3 P a g e Section 2 = Discussion Questions. Qu.docx

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Section 2 = Discussion Questions.
Questions(7 Marks)
Discuss the following questions:
1. Is the evaluation and control process appropriate for a
corporation that emphasizes creativity?
Are control and creativity compatible? Explain. - Max 300
words(3 Marks)
2. How can corporate culture be changed? Give examples. Max
250 words(2 Marks)
3. How is the cellular/modular structure different from the
network structure? Give at least three
differences. – Max 200 words(2 Marks)
Answers:
Section 1 = Part 3 of project
1.

Apple Inc. It is a company with a wide range of products that
includes mobile phones, computers,
tablets, TV products and wearable devices. Apple customers
strive for aesthetically beautifully
performing products and provide a guarantee that the product
will be of high quality. Apple Inc. was
founded. In 1976 as a software and computer company. Since
then, Apple has gone on to create other
technology devices and built a chain of retail stores in order to
provide its customers with a better
buying experience. Apple is competing in a very competitive
industry with high purchasing power
bargaining. Apple takes these facts into account when designing
new products and when deciding on
pricing. They should always stay ahead of their competitors in
innovation as well as keep up with
them in terms of prices. Apple differentiates itself by providing
both hardware and software in all its
devices. They also try to keep their designs simple, easy to use,
coherent and aesthetically pleasing.
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The company also benefited from selling other products such as
Apple watch and mac. These
products have also contributed significantly to the company's
good performance by increasing
revenue. The Mac was released at the end of the last
In 2015 with new and cool features caught the attention of tech
fans around the world. This means it
has a lot of potential to do better this year. This could drive up
revenue for this product and forecast
good results for 2016. Research and development are vital to
any company’s performance because it
helps provide customers with a new product that increases sales
and maintains market share.
Apple has the highest level of operational efficiency, which
means that it works at the highest levels.
Inventory turnover is the most important indicator of
performance because it shows the rate at which
Products are bought from shelves. Apple is moving its products
at a faster speed compared to the rest
of the companies. This could be the reason for the company's
good performance.
Apple uses five performance indicators as part of a
comprehensive approach to its long-term
performance plan. This includes customer satisfaction, core

competencies, employee commitment
and alignment (through a comprehensive employee survey),
market share and shareholder value.
In the world of technology, it may be difficult to archive the
performance appraisal of similar
products. Each product has its own unique designs, yet they all
accomplish the same tasks. Standards
tests can be used as a measure but not reliable because
companies can amplify results to make their
products appear more applicable. Therefore, the actual
performance of the product depends on the
user's needs and how much they want to pay for some additional
RAM or memory space.
(Investopedia.com)
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2.

Apple Inc. With a hierarchical organizational structure, it has
outstanding partitioning properties and
a weak functional matrix. Hierarchy is a traditional structural
feature of business organizations.
Section properties refer to product-based grouping within
Apple, such as iOS and macOS
A comprehensive and diverse workforce drives innovation and
makes Apple stronger. This is why
they are committed to hiring more diversified talents for jobs at
all levels, attracting candidates from
more diverse pipelines, leveraging technology to prevent bias,
and driving development efforts to
increase representation in leadership across the company.
3.
Apple is constantly inventing more efficient ways to recycle
materials into devices. Also replacing
fossil fuels with renewable energy. And go further to minimize
impact with safe materials for people
and the environment. It is a big challenge.
• All Apple offices, retail locations, and data centers are 100%
renewable.
Chemical beaker
Eliminate harmful chemicals such as mercury, brominated flame

retardants, PVC, phthalates and
beryllium from our products.
• More than a million acres of forest in China are under
improved management now thanks to
Apple's efforts
To tackle climate change, Apple has reduced its overall carbon
footprint by 35% since 2015. This
considers hundreds of suppliers and millions of customer
devices. All facilities worldwide are now
100% renewable. And helping others do the same, by finding
ways to bring renewable energy to
emerging markets and work with local utilities to provide
renewable energy for all.
Some of Apple's most innovative ideas are geared towards
building products with recycled and
renewable materials, making sure these products last if possible,
and restoring everything we can
when they reach the end. By maintaining material handling, we
are about to end our dependence on
mining. And when nothing is lost, this will be true.
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• All wood fibers in the Apple packaging are made from
recycled or renewable sources.
• Daisy, the disassembled robot, recovers traditional recycled
materials, such as rare earth elements,
tungsten, and Apple aluminum alloys.
The use of recycled tin in Apple devices, including welding the
main iPhone logic board, will
prevent us from extracting approximately 29,000 metric tons of
tin ore in 2019.
4. Apple's competitive advantage is its control over software,
hardware, retail strategy, product
differentiation and, most importantly, strategic decision-making
for the Steve Job. As for the
distribution system, Apple launched a website for direct sales
for the first time.
Apple's competitive advantage is its control over software and
hardware, retail strategy, product
differentiation, and most importantly, strategic decision-making
for Steve Job. As for the distribution
system, Apple launched a website for direct sales for the first
time. Apple has also spent more money
researching and developing it. Apple's current competitive
advantages can be linked to its primary

