4 Areas Where Apple's Cook Could Outperform Jobs

Bolster the Board

"Maybe Cook might make some changes in the [Apple] board, bring some new blood in and expand it," said Joel Achramowicz, senior vice president of equity research at investment bank Blaylock Robert Van. "People have talked about the board being a little bit small, so expanding the board would add some perspective, something new."

Apple has a seven-person board, which includes former U.S. vice president Al Gore, J.Crew CEO Millard Drexler, and Andrea Jung, the CEO of Avon Products (AVP). Intel (INTC), in contrast, has 11 people on its board, while IBM has 12 directors.

Jung, along with Genentech (DNA) Chairman Art Levinson, currently serve as co-leads of the Apple board, although there have been recent calls for Apple to appoint an independent chairman. This would be a non-Apple insider who would help Cook steer the company in the right direction.

Apple's board has faced criticism in the past for lack of transparency, particularly aroundsuccession planning, although the company's directors can point to their biggest success: Apple's share price.

The iPhone maker's stock has grown more than 4,500% over the last 10 years, a stark contrast to fellow heavyweight Microsoft, which has seen its shares slip 3% over the same period.

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