Apple Shake-Up Signals Tim Cook Era.....The new steve Jobs

In a shake-up weeks in the making, Apple's chief executive this week made a series of moves designed to restore peace to a management team roiled by the death last year of company co-founder Steve Jobs, whose outsize personality had kept managers in check. Mr. Cook jettisoned Apple's most controversial executive, mobile software head Scott Forstall, who oversaw Apple's troubled maps unveiling, handing off his chief duties to a software executive viewed inside Apple as a more even-keeled manager. At the same time, Mr. Cook pushed out John Browett, who only six months ago took over Apple's widely-praised retail operations. With his revamp, Mr. Cook is putting his own stamp on Apple and its executive team. Since taking over from Mr. Jobs last year, Mr. Cook has made a series of decisions that deviate from Mr. Jobs's management tack and style. He has backed efforts pushed by investors and employees such as a stock-buyback program and a charitable giving program that Mr. Jobs had previously opposed. Mr. Cook has said he spends less time on products than Mr. Jobs and has empowered individuals to run their groups. It also creates a new hole in product leadership. Mr. Forstall, for one, was seen by many as the Apple executive most knowledgeable about software at a company stacked with hardware pros. The turmoil comes amid a sharp drop in the company's market value after a historic run-up earlier this year. Apple's shares last traded at $604 and are off nearly $100 in the six week. They reached a peak of $702.10 on Sept. 19.