...Group Case Group #8 The Information Technology Industry MAN4720-011 GLOBAL STRATEGY AND POLICY Fall 2014 CRITICAL CASE ISSUES: (CI #1) INTERNAL ENVIRONMENT: Leadership The change in leadership led to changes in the internal environment and marketing strategies. (CI #2) ECONOMIC: Domestic Market Apple (iOS capable) phones are losing market share to Android capable phones. (CI #3) EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT: Foreign Markets The Apple Corporation is criticized for manufacture issues and the lack of ability to acquire market share from foreign competitors overseas. (CI #4) SOCIAL ENVIRONMENT: Technological The Apple Corporation constantly faces criticism for various technological and security issues. I. CURRENT SITUATION A. CURRENT PERFORMANCE 2013 was a rough year for the Apple Corporation, closing the fiscal year down 29.1%. Despite the record breaking release of the iPhone 5S and 5C and a total revenue of $170 Billion, up 9.55%, net income was only $37 Billion, down 11.25% from the previous year. The Apple Corporation’s market share in smartphones was only 12.9% and 18% in application downloads. The Apple Corporation controls only a relatively small section of the computer market, but its market share has grown with the decrease in sale of windows machines. B. STRATEGIC POSTURE 1. Mission a. As of 2013: “Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the world, along with OS X, iLife, iWork and professional software...
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...Case Analysis, Apple Inc. 1 Case Analysis, Apple Inc. 1 of 4 Case Analysis, Apple Inc. 2 This case analysis is written to analyze the topic of Strategic Management and answering the question of why it is critical to the success of an organization in meeting its goals and mission. This analysis will address the major issues surrounding the organization or individuals involved with the organization, will identify alternate courses of action to address the issues identified with a decision/recommendation for action. Once called Apple Computer and historically know for its Macintosh personal computers (PC) line, Apple Computer dropped the latter part of its name in 2007 and became Apple, Inc. Even though non-PC product lines drove the majority of Apple’s financial performance there still seemed to be no real change in the company’s strategic profile. There were several thousand people that were laid off and by lying off employees to try and fix their financial issues, could have been a portion of the problem (Yoffie & Slind, 2008). Jobs are what contribute to a company’s effectiveness. If the jobs had been retained and management had attempted to find new ways of conducting business to survive by being innovative, Apple, Inc. may have witnessed success earlier (Mello, 2011, pp 112-115). Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and John Sculley came on board and made great strides towards increase in effective marketing, partnering with other companies and joint ventures...
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...Unit One – Case Analysis: Apple, inc. Strategic Human Resources Management Unit One – Case Analysis The intended goal of this paper is to explain strategic management and why it is crucial to the success of an organization in meeting its goals and mission. The focus will be on the case study provided by the Harvard Business School on the company Apple, Inc. from the year 2008. I will give a brief overview of the case and identify issues or problems therein. Alternate solutions to solve the problems Apple, Inc. faces will be identified. The best solution to permanently resolve these issues and problems and an implementation plan will be outlined. The computer circuit board, named Apple I, created in a garage on April Fools’ Day 1976 was the beginning of Apple, Inc. Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and A. C. Markkula Jr., the creators, became the industry leaders in 4 years, finally launching their IPO in 1980. Since its inception, Apple has fought to continually and steadily increase its market share and profits worldwide. Technical innovation has been no problem for this company with its numerous devices available. Their competition from Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Acer, and others and trying to compete made the company falter. According to Slind and Yoffie, Hewlett-Packard led the market share with 18.8% and Apple followed with a mere 2.6% in 2007 (2008, pg. 21). But after some hard work and diligence on Jobs’ end, Apple once again began to flourish. One obvious problem for...
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...APPLE INC. FINANCIAL ANALYSIS REPORT Apple, Inc. Financial Analysis Report Ricardo Figueroa DeVry University BUSN412 Case Study Instructor David Mozinski May 27, 2013 Case Study Report Outline and Grading Guide (150 points) COMPANY NAME/WEBSITE/INDUSTRY Apple, Inc., http://www.apple.com/about/, Electronic Equipment BACKGROUND/HISTORY The company began as “Apple Computer” by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak. They were college dropouts. The company almost went bankrupt in 1996 even though they had a strong brand, rapid growth, and high profit late in the 1980s. Jobs then went to work and transformed “Apple Computers” into “Apple Inc.” with innovative and technologically sophisticated non-PC products in the 2000’s. By 2010, the company also viewed itself as a “mobile device company.” Apple became the fourth-largest PC vendor in the US market. Through multi-million dollar campaigns, such as successful “Think Different” ads and catch slogans, Apple promoted itself as a hip alternative to other computer brands. It also highlighted its computers as the world’s “greenest lineup of notebooks.” The goal of Apple is to differentiate its products amid intense competition in the personal computer and mobile device industry. SWOT ANALYSIS Strengths | 1. Pioneer of innovative and high-tech quality products like iPod, iPhone, iPad, and Mac 2. Globally recognized brand name 3. Large segment of loyal customers of “Apple culture” 4. Strong Research and Development...
