RESEARCH SUMMARY

1. Topic: Apple’s Strategic Transformation: The Necessity and Impact ò Organizational

changes
2. Outline of the presentation
I. Introduction
 This presentation explores the importance of changes under two CEO – Steve Jobs
and Tim Cook, to help the brand operate sucessfully.

II. Body paragraph

1. Reasons leading to changes
 Apple was regulated its position in the computer market by other opponents.
 Consumers hesitated to use Apple’s computer OS due to the high switching cost.
 Focus merely on PC without developing to other technological products.
 Limitation of old-style smartphone restricted user’s experiences.

2. Apple’s challenges during the change and its solution

1. Challenges Steve Jobs faced
 Apple’s finicial crisis: It was on the verge of bankruptcy when the revenue had gone
down from 11 dollars (1995) to 6 billion dollars (1998).
 Solution:
 Negotiated a $150 million investment from Microsoft (1997).
 Reassured stakeholders and bought time to restructure.

 Many products lacked both investment and innovation.

 Solution:
 Simplified products into 4 categories using a 2x2 matrix (Consumer/ Professional
vs. Desktop/ Portable).
 Introduced the iMac in 1998: colorful, user-friendly, and stylish, breaking away from
boring beige PCs.
 Focused resources on fewer, higher-quality products.
 Losing brand image: It has lost its uniqueness due to the rise of other rivals.
 Solution:
 Launched the “Think different” campaign to rebrand Apple as a creative, innovative
company.

2. Challenges Tim Cook faced

 The pressure of being Apple’s successor: Public and co-workers doubted his next
step into the shoes of Steve Jobs.
 Solution:
 Focused on strong business execution rather than trying to replicate Jobs’ s style.
 Strengthened investor confidence through consistent financial performance.

 Innovation fatigue: The challenge of sustaining Apple’s innovative edge in a

competitive technology market.
 Solution:
 Acquired 23 companies, including Beats Electronics, to bring in new talent,
technology, and ideas.
 Partnered with IBM to expand Apple’s reach into the enterprise market.
 Introduced products variants like the iPad Mini and iPhone 5c to reach broader
audiences.
 Maintained high profit margins despite new models.

 Brand stretching: Needed to grow Apple’s global market presence in an increasingly

competitive technology industry.
 Solution:
 Took a hands-on approach by strengthening ties with China, including securing a
major partnership with China Mobile, making China Apple’s fastest-growing market.

 Managing Apple’s Massive Cash Reserves and Investor Expectations: Faced

pressure to make better use of Apple’s huge cash reserves and continue delivering strong
returns.
 Solution:
 Launched a $90 billion share buyback program, increased acquisitions (like Beats
Electronics), and built strategic partnerships (e.g., IBM) to fuel long-term growth.

3. Results after the significant change

 Revived from near bankruptcy to become a multi-trillion-dollar company when
Steve Jobs came back Apple.
 Revolutionized the tech industry under Steve Jobs leadership.
 Expanded into wearables and health technology and grew strongly in services under
Tim Cool leadership.
 By continually pushing the boundaries of technology, Apple has solidified its
position as a technology leader, from the latest iPhone generation to advancements in
artificial intelligence such as iPhone 16, IOS 18, MacBook Air with M3 chip.

4. Comparison
 Steve Jobs: Focused on breakthroughs and market change.
 Tim Cook: Focused optimization and expansion of the ecosystem; diversified
products according to customer demands.
5. Reflection
 The leadership is not only the management, but it is also the long-term vision to
generate breakthrough advancements and lead the competition

