Apple Inc. is a US-based International Corporation that is headquartered in California. The company design manufactures and distributes consumer electronics, e-software, and other digital services. It was initially formed by Steve Jobs, Wozniak and Wayne during the year 1976. Apple becomes incorporated as Apple Inc. during the year 1980 and gained drastic success ever since (Horwitz, 2019). The company is now accounted among the top four tech companies, among Amazon, Facebook and Google. According to Lashinsky (2015) the company currently has more than 1 million employees with total revenue of more than 260 million in 2018. It has more than 500 retail stores around the Globe and also regarded as the top smart phone brand in most parts of the world. Investopedia (2018) pointed that Apple Inc. has been a success due to great contribution by its dynamic leaders; including Time Cook, Steve Jobs and more. In addition, managers have played crucial role in the growth of the company.

Roles and Characteristics of Leader & Manager:

This section will discuss compare and define various roles and characteristics of a good manager and a leader within profit or not for profit companies;

Characteristics of a Leader & Manager:

            According to Ghasabeh et al (2015) a leader is significantly different from manager due to roles played and other characteristics. Some expert say that leaders are born but the work of Clark and Waldron (2016) has approved that it is not a good definition of a leader. A leader is an amalgamation of different characteristics and among these, the most prominent is innovation. A leader tends to innovate to ensure that organization and workers stay ahead of the competition. On the contrary, he remains people focused as he ensures that his workers are motivated and high in performance (Carnes et al, 2015). A key characteristic of a leader is that he does the right things while also keeps eye on the vision, corporate goals and mission. A leader is a role model with high interpersonal skills, charisma, and remains proactive. Ozbag (2016) pointed in his article that while leader innovates, managers pay attention to detail and ensure that the tasks are done in the designed manner. Furthermore, while leader motivates, a key characteristic of a manager is that he is motivated with rewards as well as punishments. Managers tend to be low in interpersonal skills while also ensure to achieve efficiency as they are answerable to bosses and supervisors. Thus, unlike leaders, managers follow rules, remain disciplined, develop regulations, and remain strict. Carnes et al (2015) stated that managers are rather proactive and may be concerned to single organization department or area; such as process manager, account manager, marketing manager, etc.

Role of a Leader & Manager:

 While it is evident that the character of a manager is different from leader, in many ways, the role of a manager is also different from leader. Butera and Cruz (2017) defined 12 roles that a leader plays including the role of a visionary. The author pointed that a leader provides direction, vision and purpose to a company and therefore, his foremost role is of a visionary. In addition, leader plays role of a change maker because he tracks changes in environment and help companies to cope with the change in order to stay ahead of competitors. Straka et al (2018) pointed that leaders play role of an example or a role model for their followers due to confidence, interpersonal skills, abilities and charisma. Clark and Waldron (2016) stated that a leader also plays role of empowering and strengthening his people. He motivates his people and empowers them to make decisions that help the company. Leaders have good interpersonal skills therefore; they interact with people and determine ways to improve their performance and output through communication, support and active listening. Finally, a leader leads teams by involving people, coaching, as well as monitoring results. A study conducted by Stein (2016) stated that a leader is highly visionary, thus, his roles and tasks are focused at achieving vision through internal improvement and meeting external threats and changes proactively.

While leader play different roles to achieve the vision and oversee organizations, managers have different set of roles to achieve the assigned tasks, objectives or goals. Bulera and Cruz (2017) defined 10 roles played by a manager and classified these into interpersonal, decisional and informational. Straka et al (2018) stated that a manager play interpersonal roles that include roles of liaison, figurehead as well as leader. A manager serve as a leader to his workers in command and prove to be role model, help them and ensure that his team performance exceptionally. Furthermore, a manager also becomes liaison by connecting with people outside organization and building communication and interaction. As a figure head, he deals with situations; sign documents and command the workers. Ozbag (2016) pointed that informational roles are also performed by the managers as they serve as disseminator, spokesman as well as monitor of information. He distribute selective information to the stakeholders, speaks with media and other agencies on behalf of companywhile also serve as monitor that ensures that the right information is only shared. Finally, manager plays decisional roles by serving as entrepreneurs, disturbance dealer, resource manager, as well as resolver or negotiator (Carnes et al, 2015).

Conceptual & Theoretical Roles of Leader & Function of Manager:

According to Stein (2016) a manager may serve as a leader however; a leader is not a manager. An example can include Mahatma Gandhi that is a leader but not a manager but Steve Jobs is a famous leader of Apple Inc. but he also manages Apple Inc. There are a number of theories and concepts proposed by experts to define roles and functions of manager or leader. Below are theories and concepts that explain role of leadership and function of management;