Examine how the concepts of change and globalization have impacted on the organizational structure at a company of your choice

Apple is a company that manufactures electronic products like smartphones, laptops, music players, and other related products. Since many years ago, their goods have been sold successfully, and in that time, their net profit peaked at over $41 million.

2012: A significant change recently occurred within the organisation. Tim Cook has replaced Steve Jobs as the CEO.
According to the Panmore Institute, Apple has consistently used a conventional hierarchical structure. In a hierarchy, there are multiple tiers of command within the structure, and employees at lower levels answer to those at higher levels. This is connected to a lengthy chain of command, which might result in poor communication. Employees may feel less motivated to be highly engaged in their work in this type of organisational structure than they would in one with a flat structure because they tend to interact with managers and other employees much less at the top of the hierarchy.

By adopting this organisational structure at Apple, Jobs was able to direct business operations through direct reports. He was well known for wanting to maintain some level of control. Cook, the current CEO, has departed from the conventional hierarchy, slightly altering it. He leads less authoritarian than Jobs, which is one explanation for this. This is an illustration of an internal change that has an effect on the organisational structure and other aspects of business operations. It is well known that Cook is less aggressive and more concerned with the welfare of his employees, which means that communication between the various levels is likely to improve. But this might be because Jobs, when he took over as CEO for the second time, was managing a company that wasn't doing well, meaning his management approach was more suitable at that time. Over the years, as a result of globalisation, Apple expanded into more nations, making it more challenging for the CEO to maintain complete control over global affairs. Trade that crosses international borders is referred to as globalisation. Cook employed centralization to some extent to ensure that he and those at the top of the hierarchy had tighter control when conducting business internationally. When decision-making authority is centralised, this is called centralization. Although it ensures greater consistency, doing so may demotivate those higher up the hierarchy. The ability to make decisions quickly makes a centralised hierarchy advantageous to Cook as a control element. Additionally, since time is money for shareholders, this will be advantageous. However, given that it is not always effective to manage such a sizable organisation in a centralised fashion, it may be more appropriate for Cook to look to adopt a more decentralised approach in the future.

Because there may be fewer opportunities for them to contribute, some employees may feel that centralization is a disadvantage. However, some workers might favour having a clear direction rather than having to make crucial decisions. Globalisation and change have both had a big impact on Apple's organisational structure overall. The organisational structure is one change that has been subtle but effective thus far. In the long run, if Apple's competitors become more fiercely competitive and Apple is unable to rely as heavily on its brand image, it may need to rethink its organisational structure and consider decentralisation and a flatter structure in order to maintain additional employee motivation and engagement.

For top marks, examiners would anticipate seeing relatively current application of real-world business. A clear indication that Tim Cook has been CEO since 2011 would be a good improvement for this essay.

The organisational structure and business management content were very clearly understood and explained. However, the candidate needed to have given a thorough definition of change and globalisation in order to receive top marks for criterion a.

Criterion C, where the essay lacked substantiation throughout, was the area where the candidate lost the most points. What proof is there, for instance, that Apple has always followed a conventional hierarchy?

However, the essay had a good structure and was simple to read. Additionally, a good effort was made to take stakeholders into account fairly.