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APPLE INC.: MANAGING A GLOBAL SUPPLY CHAIN 1

Ken Mark wrote this case under the supervision of Professor P. Fraser Johnson solely to provide material for class discussion. The authors do not intend to illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of a managerial situation. The authors may have disguised certain names and other identifying information to protect confidentiality.

op yo This publication may not be transmitted, photocopied, digitized or otherwise reproduced in any form or by any means without the permission of the copyright holder. Reproduction of this material is not covered under authorization by any reproduction rights organization. To order copies or request permission to reproduce materials, contact Ivey Publishing, Ivey Business School, Western
University, London, Ontario, Canada, N6G 0N1; (t) 519.661.3208; (e) cases@ivey.ca; www.iveycases.com.
Copyright © 2014, Richard Ivey School of Business Foundation

INTRODUCTION

Version: 2014-06-12

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Jessica Grant was an analyst with BXE Capital (BXE), a money management firm based in Toronto. 2 It was February 28, 2014, and Grant was discussing her U.S. equity mandate with BXE’s vice president,
Phillip Duchene. Both Grant and Duchene were trying to identify what changes, if any, they should make to BXE’s portfolio. “Apple is investing in its next generation of products, potentially the first new major product lines since Tim Cook took over from Steve Jobs,” she said. Apple Inc., the world’s largest company by market capitalization, had introduced a series of consumer products during the past dozen years that had transformed it into the industry leader in consumer devices.

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Apple managed a global supply chain with creative development in the United States, outsourced manufacturing in Asia and components sourced from suppliers around the