...Strategic Initiative Microsoft The beginning of the computer generation started in 1975 with Paul Allen and Bill Gates. Throughout the years the company has developed into one of the top leading company within the computer, IT, gaming system, and music environment. With any major company its progress is the development of a strategic plan implemented into the development and increase of revenues. For a Microsoft the profit margins have developed and improved through the years alone with it is planning and developing products. The discussion of Microsoft’s strategic planning, financial planning, and the risks the business takes to increase it financial gains. Strategic Planning Microsoft has witnessed important progress up until fiscal year 2012 in terms of revenue, cash flow, and ensuring the liquidity of its assets to reassure investors over their interests. The Microsoft Investor Relations Annual Reports (2013) website states that the fruition of Microsoft’s performance manifested in the past few years with its continual revenue growth, which rose 12% from 2010 to reach $69.9 billion in 2011, and continued to rise to a record $73.7 billion in 2012. Furthermore, cash flow from operations went up $2.9 billion in the 2011 fiscal year to reach $27 billion, and climbed another $4.6 billion to reach $31.6 billion in fiscal year 2012. The Microsoft Investor Relations Annual Reports (2013) website states that the measures taken to facilitate liquidity proved to be...
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...1. What were some of Apple's biggest successes and failures? Describe why. Success I. Invention of the Wheel This isn’t the wheel on a car or bicycle, this the iPod click wheel. The iPod click wheel wasn’t one of the greatest inventions in the world, but it lead to the invention of the swiping/tapping touch screen; found mostly on iphones around the world. This was a unique invention in itself because it allowed user to toggle through thousands of songs by simply turn the wheel either clockwise or counter clockwise. "The iPod Classic’s click wheel allowed users to seamlessly filter thousands of songs with a few clicks," says Austin O'Malley, executive vice president for R&D at CAD software maker Solid Works. II. Not becoming Microsoft For decades Microsoft has tried to take over Apple and tried to beat them at their own game; first with Windows OS system then Zune and now with the Windows phone. Apple has been so successful because instead of focusing on user-friendly applications and systems; they’re focusing on consumer-friendly products and innovation over imitation, has lead Apple to be successful. III. Image Management Steve Jobs doesn’t understand who his users are, he understands who they think they are and this is very important because users want that feeling where they feel good about having to pay so much for their product. The interface of the Apple products is very sleek and “sexy” and that is the feeling that Apple portrays on users, that feeling...
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...Apple in the digital age from the iPod to the iPad Apple Inc. The Case Study 2000 - 2010 Foreward John Ashcroft Welcome to this Apple case study. I have always been something of a computer geek. My first computer was a Commodore Pet in 1978. It had 8k of RAM and a cassette player for storage. Programmed effectively, a two dimensional pencil sketch of a rocket would take off and zoom off screen. Beyond that and a few simple games, I don’t recall it did much at all. My first experience of Apple was the Apple II in the early 1980’s. The combination of Apple and a Visicalc spreadsheet, greatly enhanced financial and business plan modelling. Business models were more easily produced and what-if simulations were available at the click of a button. It was a great step up from the pencil and calculator. Seven years ago, I abandoned Microsoft and converted entirely to Apple. Apple Macs, MacBooks, MacBook Air, iPods, iTouch, the iPhone and the iPad, I had to try them all and never looked back This is the case study of Apple in the digital age. The great era of the iPod, the discovery of the digital hub and Apple’s move into the mainstream consumer market with the iPod, the iPhone and the iPad. It has many great examples for enthusiasts of marketing, leadership, organization, financial analysis and strategic management. The story begins almost ten years ago. In 2001, Apple sales fell by a third and the company reported an operating loss of $350 million some 6% of sales. The company...
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...Apple in the digital age from the iPod to the iPad Apple Inc. The Case Study 2000 - 2010 Foreward John Ashcroft Welcome to this Apple case study. I have always been something of a computer geek. My first computer was a Commodore Pet in 1978. It had 8k of RAM and a cassette player for storage. Programmed effectively, a two dimensional pencil sketch of a rocket would take off and zoom off screen. Beyond that and a few simple games, I don’t recall it did much at all. My first experience of Apple was the Apple II in the early 1980’s. The combination of Apple and a Visicalc spreadsheet, greatly enhanced financial and business plan modelling. Business models were more easily produced and what-if simulations were available at the click of a button. It was a great step up from the pencil and calculator. Seven years ago, I abandoned Microsoft and converted entirely to Apple. Apple Macs, MacBooks, MacBook Air, iPods, iTouch, the iPhone and the iPad, I had to try them all and never looked back This is the case study of Apple in the digital age. The great era of the iPod, the discovery of the digital hub and Apple’s move into the mainstream consumer market with the iPod, the iPhone and the iPad. It has many great examples for enthusiasts of marketing, leadership, organization, financial analysis and strategic management. The story begins almost ten years ago. In 2001, Apple sales fell by a third and the company reported an operating loss of $350 million some 6% of sales. The company...
