...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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...Strategic Management Strategic Human Resources Management June 18, 2013 Introduction What is strategic management and why is it critical to the success of an organization in meeting its goals and mission? Strategic Management is essential for the success of any business. It is critical for any organization to properly plan and implement that plan that will align the organization’s strategy to key objectives. In a nutshell, strategic management can be defined as the process where an organization performs an analysis on what needs to happen in order to achieve and meet the objectives of the organization (Mello, 2011). In other words, it is the process utilized by top management in order to align the organization to the environment. The process of strategic management includes the organization’s mission statement, an analysis of the environment, the organization’s self-assessment, setting goals and objectives, and setting a strategy (Mello, 2012). Apple Inc. is a great example as to why strategic planning is critical for the success of any organization. Background What started at a family garage by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, is now a multibillion-dollar corporation. Back in the late 70s, Jobs and Wozniak built the very first Apple, a computer circuit board named Apple I. After several months, they sold 200 of them. Shortly after that, Jobs and Wozniak partnered with Mike Markkula, a 33 year old retired millionaire. Together with Markkula as the businessman and Wozniak...
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... WHATIS STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT AND WHY IS IT CRITICAL TO THE SUCCESS OF AN ORGANIZATION IN MEETING ITS GOALS AND MISSION? Regiane Velez Kaplan University GB520: Strategic Human Resources Management APPLE, Inc. What is Strategic Management, and why is it critical to the success of an organization in meeting its goals and mission? What is Strategic Management? The concept of "strategy" is based in a war scenario, the constant fights and battles over the centuries have caused the military to start thinking before you act- the battles are analyzed and planned in advance. In General Sun Tzu’s words: “The general who wins a battle makes many calculations in his temple ere the battle is fought.” When translating it to today’s Strategic Management’s words, it means: “Those companies and individuals who win in the business world make much calculation, planning and deliberations on their strategy and plans. Those who plan less have lower chance of success, much less those who don’t plan anything at all.” (Soo, 2011). Developing a Strategic Planning increases the likelihood that in the future, the organization will be in the right place at the right time. Strategic Management collects all activities and processes utilized by an organization in order to align resources and actions with mission, vision and strategy throughout the organization. When applied correctly, strategic management activities transform...
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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 Two Assignment – Why is Strategy Important to Business? John Rapier Kaplan University School of Business and Management MT460-01 Management Policy and Strategy Dr. Carrie A. O’Hare July 11, 2012 Unit Two Assignment – Why is Strategy Important to Business? While it could be argued that as students while we may not view the path we are following as a strategy, in truth we are, even if we haven’t codified it as such and if asked if we were ever involved strategic planning, may very well say no. In reality though we have, even though it may not be on a grand scale, it is the plan for our direction and future. This action is at the core of strategic management and strategy. It is this planning for the future of a business, its growth, development and direction which are the very core of growing a successful business over time, just as the selections we make for ourselves will determine our direction in the future and indeed contribute to our eventual development and success. What is Strategic Management? Although a variety of considerations are involved in Strategic Management, it can be summed up simply as preparing for the future and following a planned path to a goal rather than leaving things to chance and just taking things as they come. Strategic Management provides a comprehensive picture of where a company is, what it hopes to achieve and how it is going to reach its goals. Before we can make plans for the future, we need...
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...Financial Management Course 10: Strategic Planning Prepared by: Matt H. Evans, CPA, CMA, CFM This course provides a concise overview of how to do a strategic plan. The entire strategic planning process is outlined within this course. This course is recommended for 2 hours of Continuing Professional Education. In order to receive credit, you will need to pass a multiple choice exam which is administered over the internet at www.exinfm.com/training Chapter 1 Preliminary Considerations What is Strategic Planning? The essence of management includes the ability to plan. As you work your way up the organization, planning moves from operational to strategic. Strategic Planning is one of the principal responsibilities of upper-level management. Once management decides on the Strategic Plan, lower-level managers implement the Strategic Plan through an Operating Plan. Strategic Planning attempts to answer a very fundamental question: Where do we want to be one year from now, two years from now, three years from now, etc.? Strategic Planning requires that an organization develop a vision of itself - how do we see ourselves in the future? Strategic Planning looks at the big picture from a long-range perspective whereas the Operating Plan represents the specific tactics for carrying out the Strategic Plan year to year. Strategic Planning is a process whereby an organization makes choices about: ▪ Why do we exist...
