Aug 29, 2011 11:54 GMT  ·  By

The speculation is on about whether Tim Cook, the new Apple CEO, will be just as good a leader to his company, as he is a manager.

Formerly Chief Operating Officer and now Chief Executive Officer of Apple (following the resignation of Steve Jobs last week), Tim Cook mostly knows about the company’s worldwide sales and operations, including end-to-end management of Apple’s supply chain, sales activities, and service and support in all markets and countries.

He has, however, filled in for Steve Jobs as acting CEO three times in a row. He performed beautifully each time, bringing Apple soaring profits and prestige among competitors.

But the idea that Apple Inc. would be nowhere close to where it is now without Steve Jobs looms still.

The argument is that Cook has been tasked with continuing what Jobs had done, ensuring everything stayed on track, as Jobs had intended.

Like Jobs, Cook himself sent an email last week to employees, saying that Apple would not change in the absence of its iconic former CEO.

"I want you to be confident that Apple is not going to change," Cook wrote in an email sent Thursday to Apple employees. "I cherish and celebrate Apple's unique principles and values. Steve built a company and culture that is unlike any other in the world and we are going to stay true to that — it is in our DNA."

But Cook is no visionary. Or at least not one of Jobs’ stature.

"He was very quiet, very reserved. But he has a strong sense of himself," said Robert Bulfin, an emeritus professor of industrial and systems engineering who knew Cook. "If he thinks he's right, I think he's sort of like a bulldog."

Jobs’ obsession with every aspect of Apple went hand in hand with Cook’s own fixation on the small details of business operations, according to Colin W. Gillis, a technology analyst with BGC Partners.

"Having Tim as CEO is the best solution in our eyes," Gillis wrote in a letter to investors on Thursday. "We see Tim as a steady hand on the tiller of the company."

Yet Al Checchi, the former chairman of Northwest Airlines, signals that there is a difference between a great manager and a great leader.

According to Seacoastonline.com, Checchi helped the Bass brothers of Texas acquire a 25 percent stake in a troubled Walt Disney Co. in 1984. He is also the author of "The Change Maker: Preserving the Promise of America."

Checchi is convinced that investors will only truly feel safe with Cook if he proves he can create a constantly shifting environment while keeping the profits flowing.

"The job of a leader, in any sphere, is to take the institution and constantly modify it and adapt to a dynamic environment," said Checchi.

In the end, however, it all comes down to innovation - a trait that is currently typical to the company headquartered at 1 Infinite Loop, Cupertino, California.

N. Venkat Venkatraman, professor in management, information technologies, at the Boston University School of Management, believes that a true test of Cook’s ability to continue Jobs’ legacy is to launch a new product successfully.

"It's going to come down to what happens when Apple has to make a new product," said Venkatraman. "If Apple doesn't lead with the design, and some other company does and subsumes Apple ... then everyone will say Tim missed it."