“The death of Apple Inc’s strong-willed co-founder and Chairman Steve Jobs has put the secretive company’s small board at crossroads,” Poornima Gupta and Sinead Carew report for Reuters. “Business as usual, or time for a change? The first signs of the future will be whether they choose an independent chairman and expand the number of directors.”
“Apple directors include heavy hitters, but they were seen offering advice to the chief executive rather than overseeing Jobs, who was known for persuading people to see things his way,” Gupta and Carew report. “The old message was ‘trust Steve,’ the new message has to be ‘trust the team.’ … It’s no longer the cult of personality.’ said Jim Post, a professor of corporate governance at Boston University School of Management who called for an independent chairman.”
“‘The board needs to be expanded. They need to bring on additional independent talent …, people who were not living in Steve’s shadow,’ he said,” Gupta and Carew report. “Apple’s time frame for finding a new chairman — and even whether it is seeking one — is unclear. A spokesman declined to comment. Previously, Apple had no chairman but only co-lead directors… Apple’s board, with just seven current members, is one of the smallest and most opaque in the industry. Most of Apple’s peers have boards that have 10 directors.”
Read more in the full article here.
” Jim Post, a professor of corporate governance at Boston University School of Management”
Is an idiot
Period
Apple culture = Steve Jobs
So, whoever the CEO is (Tim Cook) and the new chairman (????) need to be people who realize they are not there to steer the ship but to listen to the culture and respond confidently.
What we don’t need is some person who comes in and says “I’ve got a bunch of great ideas for this company” and changes the course that Jobs set.
Think about it, though . . . product pipelines are at least a year or two deep and once Jobs sensed his time was going to be cut short, he probably left behind a pretty good blueprint for the next five years as he saw the market.
This is a guy who saw today’s realities in 1985 (playboy interview) and in 1996-97 when he laid a lot of it out there 10 years in advance. I’m sure he told somebody what 2017 looks like and it would be wise to listen to that advice.
“Business as usual, or time for a change? ”
That’s odd. Business as usual for Apple has always been about change. Change for the better.
“Most of Apple’s peers have boards that have 10 directors.” And they’re all less successful. Multiple people might be needed to try and replace some of what Steve did in this regard, but the simple fact is that Apple is massively successful based on their own ways of doing things, not others.
Jim Post should have himself a nice big cup of STFU! YOU ARE A PROFESSOR OF BUSINESS? Maybe thats why most of corporate america is in the shitter! Lets take the most successfully run company in the world right now and really shake thins up… they must be doing something wrong! Lets take a look at HP, now thats a company we should emulate. What an A-hole!!! How is it that there are so many people with positions of influence that can be so stupid? I feel sorry for all of the students that have studied under him. I’m not a professor of business, but I’d like to think i could be a professor of common sense. If you have a formula that works (better than most) you should probably change as little as possible as slowly as possible. I’m so glad Apple seems to have so many good people working there. Only time will tell if they will be able to carry out Steve’s legacy.
Jim Post is obviously not even qualified to clean toilets at Apple, never mind run the company… or even advise on such matters.
Professor of business… What the hell is this world coming to. (rant over)
Size does not matter. It’s the quality matters. As an Apple shareholder and investor, I have no complian about Apple’ s BoD.
I just don’t understand these people.
Here Apple is the highest valued company in the world (back-and-forth with Exon) by not doing what other companies necessarily do, and these ‘experts’ think that their suggestions are what Apple should do? It seems to me that Apple is the company that has been doing the right things the right way. Doing what other companies have been doing, then, is not right.
Strange. :-/
““‘The board needs to be expanded. They need to bring on additional independent talent …, people who were not living in Steve’s shadow,’ he said,” Gupta and Carew report.”
Expect to see more of this crap by the acre. No one was “living in Steve’s shadow” – they were reflecting in his glory. And it will take a long while for that golden light to fade.
Dump Gore..
Yes, the second largest company on earth, the stock of which has been a near-vertical line for the last 5 or 6 years, needs a major course correction.
The worst possible thing that could happen to Apple is bringing in a complete outsider to run the Board. Apple has never succeeded by trying to be like other businesses–they have only succeeded when they do the exact opposite.
Fortunately, nobody close to Apple actually believes a word of this article is true.
I think that the leader of the largest computer manufacturer in Texas is a great choice for the job. Just sayin…
What about Laurene Powell Jobs? She’d know what Steve would do.
Personally, I think this all has been already planned by Jobs. As meticulous and involved as he was in every aspect of Apple, or any of his other businesses (Pixar), I think he has left a plan to be executed. I am not worried about Apple for the next 2 to 4 years. After that is when things can get mess if they lose there rudder.
“The idea [behind Apple University] was to take what is unique about Apple and create a forum that can impart that DNA to future generations of Apple employees.”
Somehow, I don’t think “Re-construct The Board of Directors To Look Like Every Other Company” is on the Apple U. curriculum.
Tim Cook as Chairman to replace Steve. Then elect Jim Clark to replace Tim.
Who is Jim Clark, you ask? The founder of SGI, then Netscape and finally WebMD. The only man to successfully create 3 Billion $ companies and a true Silicon Valley legend to boot.