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...Apple in the digital age from the iPod to the iPad Apple Inc. The Case Study 2000 - 2010 Foreward John Ashcroft Welcome to this Apple case study. I have always been something of a computer geek. My first computer was a Commodore Pet in 1978. It had 8k of RAM and a cassette player for storage. Programmed effectively, a two dimensional pencil sketch of a rocket would take off and zoom off screen. Beyond that and a few simple games, I don’t recall it did much at all. My first experience of Apple was the Apple II in the early 1980’s. The combination of Apple and a Visicalc spreadsheet, greatly enhanced financial and business plan modelling. Business models were more easily produced and what-if simulations were available at the click of a button. It was a great step up from the pencil and calculator. Seven years ago, I abandoned Microsoft and converted entirely to Apple. Apple Macs, MacBooks, MacBook Air, iPods, iTouch, the iPhone and the iPad, I had to try them all and never looked back This is the case study of Apple in the digital age. The great era of the iPod, the discovery of the digital hub and Apple’s move into the mainstream consumer market with the iPod, the iPhone and the iPad. It has many great examples for enthusiasts of marketing, leadership, organization, financial analysis and strategic management. The story begins almost ten years ago. In 2001, Apple sales fell by a third and the company reported an operating loss of $350 million some 6% of sales. The company...
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...Apple in the digital age from the iPod to the iPad Apple Inc. The Case Study 2000 - 2010 Foreward John Ashcroft Welcome to this Apple case study. I have always been something of a computer geek. My first computer was a Commodore Pet in 1978. It had 8k of RAM and a cassette player for storage. Programmed effectively, a two dimensional pencil sketch of a rocket would take off and zoom off screen. Beyond that and a few simple games, I don’t recall it did much at all. My first experience of Apple was the Apple II in the early 1980’s. The combination of Apple and a Visicalc spreadsheet, greatly enhanced financial and business plan modelling. Business models were more easily produced and what-if simulations were available at the click of a button. It was a great step up from the pencil and calculator. Seven years ago, I abandoned Microsoft and converted entirely to Apple. Apple Macs, MacBooks, MacBook Air, iPods, iTouch, the iPhone and the iPad, I had to try them all and never looked back This is the case study of Apple in the digital age. The great era of the iPod, the discovery of the digital hub and Apple’s move into the mainstream consumer market with the iPod, the iPhone and the iPad. It has many great examples for enthusiasts of marketing, leadership, organization, financial analysis and strategic management. The story begins almost ten years ago. In 2001, Apple sales fell by a third and the company reported an operating loss of $350 million some 6% of sales. The company...
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...Focus is what develops a Brand We Seem to Be Confusing Product Brands and Company Brands It's obvious that Procter & Gamble is a company brand, but what's an Apple? Like P&G, Apple is a company brand. But unlike P&G, the Apple company brand is a powerful motivating force for buying Apple product brands including the iPod, the iPhone and the iPad. Every company should have a powerful company brand, but they don't. Except for a handful of companies like Johnson & Johnson, most company brands influence very few consumers. How many consumers go out of their way to buy Procter & Gamble products? Or Unilever products? Or PepsiCo products? Or General Motors products? Not very many. How do you build a company brand? Many marketing pundits have a lot to say about this subject. Some typical approaches include: * Communicating culture, concern for the environment and sustainability programs. * Purpose-driven marketing, based on social responsibility and standing for something that inspires consumers. * Through innovation, by launching new products and services that are on the cutting edge of design and performance. All of these things are worth doing, but they don't do much to build a company brand. The problem is the noise level. It's not just the Fortune 500 that are causing the problem. That's just the tip of the corporate iceberg. It's the Fortunate 17,509. There's nowhere near enough room in the average consumer's mind to file away facts...