3. Summary of the research for the topic (1000 words)

Introduction: In today’s fast-paced technological world, companies must constantly
change to avoid falling behind. Apple is not an exception despite dominating the top-tier
technological brand in the world. The noticeable changes of Apple’s executives have
modified its strategies, diversified products as well as created innovation to pioneer in the
technological market.
Reason: Due to several urgent reasons, Apple’s leaders significantly changed and
innovated brand’s strategies to avoid falling behind in the general electronic comsumption
market. Firstly, because of the inconvenience of computer’s operating system, Apple
adjusted its niche positioning to compete with Wintel-based computers which used Intel
chips and Windows OS. Many consumers did not prioritize Apple PC owing to the ubiquity
of synchronization of Windows-based PC (Hennessey, 2004). Secondly, the cost of Apple’s
products was another element hindering purchaser’s access as Apple desired. According to
Hennessey (2004), in spite of being beautifully designed and utilizing modern marketing
strategies, Apple failed to sustain market share when quoting the expensive switching price
of proprietary Mac OS. Additionally, not only the cost of the PC but the price of Iphone also
prevented people from possessing this Apple’s product (Ritchie, 2018). Thirdly, the
maintenance of competitive advantage in the general market required Apple to diversify its
products and generate technological breakthrough to expand the usage of electronic
gadgets and reposition brand (Johnson, et al., 2012). Finally, limitations of out-of-date
devices motivated Apple to upgrade new technological applicants in smartphone to
enhance user’s experiences, such as touch screen, elegant shape and possibility of playing
music (Stefani, 2015).
Challenge + Solution:
Steve Jobs
When Steve Jobs returned to Apple in 1997, the company was on the brink of collapse.
Apple’s revenue had sharply declined from $11 billion in 1995 to just $6 billion in 1998
(Nguoi Thanh Cong, 2024), pushing it close to bankruptcy. According to the Business
Magnets (2024), to handle this situation, Jobs decided to take a $150 million investment
from Microsoft, which increased critical cash flow and reassured stakeholders about the
company’s potential. Another challenge that Jobs faced was Apple’s complex product line,
which had lots of unneeded items and lacked innovation. He solved this problem by
streamlining the company’s products into 4 main categories based on a 2x2 matrix and
launching the iMac in 1998 – an impressive and user-friendly computer that stood out from
traditional designs (The Business Magnets team, 2024). This key change helped Apple
focus on more high-quality products. Moreover, Apple’s brand image was greatly lost due
to the rise of rivals at that time. Jobs revived it through the brilliant campaign “Think
Different”, successfully repositioning Apple as a symbol of creativity and innovation. These
bold strategic shifts allowed Apple to come back to the race and reclaim industry
leadership.
Tim Cook
When Tim Cook succeeded Steve Jobs as Apple’s CEO in 2011, he faced tremendous
pressure to run the company perfectly while using his own leadership style (Habib, 2023).
Rather than applying Jobs’s style, Tim Cook concentrated on achieving strong business
outcomes and gradually building investor trust via long-term financial commitment. To
deal with innovation fatigue, he decided to expand Apple’s product line, introduced
alternative items like the iPad Mini, and bought 23 companies, including Beats Electronics
(the largest one at the time), which later became a critical move in Tim Cook’s early
leadership (Luckerson, 2014). Cook also diversified beyond Apple’s traditional hardware
by improving Apple Music (from Beats Electronics) and Apple Pay, allowing Apple to
effectively compete in an always-changing technological era. In Luckerson’s article “4 Ways
Tim Cook has changed Apple as CEO”, he mentioned another pressure was Apple losing its
investor confidence after the succession. Therefore, Cook launched a $90 billion share
buyback program, which was a vital financial decision during that sensitive period. In
conclusion, Tim Cook chose to strategically adapt to market changes instead of trying to
revolutionize as Jobs did, which mostly maintained Apple’s value and directed it to a
service-centered system.
=> Their leadership styles show two different ways of managing change - one creative and
risky, the other steady and sustainable. This comparison shows how leadership affects not
just the company’s innovation development but also its revolution to stay strong over time.
Result: Thus, Apple Inc has made significant changes over time, with the transformational
leadership: Steve Jobs – the person who achieved the foundation and created backthroughs
around the world, Tim Cook – the person expanding the market and optimizing the empire.
When Steve Jobs returned to Apple and the company leader crossed the brink of
bankruptcy, the revenue peaked at $108 billion after the iPhone’s launch (Apple Annual
Reports). Moreover, he quickly negotiated with Microsoft to invest $150 million in the
Macworld 1997 event and launched the “Think Different” campaign to recreate the image
of the company and a series of brands that make up the brand such as iMac, iPod, iPhone,
or App Store. Following that prosperity, Apple’s revenue grew from $X in 2011 to over
$391 billion in 2024 under the leadership of CEO Tim Cook (Apple Annual Reports). Tim
Cook has expanded the product portfolio outside the iPhone including Apple Watch,
AirPods, Apple Pay, Apple TV+, helping company reduce the dependence on single product
line; in addition, he focused on developing services segments such as iCloud, Apple Music,
Apple Arcade turning into a large and stable source of revenue, contributing tens of billions
of dollars each year. (Kahney, 2019) Especially, according to information from Apple Inc’s
website, company claims to neutralize carbon all supply chains by 2030.
Comparison: The two executives have made great success with Apple Inc, while Jobs has
introduced revolutionary products that reshaped consumer behaviour, towards simplifying
and integrating all elements from hardware, software to design, was less receptive to
external input or partnerchips, Cook has helped Apple grow sustainably, making Apple a
trillion USD company, although not introducing many breakthrough products such as Steve
Jobs; besides, he faced the pressure from the FBI to ask for the iPhone unlock, protecting
the user privacy, he oriented Apple to become an ethical safety company in the digital era.
(Kim, 2020) Steve Jobs focused on product innovation, with a breakthrough but less
interested in organized morality, leading to many employees in China with pressure and
suicide. In contrast, Tim Cook realized and worked in favor of leadership, focusing on
morality and listening to customer demands. (Kim, 2020)
Reflection: Technology is easily outdated if digital brands do not upgrade and innovate
their technique; as a result, brands need to change constantly to keep up with and
anticipate technological trends. While various methods are used by many companies to
extend the consumer market, Apple concentrates on the role of executives to lead the
brand effectively by the long-term vision and the abilities of management. Under Steve Jobs
leadership, Apple has created many breakthrough product enhancements; meanwhile, Tim
Cook has maintained the top position and sustained the developement. Leadership is not
only about outperforming competitior, but also about changing innovation and keeping up
with long-term market trends.
Conclusion: In conclusion, with the relentless pursuit of changing, the Apple brand has
obtained many notable achievements in the technological market. When a company is
guided by visionary leaders with organizational changes, it can stay successful for a long
time – a valuable lesson for other brands in this fast-changing industries.

4. REFERENCES
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