#27 GABRIEL, Venus D.

November 22, 2017

BSAc 4 WF 3:00-4:30

In 2007, Fortune named Steve Jobs the “Most Powerful Person in Business.” In 2009, the magazine
named him “CEO of the Decade.” Jobs, CEO of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL), has transformed no
fewer than five different industries: computers, Hollywood movies, music, retailing, and wireless
phones. His Apple II ushered in the personal computer era in 1977, and the graphical interface of the
Macintosh in 1984 set the standard that all other PCs emulated. His company Pixar defined the
computer-animated feature film. The iPod, iTunes, and iPhone revolutionized how we listen to
music, how we pay for and receive all types of digital content, and what we expect of a mobile
phone.

Jobs has done it by drawing on all six types of power: legitimate, expert, reward, information,
coercive, and referent. His vision and sheer force of will helped him succeed as a young unknown.
But the same determination that helps him succeed has a darker side—an autocracy and drive for
perfection that can make him tyrannical.

 Legitimate power. As CEO of Apple, Jobs enjoys unquestioned legitimate power.

 Expert power. His success has built a tremendous amount of expert power. Jobs is
renowned for being able to think of markets and products for needs that people didn’t even
know they had.

 Reward power. As one of the richest individuals in the United States, Jobs has reward power
both within and outside Apple. He also can reward individuals with his time and attention.

 Information power. Jobs has been able to leverage information in each industry he has
transformed.

 Coercive power. Forcefulness is helpful when tackling large, intractable problems, says
Stanford social psychologist Roderick Kramer, who calls Jobs one of the “great intimidators.”
Robert Sutton notes that “the degree to which people in Silicon Valley are afraid of Jobs is
unbelievable.” Jobs is known to berate people to the point of tears.

 Referent power. But at the same time, “He inspires astounding effort and creativity from his
people.” Employee Andy Herzfeld, the lead designer of the original Mac operating system,
says Jobs imbues employees with a “messianic zeal” and can make them feel that they’re
working on the greatest product in the world.

Those who work with him say Jobs is very hard to please. However, they also say that this means
that Apple employees work hard to win his approval. “He has the ability to pull the best out of
people,” says Cordell Ratzlaff, who worked closely with Jobs on OS X for 18 months. “I learned a
tremendous amount from him.” Jobs’s ability to persuade and influence has come to be called a
“reality distortion field.” As Bud Tribble put it, “In his presence, reality is malleable.

He can convince anyone of practically anything.” Hertzfeld describes his style as “a confounding
mélange of a charismatic rhetorical style, an indomitable will, and an eagerness to bend any fact to
fit the purpose at hand.” The influence works even when you’re aware of it, and it works even on
“enemies”: “No other high-tech impresario could walk into the annual sales meeting of one of his
fiercest rivals and get a standing ovation,” which is what Jobs got in 2002 from Intel Corporation (the
ally of Apple archrival Microsoft in the partnership known as Wintel: Windows + Intel).
According to the study entitled “Influence of organizational politics on employees' performance: a
case of Apple Inc,” it has highlighted certain issues in Apple Inc. that might be linked to
organizational politics such as unreliable pay system, as it was deduced that these issues can
reduce employees’ level of commitment and job performance. This statement was further proven in
the finding which revealed that employees who fall victim to organizational politics usually
experience changes (negative) on their job performance and level of commitment. It was also
revealed in the finding that emotional intelligence and workplace spirituality help to mitigate the
negative effects perceived organizational politics. Thus, it was later recommended that Apple Inc.
should design training and development programs that incorporate skills on how to improve
employees’ emotional intelligence and workplace spirituality in order to reduce the negative impacts
of perceived organizational politics.

In conclusion, it can be stated that politics in organizational system is a serious issue that managers
should look into, as it directly influences the level of commitment and job performance of employees
in the system. This is because, as reduction in job performance will result in reduction in overall
organizational output, while a reduction on the level of commitment will increase turnover intention
and result in numerous loses (both human and capital resources) to the company.

According to an essay entitled “Effects of organizational politics on organizations,” it concluded that

organizational politics refers to influence tactics that others perceive to be self-serving behaviours at
the expense of others and sometimes contrary to the interests of the entire organization on work
unit. Apple's CEO should have more control over the workers whose Steve Jobs is actually to serve
as a special adviser and raise morale among Apple employees and customers, but he has used
political tactics to spent more time advising the CEO of the company. Organizational politics is more
prevalent when scarce resources are allocated using complex and ambiguous decisions and when
the organizational tolerates or rewards political behaviour. Steve Jobs with high need for personal
power and strong Machiavellian values have a higher propensity to use political tactics. Steve Jobs
is very good as an employee because he has sold shares of 1.5 million and increases the company's
name Apple. He actually had to use political tactics since his intentions are not sincere and honest in
selling their shares, this action caught the attention of Apple's board directors as a CEO is not so
good.

Organizational politics can be minimized by providing clear rules for resource allocation, establishing
a free flow of information using education and involvement during organizational change, supporting
team norms and a corporate culture that discourage dysfunctional politics, and having leaders who a
role model organizational citizenship rather than political savvy. CEO of Apple would also need to
evaluate the characteristics of an individual whether it is honest or sincere in a given job before hire
or promote someone.