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...King Graduate School, Monroe College Master in Business Administration MG 800: Strategic Management Title: Apple Inc. in 2012 Case Study 10/03/2015 Table of contents 1. Introduction…………………………………………………………………………03 2. The Mission, Vision, and Values of Apple, Inc……………………………………03 3. External Analysis……………………………………………………………………03 4. Internal Analysis……………………………………………………………………03 5. Strategy Analysis……………………………………………………………………08 6. Conclusion………………………………………………………………………….12 7. Recommendations………………………………………………………………….12 References………………………………………………………………………….14 Introduction According to Mahsmr (2012), Apple Inc. started in 1976 as an American manufacturer of personal computers, computer software and peripherals. Originally, it was Apple Computer Inc. for 30 years, and its principal office is based in Cupertino, California. It is the very first thriving personal computer firm that has started the popularized usage of the graphical interface. During its starting years, Steve Jobs and Wozniak were responsible for the introduction of the company first innovation that was put on sale. The first personal computer product was sold then, after which, the two founders continued to produce more and more innovative personal computers. However, not all years were lucky years for Apple Inc, there were also times that the company experienced some financial struggles that led to several changes in the management. In 1997, Steve Jobs took over the...
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...Shawna Bowden Paper 2: Option 1 Apple’s challenges and its dependency on market Apple was founded in 1976 and has, since its founding, offered a line of products that was distinct from that of its competitors. In the very beginning, it was actually the first company to sell an easy-to-use, desktop computer. The Apple II was very successful, and started the market for personal computers, bringing it to over $1 billion in less than three years.[1] However, within a few years, IBM and Microsoft entered the market, and by 1982 the IBM-compatibles had driven down Apple’s share to just 6.2%[2]. Since then, Apple has launched several other successful product lines, such as the PowerPC, iMAC or MacBook. But in retrospect, one can only wonder why despite Apple’s initial success and its easy-use, versatile product line, its market share in the PC market has remained so low. Even in the past few years, it has produced less than 5% of the PCs sold worldwide.[3] According to resource dependency theory[4], organizations are often controlled by external forces, and their ability to transform their goals is limited by those who they depend on for their survival. These outside actors range from suppliers to venture partners to advocacy groups and to competitors. The path of Apple has been influenced by the demand for a particular kind of computers and by the PC model that was prevalent in the market. In my paper, I will attempt to explain Apples successes and failures through the lens of...
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...E-Business Technologies The affects of the iPod on music industry Table of Contents Section 1: Introduction Page 4 Section 2: Technology Adoption Page 4 Section 3: Value Chain Page 5 Section 4: Relationships Page 6 Section 5: Conclusion Page 7 Section 6: References Page 7 Introduction The purpose of this report is to discuss the functions and features of Apple’s innovative MP3 player. I will be relating to the Schumpeterian model, as to how the iPod led to rapid mainstream adoption, whilst similar products failed. I will also consider the opportunities which promoted this device and the challenges that the Apple iPod currently face, highlighting the effects on the traditional music industry value chain, compared to the current value chain. In addition, I will discuss how the iPod developed working relationships which has assisted in Apple’s e-business success. I will then finish by concluding my findings. Technology Adoption The Schumpeterian model looks at the relationship between technological innovation and business activity. According to Perez (2002) there are five typical stages of each wave, which I will briefly describe. Irruption The Apple iPod was launched in 2001, a sleek and stylish MP3 player with an easy user interface, compressing digital audio files the iPod holds up to 1,000 songs...
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...9-708-480 REV: SEPTEMBER 8, 2008 DAVID B. YOFFIE MICHAEL SLIND Apple Inc., 2008 In January 2007, three decades after its incorporation, Apple Computer shed the second word in its name and became Apple Inc.1 With that move, the company signaled a fundamental shift away from its historic status as a vendor of the Macintosh personal computer (PC) line. Mac sales remained vital to Apple’s future, but they now accounted for less than half of its total revenue. A year and a half later, in June 2008, the company posted results that ratified the success of its leap beyond the PC business: In its third quarter, Apple earned a net profit of $1.07 billion on $7.46 billion in revenue, for a 38% increase on year-ago quarterly sales. Annual results were also impressive. Sales in the 2007 fiscal year topped $24 billion, up 24% from the previous year. (See Exhibit 1a—Apple Inc.: Selected Financial Information, plus Exhibit 1b and Exhibit 1c.) Investors, meanwhile, sent Apple’s stock to new heights: Despite a sharp drop in early 2008, its share price had risen more than 15-fold since 2003 and now hovered near its all-time high. (See Exhibit 2—Apple Inc.: Daily Closing Share Price.) Non-PC product lines drove much of Apple’s financial performance. The company’s iPod line of portable music players, together with its iTunes Store, had upended the music business. With the iPhone, a multifunction handheld device released in June 2007, Apple aimed to do the same for the mobile phone market....
