Introduction
Organizational leadership is a multidimensional position that requires skill in budgeting, timekeeping, and an awareness of the institution’s goals and principles. It involves a wider range of responsibilities than conventional management. In addition, corporate governance promotes the core purpose, sets the comprehensive strategy, and motivates individuals to use their abilities to achieve objectives compatible with the growth tactic and, eventually, the leader’s aspiration. In establishments where it is implemented, a competent institutional leader conveys that workers’ efforts are valued, as each function is essential to the enterprise’s overall advancement (Bratton, 2020). The leader shares the company’s purpose and exemplifies the desired interaction, ethics, inclusiveness, and respect for each person. This essay compares the key elements of Apple, Inc. and Walmart, Inc.’s leadership strategies. In addition, based on a contrast of the firm leadership strategies of the two entities, I will select which corporation I would choose to serve as a future laborer.
Key Aspects of Organizations’ Leadership Strategies
Apple, Inc.
Apple’s management style incorporates democratic, reticent, and inventive executive tactics. Compared to the authoritarian style of Apple co-founder and former CEO Steve Jobs, the present CEO, Tim Cook, practices and advocates a democratic approach. The democratic establishment is an administrative administration methodology that apportions authority and control between executives and their staff to encourage the participation of personnel in corporate decision-making mechanisms (Porfírio et al., 2021). It was essential for Cook’s top leadership to agree with the company’s strategy formulation.
In addition, since taking the CEO post, Cook has afforded the new product design team additional autonomy, reducing his direct involvement in the design process. Additionally, Tim Cook has been lauded for his honest but successful leadership approach. Quiet directors have gained their team’s respect; they exude an adequate level of authority and are empathetic, sympathetic, and receptive (Chang et al., 2021). They are affable, accessible, and engaging; they explore horizontally rather than hierarchically and have a non-hierarchical mindset. Cook, dubbed the silent manager by industry observers, is a stark contrast to his extroverted counterpart, Steve Jobs.
Finally, Apple’s creativity is another essential component of its leadership tactics. Combining technology developments and unique designs in the manufacturing of the iMac, for instance, transformed desktop gaming. In succeeding years, Job’s transformative leadership was essential in fostering innovation, including creating the legendary iPod, which commanded the market sector for MP3 music players. This suggests that the dynamic managerial strategy was effective at the personal and company levels in encouraging innovation. The establishment of a captivating and enduring culture that inspires the dedication and loyalty of outstanding individuals is reliant on an empowering strategic framework. Legutko (2020) argues that transformational administrators promote imaginative employee attitudes constructively. Given Apple Inc.’s accomplishment in directing innovation as a primary commercial engine, it is clear that the company’s leadership was extraordinarily effective.
Walmart Inc.
Walmart’s leadership approach emphasizes the empowerment of others. The firm employs effective training strategies and mentorship initiatives to guide its employees. The personnel and merchants possess the most desirable qualities that can propel achievement. At the corporation, supervision is handled seriously to guarantee that diverse structures, resources, and procedures are built to complement any executed institutional tactic. Customers and personnel are always requested to provide feedback. Such evaluations uncover fresh modifications and enhancements that can make every technique viable (Nilufer, 2020). These metrics demonstrate that governance is indispensable for developing and implementing the most preferred corporate strategy.
Additionally, teamwork among senior managers is an essential element of the company’s leadership approach. This indicates that departmental officials interact to develop the most effective methods and achieve great outcomes. Leaders guide their subordinates in analyzing the fluctuating expectations and demands of various clients. Management of Wal-Mart interacts to increase awareness of the identified business plan’s aims, goals, and benefits. The company recruits capable leaders to support the suggested plan (Nilufer, 2020). The organization’s administrators determine the exact duties and functions that each player must carry out. By doing so, the organization finds it easier to accomplish every strategic plan.
Lastly, the entity’s leadership addresses each new plan with the utmost importance. Administrators at Walmart instill a feeling of importance by describing to staff members why the current plan is essential (Nilufer, 2020). They cooperate with the staff and instruct them on how Walmart may gain from the plan. The professionals use several modeling techniques throughout the implementation phase, such as Kurt Lewin’s paradigm (Nilufer, 2020). The concepts are utilized to detect gaps and suggest new procedures, eventually ingrained in the company culture.
Analysis
Based on the above comparison of Apple and Walmart’s key components of their leadership strategies, I would choose to work at Apple Inc. instead of Walmart. The motivating factor for selecting Apple over Walmart are enumerated below. The company’s democratic management ensures that employees’ views and needs are heard and addressed. The participative approach will enhance the institution’s culture of worker involvement, dedication, and job happiness and forge closer ties between employees and the CEO. This is contrary to Walmart’s approach, which is more top-down, where the departmental heads make decisions regarding issues within the firm. What motivates me is that the company appreciates employee creativity and innovation, hence encouraging. Apple’s dynamic management technique fosters innovation at individual and organizational levels. As such, this aspect would be important in helping me utilize my inventiveness at full capacity, thus; helping the company move forward.
By allowing and supporting employee motivation through training, the company encourages imaginativeness among its workers. In business, originality may help members solve challenges, produce new ideas, and, most importantly, show initiative. If employees are empowered to be artistic and feel comfortable discussing ideas, these characteristics can foster innovation and lead to the development of modern techniques that fill market shortages. To turn this aspect into my competitive advantage, I will endeavor to make innovation a key focus, cultivate a creative environment, and keep abreast of developing recruitment, career, and IT sector trends. By having a competitive edge, my chances of promotion and being assigned to responsibilities that require my capabilities will be higher.
Conclusion
In conclusion, organizational leadership strategies play a critical role in the success of an organization. Moreover, it dictates the relationship between the top management and a firm’s employees. As discussed within the paper, there exist distinct elements in Apple and Walmart’s leadership approaches. While Apple applies democratic, innovative, and quiet administration methodologies in its management tactics, Walmart incorporates top-down employee empowerment and urgency in implementing new plans in its governance design. Having evaluated the two companies, I settled on Apple as the preferred company as I feel it has the element, of appreciation of staff creativity, which makes it admirable. I will transform ingenuity into competitiveness by prioritizing innovation, fostering a creative atmosphere, and keeping ahead of evolving employment, profession, and IT industry developments.
References
Bratton, J. (Ed.). (2020). Organizational leadership. Sage.
Chang, T., Chou, S. Y., & Han, B. (2021). Silent leaders in the workplace: Forms of leadership silence, attributions of leadership silence, and accuracy of attributions. International Journal of Business Communication, 58(4), 490-515.
Legutko, B. J. (2020). An exploration of authentic, servant, transactional, and transformational leadership styles in Fortune 500 CEO letters. Journal of Leadership Studies, 14(2), 44-51.
Nilufer, N. (2020). Critical assessment on business strategy from aviation to retail industry during COVID-19 Pandemic: A Walmart Case. International Journal of Business Ecosystem & Strategy, 2(2), 8-14.
Porfírio, J. A., Carrilho, T., Felício, J. A., & Jardim, J. (2021). Leadership characteristics and digital transformation. Journal of Business Research, 124, 610-619.