Steve Jobs Research
[Name]
[Institute]
Author Note
Abstract
Steve Jobs was a pure mastermind, the sort that ran a tight ship and always delivered. He is one of the most famous names in the production of innovative technology and will be remembered in history as the man that launched the age of technology. He was the CEO of Apple, who founded the company with his friend right from his parents' garage. His creations were not a success initially, but his knack for marketing and the understanding of the needs of the consumer made him a household name. He was a charismatic and transformational leader, the sort that motivated the people around him to constantly do better and push their own limits, superseding them where they may. Apple witnessed its glorious rise under his leadership. He knew that Apple was its own biggest competition and constantly strived to bring bigger, better and more sustainable products into the market. Jobs may be gone, but his legacy lives on in Apple and the lives he touched, forever.
Introduction
There is not a single creator in the technology industry that is more creative, more important or more respected than Steve Jobs. Born in San Francisco, California in 1955, Jobs had a keen interest in electronics. This interest translated into the development of Apple Computers, a company he started with his friend Steve Wozniak in 1976. The second project, the Apple II was their first successful product and brought them recognition in the world of technology ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"pgLuehKM","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Beahm, 2011)","plainCitation":"(Beahm, 2011)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":961,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/5VyEEXyp/items/Z83TG7HZ"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/5VyEEXyp/items/Z83TG7HZ"],"itemData":{"id":961,"type":"book","title":"I, Steve: Steve Jobs in his own words","publisher":"Agate","ISBN":"1-932841-66-0","author":[{"family":"Beahm","given":"George"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2011"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Beahm, 2011).
Discussion
Apple was the first company that was not only launched but became a household name as a result of Jobs’ leadership abilities. He was not only a genius in his field, but he had a knack for marketing as well. He knew his potential consumer like the back of his hand and translated their needs in terms of technology. He gave his consumers what they wanted and made technology a household name ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"01oCH4VQ","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Isaacson, JOBS, & Schuster, 2011)","plainCitation":"(Isaacson, JOBS, & Schuster, 2011)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":957,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/5VyEEXyp/items/48WVBA66"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/5VyEEXyp/items/48WVBA66"],"itemData":{"id":957,"type":"book","title":"Steve Jobs","publisher":"Simon & Schuster","URL":"https://books.google.com.pk/books?id=6e4cDvhrKhgC","ISBN":"978-1-4516-4853-9","author":[{"family":"Isaacson","given":"W."},{"family":"JOBS","given":"S."},{"family":"Schuster","given":"Simon &"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2011"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Isaacson, JOBS, & Schuster, 2011). It was under his leadership that Apple grew and became the technology giant that it is today. While he was removed from his own company for a short period of time, he made a triumphant return to apple and ushered in a new era of innovative and accessible technology. Apple raised the bar for design and innovation in the tech world, catapulting the present generation into the age of technology ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"2VMOm0zt","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Carlton & Annotations-Kawasaki, 1997)","plainCitation":"(Carlton & Annotations-Kawasaki, 1997)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":987,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/5VyEEXyp/items/UGVRR3I3"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/5VyEEXyp/items/UGVRR3I3"],"itemData":{"id":987,"type":"book","title":"Apple: The inside story of intrigue, egomania, and business blunders","publisher":"Random House Inc.","ISBN":"0-8129-2851-2","author":[{"family":"Carlton","given":"Jim"},{"family":"Annotations-Kawasaki","given":"Guy"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["1997"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Carlton & Annotations-Kawasaki, 1997).
