Explain How The Change In Business Context Impacted Careers At Apple: Talent Development Case Study, DCU, Ireland

Apple Computer -Activity Exercise

In 1996, the management team at Apple computers in Cork, Ireland decided that its future in Ireland would not be in traditional manufacturing.  According to the senior director of European operations, what was termed ‘brawn’ (traditional low value) manufacturing would become impractical, and survival would depend on restructuring the operation to incorporate more’ brain’ (high value) activities.   The organisation already had a strong history of reviewing its infrastructure and had effective technical resources allied with a workforce dedicated to the organisational philosophy of ‘making and meeting commitments.

A major restructuring took place, which initially resulted in a reduction in the workforce from 1,500 employees to 450.  The organisation underwent many changes, including:

1. Re-arranging the manufacturing process in April 1999 to 100% high-value manufacturing and outsourcing the existing low-value manufacturing process to south-east Asia and eastern Europe.

2. Opening a European call/technical centre with customer support, online sales, customer relations back-office capabilities in September 2000, which now employs 420 people.

3. Centralising the European telesales function in the organisation in January 2001

4. Re-locating the organisation’s data centre from Holland to Ireland in February 2002.

The new global environment has implications for the culture of the organisation. Employees were now expected to deal with customers and suppliers, and work in a virtual environment that centred around conference calls, e-mails and travel. The focus was no longer on the physical manufacturing line in the plant:  the skills and knowledge used in manufacturing are now being applied globally and across the entire supply chain. For example, at the customer interface in the organisation, the engineer had the process knowledge to map a problem with a product into the manufacturing process, resulting in a quicker solution to the problem.  The customer service employee may not have had the process skills to do this but may have been stronger in the area of service.

The result is the process skills department working directly with the customer skills department to provide the best service to the end customer.  The organisational culture change involved an expectation of ‘round the clock’ commitment, with knowledge of business process skills, engineering skills, I.T. and supply management expertise.  Management highlighted the need to think globally rather than locally, with the customer being the ultimate focus of all members of staff.

The majority of what the organisation termed ‘professional employees’ made the transition to high value-added manufacturing.  To cope with the change, individuals have to think globally, which took time to bring about.  The new operational focus required individuals to understand the organisation as a whole and, in particular, the area of supply chain management.  (defined as getting the product from raw material at the source to transform the product to the customer).  Most operational staff (non-professionals) failed to make the transition, with approximately 95% leaving the company.

By March 2004, the organisation was responsible for operations and services in Europe, employing 1,400 people, with 85% engaged in value-added activities and the remaining 15% engaged in manufacturing, and had 6 billion in revenue in 2003.  It is no longer manufacturing centric but customer-centric.  The operation is involved with all the best aspects of getting the product to the customer, including manufacturing, operations management, logistics and planning.  The transformation presented many challenges and the organisation is continually learning lessons on how to survive in this area.  According to the senior director of European operations: “it is one thing to move up the value chain and another to stay up there”.

The need for employees to take responsibility for their own career development and initiate learning and development needs was paramount.  The perception of employees in Apple was that only firm-specific skills were provided to facilitate the transition and advance generic transferrable skills had to be sourced by themselves.  Many employees took self-financed external learning and development opportunities following the transition period, including night courses and part-time college courses.

Please Harvard reference and answer questions below

1. Explain how the change in business context impacted careers at Apple.

2. How would you describe the careers of those employees that remained at Apple?

3. What role do you think the HRM department had during the transition period?

4. What are the implications for individuals’ responsibility for career development?