...Abstract Apple is a successful company that is one of the industry leaders in communication and entertainment technology. Despite their success, evaluation and planning must be done to maintain their status. SWOT analysis is the method that is used in this paper to determine the current status of the company and future modifications that can be made to ensure its continued success. Scanning the Environment Introduction We live in a technologically advanced society. Today, we buy a computer and tomorrow it is out of date. Apple is a manufacturing company that creates innovative consumer electronics and software products. Apple has developed a name brand in phones, MP3 players, tablets and computers that is highly reputable globally. The late Steve Jobs was the founder of this company that he developed in 1976. In this paper I will do an extensive SWOT Analysis to determine the state of the company and what improvements or changes can be made. Introduction of a SWOT Analysis SWOT stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. This analysis is used to assist an organization in identifying internal and external issues that have positive and negative effects on the operation and overall success of the business. Managers that strategically plan the direction of their companies use analysis such as SWOT to make decisions. In order for this method to be successful, the analysis must be descriptive, not just a list of...
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...Case Analysis and Methodology Principles of Management (MGMT1120) Contents: 1. What is a business case? 2. Why use cases? 3. Is there an analysis framework to follow? 4. Case Analysis Model a. Problem Identification b. Environmental Analysis c. Creative/Practical Strategic Alternatives d. Decision Criteria e. Select Appropriate Alternative/New Strategy(s) f. Develop an implementation plan 5. Evaluate the results 1|P age 14 1. What is a business case? A business case is a “story” or “narrative” describing a problem or problems in an organization. The organization can be a profit, not-for-profit, or public sector organization. All organizations experience business problems which management must solve. Cases have been written on such organizations as Apple, Microsoft, Y.M.C.A and Royal Bank. Examples of cases are end of each chapter of your text. The “story” or “narrative” often contains additional information which gives insights into the causes of the problems. Sometimes, the case will actually propose possible alternative solutions to solving the problem. Many cases are written from the viewpoint of the manager/leader that recognizes the problem and is under pressure to find a solution. 2. Why use cases? At the JR Shaw School of Business, we take an applied approach to learning. As a student, you learn concepts/models and theories that are simplified representations of the “real world”. While it is not possible to illustrate real world issues...
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...my business. I will conduct a detailed analysis of their brand, stakeholders, customers, products, business ownership, and a SWOT analysis. Background Information Apple was founded by Steven Jobs, Stephen Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne in 1976, they launched their first computer in 1977 in which they earned over $100 million by 1980. In 1984, Apple introduced the Macintosh, the first personal computer with a mouse, which was very unsuccessful in the beginning. Steven Jobs left Apple but returned to work there in 1997. Apple created very innovative products such as the iPod, iMac, iPhone, and iTunes. Apple is known for technologically advanced innovative products, which in return allows them to market their products at high dollar value and create a high demand. With the resignation and death of Steven Jobs, the future of Apple is unpredictable. SWOT Analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) Strengths Apple’s products are leading the way in design, reliability, longevity, uniqueness, and development. Products such as the iPhone, iPad, Mac, and the iPod have become the forefront in their specific arenas. Apple is known for creating innovative products that attract to people of all ages. Unlike many other companies, Apple is involved with every aspect of their product from the design to the software on the products. With the variety of products offered by Apple, they have very many loyal customers whom can use Apple for all of their IT needs. This is important...
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...Running Head: APPLE INC. Apple Inc. Eric Walker 02/26/14 Abstract Apple Inc. has been a successful company for many years since its downfall in 1996. Records show how profitable they have been with their new technology advances and innovation. Despite their success in the technology world against many competitors, Apple has issues in internal affairs that must be addressed. With a new CEO since the passing of Steve Jobs, the corporation’s mission statement has become weak and unclear. The technology they use in general has not been compatible for years with other product lines, which is a turn off for customers more and more as the competition raises their game. From the outside looking in, Apple Inc. seems to be a successful, profitable organization that continues to dominate. However, taking a look deeper into their company from the inside we can see how certain factors could be a downfall to their success in the technology field. Table of Contents I. Introduction 4 II. Current situation 4-6 III. Corporate Governance 6 IV. External Environment 6-7 V. Internal Environment 7-9 VI. SWOT Analysis 9-10 VII. Implementation 10 VIII. Conclusion 10-11 IX. References 12 X. Appendix A 13-15 Introduction Apple Inc. began as a small company, formerly known as Apple Computer. Steve Jobs and his...