Steve Jobs combined creativity with science, which is why he was such a huge success. This is what the 21st-century economy is built on, creativity merged with science in an effort to achieve something extraordinary that is a pure genius at its core. Steve Jobs had a tendency to be really brutal to the people that he worked with ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"4rjq2sSw","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Finkle & Mallin, 2010)","plainCitation":"(Finkle & Mallin, 2010)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":990,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/5VyEEXyp/items/925KSWMD"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/5VyEEXyp/items/925KSWMD"],"itemData":{"id":990,"type":"article-journal","title":"Steve Jobs and Apple, Inc.","container-title":"Journal of the International Academy for Case Studies","page":"31","volume":"16","issue":"7","author":[{"family":"Finkle","given":"Todd A."},{"family":"Mallin","given":"Michael L."}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2010"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Finkle & Mallin, 2010). According to James Burns, an expert on the concept of leadership, Jobs could be described as a charismatic leader ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"FhU3jJ2C","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Burns, 1978; Shamir, House, & Arthur, 1993)","plainCitation":"(Burns, 1978; Shamir, House, & Arthur, 1993)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":985,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/5VyEEXyp/items/6MT8TQ6B"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/5VyEEXyp/items/6MT8TQ6B"],"itemData":{"id":985,"type":"book","title":"Leadmhip","publisher":"New York: Harper & Row","author":[{"family":"Burns","given":"J. M."}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["1978"]]}}},{"id":984,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/5VyEEXyp/items/TTRMFDN6"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/5VyEEXyp/items/TTRMFDN6"],"itemData":{"id":984,"type":"article-journal","title":"The Motivational Effects of Charismatic Leadership: A Self-Concept Based Theory","container-title":"Organization Science","page":"577-594","volume":"4","issue":"4","archive":"JSTOR","abstract":"[The empirical literature on charismatic or transformational leadership demonstrates that such leadership has profound effects on followers. However, while several versions of charismatic leadership theory predict such effects, none of them explains the process by which these effects are achieved. In this paper we seek to advance leadership theory by addressing this fundamental problem. We offer a self-concept based motivational theory to explain the process by which charismatic leader behaviors cause profound transformational effects on followers. The theory presents the argument that charismatic leadership has its effects by strongly engaging followers' self-concepts in the interest of the mission articulated by the leader. We derive from this theory testable propositions about (a) the behavior of charismatic leaders and their effects on followers, (b) the role of followers' values and orientations in the charismatic relationship, and (c) some of the organizational conditions that favor the emergence and effectiveness of charismatic leaders.]","ISSN":"10477039, 15265455","author":[{"family":"Shamir","given":"Boas"},{"family":"House","given":"Robert J."},{"family":"Arthur","given":"Michael B."}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["1993"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Burns, 1978; Shamir, House, & Arthur, 1993). Such leaders inspire others through their personality and their way of life, showing others how to follow in their footsteps, and that is what Steve Jobs did. He demanded the very best from them and the people that could handle the pressure they were put under by Jobs always delivered. He pushed people to think differently and encouraged them to think outside the box. He inspired an entire generation, calling them the crazy misfits that worked like a round peg in a square hole. ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"Z9ybXdbU","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Bass, 1995)","plainCitation":"(Bass, 1995)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":983,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/5VyEEXyp/items/564PYKLN"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/5VyEEXyp/items/564PYKLN"],"itemData":{"id":983,"type":"article-journal","title":"Theory of transformational leadership redux","container-title":"The Leadership Quarterly","page":"463-478","volume":"6","issue":"4","DOI":"10.1016/1048-9843(95)90021-7","ISSN":"1048-9843","journalAbbreviation":"The Leadership Quarterly","author":[{"family":"Bass","given":"Bernard M."}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["1995",12,1]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} Bass (1995), described the sort of leadership style of the like of Steve Jobs as transformational. He courage his people to do the very best and motivate them to be innovative. He asked them to inspire change that will help in the growth of the society as a whole through the promotion of new ideas and techniques that can transform the state of things as we see them ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"TAjwVdRq","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Antonakis, 2012)","plainCitation":"(Antonakis, 2012)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":986,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/5VyEEXyp/items/57U5RCMW"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/5VyEEXyp/items/57U5RCMW"],"itemData":{"id":986,"type":"article-journal","title":"Transformational and charismatic leadership","container-title":"The nature of leadership","page":"256-288","author":[{"family":"Antonakis","given":"John"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2012"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Antonakis, 2012).