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...GB520: Strategic Human Resource Management Professor Susan Pettine Kaplan University Apple Inc. Case Study 2008 Apple Inc. Case Analysis Introduction The 2008 Harvard Business Case Study on Apple Inc, describes the illustrious company which is fast becoming the wealthiest company ever with a net worth of $500 billion dollars. It illustrates how the company has had some issues, but still find a way to yet sustain its’ name and position over the years. The status of the company was examined in detail by the article which revealed a number of strategic moves under the leadership of several CEO’s in marketing, the PC industry and the consumer electronics industry. This paper offers an analysis of how I view Apple Inc. using the Strategic Management Process. Therefore, the latter part will offer recommendations of some difficulties Apple Inc. faced as it made successful changes (Slind & Yoffie, 2008). Synopsis (Background) of the Situation April 1, 1976 Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak cofounded Apple Computer in Los Angeles, California from Jobs garage; they built a computer circuit board and named it Apple I. In just a few months they sold 200, in less than three years Apple had annual sales of $1billion which quickly propelled them an industry leader. Apple was thriving to a degree that seemed to be beyond the capacity of Apple computer. Although Mac sales surged in recent years, Apple’s share of the PC market consistently...
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...Unit 1 Case Analysis: Apple Inc. Background In January 2007, Apple Computer Inc was renamed Apple Inc. after 30 years of being a very productive organization. Apple Inc. changed from being known as strictly a Macintosh computer company into a diverse technology company that is known for its art, video, and graphics. They presented this diversity by selling new products such as; the Ipod used together with the iTunes store and the iPhone. In 2008, Apple Inc earned a profit of $1.07 billion from revenue of $7.46 billion. Over half of Apples income was generated from the sales in these new products (Yoffie &Slind, 2008). Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak founded Apple Computer in April 1976. Their first computer was called the Apple I. Apple Computer was incorporated in 1977 by bring on another partner, A.C. “Mike” Markkula, Jr. With the help of Markkula, Jobs and Wozniak introduced the Apple II computer in 1978. The Apple II drove the PC industry up to $1 billion in annual sales in less than three years. Apple, of course was the industry leader by selling more than 100,000 Apple IIs by the end of 1980 (Yoffie &Slind, 2008). Apple Inc. Obstacles In 1981, IBM entered the market with its DOS operating system and a microprocessor from Intel. This made them competitors for Apple because IBM’s system was one that other producers could clone. Apple saw a 6.2% drop in their market shares in 1982 and the net income fell 17% between 1983 and 1984. This left the company in dire...
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...Apple Case-- “Taking a Bite Out of the Competition” Synopsis On April 1, 1976 Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs started and founded Apple Computers. Jobs was the visionary and marketing expert while Wozniak was more about the technical aspects. In 2004 Mr. Jobs was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Then in 2009 Jobs to medical leave from the company. Since 2004, the Apple Company led its competition in revenue and margins. And with the introduction of the products (iMac, MacBook, iPod, iPhone, and iTunes) the company started to expand into the digital entertainment market. Apple Computer change the name of the company to Apple, Inc. to symbolize its new, more diversified nature. Critical Factors for Success I believe that a major part of Apple, Inc.’s success fell on the fact that the introduced new, innovative products. No one in the digital entertainment market had any products even close to the iPod and iTunes technology that Apple introduced. And having such innovative product also created product differentiation for the company as well. People associated upscale and advanced products with the Apple brand. Making their products compatible with other computers besides Mac was a critical factor. Then people who didn’t necessarily have the Mac computer but had an iPod could still use the product. The opening of the App Store allowed 3rd-party developers to create applications for purchase just for the iPhone and iPod Touch. Apple, Inc. also worked with other companies, such...
