Research objectives
Apple Incorporation ranks amongst the most successful companies in the mobile technology industry. One of the factors that have contributed to the firm’s optimal performance is effective leadership. This study intends to develop an adequate understanding of how leadership has enhanced Apple’s excellent performance. The research study will focus on several objectives as outlined herein.
- To evaluate the impact of leadership style adopted by Steve Jobs and Tim Cook in promoting business sustainability
- To assess the effect of the leadership style adopted by Steve Jobs and Tim Cook in fostering Apple Incorporation’s performance
Research questions
The research study will be guided by the following research questions, which are based on the research objectives.
- How does the leadership approach adopted by Steve Jobs and Tim Cook contribute to business sustainability at Apple Incorporation?
- What effect do the leadership styles adopted by Steve Jobs and Tim Cook have on Apple’s performance?
Key variables
Considering the diverse aspect associated with organisational leadership, the study will focus on the leadership styles as the core research variables. Thus, the mix of leadership styles adopted by the two leaders will be examined.
Research design
The study assesses the contribution of the leadership style adopted by Apple Incorporation towards its performance, which does the research to be exploratory. Jha (2014, p. 106) affirms that the ‘objective of exploratory research is to gain insights and ideas related to a problem’.
The study will be based on a mixed research approach. Sreejesh and Mohapatra (2014) contend that adopting the mixed research design culminates in an effective interpretation of the issue under evaluation. Both qualitative and quantitative research approaches will be applied in sequence. This assertion means that the qualitative approach will be applied first and then the quantitative approach later. A quantitative approach will be used in elaborating the qualitative findings. Sreejesh and Mohapatra (2014, p. 48) assert that the ‘advantages of mixed methodology in which the author justifies the legitimacy of qualitative methods are enhanced through the incorporation of quantitative methods, which are known as triangulation’.
Data collection
The exploratory study will be based on secondary research, which will be undertaken by conducting a literature survey. Jha (2014) defines literature survey as a research procedure that involves a review of published statistics and researches. Conducting a literature survey enables a researcher to develop appropriate knowledge on the subject under investigation. To develop a comprehensive understanding of the leadership style adopted by Tim Cook and Steve Jobs, a review of the past literature on the leadership style adopted by the two leaders will be undertaken.
Gratton and Jones (2004) argue that the effectiveness of secondary data may be hindered by a low level of reliability and validity. In the process of reviewing past literature, the researcher will ensure that data is collected from valid sources. Through the secondary approach, the researcher will be in a position to enhance the validity of the research study. Data will be sourced from internal and external sources. The internal sources will entail data generated from within the company (Mitchell & Jolley 2010). Thus, a review of diverse annual reports relating to Apple Incorporation such as reports on corporate social responsibility and human resource management will be conducted.
Conversely, external secondary data will be obtained from outside the organisation. However, data will be sourced from credible agencies such as KPMG, PricewaterhouseCoopers, and Deloitte & Touché. The choice of these agencies is informed by the view that they provide a comprehensive analysis of diverse aspects relating to organisations’ operations.
Secondary data will also be collected by reviewing articles, journals, and case studies hosted by credible databases such as the social sciences research network [SSRN] and the EBSCO databases. An evaluation of such case studies will play a fundamental role in understanding the leadership approaches adopted by Steve Jobs and Tim Cook.
In addition to the above aspects, including secondary research, will aid in minimising the cost involved in conducting the study regarding time and effort. The data collected from secondary sources may be analysed previously or raw. Gratton and Jones (2004) assert that secondary research can lead to the attainment of the actual data, hence improving the accuracy with which the research questions are answered.
Data analysis techniques and presentation
According to Vogt, Gardner, and Haeffele (2012), the raw data collected from the field might not be of significance to the target audience due to its voluminous nature. Thus, the target audience might not understand the correlation between the various aspects related to the research objective, which underscores the importance of conducting data analysis.
The data collected from the secondary sources will be analysed effectively to increase its relevance to the target stakeholders, such as organisational leaders. Data analysis will be achieved by incorporating diverse research analysis tools such as the Integrated Statistical Analysis Tool (ISAT) that forms a statistical evaluation of the findings. Moreover, data will be analysed using Microsoft Excel. By using these tools, the researcher will be in a position to undertake effective data analysis by incorporating diverse statistical analysis concepts such as percentages, standard deviation, variation, and correlation. Furthermore, these data analysis tools will improve the effectiveness with which the findings of the study are presented using graphs, charts, and graphs. Subsequently, it will be possible for the target stakeholders to interpret the data effectively and efficiently.
Summary
The researcher is of the opinion that effective application of the above research methodology will improve the degree to which the research contributes to the development of a comprehensive evaluation on how leadership can be applied to enhance organisational performance.
Reference List
Jha, H 2014, Social research methods, McGraw-Hill Education, New Delhi.
Gratton, C & Jones, I 2004, Research methods for sport studies, Psychology Press, Chicago.
Mitchell, M & Jolley, J 2010, Research design explained, Wadsworth, Belmont. Sreejesh, S & Mohapatra, S 2014, Mixed research methods design, an application in consumer-brand relationships, Springer, London.
Vogt, W, Gardner, D & Haeffele, L 2012, When to use what research design, Guildford Press, New York.