Abstract
M.Ing. (Engineering Management)
The current research investigated the inter-relationship between Steve Jobs and Apple Company. The study looked at Steve if he launched Apple with business orientation. The researcher used Yin’s (1994) single case, holistic design research method and looked at the data gathered from thirty-seven authors. Steve Jobs’ business orientation was measured using Snaddon (2008) business measures. Symbols were used to indicate whether the evidence found from different sources is direct, indirect, negative or if there was no evidence at all. A score that ranged from -1 for negative evidence to +2 for direct evidence was assigned to evidence from each author; then the total score that represented evidence from all thirty- seven authors on each business measure was presented in the results column (see table 4). Based on the total score of each measure, the strength of the relationship was established. The results showed that there was an inter-relationship between Steve Jobs’ business strategy and the Snaddon (2008) business measures. The evidence gathered did not support the hypothesis that Steve Jobs had little business orientation and the conclusion drawn was that Steve was business oriented when he (and his partners) launched Apple Company.