Customer Reviews

The Apple Way

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

If you're trying to take away valuable management lessons, this book isn't for you.
If, however, you want a quick and up to date history of Apple, this book is worth considering.
Definitely repetitious and the management take aways are in most cases a stretch.

I listened to the audio version of this book. I was disappointed by it. It is actually a decent overview of the history of Apple's management and marketing, but that's not what it claims to be. The book makes the claim to contain "12 management lessons" taken from Apple. These lessons are completely lost in the history. I expected analysis of what Apple did right and wrong and some application of that to a more general market. What I got was a history book with very little actual analysis in it. The lessons might be there, but you really have to dig them out yourself. Not a bad read but not a management book. If you're looking for management advice, look elsewhere.

With all the hype about iPods, iPhones, iMacs, it is interesting to read a book that takes a little different approach. Apple's products are similar to best-selling books. There is no repeat business. The company has to keep innovating new products, thus spending a significant amount of money on research and development. It is not enough just to spend money on R&D; it is also important to hire the right people that can innovate. This means that Apple has to compete with other companies for top talent. Usually the only way to get these people is to pay them more than competitors do, and this creates a downward pressure on the company's margins. A company like Coca-Cola does not have to reinvent its product every six months; thus, it can concentrate on growing in other markets, buying shares back, and paying dividends. Apple operates in an industry where its products never go up in value. A computer sold today for $1,000 may only be worth $500 in a year. Also, the competition in the industry is intense with companies trying to outdo each other on product features and prices. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested Apple or the industry in which it operates.

- Mariusz Skonieczny, author of Why Are We So Clueless about the Stock Market? Learn how to invest your money, how to pick stocks, and how to make money in the stock market

If you're into reading books on management practices and hope to get some ideas on how you may want to implement some of the Apple Ways into your world, this is probably not the book you want to pick up. I've always been intrigued by the way Apple has done things. They embody "cool" yet they've made a lot of mistakes along the way. And still, they live on and are reinventing themselves.

Apple is an innovative company and the spirit behind that shines through in this book. There isn't enough of the nitty gritty to make me fully endorse The Apple Way, but it is an enjoyable and interesting read.

Whether or not Apple is "the world's most innovative company" is debatable but it has certainly been among the most innovative and, as its recent successes such as iPod suggest, it continues to sustain a culture in which innovative thinking thrives. In response to a question at the 1998 Seybold Conference, Steve Jobs had this to say:

"The reason a lot of us are at Apple is to make the best computers in the world, and make the best software in the world. We know that we've got some stuff that [is] the best right now. But it can be so much better. So we don't come to work every day thinking, `Well, when are we going to turn Apple around?' We come to work every day knowing that we know how to make better products. So that's what's driving us. The turnaround [which began a year before when Jobs returned to Apple] is just one milestone on a long road, and it's not for us to declare. Somebody else can decide when that happens. But we're out to make the best products in the world. And we'll sleep well when we do that."

The inclusion of "way" in this book's title refers both to the sequence of developments since Apple's founding, and, to how it conducts its business. What we have in this volume is Cruikshank's analysis of a specific mindset in action, one which suggests a series of 12 management lessons. He devotes a separate chapter to each and then summarizes what are sub-lessons. For example, Chapter 8, "Getting It Out There," which stresses the importance of consistency when dealing with retail channels you don't control:

1. Spend the time and money to develop a sales force that's (at least) as good as your product.

2. Retailing experts are any other experts. Sometimes they get it really wrong.

3. Be nice to nerds, but don't let them do your marketing.

4. It's nice to be able to call the shots. But it won't last.

5. Move that inventory, based on better numbers! "If -- like fish and computers -- your inventory goes bad real fast, you have to move those goods ASAP." As Jason Jennings once suggested, "If it's DOA, bury it."

6. Forget about "not invented here" but only steal ideas from the best.

7. If all else fails, sell it directly. "The more special your product, the more likely you'll have to sell it yourself."

