Apple can't innovate under Tim," "The company needed a low-cost iPhone to thwart the progress of Google's Android, "Cook never could replicate the Jobs magic"-and therefore that Apple never again would be "insanely great." These are some of the over-hearings that Tim Cook has to go through when he took over as Apple's chief executive six weeks before Steve Jobs died, in October 2011.
•Cook has worked under Jobs for a very long time and he has known and accepted him as a great leader and manager. However, being a manager and replacing Jobs was a duty which required a lot of critical thinking. Cook had a plan in mind to continue the progress in research that Jobs has already been doing, however, adding improvements that were not possible at the time of Jobs. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg acquired WhatsApp and it turned out to be very successful and profitable for the organization. However, during Jobs time, it was not possible because Jobs believed that perfection is created, not acquired.
•Cook has learned to block all the discouraging compliments coming from fellows and media that its hard to continue the 15 year old legacy of Steve Jobs and he has focused on finishing all the tasks that Jobs started and at the same time, creating his own. The significant introductions during his time include Apple Watch or new services like Apple Pay or the $3 billion acquisition of headphone maker and music service Beats last year. The stocks has soared from a split-adjusted $54 to a recent $126 since Jobs died, translating into a market capitalization well north of $700 billion, the first company to cross that level.
•While Jobs frowned on distributing cash to shareholders, Cook has distributed $92.6 billion in dividends and buybacks which has improved his image and Apple's image at the Wall Street.
•Cook has differentiated himself from Jobs in myriad ways, and not merely with his willingness to speak out on societal issues. Cook, who joined Apple from Compaq Computer in 1998, came from an operations background and had spent the formative years of his career at IBM. At Apple that means he's not what company executives like to call a "subject-matter expert" on such critical areas as product development, design, and marketing. Consequently he behaves much more like a coach who trusts his players than the manipulative mastermind Jobs was.
QUESTIONS:
1. What are the milestones that Apple has achieved under Cook's leadership ?
2. What are the leadership differences between Steve Jobs and Tim Cook ?
3. What are the three distinctive leadership qualities that Tim Cook has ?