All Eyes on Tim Cook to Do Jobs’ Job

posted November 5, 2011 / No Comments

Tim Cook, the brain behind Steve Jobs and the leading man behind the scenes has big boots to fill after the sad departure of .....

Tim Cook, the brain behind Steve Jobs and the leading man behind the scenes has big boots to fill after the sad departure of the legendary technology inventor, Steve Jobs. Tim Cook has already introduced a few changes to undo the mistakes of his predecessor. His approach is more of an administrator than an innovator. However, he has served as Apple’s CEO in the past and has not made very drastic changes. Cook has already seen a lot both good and bad in his short tenure, including a great iPhone 4S launch and former CEO Steve Jobs’ tragic death.

Cook has had the American dream of his own, belonging not to a well-to-do family; he served at many big companies at various managerial posts, before joining Apple back in 1998 as Senior Vice President of Worldwide Operations. He is credited with reducing the inventory levels of Apple, streamlining the company’s supply chain. He was promoted to Chief Operating Officer as the year 2007 started. He led Apple as CEO two times before when Jobs had health problems, after becoming the company’s new head when Jobs resigned on August 24, 2011.

Cook has introduced a few changes to the technology giant Apple with his more typical CEO approach rather than an innovator like Jobs. He has divided Apple’s education division into sales and marketing groupings, initiating to put iAds and change the organizational culture in Apple. Unlike Jobs, Cook has introduced a charity program that donated $10,000 in September. According to a Washington Post, Cook is also thinking of getting dividends or a stock buyback unlike Jobs.

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Cook was also described, by many students at Auburn University, as very humble when he met students at his former university’s spring 2010 Commencement, back in May 2010. Speaking on the occasion, he had acknowledged ‘intuition’ as the driving force behind his success at Apple and the decision to leave Compaq for Apple, termed silly by his friends as Compaq was a big name those days.

Cook is also sending more emails to many employees, which the aloof Jobs did not do. In fact, Cook is more frank with the employees than Jobs. Ryan Tate of Gawker.com claims that Jobs was “rude, dismissive, hostile, spiteful…” and treated his employees with “bullying, manipulation and fear”. On the other hand, the friendly Cook has addressed his employees as a “Team” in many of the emails, he forwarded that has been leaked recently. Cook is reported to have acknowledged Jobs as his mentor and not changing much at Apple in his mails. “I love Apple and I am looking forward to diving into my new role,” says Cook in an email sent in August.

Some people suggest that Cook is not a task master like his former master Jobs, but is more open. After taking up the role of CEO the third time and this time for good, Cook claimed he will not change Apple, but he has tinkered a bit with the company. Although, Apple has seen an increase in net income by 54%, but it has not performed as expected in iPhone sales. Like Jobs, Cook also has had his health issues as he had a multiple sclerosis scare, but he doesn’t share the same approach. So far we can conclude that Cook is a better Executive with amazing administrative expertise, but has not proven yet to be as productive with Jobs’ innovative qualities, as Cook himself thinks of Jobs as “Irreplaceable!” Let’s see how the “story behind the story” (as Mike Homer described Cook) unfolds.