Culture Clash

Four days ago, Apple announced Mark Papermaster's exit from the Cupertino, Calif., company. Now, more to the story is coming out.

A 15-month Apple veteran, Papermaster was Apple's senior vice president for mobile devices. It now appears that he was largely responsible for the "Antennagate" issue with the iPhone 4. Or, at least, he is now the fall guy in the PR nightmare. Prior to arriving at Apple, he worked at IBM. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the severing of ties occurred because Steve Jobs, Apple's Chief Executive Officer, had lost confidence in the employee. According to the publication:

Mr. Papermaster had lost the confidence of Mr. Jobs months ago and hasn't been part of the decision-making process for some time, these people said. They added that Mr. Papermaster didn't appear to have the type of creative thinking expected at Apple and wasn't used to Apple's corporate culture, where even senior executives are expected to keep on top of the smallest details of their areas of responsibility and often have to handle many tasks directly, as opposed to delegating them.

In fact, even when Papermaster was hired by Apple last year, there was tension:

Mr. Papermaster's recruitment to Apple in late 2008 was controversial. His former employer, IBM, filed a lawsuit against the executive for violating a noncompete agreement. Mr. Papermaster didn't start at Apple until April 2009 after the dispute was resolved. He succeeded Tony Fadell, a longtime Apple executive who had a key role in launching the iPod business, which helped fuel the company's growth.

Mr. Papermaster started his position while Mr. Jobs was on sick leave to receive a liver transplant during the first half of 2009. At the time, executives had more autonomy to make decisions, so Mr. Papermaster was likely ill-prepared when Mr. Jobs, who is known for his hands-on management style, returned, said the people familiar with the situation.

We'll probably never know exactly how much the iPhone 4's initial problems played in Papermaster's exit. However, it is fair to say that Apple's close-knit culture ultimately worked against him. And, it did not help that he didn't get along with Jobs!

Related articles