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...UNIT 1 i Overview of strategic management Unit 1 BMG 303/05 Strategic Management Overview of Strategic Management ii WAWASAN OPEN UNIVERSITY BMG 303/05 Strategic Management COURSE TEAM Course Team Coordinator: Dr. Chuah Poh Lean Content Writer: Dr. Hasliza Abdul Halim Instructional Designer: Mr. Khoo Chiew Keen Academic Member: Ms Lum Li Sean COURSE COORDINATOR Ms. Loo Saw Khuan EXTERNAL COURSE ASSESSOR Associate Professor Dr. Haji Hamzah Dato Abdul Rahman, Universiti Utara Malaysia. PRODUCTION Editor: Pelangi Sdn. Bhd. In-house Editor: Mr. Khoo Chiew Keen Graphic Designer: Deam Enterprise Wawasan Open University is Malaysia’s first private not-for-profit tertiary institution dedicated to adult learners. It is funded by the Wawasan Education Foundation, a tax-exempt entity established by the Malaysian People’s Movement Party (Gerakan) and supported by the Yeap Chor Ee Charitable and Endowment Trusts, other charities, corporations, members of the public and occasional grants from the Government of Malaysia. The course material development of the university is funded by Yeap Chor Ee Charitable and Endowment Trusts. © 2013 Wawasan Open University All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from WOU. Wawasan Open University (KPT/JPT/DFT/US/P01) ...
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...External and Internal Environmental Analysis STR 581 August 27, 2012 Barbara Fuller External and Internal Environmental Analysis Apple Inc. was first launched into the technology market as a computer company. In 1976, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak launched Apple Inc. with the mission of reaching a diverse community globally to market its products. Since that time, there have been changes in the external environment of the company that has an impact on the decisions the organization makes. Apple Inc. has implemented frameworks to assess its external and internal environment. The company has identifies the specific domains that affect the operations of the company from the outside. These forces of the organization enable the operations of the company to be influenced. Apple Inc. considers the global market to be of high importance. Globalization is becoming a criterion for large organizations to excel above their competition. Apple Inc. needs managers and executives proactively understanding that if the company is not globalizing it can leave them behind of the competition. This can be a tough challenge for Apple because many U.S. companies have not been successful capturing many global markets. Apple never thought about capitalizing on its digital future globally until they made a change in their strategy. Apple had to realize just how much influence it would make by expanding its products and service to a global level. It would...
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...SAMPLE CASE APPLE COMPUTERS, INC. PREPARED BY MAX BEEBER September 1, 1995 FOR OL 421 STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT AND POLICY INTRODUCTION: In 1976, Steven Wozniak and Stephen Jobs designed computer boards in a garage. During the next six years, this operation was transformed into a Multi-million dollar company called Apple Computer. It broke into the Fortune 500 in 1982. While Apple has experienced tremendous growth, it has recently begun to experience problems, which, if unabated could have a significant negative impact. This includes a weak organizational structure, a rapidly changing external environment, lack of strategic leadership, and major problems with its products and within its dealer network. Therese and other serious problems have created a situation in which Apple faces key decision points that will determine the future of the company. The time of this case is late 1983. CURRENT MISSION, GOALS, & STRATEGY: Apple Computer develops, builds, and markets microcomputers. Its current philosophy states that it is “…driven by desire to build products that combine ideas already out at a low enough cost to make them useful. We are not really technology drive.” Apple is currently working on the IIE and the MacIntosh. It is also attempting to construct a more advanced computer called the Lisa, but this project is not yet completed. No specific marketing, financial, or production goals were state for...
