Apple Management-Training Chief Joel Podolny Leaves for Startup

(Bloomberg) -- Joel Podolny, the longtime dean of the Apple University in-house management training school, left the company earlier this year to join a startup, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

Podolny had run the program since early 2009, when he was hired by former Apple Inc. Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs to create the program. He previously served as a dean of the Yale School of Management and a professor at Harvard University. 

Podolny was a steward of Apple’s corporate culture as the company pushed into new markets and coped with the death of Jobs, its visionary co-founder. He had worked with Jobs to create Apple University as a way to teach executives about the company’s values -- and what it had learned from decades of decision-making. Courses have included topics such as Apple’s relocation of manufacturing to China and the creation of retail stores in the early 2000s, according to the book “Inside Apple.”

A representative for Cupertino, California-based Apple declined to comment.

In addition to shepherding Apple University, Podolny also was brought on to run the company’s human resources department. But he dropped that role in 2014 to focus on the Apple management school full-time. The company has hired dozens of professors from schools such as Harvard, the University of California at Berkeley and Stanford University to teach classes. Top Apple executives also serve as instructors in the program, which has dozens of employees globally. 

Last year, Podolny published a lengthy article in the Harvard Business Review on Apple’s organizational structure. The piece explored how executives divide their time between responsibilities, the CEO reporting structure, and how the development of features often requires collaboration between several different teams. 

Before his departure, Podolny reported to Deirdre O’Brien, Apple’s head of retail and human resources. But earlier in his tenure, he had reported directly to Jobs and current CEO Tim Cook. Podolny was replaced by a pair of new co-deans who had previously reported to him.

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