...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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...Course Name: Unit Number: Case Name: Apple Inc. Case Study Analysis Introduction This analysis is based on Apple Inc. case study in which the strategic management is analyzed. In the process of analyzing this concept, the article also indentifies the issues and problems as they are presented together with the identification of the major issues surrounding the organization and individuals that are involved with the Apple Inc. Alternative course of action is addressed together with the recommendation that is based on the analysis. Understanding strategic management Through strategic management, a series of moves are developed and executed with an aim of enhancing the organization to be successful in the current situation and also in the future. As the Apple Inc aggressive history is analyzed, a slew of examples are unveiled with an illustration of the irreproducible ability in the effort to have an adoption as well as own market creation. Apple’s strategic management The success of Apple Inc. has been based on its ability to integrate into its model of business operation a management that is strategic. Through strategic management diligent involvement, Apple Inc. has been able to ensure that it is not maneuvered; a strategy that has enabled the company for the past 3 decades to emerge as successful in the competition. However, believing that Apple Inc. has not gone through some setbacks would be illogical. In fact, this...
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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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...5/28/2014 Apple Ife Matrix Analysis - Research Papers - Alexpadron MOZHISH1 UPGRADE Get Access to over 1,709,571 More Essays. Upgrade Your Account Now. RESEARCH DOCUMENTS BOOK NOTES AP NOTES Home » Miscellaneous Apple Ife Matrix Analysis By alexpadron | March 2008 Add to Library (0) Download Print Report this Essay Page 1 of 1 Apple IFE Matrix Analysis It was pretty surprising to me to find that all the different groups came up with fairly similar ratings in their IFE matrix for Apple Inc. My group, management, had the second highest rating at a 2.78 and I felt that we were fairly critical of the different strengths and weaknesses for the company. The groups that pertained to a more financial aspect like finance and accounting seemed to have lower scores, which were not as far above the average for utilization of resources internally. This seems interesting because many companies use resources outside their company to assist them in correcting financial problems. Also, there were a few strengths and weaknesses that every group mentioned in their matrix and they were: Steve Jobs leaving and then returning(W), large increase in inventory(W), products are globalized(S). It was interesting to see that Steve Jobs leaving and then returning was on everyone groups list because with out him these last few years Apple Inc. would probably not be where it is at today. The only downside to this is that there seems to be this great dependency on one person in...
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...Case Analysis – Strategic Management – Apple, Inc. Introduction The purpose of this paper is to explain the definition of Strategic Management and why it is critical to the success of an organization in meeting its goals and mission. The analysis will The paper will include a brief analysis of the situation and pending decision problem, as presented in the case and in relevance to the answer. In addition, the major issues will be surrounding the organization or individuals involved with the organization. Included will be alternate courses of action to address the issues identified. Next, will be the decision or recommendation for action, with the appropriate supporting arguments if any. Statement of the Problem(s): Thousands of people were laid off at Apple, Inc. It does not look like Apple, Inc. spent much time working on its management and marketing strategies from the beginning. It was not until better marketers such as Jobs and Sculley came into the picture, before the company started to expand to better markets with acquisitions and joint ventures. The problem was not changing their strategy sooner. The jobs are what contribute to a company’s effectiveness (Mello, 2011, p. 115) and if they kept their employees it might have contributed to earlier success. It is human capital that helps companies to strive. For Apple, Inc. to lay off employees to help their financial statement for stakeholders may have been part of the cause of the problem (Yoffie...
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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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...GESTÃO FINANCEIRA 2012/2013 Joanna Słomowicz 5620 Marta Malinowska 5571 Maja Rudecka 5621 Paulina Daczko 5624 1. Apple Inc. is currently a well known growing company that has been reporting lately high levels of profitability at various levels of its corporate reality. Do you agree with this statement? Support your answer using financial management terminology and numerical inputs to build appropriate ratios of analysis, using the information available in the company’s financial statements for the five year period. ROE (Return on Equity Ratio): 2010: 29.32142 % 2009: 26.027181 % 2008: 27.4431538 % 2007: 24.050372 % 2006: 19.921875 % ROA (Return on Assets Ratio): 2010: 18.638522 % 2009: 17.336477 % 2008: 16.9168671 % 2007: 13.788614 % 2006: 11.560593 % Gross (Profit Margin Ratio): 2010: 25684 2009: 17222 2008: 13197 2007: 8152 2006: 5598 We agree with the statement. We have tree major Profitability Ratios: ROE, ROA and Gross Profit Margin ratio. As we can see ROE has grown since 2006-2010 systematically from 19.921875 to 29.32142. Follows from the definition of the Return on Equity Ratio, it shows how well a company uses investment funds to generate profit growth. ROEs over 15% is considered very good. Also ROA has risen significantly from 11.56% to 18.64%. ROA shows how profitable a company’s assets are in generating revenue. And the last one Gross Profit Margin Ratio tells us difference between revenue and cost before accounting for certain other costs. It directly tells...
