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Analysis of Organizational Structure and Culture – the Apple Corporation

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Apple Corporation is governed by a Board of Directors, a CEO and a standard Executive Board. Their Board of Directors includes such names as former Vice-President Al Gore, Chairman of the Walt Disney Company, Robert Iger, and Andrea Jung, Chairman of the Avon Corporation. Tim Cook took over CEO duties following the passing of Apple founder, Steve Jobs, last year. I studied both their Business Conduct documents and articles on employee satisfaction for this assignment (Apple, 2012). What immediately struck me were their basic principles of how they conduct their business. They are very focused on creating high-quality products and services and have four basic standards: * Honesty – demonstrate honesty and high ethical standards in all business dealings. * Respect – treat customers, suppliers, employees, and others with respect and courtesy. * Confidentiality – protect the confidentiality of Apple’s information and the information of our customers, suppliers and employees. * Compliance – ensure that business decisions comply with all applicable laws and regulations.
(Apple, 2012). Second was the “Retaliation is Not Tolerated” policy, which states “Apple will not retaliate, and will not tolerate retaliation, against any individual for filing a good-faith complaint with management, HR, Legal, Internal Audit, Finance, or the Business Conduct Helpline, or for participating in the investigation of any such complaint” (Apple, 2012). Third, their Customer Policy, which says “every product we make and every service we provide is for our customers. Focus on providing innovative, high-quality products and services and on demonstrating integrity in every business interaction. Always apply Apple’s principles of business conduct” (Apple, 2012). Their business culture impressed me in three major ways as well. First, their commitment to preserving

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