Apple Inc. under Steve Jobs (Jobs) and Tim Cook (Cook) has always been a point of interest for managers and entrepreneurs in the world. After Jobs resigned as the CEO in 2011, due to pancreatic cancer that led to his demise two months later, the world all over wondered whether his successor Cook was up to the task. Jobs had kept Apple on an innovative row for over a decade after he retook his position as the CEO in the 1990s. The slowdown in innovation at Apple after Jobs added criticism to Cooks tenure until January 2015, when the company reported quarterly earnings accruing a net profit of $18 billion for the quarter ended 27 December 2014. The excellent performance proved Cook’s management as efficient as Jobs’, but what differences exist in their two tenures.

Jobs was an idealist and a dreamer, a trait that made the board of directors fire him previously due to the much passion for innovation. He demanded perfectionism from his staff, leading by example. Cook, however, is calm and reportedly closer to the staff. Cook’s tenure lays more emphasis on teamwork within the organization unlike the competition to invent by Jobs. Cook’s focus is on the thriving Apple products such as the iPhone. Jobs’ tenure emphasized on the innovation and introduction of new items in the market from iMac, iPod, iPhone to the iPad. Jobs preferred having large cash reserves in the company and never paid out dividends. Cook, on the other hand, focused the relationship between the company and investors. Thus, the company paid cash dividends to investors in 2012.

Effective management focuses on the purpose of a business that is creating customers. Jobs way was through innovation, Cook’s way, on the other hand, is through marketing. The two tenures responded to the particular niches in the market keeping the company prosperous. The company, therefore, continues to grow as these approaches both yield prosperity.