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...APPLE, INC. CASE ANALYSIS Written by: Jessica A. Mahfoudi AMBA 640 Dr. Larry Williams University of Maryland University College February 25, 2013 This page is intentionally blank EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Management Information Systems allow companies to remain competitive in today’s fast-paced world and especially when conducting business on the Internet. Organizations must adapt to technological advances and innovations to keep pace with today’s rapidly changing environment (Baltzan, 2012). Every day there is some type of new technology, new internet site, new software or hardware program that someone is learning how to use. Apple, being a major technology company needs to keep up with these advances to keep their customers happy. This paper focuses on Apple, Inc., its competitive advantage and the challenges Apple faces to stay in the top of consumer reports. Data, information, business intelligence and knowledge are discussed and how they are relevant to the production of Apple products. Knowledge cannot be acquired until data, information and business intelligence are researched. The paper then goes on to discuss Porter’s Five Forces Model and how it is applied to Apple, Inc. and its products. Apple has lowered the threat of substitute products by including a great variety of features on all of their products. Since the original iPhone's release about four years ago, the threat of substitute products or services has greatly decreased...
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...STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT APPLE INC. Submitted by: BURGAS, JHENNEL CATORCE, FREYA JULIA DACALOS, DAVE RYAN MERIDA, KRISTY RAE SABILLO, MA. CARMEN F 12:00-3:00 Submitted to: Mr. Rene Y. Paquibot 1. Summary Everything started on April 1, 1976, when Steve Jobs, 20, and Steve Wozniak, 25, both electronic experts, decided to create and sell personal computers designed by the latter. Their little company was located in Job’s garage. They called their company Apple and their first machine, Apple I. It was just a simple computer with no case, keyboard and power supply. However, in October 1976, through the efforts of Woz, an improved version of Apple I was introduced, called the Apple II. Mike Markkula, a retired millionaire because of Fairchild and Intel, decided to visit Jobs’ garage and invested one-third in the company and helped in running it. The Apple II was introduced in 1977, with a Motorola microprocessor, keyboard, a power supply, a monitor, and a programming software. In 1978, Apple sold an improved version of Apple II which contained a disk drive for third-party developers to write software programs for the computer such as EasyWriter and VisiCalc. By the end of 1980, Apple became the leader in the embryonic personal computer industry because of the high sales generated by Apple II. It even introduced its next product, Apple III. However, such product was still outsold by Apple II, with the latter becoming a...
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...Apple, Inc. SWOT Recommendation Outline Strengths * Market leader * Diversified products and markets * Superior revenue and margins * Ongoing innovative product design * Superior supply chain and manufacturing efficiencies * Product reliability * Highly effective advertising * Ongoing use of superior operating systems * Worldwide demand for the iPhone * Mac’s increasing domestic market share * Management is committed and confident * Allowing iTunes songs to be sold online without DRM | Weaknesses * The loss of Steve Job’s visionary spirit and superior leadership * Lack of compatibility options in its software * High R&D costs * iPhone’s late move to Verizon network * Safari’s conservative interface compared with Google Chrome’s * Apple does not have it’s own processors or memory, they rely on other companies for them * No plans to producte a netbook laptop | Opportunities * Expansion to a broader range of customers with lower cost product options. * Targeting of government and additional educational institutions. * Entry to new foreign markets. * Constant growth in the PC and smartphone segment. * Expansion into the gaming market * Growing market of energy efficient products * Production of Netbooks | Threats * Competitors with less expensive products * Competition in technology with other key players in the PC industry like HP, Dell, Acer * Competitors trying to recreate iTunes * Increasing popularity...
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...Apple Inc. in 2010 Jennifer Rossin American Military University BUSN620 Strategic Management May 15, 2015 Abstract Per the assignment given, this paper explores Case Study #4, Apple Inc. in 2010. On April 4, 2010, Apple Inc. (from this point forward, referred to as “Apple”) launched the first generation of the iPad. The third largely hyped product launched by the company over the previous ten years, the iPad was greatly anticipated and touted as the “next big thing.” This paper will examine how Apple competes with the rest of the PC, MP3 player and smartphone markets, along with challenges the company faces (at the time of the study). It will also discuss the leadership of Steve Jobs and the direction Apple has gone in since his departure from the company. Apple vs. the PC In the Beginning When 21-year-old college dropout Steve Jobs and his two friends Steve Woznizk and Ronald Wayne would hang out in Jobs’ parents’ garage, it wasn’t a band they were contemplating forming, but the future of computers as we know them today. On April 1, 1976, the three incorporated Apple Computer. Originally a do-it-yourself kit, sans a case, the Apple 1 was the first all-in-one microcomputer. Eventually, the Macintosh was introduced in 1984. Continuing through to 2010, Apple has continually improved on its version of the personal computer, creating faster machines and a bigger and bigger customer following. Competing in the PC Market In 2010...