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...Strategic Planning Analysis and Application Tara E. Green Capella University PSF5410/Strategic Management and Planning Dr. Joan Vermillion August 19, 2012 Analyze what strategic planning is and why it is so important to public organizations. Strategic planning is an organization's process of defining its strategy, or direction, and making decisions on allocating its resources to pursue this strategy (Armstrong, 1986). In order to determine the direction of the organization, it is necessary to understand its current position and the possible avenues through which it can pursue a particular course of action. Generally, strategic planning deals with at least one of three key questions: 1. "What do we do?" 2. "For whom do we do it?" 3. "How do we excel?"(Armstrong, 1986) In many organizations, this is viewed as a process for determining where an organization is going over the next year or more typically 3 to 5 years (long term), although some extend their vision to 20 years. Strategic planning is designed to help public and non-profit organizations (and communities) respond effectively to their new situations. It is a disciplined effort to produce fundamental decisions and actions shaping the nature and direction of an organization’s (or other entity’s) activities within legal bounds (Bryson, 1988). Without strategic planning and a resulting plan of action, the Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) will not have a clear idea of what it is doing...
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...STRATEGIC PLANNING: A TEN-STEP GUIDE* I. IMPORTANCE OF PLANNING There is broad agreement among nonprofit leaders and experts that planning is a critical component of good management and governance. Planning helps assure that an organization remains relevant and responsive to the needs of its community, and contributes to organizational stability and growth. It provides a basis for monitoring progress, and for assessing results and impact. It facilitates new program development. It enables an organization to look into the future in an orderly and systematic way. From a governance perspective, it enables the Board to set policies and goals to guide the organization, and provides a clear focus to the Executive Director and staff for program implementation and agency management. Most organizations understand the need for annual program objectives and a program-focused work plan. Funders require them, and they provide a basis for setting priorities, organizing work, and assessing progress. A growing number of Hispanic communitybased organizations go beyond funder requirements to develop annual objectives and operating plans which also include a systematic plan for resource development, organizational development, and in some cases Board development. Most groups find it practical to define objectives for a 12-month period, and to design strategies and programs to meet them. Longer-range planning – planning beyond the next year or two – often seems more difficult and less rewarding...
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...An organization’s mission statement is its reason for existence. It often reflects the core values and beliefs of the upper management in an organization. A mission statement is the broad definition of the organizational mission. It is sometimes referred to as a creed, purpose, or statement of corporate philosophy and values. A good mission statement inspires employees and provides a focus and direction for setting lower level objectives. It guides employees in making decisions and establishes what the organization does. Mission statements are crucial for organizations to prosper and grow. Its primary purpose is to guide the entrepreneur and assist in refining the planning process. By developing a strategic plan that incorporates the mission statement, entrepreneurs are more likely to be successful and stay focused on what is important. Vision is the foundation for the mission statement. The vision provides a strategic direction, which is the springboard for the mission and its related goals. A vision statement differs from a mission statement. Vision statements are a view of what an organization is striving to become. They guide an organization into the future while mission statements are a reflection of the present. Organizations go through many changes and can face times of confusion and uncertainty. Changes are not always expected or easy, so a well thought out vision statement will help everyone stay focused and meet the organization's goals. In this fast changing technological...
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...businesses/organizations are to succeed, it is imperative that there be definitive and attainable objectives and results. The organization will define objectives by looking at the marketplace in which the organization is competing, the core competencies of the organization, recognizing how these can be applied to the goal of success, and then applying the organization's skills and competencies to accomplish the successes. This also means that the organization needs to identify areas it will not pursue – those that are not directly related to the core elements and competencies of the organization. As an example, if a company were focused on developing and manufacturing sporting equipment, it would need to determine if this includes all sporting equipment or a selection of products. Further, the company would need to determine what would be the various levels of support it would provide to its customers. For example, would the company take its equipment directly to the consumers for demonstrations and lessons on how to gain the optimal results with the equipment? All of these types of decisions would be the result of the organization developing a strategy for how it will conduct its business. All of this translates into Strategic Management with the intended result of gaining a competitive advantage in a business niche. Very simply, developing a Strategic Management Plan means having defined what is the best set of results the organization can attain or what the organization wishes...
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...August 12, 2014 GB520-03N Unit 1 Apple Inc. Page 3 Apple Inc., 2008 Thesis statement Strategic management and what it will provide for the organization, the economy and the stakeholders using ethical stewardship for the benefit of contributing greater organization success according to (Mello, 2015). What is strategic management and why is it critical to the success of an organization in meeting its goals and mission? SHRM is a great example of the acronym for Strategic human resource management. HRP is the “critical” success because of an effective system of policies that align themselves with Apples values, goals and mission according to (Mello, 2015). In all cases, the ethical values of the company will define the maximum wealth creation for the framework of transformation leaders. Transformation to achieve and establish “environments” that are satisfying to the human capital of the company according to (Mello, 2015 p. 33). Introduction Apple computer is a great example of how a company was organized and develops, from entrepreneur that experiences a college education. Their college education led to a success in the computer business according to (Yoffie, Slind, 2008). The student was young in age and experiencing a typical company, based on what typical student browse, when they have nothing else to do. The young “college dropouts founded Apple Computer on April Fool’s Day, 1976.3”. The young...
