The Apple Way

Features

• Cover Type: Hard Cover with 224 pages
• Published by: McGraw-Hill
• Edition: 1st Edition December 19, 2005
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 0072262338
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-0072262339
• Book Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 1.1 inches
• Weighs: 15.2 ounces

Product Description


Reveals the master plan behind Apple’s revolutionary business model

“We don’t underestimate people.Rather than making a far inferior product for a hundred dollars less, we gave the people the product that they want and that will serve them for years, even though it’s a little pricier. People are smart; they figure these things out.” --Steve Jobs

The Apple Way divulges the secrets and management principles that keep Apple far ahead of the curve. Find out how to implement these and other winning strategies in your organization to trigger a technological and stylistic revolution of your own:

• Make the customer and the product king
• Balance manufacturing with delivery logistics
• Motivate and inspire people outside the company to do your marketing and public relations
• Invent new distribution channels
• Decide on your company image and stick to your guns
• Leapfrog the competition
• Learn from both successes and missteps

Back Cover Copy


With more than ten million iPods sold to date, an unprecedented 250 percent stock value increase in just one year, and a net income increase of 530 percent, Apple has skyrocketed to dizzying heights of success. But the ride has not always been smooth, and the company’s legendary cofounder, Steve Jobs, has seen it all. From its early unveiling of the unreliable, clunky $9,995 “Lisa” computer in 1983, to its recent staggeringly successful breakthrough product, the iPod, this company has not only reinvented itself many times over, but it also has revolutionized the entire computer industry. What are its secrets? Find out in The Apple Way.

In today’s fast-moving technology world, Apple has learned--often through hard-won wisdom--that you can’t do it by yourself, no matter how smart you are. Markets move quickly, technologies grow complex, and too many intelligent people invest too much time and money in innovation. The Apple Way reveals the secrets and management principles that keep Apple ahead of the curve--including innovative product development, cutting-edge marketing strategies, sleek design and packaging, and a high-performance corporate culture. You’ll discover how Apple combines consistency with continuity and follow-through, and balances vision with practicality.

Follow Apple’s example and learn how to:

• Make the customer king
• Make the product king
• Break the marketing mold
• Build the learning organization

Although Apple is a technology company, this is not a story for computer buffs, but rather a book for managers who want to learn valuable lessons from both Apple’s mistakes and triumphs--all of which have led to its continuing evolution and ultimate meteoric rise to success. Because, for Steve Jobs and the visionaries at Apple, finding the future isn’t enough--you also have to deliver it.

“We don’t underestimate people.Rather than making a far inferior product for a hundred dollars less, we gave the people the product that they want and that will serve them for years, even though it’s a little pricier. People are smart; they figure these things out.” --Steve Jobs

Reveals the master plan behind Apple’s revolutionary business model

The Apple Way divulges the secrets and management principles that keep Apple far ahead of the curve. Find out how to implement these and other winning strategies in your organization to trigger a technological and stylistic revolution of your own:

• Make the customer and the product king
• Balance manufacturing with delivery logistics
• Motivate and inspire people outside the company to do your marketing and public relations
• Invent new distribution channels
• Decide on your company image and stick to your guns
• Leapfrog the competition
• Learn from both successes and missteps

Reader Reviews
Whether or not Apple is "the world's most innovative company" is debatable but it has certainly been among the most innovative and, as its recent successes such as iPod suggest, it continues to sustain a culture in which innovative thinking thrives. In response to a question at the 1998 Seybold Conference, Steve Jobs had this to say: "The reason a lot of us are at Apple is to make the best computers in the world, and make the best software in the world. We know that we've got some stuff that [is] the best right now. But it can be so much better. So we don't come to work every day thinking, `Well, when are we going to turn Apple around?' We come to work every day knowing that we know how to make better products. So that's what's driving us. The turnaround [which began a year before when Jobs returned to Apple] is just one milestone on a long road, and it's not for us to declare. Somebody else can decide when that happens. But we're out to make the best products in the world. And we'll sleep well when we do that." The inclusion of "way" in this book's title refers both to the sequence of developments since Apple's founding, and, to how it conducts its business. What we have in this volume is Cruikshank's analysis of a specific mindset in action, one which suggests a series of 12 management lessons. He devotes a separate chapter to each and then summarizes what are sub-lessons. For example, Chapter 8, "Getting It Out There," which stresses the importance of consistency when dealing with retail channels you don't control: 1. Spend the time and money to develop a sales force that's (at least) as good as your product. 2. Retailing experts are any other experts. Sometimes they get it really wrong. 3. Be nice to nerds, but don't let them do your marketing. 4. It's nice to be able to call the shots. But it won't last. 5. Move that inventory, based on better numbers! "If -- like fish and computers -- your inventory goes bad real fast, you have to move those goods ASAP." As Jason Jennings once suggested, "If it's DOA, bury it." 6. Forget about "not invented here" but only steal ideas from the best. 7. If all else fails, sell it directly. "The more special your product, the more likely you'll have to sell it yourself." 8. Create a shopping experience which defines the buyer at least as much as it does the seller. "The is also called `lifestyle shopping': Let the customer validate himself or herself simply by [making the purchase]." Cruikshank provides a comparable set of lessons and sub-lessons at the conclusion of each of the other eleven chapters. I especially appreciate this device because (a) it reiterates his key points and (b) facilitates, indeed expedites periodic review of those same points later. As indicated earlier, I am unconvinced that Apple is "the world's most innovative company" but its sometimes painful process of evolution offers a wealth of "lessons" on which Cruikshank focuses with a lively curiosity and an entertaining writing style. Those who share my high regard for this book are urged to check out Geoffrey Moore's Dealing with Darwin, Clayton Christensen and co-authors' Seeing What's Next, and Thomas Davenport's Process Innovation, Working Knowledge, and most recently published Thinking for a Living as well as John Howells' The Management of Innovation & Technology, Michael George and co-authors' Fast Innovation, Vijay Govindarajan and Chris Trimble's ten Rules for Strategic Innovators, and one of the most influential books ever written on this subject, Eric Drexler's Engines of Creation: The Coming Era of Nanotechnology, first published in 1987. In certain respects, Drexler's insights are even more relevant and more valuable now than ever before. Comment | | (Report this)