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...Case 2: Apple Inc., 2008 Date: 23-09-2009 1 Table of Contents Table of Contents .................................................................................................................................... 2 Introduction............................................................................................................................................. 3 Theory and Analysis................................................................................................................................. 4 Research question 1: The structure of the PC industry....................................................................... 4 Research Question 2: The difficulty of Apple in the PC industry over time ........................................ 7 Research Question 3: Sustainability of competitive advantage for Apple in the PC business .......... 10 Strategic advice ..................................................................................................................................... 12 Conclusion and Reflection ..................................................................................................................... 12 References ............................................................................................................................................. 13 2 Introduction In 1976 Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak founded Apple Computer Inc. together with a group of 20 other people and started out in Steve Jobs garage...
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...Business Analysis of Apple Inc. Apple Inc., founded in 1976 by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak were looking to create a new type of computer. Thirty years later not only have they become one of the leading computer companies, but have also become successful in many other technological areas. Apple has branched out in computers (iMac, Macbook, Macbook Air, iPad), music industry (iPod, iTunes), cellular phone (iPhone), and have become leaders in these areas as well. To make an informed decision of whether or not to invest in Apple Inc., a business analysis must be done to determine the financial health of the company. The United States has been enduring an economic downturn since December 2007, according to The National Bureau of Economic Research (Isidore, 2008). Despite the recent economic downturn, Apple Inc. has turned a substantial profit for the past five years and is consistently one of the top performing firms in the Fortune 500. A review of their financial statement shows the extent of their success through the country’s struggles. Apple Inc.’s balance sheet, which is provides detailed information about a company’s assets, liabilities, and shareholder’s equity (U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, 2007). Apple Inc. has reported steady grains of their assest from the preverious years. They reported a gain of 150% in 2007, 16% in 2008, 1% in 2009 and 11% in 2010. Apple Inc.’s total current assets went from $14 billion in September 2006 to $41 billion in September...
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...A Critical Assessment Of �Apple Inc.� Table of Contents Page A. Company History, Overview of Primary Business Operations, and Its Fortune 500 Ranking 3 B. Assessment of Apple Inc.�s Vision, Mission and Strategic Goals/Objectives 5 C. SWOT Analysis and Assessment of Apple Inc. 7 D. Value Chain Analysis of Apple�s iPhone 10 E. BGC Matrix for the Macintosh Computer and iTunes 12 F. Overview Analysis of Apple Inc. and Investment Recommendation 16 G. References 18 A. Company History, Overview of Primary Business Operations, and Its Fortune 500 Ranking Apple Computer Inc. was founded in April 1, 1976 by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne in order to sell hand built personal computer kits called the Apple I. By today�s standards, Apple I would be considered a motherboard, which was marketed at $666.66 and included the CPU, RAM and basic textual video chips. On April 16, 1977, the Apple II was introduced with color graphics, and the introduction of the five-quarter-inch floppy disk drive. In the late 1970s, the Apple II took off due to its compatibility with the latest spreadsheet program at the time, the VisiCalc. In May 1980, the Apple III was introduced to compete in the market along side IBM and Microsoft.[1] In 1983, Apple successfully introduced the first personal computer with a Graphical User Interface (GUI) called the �Lisa� (Local Integrated Software Architecture)...
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...COMMON ASSESMENT: CASE ANALYSIS Submission 21st February 2001 Present an in-depth comparative analysis of two firms operating in two different countries. In the case analysis compare and contrast the differences in political, ethical, economic and legal differences and their impact on management decision making. Introduction: The aim of this paper is to identify the key political, ethical and economic differences between Apple, based in the USA and Shell, based in Holland, and then compare the differences based on management the individual decision making processes in the subject countries. The ethical conditions will also be discussed, with regard to laws on corporate social responsibility of the companies, as well as the environmental laws of the countries and the impact on the companies. Shell Holland Royal Dutch Shell plc, also known as shell, is a global group of energy and Petrochemicals Company with more than 100,000 employees in almost 90 countries. Shell is a worldwide oil and gas company, which is headquartered in the Netherlands and with its registered office in the United Kingdom. It is the largest energy company and the second-largest company in the world measured by revenues, It is management controlled and is active in every area of the oil and gas industry, that includes exploration and production, refining, distribution and marketing, power generation and trading. It also has major renewable energy activities, hydrogen, solar...