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...University-Commerce Strategically and tactically, organizational leaders often establish teams to accomplish the missions, visions, goals and objectives of their respective organizations. Teams exist in all types of organizations including financial institutions, factories, healthcare organizations, and educational institutions. Yet executives often struggle to maintain high performance of their own leadership teams. This research seeks to answer several questions, including: (1) What are the characteristics of a high performance executive team? (2) What problems do executive teams face that negatively impact their potential for high performance? And (3) What can executives do to increase their respective teams’ potential for high performance? INTRODUCTION Holmes (2012) recognized that organizations are changing from traditional hierarchical work structures to team-based approaches to work. He noted that high-performance teams must “develop goals and plans, enhance communication among members, develop and maintain positive relationships among members, solve problems and make decisions on a timely basis, successfully manage conflict, facilitate productive meetings, clarify roles for team members, operate in a productive manner, exhibit effective team leadership, provide development opportunities for team members” (Holmes, 2012, p.180). These ten actions are critical in order to form a successful team. Authors of other publications in the area of effective, high performance...
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...Sweeney MGT 601 The Functions of Modern Management Professor Dr. Key Baron Smith July 13, 2015 For the purpose of this paper we are going to assume that the Strategic and Tactical Plans are aligned with the operational plan. The operational plan is then the implementation plan of the Strategic and Tactical plan that has been developed and approved by mid and upper management. The name of the company is Sweeney’s Medical Device Inc. and employees approximately 200 employees and has annual; sales of $90 million.. The company has one manufacturing facility that is located in the United States. The company produces and manufactures medical instruments that are affordable for the medical industry. The following is a brief review of the planning process, vision, mission statement and values of the company are as follows: For a brief review the operational plan can be defined as a plan prepared by a component of an organization that clearly defines actions it will take to support the strategic objectives and plans of upper management. However, to fully understand operational plans, we should first look at the overall planning process within a business. This diagram shows three levels of planning. Type of Plan | Created By | Scope | Includes | Level of Detail | Strategic plan | Top management | Entire organization | Mission of the company, future goals and ambitions | Very broad and general | Tactical plan | Mid-level management | Single area of the business as a...
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...2 Strategic Management Strategic Management 2012 2012 1- Competitive Advantage When a firm sustains profits that exceed the average for its industry, the firm is said to possess a competitive advantage over its rivals. The goal of much of business strategy is to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage. Michael Porter identified two basic types of competitive advantage: * cost advantage * differentiation advantage A competitive advantage exists when the firm is able to deliver the same benefits as competitors but at a lower cost (cost advantage), or deliver benefits that exceed those of competing products (differentiation advantage). Thus, a competitive advantage enables the firm to create superior value for its customers and superior profits for itself. Cost and differentiation advantages are known as positional advantages since they describe the firm's position in the industry as a leader in either cost or differentiation. A resource-based view emphasizes that a firm utilizes its resources and capabilities to create a competitive advantage that ultimately results in superior value creation. The following diagram combines the resource-based and positioning views to illustrate the concept of competitive advantage: A Model of Competitive Advantage Resources | | | | | | Distinctive Competencies | | | Cost Advantage or Differentiation Advantage | | | Value Creation | | Capabilities | | | | | | ...
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...Strayer University Strategic Management-BUS 599 Dr. Gary B. Shelton July 15, 2012 Abstract What can a business professional implement that would help a company to be successful? In an effort for a company to be successful, business professionals should create and execute strategic planning models which outline specific results that are to be achieved and by establishing es a course of action for achieving them. In our current failing economy, business professionals are becoming more aware of the how challenges ing it is in to starting a business and remaining successful. While most would agree that failures are personally painful and could have been conceivably too often prevented, ??????? consensus dissolves around how to take action to the problem.?????? Some business owner’s may believe think that a successful business’ is based solely on luck; while other’s business owners believe may think that their success is based on the location. of their business. Although, both concepts could be attributed to success, in this report I provide a solution that could help business owners ????? transit ??? a business toward its success. In this paper, as a business professional for Take the Time and Time it Right Greetings Card Company, I argue in support of and focus on the importance of implementing a strategic plan for the success of this business. Several business owners might disagree with my argument, because they might feel that documenting a strategic plan can could...
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