Microsoft and Apple operate in the same market and have the highest shares in it, competing for decades. While there is a strong imprint on their strategies left by Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, the companies continue to change and adapt to the modern reality. Understanding how this process occurs may help others to understand the success of these IT giants. In this essay, the leadership styles applied at Microsoft Corporation and Apple, Inc. will be analyzed and compared.
Microsoft operates in a market that benefits greatly from new ideas. Its current CEO, Satya Nadella, promotes creativity and cooperation to ensure that employees have high morale and motivation to outperform the company’s competitors (Prakash, Bisla, and Rastogi, 2021). In turn, Apple, Inc. also worked on improving its position through organizational strategy. The leadership style of Apple has to remain focused on innovation as both customers’ and employees’ perceptions of its products have shifted over the past decade (Pattnaik et al., 2022). As of now, both companies choose their leadership approaches as defined by the best practices that have been identified via big data analysis. This method led them both to adopt a transformational style (Pattnaik et al., 2022). There is a clear understanding that internal motivation plays a key role in the IT industry.
In conclusion, both companies had differences in leadership approaches in the past, yet they have adopted a transformational style as of late due to its impact on a firm’s innovative capabilities. Their decisions are dictated by the most optimal way to invent new products. Transformational leaders are able to nurture an atmosphere of inclusivity, cooperation, and independent thinking. These aspects are crucial in ensuring that employees provide a steady flow of creative ideas.
Reference List
Pattnaik, R. et al. (2022) ‘Leadership in the age of digitalization’, Journal of Positive School Psychology, 6(3), pp. 5672–5683. Web.
Prakash, D., Bisla, M. and Rastogi, S.G. (2021) ‘Understanding authentic leadership style: The Satya Nadella Microsoft approach’, Open Journal of Leadership, 10(2), pp. 95–109.