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...decision variable chosen and the decision rule used Each alternative must be explicitly stated A decision variable is defined by an outcome that may be measured A decision rule is determined by which outcomes may be compared all of the above are true Question 3 Apple plans to survey every customer who has purchased an Apple computer in the last 5 years. Apple plans to use a _____. convenience sample snowball sample systematic sample census random sample Question 4 Ensuring consistency among respondents, locating omissions, and reducing errors in recording are all benefits of data collection data editing sampling coding data analysis Question 5 Reducing data to a manageable size, developing summaries, and applying statistical techniques are all aspects of sampling data collection pilot testing data analysis data transformation Question 6 A synopsis of the problem, findings, and recommendations are provided in the ____ section of a research report. executive summary abstract overview implementation technical appendix Question 7 Which section of a research report contains all the materials necessary to replicate the project? Executive summary Abstract Overview Implementation Technical appendix Question 8 Which of the following is not a common research process problem? Politically motivated research Database strip-mining Unresearchable...
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...Brendan Wiley MKT 6301 2-17-2015 Apple Case Study Challenges Apple reached the highest publically traded stock in Sept 2012 at $650B making Apple the most valuable publically traded company of all time. Apple did this by having differentiated products, brand loyalty, and seamless integrated devices. It is April 2013 and Apples total value has gone down to $370B. This is mainly due to constant pressures from competitors such as Samsung and others. Apple is challenged with responding correctly to competition with the right product to market, as well as how they are going to compete in new emerging markets. Apple is also challenged with coming up with not only short term solutions but creating new long term solutions to bring back the favorable growth they had received previously. Tim cook, CEO, will need to evaluate these challenges and make applicable changes to foster new sustainable growth at Apple. Solution #1 The first solution would be to beat Samsung in the smartphone race by creating the best spec’d phone of all time. Apple needs to stop following Samsung. As new Iphones have come out, Samsung has consistently put out a better technological option to follow Apple. Recently it has been so bad that you can go back two generations of Samsung S phones and that is comparable to the newest Iphone release. The key to Apples success will be to win the smart phone race and have the best product on the market at all times. Competitively, they would cut into Samsung’s market...
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...BUSINESS RESEARCH REPORT PROPOSAL Student’s Name University Affiliation Business Research Report Introduction After a great talk with the Holmes Institute students, we decided that our research will be based around the various problems that owners were getting from their iPhones.The various issues obtained from research include; battery life and strength of the signal. Due to the obvious truth that apple have dominated the whole market in mobile phones since it was released in 2007, we decided that this will be our topic of research. According to recent research 44.9% of the mobile phone market is owned by the Apple. It should be noted that several additional articles were actually published that were addressing the various problems which were being experienced by the Apple users. It should be fascinated if we investigate whether the same number of problems was also facing the students in the Holmes Institute. The research proposal will be founded and be discussed in details and in systematic order. The background information will discuss the literature review of the proposal in depth hence establishing the relationship that can be found in the research work. The problems and the objectives will also be discussed to form the basis for the real discussion. The mechanism and the techniques of the research and data collections will also be discussed in the report. Finally the report findings and conclusion will be drawn to finalize the research work. Background Information ...
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...important for companies to consider incorporating ethics and social responsibility into their strategic planning. The (term) ethnics are derivative from the Greek word ethikos, which meaning tradition or character. In philosophy ethical behavior is that which is respectable in the area of moral, philosophy involves in developing, defensive and also recommending concept of right and wrong behavior. These ideas do not change as one desire” and inspiration This applies whether a company is involve with customers one-on-one, such as apple or Dell, Inc.; there are various ways to define ethics the simplest may be to say that ethics deals with right and wrong. However, it is difficult to judge what may be the right or wrong in a particular situation without some frames of reference. However” this paper will illuminate the role of ethics and social responsibility in developing a strategic plan while considering stakeholder need and agendas. In addition apple Inc. will be the example of organization drive that will overstepping the ethics boundaries for stakeholder agendas and the types of preventative measure that could be taking to avoid the situation The role of ethics and social responsibility Companies must consider ethics and social responsibility as critical parts inherent components of strategic plan. Ethical and social responsibility criteria must be including as part of the strategic process in before-profit decisions rather than after-profit decisions in...