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...Case Study Summary: Apple Inc is one of the most successful and valuable brand in the world. With their wide range of innovative and user friendly products ranging from iPod to iPhone, MacBook’s etc. Apple surely enjoys a huge market share and a loyal customer base. The huge success can be attributed to its ability to proactively think ahead of the market and leapfrog its competitor’s. But before achieving the huge success it had its own set of failures in the PC industry. Apples complete transformation from Apple computers to Apple Inc makes it a perfect example of successful change story. ABSTRACT: The purpose of this research is study how technology and innovation based firms like Apple Inc. has achieved success by adopting various change initiatives and walking the talk. Apple has always believed in his vision and values of believing in technology. It also aims to understand how Innovative firms like Apple Inc. have been successful by being proactive and what are the drivers of change and the change models that led them to embrace and imbibe the culture of innovativeness to stay ahead of the market. An attempt is made to relate the best model that is reflective of Apple’s change strategy (based on the factual information). Introduction The two most important factors that drive today’s intensely competitive world are technology and obsolescence, being directly proportional to each...
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...Case Case Study #1 Apple Inc. Dixie Corbin MGMT 670 Fall 2013 What does a competitive strength assessment reveal about Apple's computer business as compared to the leaders in personal computer industry? Use the methodology in Table 4.2 to support your answer. Does it appear that the company's competitive positions in the media players and smartphones are stronger or weaker than its position in computers? Table 4.1 is in Chapter 4, page 65; Table 4.2 is the SWOT analysis, page 71. Apple Inc. has provided many innovative and creative products to consumers over the years. Many industry analysts want to know if Apple can sustain its growth and defend against new competitive threats. Apple lost their CEO Steve Jobs in 2011 to health issues. They were still able to stay ahead of the competition with impressive growth into 2012. “The company set record quarterly revenues and profits during its second quarter of 2012, which resulted in its stock price catapulting to a level that made it the world’s most valuable company as measured by its market capitalization.” (Gamble & Marino, 2012) Even with the loss of Steve Jobs, Apple was able to continue to provide innovative products such as the iPhone, iPad and iPod. During Job’s absence Tim Cook was able to perform successfully and was eventually appointed Job’s successor as Apple’s CEO. With a new CEO, Apple faced many difficulties including being forced to “work creatively and expeditiously to sustain the company’s success...
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...The present case study «Apple Inc. in 2010» deals with the main problems of Apple Inc. (previously known as Apple Computer, Inc. for the first 30 years) - an American multinational corporation that along with its subsidiaries designs, manufactures and sells personal computers, consumer electronics and software. The company's best-known hardware products are the Macintosh line of computers, the iPod, the iPhone and the iPad. Its most popular software includes the Mac OS X - a PC operating system and iOS – а mobile operating system as well as the iTunes media store. By 2009 Apple Inc. had over 300 retail stores in several countries. It is one of the largest publicly traded companies in the world by market capitalization, as well as the largest technology company in the world by revenue and profit. As of 2010, the company had approximately 46,600 full-time employees. Within the last decade (2000-2010) Apple has successfully introduced three major innovations – iPod in 2001, iPhone in 2007 and iPad in 2010. To view how the company got so successful let us review in short the history and growth of the Apple Inc. over the years. As we know it was founded in 1976 by Steven Jobs and Stephen Wozniak, two young talented electronics masterminds both in their early twenties, who unfortunately dropped out of college. Their first computer was manufactured in the Jobs family's garage and called Apple I. The company was incorporated in 1977 and was named Apple Computer, Inc., but the word "Computer"...
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...One of the first reasons for Apple’s failures was the apple III, which had major quality problems; the most important of these was due to the lack of a cooling fan where the apple III would overheat, warping the motherboard in 1980’s. Also another detail about why apple III did not succeed in the market was because of its price, which was more expensive, compared to business computers during that time. Furthermore, another 80’s failure was the “Lisa” which was named after Steve Job’s daughter. The Lisa was a disaster in the market because firstly due to its market price $10 000 and secondly due to its 1MB memory. Therefore these failures continued in the 90’s where both the company’s visionary and founders departed. In 1983, Sculley became president and CEO of Apple. Jobs believed that Sculley would help him Apple “grow” with his management skills. However, Steve Job’s considers this as the biggest failure for Apple Inc. and its growth. Eventually, it cost Steve Job his job. In 1988, the stock reached a low near $4, and the company posted losses of over $1 Billion. To add on, Apple was facing market competition against many companies one of them been Microsoft, which started selling its OS to any PC maker that, would buy it. Eventually, Apple had contemplated licensing its Mac operating system on other computers. However, the idea was rejected and resulted in Microsoft shares of the computing market to take off. Microsoft's operating system, which was on more computers that cost...
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