This is the eternal question in business: when a company succeeds or fails, is management or the business itself responsible?

There is a touching faith among many that certain gifted individuals are superstars who single-handedly make everything wonderful. An example of this in action is the almost religious belief by the markets in Steve Jobs at Apple. His achievements there and at Pixar have given him an extraordinary following among investors and the media. Recent worries about his health have seen Apple’s share price falter – as if without his leadership its brand, revenues and technical breakthroughs would all disappear. Analysts and stockholders should know better – the scale of Apple’s operations means there must be an outstanding team beneath Mr Jobs that will surely take care of matters perfectly well if he leaves.