苹果调整管理层 库克时代到来
现在，苹果公司的库克时代真正开始了。
在酝酿数周之后，苹果首席执行长库克(Tim Cook)本周采取了一系列旨在恢复管理层秩序的措施。曾以强大人格力量约束管理人员的苹果联合创始人乔布斯(Steve Jobs)去年去世，带来了管理层的动荡。
库克抛弃了苹果最富争议的高管、曾负责推出苹果地图应用的移动软件负责人福斯托尔(Scott Forstall)，把他的主要职责交给了一位苹果内部觉得更加持中的软件经理人。与此同时，库克还撵走了六个月前才接管苹果零售业务的布劳伊特(John Browett)。苹果地图应用开局不利，而零售业务则受到普遍赞扬。
通过这次调整，库克在苹果公司及其管理团队身上打上了自己的烙印。自从去年接替乔布斯以来，库克采取了一系列有别于乔布斯管理策略与方式的措施。他支持了投资者和员工要求采取的一些行动，如启动乔布斯之前反对的股票回购计划和慈善捐赠计划。
最新这一轮调整具有一定风险。它没有解决谁将填补乔布斯作为最终产品决策者角色的问题。库克曾说他在产品上面花的时间没有乔布斯多，并已授权员工成立自己的小组。这次调整还在产品管理层中间造成了新的空缺。比如福斯托尔，就被很多人看作是硬件专才扎堆的苹果公司里面最懂软件的一位高管。
在管理层动荡的同时，苹果市值继今年早些时候达到历史性高点之后出现大幅下跌。苹果股价最新报604美元，六个星期下跌近100美元。9月19日，苹果股价曾达到702.10美元的峰值。
最新版苹果地图软件存在多个漏洞，其错误引起全世界的批评。库克在本月早些时候就这些问题发表了道歉声明，但福斯托尔拒绝因苹果的移动地图应用签署公开道歉信。知情人士说，这是促成他离开公司的因素之一，而他的离开已经酝酿了好几个星期。一位知情人士说，福斯托尔的离职手续已在周末办完。
福斯托尔没有回复记者请求置评的电话。记者也无法联系上布劳伊特。
在人员调整过程中，几名资深员工的地位有所提升，其中包括高级副总裁费代里吉(Craig Federighi)、硬件设计负责人艾夫(Jonathan Ive)以及互联网软件和服务负责人库伊(Eddy Cue)。艾夫将在软件设计方面发挥更大的作用。一位接近苹果的人士说，该公司在管理和产品开发方面人才济济，这些新近被委以重任的高管们将确保公司具有一种更浓厚的学院氛围。
据与艾夫和福斯托尔两人共事的人说，近年来这两人冲突严重，他们甚至会刻意避免呆在同一间屋子里。据其中一位知情人士说，他们在任何层面上都不合作，总是让乔布斯来决定。
库克担任首席执行长期间雇佣了布劳伊特，让人质疑对布劳伊特以往记录和资质的调查是否充分。知情人士说，从一开始，这位前Dixons Retail高管就没能把握住苹果公司文化的细微之处，并且很难相处。他试图在苹果推行他在Dixons曾用过的成本消减方法，但却招致了苹果员工的不满。
他的失误之一是一个新的苹果专卖店员工排班系统。该系统原本是为了节约成本，但结果却在公司内部引发了一场风暴。这个系统大幅缩减了部分员工的工作时间，引发了裁员的传闻；这个排班系统最终被叫停。
不过，人事调整显示出库克决心解决棘手的人事问题。对于这些人事问题，乔布斯曾放任自流。乔布斯生前一直控制着苹果众多个性极强的人物，他总是投出最后的决胜票或最后拍板。据熟悉苹果公司的人士说，他的去世迫使这些冲突公开化，最终促使库克采取行动。
尽管如此，苹果内部及外部人士说，库克正努力稳定公司。这家位于加州库珀蒂诺(Cupertino)的公司的运营比乔布斯时代更平顺，他们对此表示松了一口气。在乔布斯时代，员工们一直生活在不安之中，担心自己会成为乔布斯的长篇大论或突发奇想的牺牲品。
据熟悉苹果硬件团队的人士说，今年早些时候，库克说服苹果硬件负责人曼斯菲尔德(Bob Mansfield)结束退休生活，重出江湖，因为员工们对新的负责人多有怨言。
据知情人士说，在福斯托尔拒绝就地图服务签署道歉信之前，他在苹果的地位已经岌岌可危，即便他的团队中有些成员对他极其忠诚。人们普遍认为他不愿与其他苹果高管合作，认为他为了在苹果扮演更重要角色的而与人互相倾轧。
不过与此同时，福斯托尔的iOS移动软件团队运营良好，人们普遍赞赏他在压力之下工作的能力。此外，尽管移动地图服务出现失误，iPhone和iPad搭载的iOS软件依然是谷歌(Google Inc.)等竞争对手难以匹敌的。
苹果前高管米勒(Andy Miller)说，福斯托尔了解在硅谷工作的每一个人。米勒现为运动控制传感器公司Leap Motion的总裁。
据曾和福斯托尔交谈过的人透露，乔布斯去世令福斯托尔失去了他在苹果最大的粉丝，他因此变得非常沮丧。据知情人士透露，福斯托尔最近告诉一些人，乔布斯去世后苹果就没有了最后拍板的人。
在经过了数月漫长的寻找且考虑了大量候选人之后，英国人的布劳伊特被聘为苹果零售商店的运营主管。亲自面试布劳伊特的库克今年1月披露了这一任命信息，布劳伊特今年4月走马上任。
布劳伊特曾经有过管理陷入困境的英国电子产品零售商Dixons Retail的经验，他的国际化工作经验同苹果还在全球扩张的零售业务相互契合。但布劳伊特很快提出了一系列不受苹果部分员工喜欢的变革，其中包括新的人员配备模式。苹果很多销售人员还是喜欢前任零售主管约翰逊(Ron Johnson)，约翰逊离开苹果后进入J.C. Penney工作。
苹果周一表示，寻找新零售主管的工作正在进行中。
现在库克正在一群新的公司高管身上押下重注，这其中包括大部分时间都不受人关注的费代里吉。他是一位对技术非常着迷的高管，迄今为止其职业生涯的大部分时间都花在了企业软件上。但通过负责推出今夏上市销售的苹果最新Mac操作系统软件，费代里吉证明了自己在消费软件业务上的实力。今年8月库克将费代里吉提拔至高级副总裁一职，并让他在苹果的媒体活动上登台亮相。
曾同费代里吉一道工作的人形容他聪明、冷静、成熟、很有自控力。但熟悉iOS团队的人士说，他在iOS团队的名气还不大。
在20世纪90年代中期苹果收购了乔布斯创办的另一家公司NeXT Computer Inc.，费代里吉也因此加盟苹果。后来费代里吉离职进入一家B2B软件公司Ariba Inc.。他于2009年被再次召回苹果。
