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Donna Dubinsky and Apple Computer Inc. Recommendations and Findings - The Ultimatum? “…Star performers who have been rewarded for their individual contributions and have come to expect wide latitude in how they work, becoming a manager can be a mixed blessing. ” These words aptly describe the career of Donna Dubinsky at Apple Computer. As you will find in this paper, Donna’s case highlights key issues in organizational strategic direction and hierarchical structure; it illustrates power and influence, and the emotional effects of change.
Donna Dubinsky was a motivated and hardworking employee but also an elite, who had been accustomed to sole responsibility of the decision-making process in the distribution system.
Though she consulted with people but her circle of influence did not extend beyond her immediate boss and her subordinates. Roy Weaver, her boss, had steadily expanded her responsibilities, challenged her, and rewarded her for her contributions to the department. This background of unhindered decision making authority coupled with her personal and relational power and the lack thereof set her up as the protagonist in this epic power tussle at Apple Computer.
How would she respond when challenged by a greater positional power in the person of the chairman of the board, Steve Jobs? Ultimately, the ensuing impasse led her to issuing an ultimatum to her boss’s boss, Bill Campbell.
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“ Amazing as always, gave her a week to finish a big assignment and came through way ahead of time. ”
Should she withdraw it and ask for more extension in making her presentation? Or should she hand in her resignation letter or perhaps should he fire her? We reasoned that Campbell’s conundrum has multiple solutions.
He can accept Dubinsky's resignation and lose a valuable employee, but at the same time embrace change within the organization.
He can as well grant her new extension to make a counter-proposal on the need to maintain the status quo. When we considered all the alternatives, we agreed that Campbell should grant her an extension with a 30 day limit under the following conditions: One, this is the final deadline after which she either state her case or resigns. Two, she has to be fully supportive of whatever direction top management decide to go but she may resign if she feels otherwise. Background Information and Situational Analysis When Donna joined Apple Computer in 1981 the PC industry was experiencing a boom.
Apple Computer’s net income had steadily climbed from $39. 4 million to $76. 7 million in 1983. So also has the company’s market share and operating revenue increased in that time space. Based on these growing numbers, Donna felt there was no problem with distribution. In fact, she believed that her department was an effective contributor to the growth of Apple. However, as Apple’s net income and market share began to drop in late 1984 and into 1985, it was clear the company needed to reevaluate it business strategy.
In comes Jobs who wielded a greater positional power compared to Donna’s. Having had the privilege of learning about the distribution process of a competitor, he demanded that Apple follows suit. The Just-In-Time (JIT) process has been known to cut cost by eliminating and/or reducing legacy distribution systems, and Jobs wanted to explore the possibility of the process working at Apple. However, Jobs violated the company values when he failed to create a productive environment around the exploration of the JIT system.
Rather than consulting with Donna, he channeled his ideas directly to the CEO, John Scully, and then directed the manufacturing director at Macintosh, Debi Coleman, to prepare a distribution strategy proposal that would completely eliminate Donna’s distribution department. Job’s action could have been motivated out of vendetta but Donna’s inability to comply with senior management directive is equally worth noting. She refused to whole-heartedly team up with members of the taskforce and was not prepared to make a presentation on her counter-argument.
By so doing, Donna diminished her relational power with respect to the taskforce and was unable to influence the outcome of the group’s decision. Using the metaphor of “currencies” as postulated by Cohen and Bradford, she failed to realize the benefits of allies and adversaries upon whom relationship-related currencies trading could have helped push her agenda. Moral Leadership And Political Tactics Issues Involved In This Case In addition to the issues identified in the preceding paragraphs, Job’s multiple roles within the organization is a potential source of conflict.
He was the chairman of the board, yet he also functioned as the Vice President/General Manager of the Macintosh division. His managerial approach is top-down, which is counter-culture to the company. On the other hand, Donna had enjoyed years of bottom-up decision-making approach. She has been solely responsible for most of the decision with regards to distribution operations at Apple. On the issue of power and influence, Jobs as the chairman enjoys greater positional power within the organization as compared to Donna’s relatively smaller power.
One way she could have made up for this gap is by building her relational power, forming alliances with top management. However, she failed to develop her relational power within the context of direct ties, strength and content. Furthermore, Donna could have benefited from an analysis of her personal power. Her personal power within the context of creating cooperation and gaining support is weak. Her failure to submerge her ego and become flexible was partly to blame for her non-cooperation with the taskforce.
Perhaps, she could have gained the support of members of the taskforce if she had improved her charisma and linguistic (presentation) abilities. Suggested Improvement To Organizational Decision-Making Process And Other Lessons After a careful analysis of the conflicts and actors involved in the article, we offer the following decision-making process model with regards to JIT implementation. Firstly, the following functions, roles, and departments have to be clearly delineated; distribution system, new operational technology review, organizational communication, organization culture ; values, lines of command, and customer support.
Upon conceptualization of the JIT idea, top management should have tasked the most capable hand with the job of exploring the benefits, losses, and accounting of the system. Once the initial plan has been developed management should comprise a team of middle management from different areas of the company to explore the possibility of inter-operations within various units of the organization. Management should then make its final decision based on the communications they receive from the assigned team.
If the above protocol were to be obeyed then the following people should be saddled with accompanying tasks. Donna should explore the merits, demerits, and accounting of JIT viz-a-viz legacy distribution system. Debi should analyze JIT’s impact on customer support, and Campbell should analyze organizational conflicts with a view of developing an action plan and implement necessary solutions. Most other top managements should be involved in later stages of the process. All employees must offer a supportive hand when called upon. References
Donna Dubinsky at Apple. (2020, Jun 02). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/donna-dubinsky-at-apple-new-essay
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