One can say that Steve Jobs was the heart and soul of Apple. One couldn’t be what is it in the present day and age without the other. During his tenure as Apple’s CEO, Steve Jobs always had the eyes on the prize. He was a competitive man and if he knew anything about competition, he knew who Apple’s biggest competitor was and he never lost sight of this competitor, i.e. Apple itself ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"FpSUy8NZ","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Moritz, 2009)","plainCitation":"(Moritz, 2009)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":988,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/5VyEEXyp/items/EVM7XLLF"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/5VyEEXyp/items/EVM7XLLF"],"itemData":{"id":988,"type":"book","title":"Return to the Little Kingdom: Steve Jobs and the Creation of Apple","publisher":"Abrams","ISBN":"1-59020-364-X","author":[{"family":"Moritz","given":"Michael"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2009"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Moritz, 2009). Apple products had to be bigger, better, more accessible, more functional and yet way better than their predecessors. People craved Apple products because of what Apple represented and they kept wanting them more and more over the years as the next, newer and bigger model was introduced to the masses ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"uUcK1WMt","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Elkind, 2008)","plainCitation":"(Elkind, 2008)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":989,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/5VyEEXyp/items/JZPQ3KH9"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/5VyEEXyp/items/JZPQ3KH9"],"itemData":{"id":989,"type":"article-journal","title":"The trouble with Steve jobs","container-title":"FORTUNE-EUROPEAN EDITION-","page":"54","volume":"157","issue":"5","author":[{"family":"Elkind","given":"Peter"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2008"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Elkind, 2008). They knew how the business worked and always made sure that the company was ahead of the curve in terms of what they were putting out there for their potential consumer.
Conclusion
Jobs was the ringmaster at Apple. It was entirely his genius of vision and mastery of the art that made Apple a household name. Jobs understood the needs of the market at any given time and he knew the importance of being there first. Thus, most of his product possess this hallmark of being the first in the field. Whether it was the iPhone or the iPad, he opened doors to entirely new possibilities which changed the fate of the world as we knew it.
Steve Jobs’ loss was a great blow to Apple. So far, the company is still doing great. However, it just lost its heart and soul, and that sometimes can make things fall off-course for a number of tech giants globally. Hopefully, Apple will learn from its past mistakes and not be a catastrophe.
References
ADDIN ZOTERO_BIBL {"uncited":[],"omitted":[],"custom":[]} CSL_BIBLIOGRAPHY Antonakis, J. (2012). Transformational and charismatic leadership. The Nature of Leadership, 256–288.
Bass, B. M. (1995). Theory of transformational leadership redux. The Leadership Quarterly, 6(4), 463–478. https://doi.org/10.1016/1048-9843(95)90021-7
Beahm, G. (2011). I, Steve: Steve Jobs in his own words. Agate.
Burns, J. M. (1978). Leadership. New York: Harper & Row.
Carlton, J., & Annotations-Kawasaki, G. (1997). Apple: The inside story of intrigue, egomania, and business blunders. Random House Inc.
Elkind, P. (2008). The trouble with Steve Jobs. FORTUNE-EUROPEAN EDITION-, 157(5), 54.
Finkle, T. A., & Mallin, M. L. (2010). Steve Jobs and Apple, Inc. Journal of the International Academy for Case Studies, 16(7), 31.
Isaacson, W., JOBS, S., & Schuster, S. &. (2011). Steve Jobs. Retrieved from https://books.google.com.pk/books?id=6e4cDvhrKhgC
Moritz, M. (2009). Return to the Little Kingdom: Steve Jobs and the Creation of Apple. Abrams.
Shamir, B., House, R. J., & Arthur, M. B. (1993). The Motivational Effects of Charismatic Leadership: A Self-Concept Based Theory. Organization Science, 4(4), 577–594. Retrieved from JSTOR.
