How Apple is changing – the five ways Tim Cook is changing the tech giant

Sitting with employees during lunch and introducing supply management personnel to product meetings are just some of the changes Tim Cook is making at Apple, as the chief executive attempts to put his stamp on the technology giant.

The changes have been revealed in a new profile at Fortune, which chronicles how Cook is managing to control the company in the post-Steve Jobs era.

Analysts have questioned whether Cook will be able to keep Apple successful – his focus on engineering rather than design has been cited as a liability.

But during that time, Apple’s market value is up $140 billion since Cook got the job and reported $31 billion in profits, exceeding market expectations.

And he’s done something else too – introduced a number of small, cultural changes that have started to influence the way people work at the company.

These aren’t dramatic shifts, but they show how Cook is handling Apple with his own style, and not following Jobs’ example – which was actually one of Jobs’ own dying wishes.

Here are five ways that Cook is changing the way Apple is managed:

1. He sits with his employees during breaks

Steve Jobs wasn’t much of an executive to spend a lot of time with individual employees. But Cook seems to be changing that.

Fortune says Cook specifically sits with random employees at lunchtime. While this is a minor change, it’s an interesting one – he’s attempting to give workers a completely different view of the person at the top job.

2. He’s much friendlier

Steve Jobs was notorious for being harsh on his employees, sometimes making them cry in front of other workers. It seems Cook is taking a different approach, demanding good performance but with less of the screaming.

“I think people are breathing now,” one employee said.