Steve Jobs, the CEO of the Cupertino based Apple Inc., we are told, has just had another surgery. The WSJ confirms that he had a liver transplant and is well on his way to recovery. And so begins a fresh round of speculations and apprehensions of what will happen to Apple after Steve Jobs.
The fear that the Apple may rot
The paranoia amongst the general investor community seems so deep rooted that many newspaper reports (see here for MSNBC and the LA Times to name just two) actually spend close to half of their words illustrating in detail what his ailment is and what are the chances of his full recovery! Frankly all this would be mildly humorous if it wasn’t so off the mark.
Sure the health of a CEO at any company is of great importance. Especially if we are to believe that good leadership is as much to do with the individual, as it has to do with systems and methods he uses. And hence his/her absence will have a materiel effect on the workings of an organization. But surely none of us are naïve enough to believe that a world-class company like Apple has no plans in place for a scenario where the top leadership may not be there. Also if we are to question the very existence of Apple without Jobs, what does that really say about him as a CEO?
Jobs well done
There is no doubt that Steve Jobs has had a successful run. An analysis of several Silicon Valley based companies over the last five years shows that Jobs is by far the most successful at creating shareholder value as well as delighting customers with new gizmos. While Apple stock has appreciated by 727.77% in the past five years, Cisco, Sun Microsystems and Microsoft have each shown losses of –19.25%, -48.02% and –15.10% respectively for the same period. Only Apple’s smart phone rival Palm, is in the green with a positive return of nearly 40%. Most of this success at Apple can be attributed to the iPod and more recently the iPhone. Both considered to be brainchild of Jobs and aggressively promoted by him. He has lead the design, launch and promotion of these products with a fervor rarely seen and this level of personal involvement has made his personality inseparable from the image of Apple as a company. But is that really the case?
Deliberately planted
Apple has traditionally been tight lipped about its new products and strategies. In a hotly contested market such as this, it is perhaps suicidal to reveal names of key product team members because competitors can exploit them. Therefore all of the Apple communication, identity and product imagery has centered around and emanated from the one source- Steve Jobs. This has helped to give its new launches the added zing of mystery and created Jobs as an icon for the gizmo freaks of the world to follow. The PR machinery at Apple has perhaps deliberately cultivated him as the ultimate gadget guy who constantly churns out these amazing products. But why do we forget that it took more than just Jobs to make these legends come true? There are many who must be given credit, including product designers, marketing teams and the whole machinery that it takes to pull off a success story like this. Undoubtedly Jobs provided the vision but it was a team that executed on it.
Time to chew faster
Health is forcing Steve Jobs to retirement a little earlier than he planned. And this is not the first time his presence at the company has come under question. The 2007 stock grant scandal had raised these concerns even before. In this in-depth article about succession planning at Apple the writer talks about the steps the company is taking to mange this struggle. This piece was written in January of 2009 but as we edge close to June, the steps seem to be ineffectual. There is as yet no clearly recognizable alternative to the face of Apple and Jobs’ health continues to severely effect speculations about the future of the company. If it is to overcome the present hurdle Apple must divert from its current strategy and expedite the process of bringing forth alternative faces and names with whom the investors and the public at large can identify.
A lesson to be learnt from Bill Gates this time
Logically speaking the success of Apple is a combination of Jobs’ vision and a job well done by the team at the company. The infrastructure and framework for its continued market leadership exists. All it needs to do is leverage it with greater speed and as Bill Gates did at Microsoft, Jobs must ease in a transition while he has the time
