On October 5th, 2011, Jobs left the world, Apple became more profitable and more executive, but more and more lack of surprises. Mysterious, complicated, a little hippie taste of Jobs, why choose a low-key and restrained Cook to take over Apple?
Editor’s note: This article is from WeChat public account “21st Century Business Review” (ID:), author Li Ende Carney, editor Xu Shan.
Cook joined Apple on March 11, 1998. At that time, Apple was on the verge of bankruptcy and low morale. It was not a company that was fascinating.
After returning to Apple, Jobs served as interim CEO (the word “temporary” was removed in 2000). His return gave people a glimmer of hope. In fact, he has not sold any products. The only thing worth mentioning is the famous advertisement, “Think Different.”
Jobs is busy making changes within the company, cutting out redundant business and product lines, because Apple is losing customers and revenue quickly and in large numbers. He cut the chaotic product line to only four: professional-grade desktops, professional-grade laptops, consumer-grade desktops, and consumer-grade portable computers (professional-level for professionals, consumer-grade for regular customers). Apple’s board of directors is striking about this drastic plan: if one of the four products fails, it will drag the entire company.
In addition to simplifying the product line and reforming the company culture, Jobs called for a complete revolution in Apple’s operations, which he believes is the key to Apple’s future success. What Jobs is looking for is someone who has experience like Dell CEO Michael Dell.
Dell’s ability to build just-in-time production plants and supply chains is very admirable, and that expertise was rarely available at the time. At this time, Apple took the initiative to find Cook.
Because of the danger
Over the years, Apple has been responsible for a lot of operational and manufacturing operations, and has been unable to accurately predict the market demand for computers.
In 1995, Apple seriously underestimated the market demand for the next generation of Power Macs (products in the Power Mac series). Apple’s forecast of product prospects was extremely pessimistic, and there was no flexibility in the supply chain to compensate for production. The gap eventually led to a serious shortage of production. Because of the inventory gap, a $1 billion order is in the eyeUnable to deliver before.
At the time, Apple insisted on customizing many of the components of the product and outsourcing it to individual suppliers for production. When everything is going well, custom-designed components can bring huge benefits. For example, rival companies cannot directly purchase these high-performance custom components, which is difficult to copy. The drawback of this approach is the lack of flexibility.
When Jobs returned to Apple, he was determined not to let Apple make the same mistakes, and began to prepare to change all aspects of the company’s operations, especially for the desire to improve efficiency through outsourcing. He still needs help, especially if someone needs to change their operations in order to make Apple come back.
In order to find the right person, Apple spent a while. The first hired executive leader, because he couldn’t stand the rude management style of Jobs, resigned after a few months. Since then, Jobs did not immediately hire other people, but personally took charge of the operation, he felt that the interviewers are “the guy who has an old concept in manufacturing.”
Apple’s recruiters were repeatedly rejected by Tim Cook, and their insistence made Cook finally decide to meet at least with Jobs. He worked very well at Compaq, and the meeting with Steve Jobs made him feel refreshed and even excited.
Cooke was convinced after he first met and listened to Steve Jobs’s strategy and vision for Apple. He believed he could contribute valuable power to Steve Jobs’ mission. Jobs described a product and said that this product is different from any previous computer design concept, which can subvert the entire computer industry. This is the iMac G3, which has won a great victory. It has a colorful, jelly-like appearance. In 1998, when it went public, it swept the market, and designer Jonathan Eve became famous.
Despite Cook’s doubts, it’s not enough to stop him from going to Apple. He knows that he wants to do something different. If he refuses Apple, he is rejecting such an opportunity. “I always thought that it was not a good thing to go with the tide, but a terrible thing,” Cook recalls.
In March 1998, Jobs hired 37-year-old Cook as senior vice president of global operations at Apple, with a base salary of $400,000 and a signing bonus of $500,000. What Cook will bear is the arduous task of fully reorganizing Apple’s manufacturing and distribution.
Apple was “on the verge of bankruptcy”, and Cook took over a mess. One of the worst areas of operation was operations. Cost control was poorly done and inventory management was poor. Throughout, accounting is also a mess.
Deirdre O’Brien, who has worked at Apple for more than 30 years, recalls that she first met Cook,