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PCA Political Frame

Jake Davis

OGL 481

Dr. Charlotte Newman

17 September 2022
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As many people know, Apple was founded by two college dropouts, Steve Jobs

and Steve Wozniak in 1976. Their mission was to make a computer that was small

enough to fit in a house or office, they wanted the computer to be user friendly. Apple

continues to grow to this day, and has become one of the most recognizable names in

the industry. They continued paving the way in technological innovations as the years

went by. Before Steve Jobs retired, and since Tim Cook (current Chief Executive Officer

of Apple) took over, Apple’s political frame revolves mostly around the CEO. Apple’s

organizational structure is rather flat where most departments report directly to the CEO

making them the sole decision maker. Apple is one of the world's biggest organizations

and because of this they must be uniform in any and all statements regarding their

company. When it comes to massive organizations such as Apple, there are a series of

steps that need to happen including identifying a problem, gathering information

regarding it and to eventually find a solution best suited to minimize the problem

I have always been a lover and user of all things Apple not only for the quality of

the products but the relationships they build. From my first phone, to computers and

even television by Apple. The same goes for my family, however, in 2015 there were a

series of terrorist attacks in San Bernardino, which led the FBI to ask Apple (the maker

of a perpetrators phone) for technical assistance that almost changed my mind. Apple,

in turn, provided the FBI with the data that they had and also sent engineers to the FBI

for advice. However, Apple refused the court order to bypass the 4 digit passcode on

the phone which included a feature that would erase all data after 10 incorrect attempts.

Tim Cook issued a letter that reinforced Apple's decision to refuse the FBI’s request. He

stated that doing such a thing would be the first step towards creating a master key that
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would have access to tens of millions of IPhones just in the US alone. A day before the

hearing, the FBI withdrew its request saying that they no longer needed help accessing

the data.

Tim Cook and Apple had an option to help the FBI and provide access but chose

not to for the sake of maintaining privacy for millions of customers around the world.

This was a difficult dilemma because this particular phone might have contained

information for the attack in 2015 as well as information on new threats. If Apple granted

access to one phone then it could be used against them because they would have then

‘already done it before’. With the way that their organization is structured around a

single decision maker, the wrong choice could have meant the beginning of the end for

the company. Apple’s political frame is what makes it such a reputable company, within

their industry making the right decision quickly is everything. This means that if Cook did

help the FBI it could have led customers as well as stakeholders to lose faith in him

thereby weakening the center of the entire organization. This highlights the importance

of political awareness as well as job security. Within our own teams it is important for

members to feel a sense of responsibility to our clients but also to each other. This is

also true for clients and stakeholders as well. Clients must trust that we can keep them

and their personal information safe.

If put in a similar situation, I would have not done anything differently. I believe

that Apple made the correct decision in this scenario. When an organization has a sole

decision maker as a base for its structure, the first priority of that person is to be able to

accurately and quickly pick a solution that will effectively strengthen the organization.

Even in other organizations, as project managers and leaders we must be held

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responsible for both our client’s needs as well as our team membership. Alternatively, if

I were to use the political frame in this scenario to alter the case direction I would issue

a formal statement to my organization heads as well as the shareholders. This would

allow me to gather information from the entirety of the organization regarding their

feelings toward the situation, from there I would choose an appropriate course of action.

This statement would include information regarding the specific circumstances of the

situation in which Apple has been requested to assist the government in response to

terrorist attacks. It would ask both shareholders and team leaders for information or

opinions in regards to the situation and how best to handle it.

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References

Meyer, P. (2022, June 4). Apple Inc.'s Organizational Structure & its characteristics

(an analysis). Panmore Institute. Retrieved September 3, 2022, from

https://panmore.com/apple-inc-organizational-structure-features-pros-cons#:~:tex

t=Apple%20Inc.%20has%20a%20hierarchical,as%20for%20iOS%20and%20ma

cOS.

This Month in business history: The founding of Apple Computers, inc.. Research

Guides. (n.d.). Retrieved August 25, 2022, from https://guides.loc.gov/this-month

-in-business-history/april/apple-computers-founded#:~:text=and%20Photographs

%20Division.-,Apple%20Computers%2C%20Inc.,in%20their%20homes%20or%2

0offices.

University, S. C. (n.d.). Apple vs. Fbi case study. Markkula Center for Applied Ethics.

https://www.scu.edu/ethics/focus-areas/business-ethics/resources/apple-vs-fbi-ca

se-stdy/.