Donna Dubinsky and Apple Computer, Inc. (A) Case Solution And Analysis, HBR Case Study Solution & Analysis of Harvard Case Studies

PROBLEM ANALYSIS:

The main problem for the company is due to the proposed change to the distribution channel by Steve Jobs, Chairman of Board of Directors. The proposal being made by Jobs is to change the distribution system of Apple drastically. He wants the manufacturing plants to be connected with the dealers directly without any existence of another entity in the middle of this chain. The proposed idea is new to the organization and is completely different from the procedures being followed by Apple.

The requirements of the company’s dealers are taken care and fulfilled by the company owned distribution centers. The acceptance of the proposal made by Jobs will entirely eliminate the existence of distribution centers as the dealer will be directly connected to the manufacturing plant. Steveis in favor of adopting a more fancied Just-In-Time (JIT) technique.

The change to the distribution channel is not only new, but also quite surprising for the middle management level of the company. The strong introduction of this new technique will affect the organization not only externally but internally as well. The people and primary areas, which will be affected, will be due to the implication of this technique as it hasa number of questions and possible concern/objections.

There are several areas that will be influenced by the adaptation of this technique. A number of people and areas of the organization will directly be impacted by the proposed initiative of just-in-time process by Steve Jobs. Not only the distribution department will be affected, but other areas like the manufacturing and sales department are also going to get affected the introduction of the new technique name just-in-time.

Dubinsky, the director of distribution and her boss, Weaver, are not at all in favor of this change. Disagreements by the manager in the distribution department are understood. According to the manager of the distribution department, they perceived the current process of distribution to be efficient enough to deliver the products successfully. The manager in the distribution department is not able to see a point of changing a process that is already working efficiently and producing results for the company. The facts given in the case are highlighting that the delivery of the products was efficient and successful, which indicates that the opinion of the managers in the distribution department may not be incorrect.

Weaver is also not being able to make the right decision. He is under a lot of pressure from the top management to support the proposed change by Steve Jobs. A high level of confusion exists amongst the organization internally as they are not aware about the new process. Moreover, the reasons behind adapting to a new procedure are not clarified; the middle management is not being provided with a justification for the implementation of the new technique called just-in-time techniques proposed by Jobs.

A number of issues are rising. The arousing of issues is preventing a suave implementation of this new process. Apple mainly faces four critical issues within its organization that are not allowing the operations of the company to run smoothly.

First, Steve Jobs is operating from two designations in the company. He is not only the General Manager of Macintosh division but he is also the Chairman of the Board. The existence of Steve Jobs on two hierarchal levels of the organization is causing confusion and misunderstandings within the organization.

The employees who perceive his vision and actions for the company are compromised by his duties and responsibilities for his division of the organization. The ways being adopted by Jobs for the whole organization are the same to which he has adopted for the Macintosh division of the company..........

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