8. Create a shopping experience which defines the buyer at least as much as it does the seller. "The is also called `lifestyle shopping': Let the customer validate himself or herself simply by [making the purchase]."

Cruikshank provides a comparable set of lessons and sub-lessons at the conclusion of each of the other eleven chapters. I especially appreciate this device because (a) it reiterates his key points and (b) facilitates, indeed expedites periodic review of those same points later.

As indicated earlier, I am unconvinced that Apple is "the world's most innovative company" but its sometimes painful process of evolution offers a wealth of "lessons" on which Cruikshank focuses with a lively curiosity and an entertaining writing style. Those who share my high regard for this book are urged to check out Geoffrey Moore's Dealing with Darwin, Clayton Christensen and co-authors' Seeing What's Next, and Thomas Davenport's Process Innovation, Working Knowledge, and most recently published Thinking for a Living as well as John Howells' The Management of Innovation & Technology, Michael George and co-authors' Fast Innovation, Vijay Govindarajan and Chris Trimble's 10 Rules for Strategic Innovators, and one of the most influential books ever written on this subject, Eric Drexler's Engines of Creation: The Coming Era of Nanotechnology, first published in 1987. In certain respects, Drexler's insights are even more relevant and more valuable now than ever before.

As a longtime Mac fan I buy pretty much everything I see about Apple. This is one of the better business oriented books I have seen about Apple and is especially useful because it covers the current Apple and it's successes with the iPod and OS X.

This book is probably one of the most comprehensive book on the history of Apple, among so many published. It illustrates a chaotic story of how Apple managed its past.

We all know Apple as one extremely managed, great quality product company, visionary leadership. But this book takes you to the journey where you see that Apple wasn't always like that. It has done blinders, management mishaps, extremely crazy decisions to come to an end of almost collapse.

This book also depicts the culture of Apple. It is very easy to see what remains consistent with Apple's DNA -- ability to innovate, social aspects of marketing, fanatical brand advocates is very much part of their culture. You cannot miss to read that Apple has been a passion, they did not know till very late how to make money. If you think, they often screw up on the "pricing part", that's there DNA too.

All in all a great book. There are many firms out there which believes that innovation is in their DNA, and that will be sure receipe. This book can inspire them with confidence, perseverance, and learn-by-doing.

Apple's estimated share of the worldwide personal computer market is only 2%. Why is a company with such a tiny slice of a multibillion-dollar pie so prominent, influential and highly respected? Jeffrey L. Cruikshank's briskly written, informative and entertaining book examines the philosophy and management principles of one of the world's most innovative companies. In an industry known for cutthroat competition, Apple really has none - at least for now. The company, under visionary CEO Steve Jobs, has carved out a unique niche. The mercurial Jobs deserves the lion's share of the credit for bringing equilibrium, profitability and promise to the company since his triumphant return to Apple in 1997. Although Apple is probably inimitable, we recommend this book to managers who wish to learn how it navigated the heavy seas of business.

I was writing a public relations case study on Apple Computer (now just Apple, Inc.) for a senior-level mass communication class and this book was absolutely WONDERFUL to have because it really showed what Apple is known for and does well. It's also a great read for anyone else, from the person who doesn't know anything about the company to someone that has a business of their own. The lessons in this book are applicable to any business, and they are good lessons to learn. Apple is really a company that has always (to paraphrase their circa-1997 slogan) "thought different" and their products are prime examples. (As a side note: I got a perfect 200 points out of 200 points for my case study and presentation -- and this book certainly helped!)

The folklore of this amazing little company is well told. Lots of trivia and insights on what went right and wrong over the years for Apple; however, some of the "lessons" lacked punch. Still, I read it with my own organization in mind and definitely some found parallels to what we are doing wrong. I'd recommend this to my co-workers to provide a possible common ground for discussion and as good professional development for managers.