DEBI COLEMAN AND

APPLE COMPUTER,
INC.

Presented by Group 3:
Anubhava Saxena (188)
Kapil Dawda (201)
Kaustuv Gupta (203)
Namita Jain (213)
Nikhil Pai (215)
Sameer Kakar (228)
TIMELINE
 June 1982: The Macintosh Division was formed in Apple
Computers Inc. with Debi Coleman as the Division Controller
 Early 1983: Steve Jobs convinced then President Mike Markula
to give the MAC group its own factory in Fremont, California
 Fall 1983: Peter Baron from Texas Instrument was brought in
as Manager of Operations
 January 1984: Introduction of MAC computer
 Spring 1984: Situation worsened at the plant
 May 1984: Jobs offered Coleman the position of Manager of
Operations at Fremont which she accepted
 September 1984: Jobs criticized the distribution costs at the
Business Plan Review meeting
 Fall 1984: Jobs was introduced to the idea of just-in-time
distribution and talked about introducing it
TIMELINE
 Fall 1984: Coleman believed that the Fremont factory had finally
clicked. Capacity had doubled, the vendor base was being
consolidated.
Jobs and Barnes were raising JIT at staff meetings and Coleman was
asked to give a presentation on distribution at the MAC Quarterly
division meeting.
 January 1985: Coleman was upset because she was not invited to the
Executive Off-Site Meeting.
 January 1985: No clear resolution was evident through the meeting.
Final decision was to entrusted to a task force reporting to Campbell.
 January-April 1985: Coleman’s team began to put together an
extensive well researched analysis of the JIT proposal.
 April 1985: Leadership Experience Seminar.
 May 1985: Jobs was ousted from Apple and Jean-Louis Gassée took
over as the head of the MAC division.
 June 1985: Apple was reorganized with Coleman being promoted to
director of worldwide manufacturing.
CONFLICT RESOLUTION STYLE
High
Steve Jobs

Dona Dubinsky
Assertiveness

Debi
Coleman

Low
Low Cooperativenes High
s
COMPARISON OF
TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP
STYLES
COMPARISON OF
TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP
STYLE
ANALYSIS OF CHARACTERS USING
MBTI
Personality Sensing/ Thinking/ Judging/
Intuitive Feeling Perceiving

Debi Coleman Sensing Thinking Judging

Steve Jobs Intuitive Thinking Judging

Dona Dubinsky Sensing Feeling Perceiving

Thank
You
ISSUE
 Steve did not consult Coleman
 The figures he gave to Mike were way off

 Debi was furious and confronted Jobs

RECOMMENDATION
 There was a need for taking into confidence the
view of the subordinates before big decisions were
taken.
ISSUE
o Issues with operations, engineering as well as Sales,
Marketing and Distribution
o Delay in the MAC introduction process
o Factory was over-budget

RECOMMENDATION
o Need for proper leadership
o Need for clear job perception
ISSUE
o Inventory went out of control and plant was under
producing
o Baron was unwilling to make tough decisions
ISSUE
o From Coleman’s perspective, the real issue was not
distribution but R&D and marketing which had stalled
o Prices had dropped and margins were down
o Lay offs in waves of a hundred people at a time

RECOMMENDATION
o Identification of the correct problem at the
organization level as well as the plant level
ISSUE
o Coleman was feeling Cognitive Dissonance as there
was an inconsistency between what she was feeling
for her team and what she was doing for her boss.
o The Pygmalion Effect was visible as Coleman was
acting in accordance with the expectations of Steve,
her boss.
ISSUE
o Debi felt that Jobs had not given her the recognition
commensurate with her work and position
o By Herzberg Motivation-Hygiene Theory – Recognition is
an important motivator for any person

RECOMMENDATION
o A proper system of employee recognition and
rewards.
ISSUE
 Task force meetings were more forcing than
problem solving. Tit for tat attitude.
 Low sales figures as well. Low motivation for
Coleman
PEER REVIEW
Anubhava Saxena (188) :1.33
Kapil Dawda (201) :1.33
Kaustuv Gupta (203) :1.33
Namita Jain (213) :1.33
Nikhil Pai (215) :1.34
Sameer Kakar (228) :1.33