费代里吉将和包括艾夫在内的其他人一起掌管福斯托尔留下的帝国。艾夫一直以来就是硬件设计背后的“主脑”，苹果产品的流线型外观设计应主要归功于他。一位知情人士说，艾夫已经和苹果的软件设计团队展开合作，但该公司其他人则指出，硬件设计和软件设计需要的是不同领域的专业知识。
接手了地图和Siri团队的库伊曾经是乔布斯钦点的一员大将，专门负责谈判苹果iTunes服务与媒体相关的事宜。随着iTunes业务的扩大，他也开始负责其它产品，其中包括成长非常迅速的iCloud在线服务。库克去年提拔了库伊。
Apple Shake-Up Signals Tim Cook Era
Now the Tim Cook era at Apple Inc. really begins.
In a shake-up weeks in the making, Apple's chief executive this week made a series of moves designed to restore peace to a management team roiled by the death last year of company co-founder Steve Jobs, whose outsize personality had kept managers in check.
Mr. Cook jettisoned Apple's most controversial executive, mobile software head Scott Forstall, who oversaw Apple's troubled maps unveiling, handing off his chief duties to a software executive viewed inside Apple as a more even-keeled manager. At the same time, Mr. Cook pushed out John Browett, who only six months ago took over Apple's widely-praised retail operations.
With his revamp, Mr. Cook demonstrated a Shakespearean flair for putting his own stamp on Apple and its executive team. Since taking over from Mr. Jobs last year, Mr. Cook has made a series of moves that deviate from the co-founder's management tack and style. He has backed efforts pushed by investors and employees such as a stock-buyback program and a charitable giving program that Mr. Jobs had previously opposed.
The latest changes bring some risks. It fails to address the question of who will fill Mr. Jobs's role as Apple's ultimate decider on products. Mr. Cook has said he spends less time on products than Mr. Jobs and has empowered individuals to run their groups. It also creates a new hole in product leadership. Mr. Forstall, for one, was seen by many as the Apple executive most knowledgeable about software at a company stacked with hardware pros.
The turmoil comes amid a sharp drop in the company's market value after a historic run-up earlier this year. Apple's shares last traded at $604 and are off nearly $100 in the six week. They reached a peak of $702.10 on Sept. 19.
The latest version of Apple's maps software had a number of bugs which were criticized world-wide for its errors. Mr. Cook released an apology for the snafus earlier this month. But Mr. Forstall refused to sign a public apology over Apple's mobile maps. It was a factor that shaped his exit, which had been in the works for weeks, said people familiar with the matter. Mr. Forstall's departure was finished over the weekend, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Mr. Forstall didn't return calls for comment and Mr. Browett couldn't be reached.
