Case Study Analysis Of Success And Failure: Comparative Essay On Apple And Nokia.

Organizational structure, culture, leadership, management style, and mode of communication of Apple and Nokia

The report is based on the case study analysis of two different organizations that has undergone success and failure. The report will examine factors that contributes towards success and downfall of the organizations selected. Organization selected for the report based on success is “Apple” and the organization selected based on failure is “Nokia”. Apple is an American based multinational corporation which specializes in online services, consumer electronics and software. It is one of the innovative and successful companies globally (Podolny & Hansen, 2020). On the other hand, Nokia is a telecommunication corporation which deals in information technology, telecommunication and consumer electronics. The main reason behind failure of Nokia is lack of innovation. It is now controlled by HMD global which is a company formed by former Nokia employees (Borhanuddin & Iqbal, 2016).

 The report is about making a comparative analysis between two companies and pointing out the aspects that are reason behind their success and failure. The report demonstrates details about organizational structure, culture, leadership, management style and mode of communication followed by both companies. Furthermore, impact of structure, management and culture is discussed on success and failure of organizations. Also, Strategic planning, recruitment, selection and performance management of both organizations are discussed along with recommendations.

Apple follows hierarchical organizational culture which involves divisions and proper corporate control. In traditional commercial enterprises, hierarchy is a structural component. The product-based groups within Apple like iOS and macOS, are stated to by divisional features. However the hierarchy is maintained, the weak functional matrix includes inter-divisional collaboration (Podolny & Hansen, 2020). The main elements contains: spoke and wheel hierarchy, product based divisions and weak functional matrix. The culture of Apple is focused on maintaining and creating innovation and creativity. Corporate culture is shaped to generate the highest promising environment for administration and success (Pathiranage, Jayatilake & Abeysekera, 2020).

The organizational structure of Nokia is horizontal which offers for more flexibility and faster communication crosswise departments. The products division is in charge of developing and handling the business's mobile device range, which supplies to all main customer segments. The main element of Nokia’s organizational culture includes flexibility and speed in decision making, openness, trust, equal opportunities and respect (Bhalodiya & Sagotia, 2018).

Apple makes use of broadcast media and print media to market its products in the market. Other communication strategies used by the company are: personal selling, public relations, direct marketing, point of purchase and digital media (Li, 2016). Apple has a well-thought-out communication strategy. Both internal and external communications are addressed in the plan. Inside, the company has a reversed pyramid-shaped flexible communication structure. Information is transmitted from the lower to the upper divisions. This enables the employees to make faster decision regarding product innovation.

Nokia adopts a variety to communicate externally. The strategies include advertisement, publicity, promotion, sales promotion, direct marketing and other communication strategies (Panigrahi, 2020).  For internal communication, Nokia implements social media as a mode to make employees interact with each other.

Tim Cook is the present CEO of Apple. The leadership and management style followed by him is democratic. This style assists everyone in the company to contribute towards organizational success. This does not imply that he relies on others for decision making rather he maintains open mind, weighs his alternatives and persuades other to follow him (Kim, 2020). Cook adopts some of the legendary practices of former CEO, Steve Jobs and developed a unique blend of his own leadership mantra of success.

Impact of organizational structure, culture, leadership, management style, and communication on success and failure

Nokia followed autocratic leadership style which was one of the biggest reasons behind its failure. It hindered innovation and did not let the company adapt digital transformation. Nokia makes use of 7-step approach management style to transform employees into leaders (Mauri, 2017). Nokia's transformation of leadership competence, turnaround of company performance, and re-establishment of a competitive market position has all been supported by a seven-step methodology.

One of the main features in Apple's success is its organisational structure. There are eleven managers of subdivisions reporting straight to Apple, Inc.'s CEO. Any choice made by Apple's top administrators is made promptly due to the straight - line method. It assists Apple in fast embracing any opportunities if management notices any missing clear product ideas (The Innovative Success: Apple, 2022).

Apple’s culture fosters creativity and innovation. The expertise, skills, and competencies of Apple employees are favoured by the company's management. Such feature of the corporate culture permits the organisation to guarantee sufficient innovation, particularly amongst staff involved in product formation and development (Podolny & Hansen, 2020).

