The Uneasily Defined Organizational Structure of Apple
Anna Windust
MGT/230
January 20, 2013
Christi Monk

The Uneasily Defined Organizational Structure of Apple Organizational structures have been used for centuries to help people within organizations to understand who holds authoritative roles and how it is ordered, who has certain responsibilities and how they are organized and executed, and how communication flows between the tiers of management (“BusinessDictionary,” 2013). There are many types of organizational structures; the common ones are functional, divisional, and matrix organizational structures.
Apple is a company in which the organizational structure is somewhat of a mystery; therefore, it is a very interesting …show more content…

Apple structures teams together to complete projects or fulfill particular duties for the company, so people may think that they are using some form of a matrix organizational structure. Surprisingly this is not so, and they also do not believe that a hierarchical structure is the best way to organize and manage their business. Rather so, each employee has particular expectations and the term “DRI” is Apple lingo often used, meaning “directly responsible individual.” Employees names are attached to the projects that are reviewed by the VP’s who oversee the company. “The accountability mindset extends down the ranks. At Apple there is never any confusion as to who is responsible for what” (Lashinsky, 2011, para. 10). Personal responsibility and accountability are held with high regard by Apple employees, helping the company output quality products and services due to the meticulous skill and care in which work is completed. “The result is a command-and-control structure where ideas are shared at the top -- if not below” (Lashinsky, 2011, para. 11). Hewlett-Packard (HP) is the one of the top-grossing technology companies in the United States. They use a functional organizational structure, which allows them to structure their business around product lines. According to “International Business Blog” (2010), “They have three technology areas: the personal systems group (PC’s), the imaging and printing group