The changes raise the standing of several longtime employees, among them senior vice presidents Craig Federighi, hardware design chief Jonathan Ive, who will play a greater role in software design, and Internet software and services chief Eddy Cue. A person close to Apple said the company has a deep management and product development bench and that the newly empowered executives will ensure a more collegial atmosphere.
Messrs. Ive and Forstall clashed so severely in recent years that they avoided being in the same room together, said people who worked with both men. 'They didn't cooperate at any level,' one of the people close to the matter said. 'They always let Steve decide.'
Mr. Browett's hiring under Mr. Cook raises questions about how well he was vetted. From the outset, the former Dixons Retail DXNS.LN +1.18% PLC executive failed to grasp the nuances of how the company culture worked and was unpleasant to work with, people close to the situation said. He tried to push the same cost-cutting playbook he used at Dixons, but the moves didn't sit well with Apple employees.
Among his missteps was a new employee scheduling system for Apple retail stores that was designed to save money but triggered a firestorm internally. The system cut back some employees' hours so severely that it ignited rumors of layoffs; the scheduling was ultimately reversed.
But shake-up demonstrates Mr. Cook's resolve to tackle thorny personnel issues that Mr. Jobs let fester. Mr. Jobs long kept the strong personalities at Apple in check by always casting the winning vote or by having the last word. His departure forced those clashes into the open, said people familiar with the company, ultimately pushing Mr. Cook to act.
Still, people inside and outside Apple said Mr. Cook is trying to steady the ship. They have expressed relief that the Cupertino, Calif., company is run more smoothly than under Mr. Jobs, when employees lived in constant fear of falling victim to a Jobs' tirade or a whim.
Earlier this year, Mr. Cook coaxed Apple hardware chief Bob Mansfield out of retirement after his staff complained about working under his replacement, according to people familiar with Apple's hardware group.
Even before Mr. Forstall refused to sign the apology over the maps, he was on thin ice at Apple, said people familiar with the matter, despite fierce loyalty from some members of his team. He was widely seen as unwilling to cooperate with other Apple executives and political about his ambitions to play a greater role at the company.
At the same time, Mr. Forstall ran the iOS mobile software team like clockwork and was widely respected for his ability to perform under pressure. And despite the stumble with mobile maps, the iOS software, which powers iPhones and iPads, remains the one that rivals like GoogleInc. are scrambling to match.
Mr. Forstall 'was the one who understood everyone else in [Silicon] Valley,' said Andy Miller, a former Apple executive who is now president of motion-control sensor company Leap Motion.
After Mr. Jobs's death, Mr. Forstall lost his biggest fan at the company and became frustrated, according to people who spoke to him about it. Mr. Forstall recently told people that there is no 'decider' with Mr. Jobs gone, according to a person briefed on the conversation.
Mr. Browett, a British executive, was hired to run Apple's retail stores after a months long search that considered a large number of candidates. Mr. Cook, who interviewed Mr. Browett personally, disclosed the appointment in January. Mr. Browett didn't start until April.
Mr. Browett had run struggling U.K. electronics retailer Dixons Retail and had international experience that fit with Apple's continuing global retail expansion. But the executive quickly proposed changes that didn't sit well with some at Apple, including the new staffing formula. Many of Apple's salespeople instead remained fond of former retail chief Ron Johnson, who left for J.C. Penney Co JCP +1.31% .
Apple said on Monday a search for a new retail chief is under way.
Now Mr. Cook is placing some big bets on a new group of executives. They include Mr. Federighi, who has largely stayed out of the limelight. He is a very technical executive who has spent much of his career to date in enterprise software. But he proved himself on the consumer-business side by handling the release of Apple's latest Mac operating system software that went on sale this summer. Mr. Cook promoted Mr. Federighi to a senior vice president in August and gave him airtime at Apple media events.
People who have worked with Mr. Federighi describe him as smart and 'calm, mature and collected.' But he isn't well-known among the iOS team, said people familiar with the group.
Mr. Federighi joined Apple in the mid-1990s through its acquisition of NeXT ComputerInc., which Mr. Jobs ran. Mr. Federighi later left for business-to-business software company Ariba Inc. before being recruited back to Apple in 2009.
Mr. Federighi will share Mr. Forstall's empire with, among others, Mr. Ive. Mr. Ive has long been the brains behind Apple's hardware and is largely credited for creating the products' sleek look. A person familiar with the matter said Mr. Ive has collaborated with Apple's software design team, though others at the company note they are different areas of expertise.
Mr. Cue, who inherits the Maps and Siri teams, spent years as Mr. Jobs's point person negotiating media deals for its iTunes service. As that business expanded, he took on other products, including the fast-growing online iCloud service. Mr. Cook promoted Mr. Cue last year.
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2012-10-31
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