Inside Apple

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY 6 FEB. 2012

Lashinsky, a Senior Editor-at-Large at Fortune magazine, investigates the core of Apple before, during, and after the reign of the late Steve Jobs, not only to discover how the company works and if its success can be replicated, but also to speculate about Apple's future. In a conversational style that pulls no punches, Lashinsky outlines salient factors that concurrently contribute to Apple's success and deviate from standard business practice. Apple's unique organizational structure places secrecy and detailed design at the fore while using a top-down management style which allows the entire company including the upper echelon to focus on creating and marketing elegant products. Apple eschews typical industry practices such as the principal of general management, transparency, or the use of focus groups the lack of which, Lashinsky claims, sends the message: "We like the dog food so much we eat it ourselves. You won't be disappointed." even to the point of favoring design over cost-effective production. Lashinsky compiles information about the notoriously secretive company from a variety of sources including media and interviews, though few of the interviewees agreed to be identified. Readers especially entrepreneurs, technophiles, and businesspeople seeking an inside peek at the world's most valuable company will find Lashinsky's investigation enthralling and enlightening.