Leadership

Case Study: Evaluate the leadership of Steve JobsShortly after his death the great American commentator Malcolm Gladwell wrote an assessment of the career of Steve Jobs which appeared in The New Yorker magazine. This article is entitled “The real genius of Steve Jobs” and is available to download at http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2011/11/14/111114fa_fact_gladwell?currentPage=allYour task is to prepare an evaluation of the leadership and management style of Steve Jobs. The Gladwell article should be your starting point. You are then invited to supplement the information in this article by wider reading. You will find extensive information on Steve Jobs on the web. Biographies of Steve Jobs are also available from the University library. Your report should be about 2,500 words excluding references, typewritten – Ariel 11 point, single-sided, 1.5 line spacing. A 10 per cent variation in word count is acceptable. Submission date via Turnitin will be agreed in class. In writing your report you are expected to utilise leadership and change theory in your critical assessment of Jobs. In order to help structure your work ensure that your answer addresses a minimum number of issues:• Do you consider Jobs to be a manager, a leader, or both?• The characteristics that helped Jobs drive Apple forward,• What could be the consequences of taking his style too far?• Would Jobs have been the right person for Apple during the times ahead, or does the company now require more of a ‘manager’ than a ‘leader’? Stress is placed on referencing and the application of appropriate theory. For example, in looking at Jobs as a manager/leader you are expected to assess Jobs by specific reference to appropriate theory. Your challenge is complex and you should therefore make reference to a range of literature and introduce other issues that you consider to be relevant to a thorough understanding of leadership at Apple. You are expected to demonstrate that you have understood the relevant application of theory to this case study. Higher marks will be awarded by demonstrating a critical approach to the application of theory.