Initially, Steve Jobs was worried that he had missed the MP3 bandwagon. Jobs was fixated on developing video editing software and was oblivious to the MP3 phenomena. Jobs took the MP3 phenomena information and crafted a strategy on how Apple could enter the MP3 market. Jobs’ strategy began by bringing together the right people to tackle the iPod project including Jeff Robbin from SoundStep and his MP3 software, an iPod development team, and an iTunes development team. Bringing together the right people, with the right information, and access to technology enabled Jobs to take the iPod from inception to product delivery in 9 months.
2. Describe the types of information employees at an Apple store require and compare it to the types of information the executives at Apple’s corporate headquarters require. Are there any links between these two types of information?
Staff employees at an Apple store will look at data – how much is a certain item, how long is an item on sale for, what hours are they working, when are their days off, etc. Executives at Apple’s corporate headquarters require information – do we have enough inventory to meet demand, are prices too high or too low, what is employee turnover per store, where should we build a new store, should we close a store, etc. Of course, store employees use information to do their jobs also, it is just at a store level, not a corporate level. Executives require information from many stores and the volumes of data they use to gain information are significantly larger than store employees.
3. Identify the type of information culture that would have the greatest negative impact on Apple’s operations.
Information-Functional Culture Employees use information as a means of exercising influence or power over others. For example, manager in sales refuses to share information with marketing. This causes marketing to need the sales manager’s input each time a new sales strategy is developed. With this type of culture it would be difficult for Apple to gain visibility into its overall operations.
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