Organizational Culture

Brief

Apple Inc. is a designer, manufacturer, and marketer of personal computers, software, networking solutions, and peripherals with worldwide annual sales of $19.3 billion (2006). The company’s product family includes the Macintosh line of desktop and notebook computers, the iPod digital music player, the Mac OS X operating system, the iTunes Music Store, the Xserve G5 server, and others. Apple's products are sold through its own chain of stores (approximately 170 retail stores in the USA, Canada, Japan, Italy and the UK), through third-party wholesalers, and online. The company employs over 20 000 permanent and temporary workers all over the world. Apple is now headed by its co-founder Steve Jobs as CEO.

Founded in a garage by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak on April Fool's Day in 1976, Apple has always been the industry's most fabled story. One can say that the personal-computer industry itself began when that the Cupertino, California-based company introduced in 1977 its Apple II, a fully-assembled computer with open architecture, sound and color graphics. In December 1980, Apple went public with offering of 4.6 million shares sold out within minutes. In 1983, Apple introduced Lisa, the forerunner of Macintosh. It was aimed at the corporate market, but was soon dropped in favor of the Mac. In 1998, Apple presented the iMac, a low-priced Internet-ready Macintosh that was the first personal computer without a floppy disk. Apple sold 800 000 iMacs in a year, making it the fastest-selling computer in its history. In 2001, the company launched the iPod that has proven to be phenomenally successful consumer electronics product. In 2007, Apple announced the iPhone, a convergence of an Internet-enabled smartphone and video iPod.

The company was known as Apple Computer, Inc. for its first 30 years, but removed "Computer" from its name on January 9, 2007 along with the announcement of iPhone and Apple TV digital video system – products, which represent the...