, performance, differentiation and sustainability. Culture brings people together and allows them to jointly cope with challenges of business andlife.
Apple has built a strong corporate culture, one that drives out those who do not “fit in” or believe. There’s been much news around in recent days about the departure of former senior vice president of Devices Hardware, Mark Papermaster, many journalists and commentators have suggested it’s because he didn’t fit into the unique Apple culture. The question is, Will Papermaster’s departure leave a stronger and more unified group? Or is this along with the hoo ha around the Iphone 4 a crack in the armoury, A signal of cultural dissent, a sign that perhaps the Apple culture may not be fit for purpose moving forward?
The Apple culture is not for everyone that bit is clear, nor is it always about being the nicest cuddliest place to work. Apple does a good job at polarising people they have also been good at successfully engaging people inside on what matters to the business.
Check this out from Justin Maxwell: Ex Apple Employee:
“It wasn’t just the rules, it was the job itself, the measures that Apple takes to protect its creative and intellectual environment is unparalleled in the valley, and it’s been a disappointing experience since leaving there.”
“If I was still at Apple, I would not be responding to this question, nor would I feel wronged for not being able to… The general idea is this: You are part of something much bigger than you. The ideas you talk about in the hall, the neat tricks you figured out in CSS, the unibody machining technique, that’s part of your job, something you are paid to do for Apple’s success, not something you need to blog about to satisfy your ego.”
Whilst strong culture binds people, it can also bind people so tight they cannot know, or see what they are doing. And how would they without exposure to other ideas? Apple have been accused by many of arrogance is this a sign of a culture that may be a bit out of touch?
Every organisation has a distinct culture the question is whether that culture is fit for the purpose of the business or not? Apple are ahead of many organisations in that they can point to a strong culture that breeds real tribal like engagement.
Not the notions of super-annuated marital bliss that many in the employee and customer engagement fields espouse and justify through satisfaction and survey scores, but engagement where people are actually willingly participating in the brand and the things that are deemed important to the businesses performance.
Like everything else in business and in life your culture must evolve too,people feed off change and respond to the ideas and imagination of others in those times of change. Are you building the right culture to drive your brand forward?
It driven the Apple juggernaut thus far, but is every aspect of Apple’s culture fit for purpose? Only time will tell.