Steve Jobs leadership and management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Steve Jobs leadership and management - Essay Example The success of businesses in the global market is strongly depended on their ability to identify the needs of customers and to develop product/ services that best respond to these needs. This fact is reflected in the strategies of firms, which own an important share of their industry; these firms tend to prioritize their targets in order to ensure that risks are minimizing. In all cases it has been proved that the ability of firms to develop competitive plans is related to their leaders. Of course, managers are highly involved in such initiatives but it is mainly the leader of each firm who sets the rules on which organizational strategies will be based – taking into consideration the mission of the organization but also the market’s pressures and the resources available. On the other hand, there are leaders who can perform higher compared to their counterparts in most organizations internationally. These leaders are known as charismatic leaders and can respond to organ izational issues and challenges requiring either leadership or managerial skills. Steve Jobs is one of these leaders. Four resources of different characteristics have been employed in this paper in order to explain the leadership skills of Steve Jobs not just regarding his work in Apple but also regarding his contribution in the development of leadership, as a factor influencing the performance of organizations operating in all industries. The article of Conaty and Charan, published in 2011, explains analytically the characteristics of leadership style of Steve Jobs. On the other hand, a report published by the Stanford News referring to Steve Job’s Commencement Address in 2005 has been considered as valuable including Steve Job’s personal views on the facts, which most influenced his leadership style. A recent financial statement of Apple has been also used in order to indicate the firm’s performance, under the influence of Steve Job’s leadership style. Finally, the article of Thoma published in 2010 in regard to the leadership style of Steve Jobs has been included in th e resources of this paper as it emphasizes on the management skills of Steve Jobs, an issue which should be also discussed when evaluating the involvement of Steve Jobs in organizational issues which are normally handled by leaders but also in those which are likely to be handled by managers. The leadership style of Steve Jobs can be characterized as unique even if it can be partially related to existing leadership theories. The key advantage of Steve Jobs compared to the leaders of most organizations seems to be the following one: Steve Jobs can ‘identify the product that appeals to the customers and act decisively’ (Conaty and Charan, online article). The specific fact is reflected in the following tale – referring to Steve Jobs’ first participation in the board meeting of Apple. It is noted that after entering the room, Steve Jobs focused on the company’s products, which were set on display and ‘began taking them down, one at a time; when h e was done, only four were left’ (Conaty and Charan, online article). He explained that only these products, among the firm’s products, could help the firm to develop a competitive advantage towards its rivals. The above tale reflects the approach of Jobs in highlighting the products on which Apple should invest for