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...important for companies to consider incorporating ethics and social responsibility into their strategic planning. The (term) ethnics are derivative from the Greek word ethikos, which meaning tradition or character. In philosophy ethical behavior is that which is respectable in the area of moral, philosophy involves in developing, defensive and also recommending concept of right and wrong behavior. These ideas do not change as one desire” and inspiration This applies whether a company is involve with customers one-on-one, such as apple or Dell, Inc.; there are various ways to define ethics the simplest may be to say that ethics deals with right and wrong. However, it is difficult to judge what may be the right or wrong in a particular situation without some frames of reference. However” this paper will illuminate the role of ethics and social responsibility in developing a strategic plan while considering stakeholder need and agendas. In addition apple Inc. will be the example of organization drive that will be overstepping the ethics boundaries for stakeholder agendas and the types of preventative measure that could be taking to avoid the situation The role of ethics and social responsibility Companies must consider ethics and social responsibility as critical parts inherent components of strategic plan. Ethical and social responsibility criteria must be including as part of the strategic process in before-profit decisions rather than after-profit decisions in order...
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...for newspaper publishers to increase their revenues. Also includes an evaluation of business strategies and activities regarding Chicago Tribunes’ major competitors. This report covers some recommendation for further strategic positioning and investments to create a competitive advantages. In presenting this report, I want to pay tribute to the work of every one of my colleague throughout the strategic department and all journalists within this newspaper. It is a pleasure to find strategies and solutions to keep our business alive and develop further goals. If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at any time. Yours sincerely, Zora Bouadjenak; MBA Strategic Advisor Chicago Tribune 1 HOW DOES THE IMPLEMENTATION OF APPS AND E-SUBSCRIPTIONS EFFECT NEWSPAPER PUBLISHERS REVENUES AND THEIR STRATEGIES FOR FURTHER BUSINESSES? A case for Chicago Tribune Newspaper Lectures name: Date of submission: Author’s name: ID: Mr. Chong Hock CHUA 12. September 2011 Zora BOUADJENAK 12643509 2 1 Executive Summary Newspaper publishers are facing the new digital era with different strategies. Chicago Tribune needs to...
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...Running Head: SALES PLAN: PHASE TWO Sales Plan: Phase Two May 10, 2010 Sales Plan: Phase Two Apple has become one of the most successful cell phone providers since releasing the iPhone in 2007 (Apple, n.d.). This product is revolutionizing the cellular phone industry in ways that no other product could ever do. But like any product, the iPhone must continue to grow to stay ahead of the competition and always to increase sales. One way to do this is preparing a sales plan that can keep the product successful and increase the products revenues as it goes forward. As vice president of sales for Apple (Apple, n.d.), it is incumbent upon Team B to implement such a plan. Topics covered include outlining where the product is in the product life cycle, an environmental scan, situation analysis, and a SWOTT analysis. Other topics to include are sales goals, strategic plans, tactics, a budget, and measurement tools. By providing this data, Team B will ensure a successful sales plan that will not only maintain the products current success but also provide it with a very bright future to keep sustainability high. A discussion of the executive summary follows. Executive Summary The Apple iPhone is by far the most advanced and successful phone on the market today. It set the standard for smartphones and left the competition far behind with the features and applications it offers. Between all the applications available for download, the easy access to voicemail and an...
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...Apple Inc Strategic Recommendations for the Future Apple Inc is a globally respected business organisation and is an acknowledged pioneer in its areas of operations in the technology sector. Primarily a manufacturer and marketer of personal computers and peripherals, software and networking solutions, the company’s product line includes the Macintosh range of desktop and notebook PCs, the Mac OS X operating system, the IPod digital music player, the ITunes music store, the IPhone, the IPad tablet, the X Serve G5 servers and X Serve storage products (Apple Computer Inc, 2011, p 1). The company sells its products through its chain of retail stores, third party wholesalers and online channels. The company’s main markets are in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Japan and South East Asia. It also has a growing presence in China and India (Apple Computer Inc, 2011, p 2). Apple’s vision statement is elaborated as “man is the creator of change in this world. As such he should be above systems and structures and not subordinate to them”. The company’s mission statement is as under: “Apple is committed to bringing the best personal computing experience to students, educators, creative professionals and consumers around the world through its innovative hardware, software and internet offerings”. (Masi, 2009, p 2) 2. External Analysis 2.1. Environmental Analysis Apple Inc is one of the largest of global corporations in terms of market capitalisation and has important products...
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