Leadership Development Paper

Leadership Development Paper Student’s Name Institution Course Code: Course Name Professor’s Name Submission Date Every large corporation globally must display corporate social responsibility in their business model. This means that they should be socially conscious of stakeholders, themselves, and the public. Apple is a multinational corporation based in the United States that has faced several leadership issues. Lapses in leadership skills have exposed Apple’s internal struggles to commit to its business objectives. This paper discusses leadership issues in Apple, the communication, coaching, and conflict skills in the corporation, change management and change leadership in identified situations, and leader-member exchange and followership relationships. Situations in Apple Sustaining Visionary Leadership amid a Culture of Secrecy While instrumental in protecting product innovation and maintaining its competitive edge, Apple's culture of secrecy has also fostered significant challenges in sustaining visionary leadership. This has made it difficult to have an open-door policy whereby employees are encouraged to speak out their concerns or even express their fear and insecurity about their jobs. Such constraints have fostered the creation of a toxic work environment at Apple. A poisonous work environment is detrimental to innovation and an excellent work-life balance. When Apple moved from Steve Jobs’ strategic visionary leadership to Tim Cook’s operational management orientation, changes for increased transparency and diversity were made (Zervas, 2021). Nevertheless, the challenge of achieving the right level of secrecy required in the production of new products, together with creating an understanding and inclusive organizational culture, continues to be difficult and a work in progress. The leadership at Apple should keep seeking ways to enable safe communication and employee interaction. Addressing Workplace Discrimination and Ineffective HR Responses Apple has been under a lot of scrutiny on how it handles employee complaints of racism, sexism, discrimination, and even harassment. Many reports have been released that show that the company has been incompetent in handling these complaints. Employees have heavily criticized the department for the poor handling of such complaints and the utterance of the provisions of a culture of collaboration regarding workplace abuses (Kim, 2020). This has led to a gap between what Apple claims to support as a company and what it represents and what goes on behind closed doors. The impact of this contrast has destroyed Apple's reputation over the years. When reputable news sources verify reports of abuse and discrimination of workers, the business’s reputation is ultimately tarnished. The number of workers’ cries reported by Apple points out that this is a systemic issue (Shu, 2023). The leadership has failed to respond proactively to employees’ pleas internally, and they have been forced to report their issues to external sources. This is a vote of no confidence on the part of Apple's leadership in handling these human resource issues. Retaining Top Talent in a Competitive Industry As a leading player in the technology industry, Apple faces ongoing challenges in retaining top talent amidst fierce competition for skilled professionals. Software designers and engineers globally have cited workplace complaints. At Apple, possible factors that can cause employee dissatisfaction include employees citing intense workloads, limited work-life balance, and the high-pressure environment as primary factors contributing to dissatisfaction (Harper, 2023). Additionally, the centralization of leadership at Apple has resulted in Apple’s leadership needing to develop new and improved career advancement initiatives, redesign workload control measures, and propose appropriate remuneration schemes. The company failed to prevent high turnover and preserve highly competitive human capital by taking care of the needs of the employees and aligning standard operating procedures to enhance career advancement opportunities. The employees were not appreciated and supported in order to maintain the right organizational culture, growth of innovations, and business perspective. Balancing Global Operations with Ethical Supply Chain Practices Apple’s extensive global supply chain has faced increasing scrutiny over labor practices and environmental impact, particularly regarding working conditions in supplier factories. This is mainly because consumers, advocacy groups, and other stakeholders have interacted with cases of poor working environments. The main issues that the leadership should have addressed at Apple include unsafe workplaces, long working hours, and inadequate ethical compliance. Apple’s leadership is tasked with the complex challenge of maintaining cost efficiency while ensuring compliance with ethical labor standards and sustainability practices across its global operations (Harper, 2023). Apple needs a leadership approach that prioritizes adherence to employees' rights, consumer rights, and suppliers' agreements (Apple, 2022b). There have been many reported cases of lack of accountability in their supply chain management. The constant exploitation of Apple's suppliers has tainted Apple's reputation with the public. The leadership needed to focus on minimizing potential risks, remaining loyal to its corporate responsibility platform, and proving its concern about being a sustainable and socially responsible company around the world. Communication, Coaching, and Conflict Skills Communication Skills at Apple Communication is a fundamental component of Apple’s leadership and organizational culture, and its effectiveness directly impacts the company’s ability to address internal challenges. The company uses clear and concise language to present information that is easily understood by all the employees as well as the leadership team. However, the organizational culture that the company has cultivated over the years of operation has proved to be a barrier in relation to the organization’s openness (Shu, 2023). In order to address these problems, Apple has been trying to become more open under Tim Cook, who encourages feedback and discussions throughout the company’s hierarchy (Harper, 2023). Effective communication is also crucial when dealing with customer-facing aspects, ensuring that employees can clearly convey product information and represent the company’s brand accurately. The leadership team at Apple needs to find a middle ground between protecting sensitive information and ensuring that employees feel comfortable reporting various issues, leading to enhanced workplace morale and organizational transparency. Coaching Skills at Apple Coaching at Apple plays an essential role in nurturing employee development and performance. Because Apple is a technology company, the management values the importance of coaching the workers to increase their productivity. Man...