Nokia’s failure includes poor leadership and ineffective organizational culture. Nokia's downfall is credited to a persistent bureaucracy that prevented it from responding, corrosive inner conflict, and a failure to see the significance of existence products such as the iPhone. Example of poor leadership in Nokia includes: Nokia launched the Symbian operating system after analysing marketplace dynamics. Apple and Samsung had already established their places, so it was too late (Moccia, 2018). The Symbian operating system has had a difficult time getting momentum. Nokia's demise is primarily because of this factor.

Apple: Strategic planning of Apple is broad differentiation. Such broad strategy emphasizes on vital features that set the business and its information technology resolutions separately from the rivalry. Apple differentiates out in the industry due to its broad differentiation generic policy (Podolny & Hansen, 2020).

Recruitment and selection at Apple is based on direct interviews. This corporation's human resource department attempts to employ individuals with the best technical skill and capabilities. In order to expand its workforce, Apple Inc. makes use of both internal and external recruitment and selection processes. Interviewing is one of the selection procedures used, wherein job candidates or short-listed candidates have to pass a series of assessments in the form of a questionnaire (The Innovative Success, 2022).

Performance management practices followed by Apple are goals management, appraisals, peer appraisal, 360 degree feedback, coaching and mentoring (Podolny & Hansen, 2020).

Nokia: Strategic planning of Nokia was based on investing in future capabilities. However, incompetency in strategic decisions and lack of internal coordination has resulted in its failure. Nokia follows simple process for recruitment. A member of the talent acquisition team reaches the candidate to know about their objectives, background, and experience. After that, interview is scheduled.  After the interviews are completed, company will conduct a background/security check before extending an offer ("recruitment process with Nokia? | Nokia", 2022).

Performance management at Nokia are carried out by 360 degree feedback, training and development and appraisals.

Following are some of the recommendations for Apple:

• Apple must continue to innovate to maintain its position as tech-leader. It should take advantage of lucrative growth markets like 5G, electric cars and other.
• Apple must also enter into new market and can expand its music streaming services (Podolny & Hansen, 2020).
• Apart from smartphones, it should expand its product line.

Following are some of the recommendations for Nokia:

• Nokia must focus on innovation and invent products that can make it gain customers and shares in the market.
• Nokia should build partnerships and alliances with companies that have good reputation in the market (Panigrahi, 2020).

Conclusion 

The above discussion is about two companies that faced success and failure due to various factors in their organizational settings. It is evident from the analysis that leadership, management, organizational structure and culture can either make or break a company. For Apple, these have proved to be factors for competitive edge but for Nokia it has resulted in downturn. Hence, an organization must strategically implement its organizational settings to remain competent and solvent in the long run.  

References

Bhalodiya, N., & Sagotia, N. (2018). Reasons behind the failure of Nokia: a Case study of Telecom sector. International Journal of Management and Humaniti.

Borhanuddin, B., & Iqbal, A. (2016). Nokia: An historical case study. electronic Journal of Computer Science and Information Technology, 6(1).

How is the recruitment process with Nokia? | Nokia. (2022). Retrieved 12 March 2022, from https://nokia.career-inspiration.com/app/discussions/view/63874/how-is-the-recruitment-process-with-nokia

Kim, H. (2020). Comparison of Strategic Leadership: Steve Jobs and Tim Cook. Business and Management Studies, 6(3), 17-25.

Li, H. (2016). Profitability Assessment of Apple Company.225.

Mauri, T. (2017). Why leadership styles matter. Strategic Direction. 10(13), p,25-30.

Moccia, S. (2018). Failure of leadership. In Strategies in Failure Management (pp. 79-94). Springer, Cham.

Nokia Group Communications  (2022). Retrieved 12 March 2022, from https://www.nokia.com/networks/solutions/group-communications/

Panigrahi, C. M. A. (2020). Failure of Nokia–Lessons from Losers. Published in the book'Emerging Issues in Business Management'Published By: National Press Associates, New Delhi, ISBN, (978-81), 944303-9.

Pathiranage, Y. L., Jayatilake, L. V., & Abeysekera, R. (2020). A literature review on organizational culture towards corporate performance. International Journal of Management, Accounting and Economics, 7(9), 522-544.

Podolny, J. M., & Hansen, M. T. (2020). How Apple is organized for innovation. Harvard Business Review, 98(6), 86-95.

The Innovative Success: Apple, Inc (2022). Retrieved 12 March 2022, from https://mds.marshall.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1420&context=etd