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...Strategy and Competition Final Exam: 50% Students are required to read the “Apple Inc. in 2010” case study and answer FIVE (5) of the following questions. They are required to submit their answers within the stipulated time frame. 1- What, historically, have been Apple’s competitive advantages? Apple’s competitive advantages are its innovation, strong brand and rapid growth. In the Sculley years, Sculley pushed the Mac into new markets, most notably in desktop publishing and education. Apple’s desktop market was driven by its superior software and peripherals. In education, Apple grabbed half the market. Apple’s worldwide market share recovered and stabilized at around 8%. By 1990, Apple had $1 billion in cash and was the most profitable company in the world. Macintosh’s loyal customers allowed apple to sell its products at a premium price. That shows apple’s competitive advantages included customers loyalty. Spindler killed the plan to put the Mac OS on Intel chips and announced that Apple would license a handful of companies to make Mac clones. He tried to slash costs, cut Apple’s workforce, and pushed for international growth. Amelio proclaimed that Apple would return to its premium-price differentiation strategy. Apple’s failure to produce a new OS keep it ahead of Microsoft Windows 95. Steve Jobs acquired NeXT Software and develops OS based on it. Jobs abruptly halted the Macintosh licensing program. Other restructuring efforts involved hiring Taiwanese ...
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...Environmental Analysis The information technology (IT) industry has always been highly driven by innovations in technology. It is dynamic and highly competitive, with frequent changes in both technologies and business models. Each industry shift is an opportunity to conceive new products, new technologies, or new ideas that can further transform the industry and businesses. The following PESTEL analysis will try to gain an understanding of Microsoft’s business potential, future market situation and the direction of its operation. The political, economic, social, technological, environmental and legal factors are six components of PESTEL analysis. Table 1: PESTEL Analysis of IT industry | Political * Restrictions on foreign recruitments * Regulations to education * Regulations to the industry * Regulations at emerging markets | Economic * Fluctuations and unpredictable behaviours of foreign currency * Trade cycles * Economic growth rates (around the world) * Disposable income level of people * Demand and supply...
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...promotion activities in Music Retailing (Project towards partial fulfilment of the Mid-Term in the subject of Retail Management) Submitted to :- Submitted by :- Dr. Archi Mathur, Akash Paul Lakra Associate Professor Roll No. 766 Faculty of Management studies UG- VI Semester B.B.A.(Hons.) LLB. (Hons.) National Law University, Jodhpur Winter Session (January-May 2013) Acknowledgment First and foremost I would like to thank my teacher Dr. Archi Mathur who has greatly helped me in choosing this interesting topic. Secondly I would like to thank my University, National Law University, Jodhpur, for the infrastructural and allied support services without which making this project would have proved to be really difficult...
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...Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational software corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services related to computing. The company was founded by Bill Gates and Paul Allen on April 4, 1975. Microsoft is the world's largest software maker measured by revenues. It is also one of the world's most valuable companies. Microsoft was established to develop and sell basic interpreters for the Altair 8800. It rose to dominate the personal computer operating system market with MS-DOS in the mid-1980s, followed by the Microsoft Windows line of operating systems. The company's 1986 initial public offering, and subsequent rise in its share price, created an estimated three billionaires and 12,000 millionaires from Microsoft employees. Since the 1990s, it has increasingly diversified from the operating system market and has made a number of corporate acquisitions. In May 2011, Microsoft acquired Skype Technologies for $8.5 billion in its largest acquisition to date. As of 2013, Microsoft is market dominant in both the PC operating system and office suite markets. The company also produces a wide range of other software for desktops and servers, and is active in areas including internet search, the video game industry, the digital services market, and mobile phones. In June 2012, Microsoft announced that it would be entering the PC vendor market for the first time, with the launch...
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