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Apple's Success and Jobs'
Succession
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Few would argue that much of Apple's success over the last six
years can be attributed to Steve Jobs. He gave Apple a strong
mandate, pared down the product line, and really helped focus the
company on delivering OS X. Without these three things, it's
entirely possible that Apple wouldn't be in as good shape as it is
today.
Jobs didn't get everything right, and the
Cube is a testament to his inability to turn everything into
gold, but for the most part Steve Jobs has been good for the company.
I'm not exactly a huge Steve Jobs fan, but his influence and control
over Apple are undeniable, and he does deserve a good amount of
praise for what he's done.
Jobs' influence would appear so great that it can be hard to
separate the man from the company. Jobs and Apple are entwined quite
tightly in the minds of Apple users as well as others. Much like Bill
Gates is Microsoft, Steve Jobs is Apple.
While this is a fairly benign thing, it is not always healthy.
With Jobs so closely identified with Apple and, perhaps more
dangerously, with the success of Apple, much depends on his continued
existence as CEO of Apple.
Apple without Jobs has long been considered a bit of a
failure.
What if Steve Jobs ever left Apple? Perhaps he'll get tired of the
computer game and decide to raise kumquats. Or maybe his helicopter
will crash on a trip between Apple and Pixar. For whatever reason,
could Apple survive and thrive without Steve Jobs?
The key to the continued success of Apple without Steve Jobs (long
may he rule) would be a strong succession plan. There's no doubt that
Apple could move along well enough for a short time without Jobs at
the helm as current projects played themselves out. However, after
projects blessed by Jobs wrapped up, a new CEO would have to be ready
with a new plan.
Apple's succession plan is hardly a public document. The closest
reference I could find was a passing mention that Apple had excellent
corporate governance, which usually included an effective CEO
succession plan (TI,
Apple Get Pats on Back). Apple's Compensation Committee and
Corporate Governance Guidelines documents also make passing reference
to succession planning.
While a succession plan would make the utmost sense, Jobs does not
seem like the type to groom a potential competitor. CEOs must be
brutally honest with themselves when considering a successor, and the
fact that many companies tank quite badly after a CEO leaves is a
good indication that sitting in the CEO's chair is not conducive to
letting others have a turn or even entertaining the thought of
letting others have a turn.
Then again, Jobs has mellowed in recent years. In perhaps the
biggest example of learning from past mistakes, Apple cozied up to HP
and, gasp, licensed their technology. It's not too big a stretch to
think that Steve Jobs sees the wisdom in a good succession plan.
The succession plan at Apple may be more important that at most
other companies. As I mentioned, Apple success is (rightly or
wrongly) attributed to Steve Jobs. The stock and the company would
suffer a nasty shock if he ever left without a clear plan of action.
Stephen Van
Esch is the founder and president of
the
E-learning Foundry, an online training
resource for Mac users. Steve loves the Mac and is doubly bilingual,
since he's also fluent in Windows and French.
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