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...will be hard to duplicate from the competition (Dess, et al., 2005). Sustaining a competitive advantage became hard for Apple Inc. as noticed in the Harvard Business School Premier Case. Therefore, this paper is an analysis of Apple, Inc. based on a 7-year old case written by David Yoffie and Michael Slind published by Harvard Business School (Yoffie, et al., 2008). The following paper examines in detail the strategies utilized by the company as outlined in the strategic management steps. Several recommendations are also proposed to handle the issues surrounding the organization. Summation Apple Inc. was created by two college dropouts, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak and later joined by A.C. Markkula, Jr; they created the company with one circuit board (Apple I) and turned into 200 sales within two months time (Yoffie, et al., 2008). The company developed a premium-price differentiation strategy; in which two years later, Apple II was introduced to the world. Apple II tripled company sales to more than 100,000 in less than two years compared to Apple I (Yoffie, et al., 2008). This paper analyzes and reviews the strategies utilized by Apple Inc. based on my comprehension of strategic management; and propose recommendations for several problems that Apple faced to become a successful billion dollar company. Situation and Pending Decision Analyzing the case presented a huge problem for Steve Jobs and his management team, was the company’s success acquired recently a temporary...
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...will be hard to duplicate from the competition (Dess, et al., 2005). Sustaining a competitive advantage became hard for Apple Inc. as noticed in the Harvard Business School Premier Case. Therefore, this paper is an analysis of Apple, Inc. based on a 7-year old case written by David Yoffie and Michael Slind published by Harvard Business School (Yoffie, et al., 2008). The following paper examines in detail the strategies utilized by the company as outlined in the strategic management steps. Several recommendations are also proposed to handle the issues surrounding the organization. Summation Apple Inc. was created by two college dropouts, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak and later joined by A.C. Markkula, Jr; they created the company with one circuit board (Apple I) and turned into 200 sales within two months time (Yoffie, et al., 2008). The company developed a premium-price differentiation strategy; in which two years later, Apple II was introduced to the world. Apple II tripled company sales to more than 100,000 in less than two years compared to Apple I (Yoffie, et al., 2008). This paper analyzes and reviews the strategies utilized by Apple Inc. based on my comprehension of strategic management; and propose recommendations for several problems that Apple faced to become a successful billion dollar company. Situation and Pending Decision Analyzing the case presented a huge problem for Steve Jobs and his management team, was the company’s success acquired recently a temporary...
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...------------------------------------------------- Apple Inc. Business Analysis Category: Business Autor: Mike 26 July 2010 Words: 3002 | Pages: 13 Business Analysis of Apple Inc. On April 1, 1976 Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne joined together to form Apple Computer Incorporated. The concept behind their company was the creation of an inexpensive, simple to use personal computer kit. Working out of Jobs' garage in Cupertino, California the trio designed and manufactured their first product in three months. They named this product the Apple I and it went on sale in July 1976 for $666.66. Six months after the release of the Apple I, Ronald Wayne opted to sell his share of the company back to Jobs and Wozniak for a meager $800. Soon thereafter multimillionaire Mike Markkula joined Apple and on January 3, 1977 the company was incorporated. Apple continued to gain momentum and was one of the fastest growing companies by the end of 1978. With the introduction of the Apple II plus, the company enjoyed a 400 percent increase in sales in 1979. In December of 1980 the company went public and within minutes the 4.6 million shares sold out at a price of $22 per share. An additional 2.6 million shares was also sold out by May 1981. However, the firm suffered its first major fallback with the release of the Apple III in September of 1980. The newest version had not undergone necessary testing due to time constraints and pressure from upper management. This proved to be extremely costly mistake and by 1984 the Apple III...
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...Elexa Powell Unit 1 – Apple Case Analysis Strategic Human Resources Management GM520-01 December 6, 2011 Introduction Organizations experience changes throughout the course of business. Industries experience natural up’s and downs, it is the in between times that organization must focus its efforts to determine if the organization is headed in the right direction. Bliss (n.d.) believed that strategic management was the art of making plans and implementing the plans to exhibit long term profits for and organization. Analysis Apple Inc has experienced many industry highs and lowers from its inception over thirty years ago. In an industry that was previously unheard of Apple Inc forged its way to the top experiencing many setbacks, restructures and changes in leadership style and plan. Not all of the changes were beneficial for the organization but ultimately the organization was able to make adjustment and stabilize to become a household name (Yoffie, D. & Slind, M., 2008). Major Issue The major issues surrounding Apple Inc. history is the contrast leadership changes. With each change the new leader had a better way of doing business and many instances it was incorrect. One key component in strategic management is to understand the cause and affect of leadership decisions both long term and short term (Bliss, n.d.). The leadership team believed that sudden changes would bring immediate results when in fact it result in significant...
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