competitive advantage because nowadays the user appreciates
the user experience just as the Mac
system was initially introduced (Bajg, 2012).
Apple's competitive position in smartphones
Steve Jobs launched the first iPhone and began making
smartphones. Apple's share of the smart
phone market is high. Over 2 billion apps downloaded from the
Apple iPhone app store. Apple's
mission is that iPhone improves with every new app. Apple is
constantly doing a great job improving
the iPhone with new features and capabilities. Also, Steve Job
worked great with I Tunes and iPod.
Now it does this with the iPhone. Apple iPhone has created a
new category of phones. Apple
invented the market and another mobile phone maker is chasing
Apple. The main Apple competitors
are Google Android, Nokia and Blackberry. Apple provides the
best services on iPhones (Bajg,
2012).
iPad is Apple's batter after lending iPhone and iPod technology.
iPad is the best way to experience
the web. It has revolutionized traditional methods of surfing th
e Internet. Full pages are displayed

in portrait or landscape mode on the large multi-touch screen. It
also handles checking email and
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sending emails as well. It is also the largest cookbook in the
world. iPad storage is very cool and
has a big screen. It is also easy to access different books from
iPad. iPad is used in business,
education, health and consumer use. So the iPad is very useful
in different areas. And the demand
for it will increase in the coming days. As now, today's
consumer wants more comfo rt and
mobility (Aquino, 2012).
According to Rich (2012), iPad mini is another great product
that Apple launched. It has a smaller
screen compared to iPad. iPad is cheaper than iPad. The reason
for its cheapness is that it does not
have a retina width. iPad mini is lighter and thinner than iPad.
Also, it has a less powerful
processor and uses a nano chip. It has fewer functions than
iPad. But due to its size and thickness,
it is very easy to keep it in the pocket. In the future, it will be
very useful to pe ople to some

extent.
1.
Apple.inc is known for its creative pursuits and has been a well-
known organization for providing
the best innovative technology-based creative solutions.
Evaluation and control are mandatory for
any organization’s success, as it guarantees time-bound success
and performance, especially in the
current competitive environment, where technology cuts are the
order of the day. Hence Apple Inc
also requires the evaluation and control process, but the
implementation method must be different for
different employee levels in the organization. The rank and file
staff can undergo the traditional
evaluation and control process because everything that is
measured is done at these levels. Whereas,
the technical design team should have the evaluation and
monitoring process at two levels - first as a
self-motivated evaluation and monitoring process at the
individual level in addition to a secondary
level of evaluation and monitoring process started by a team
working on a particular innovation.

Creativity and control are compatible because any creativity
that is not appreciated or does not
provide value impedes further creativity. In general, control is
considered to spoil creativity, but it is
only true in cases where control is not done properly. Control
leading to subtle management often
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impedes creativity. Control really stimulates creativity. There
are different types of controls, and if
you create a self-control process that works best.
Apple culture can be changed by adopting self-control. The
company's vision and purpose must be
firmly embedded in the minds of employees and compatibility
between individual and organizational
goals must be ensured. One that is immersed in the culture in
minds, will approach individuals who
work in a team as they share common goals. Steve Jobs was the
main driving force for cultivating a
culture of creativity, but he felt the organization lacked
teamwork. Thus achieving goals
incompatibility between individuals, teams, and organizations
will enhance the success of Apple Inc.

2.
Apple Inc.’s organizational culture is a key factor in the
continuing success of the business. A
company’s organizational or corporate culture establishes and
maintains the business philosophy,
values, beliefs, and related behaviors among employees. This
business analysis case shows that
Apple has a corporate culture that enables human resources to
support various strategic objectives.
For example, the company’s cultural traits are aligned with the
drive for innovation, which is a major
factor that determines business competitiveness in the
information technology, online services, and
consumer electronics industries. Based on the organizational
culture, this business condition
facilitates the fulfillment of Apple Inc.’s corporate mission and
vision statements. Through the
leadership of Steve Jobs and, now, through the leadership of
Tim Cook, the company continues to
enhance its cultural characteristics to maximize human resource
support for business relevance in
various markets around the world. Apple shapes its corporate
culture and uses it as a tool for
strategic management and success.

Through its corporate culture, Apple Inc. strengthens its
competitive advantages against other firms
in various industries. The company competes against
information technology firms like
Samsung, Google, Amazon.com, Dell, Lenovo, Sony, and
PayPal, as well as IBM and Intel. These
competitors impose a strong external force that influences
strategic management among firms in the
industry, as illustrated in the Porter’s Five Forces analysis of
Apple Inc. As a result, cultural traits
http://panmore.com/apple-mission-statement-vision-statement
http://panmore.com/google-organizational-culture-
characteristics-analysis
http://panmore.com/amazon-com-inc-organizational-culture-
characteristics-analysis
http://panmore.com/sony-organizational-culture-customer-
satisfaction
http://panmore.com/ibm-organizational-culture-radical-thinking
http://panmore.com/intel-organizational-culture-business-
resilience-analysis
http://panmore.com/apple-inc-five-forces-analysis-porters-
model-case-study
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must reinforce necessary competitive advantages through the
workforce. The company partially

achieves this strategic objective through its organizational
culture.
Apple Inc. owns Organizational culture for creative innovation.
The company's cultural features
focus on maintaining a high level of innovation that involves
creativity and a mindset that challenges
conventions and standards. The work relies on cultural support
and consistency, and is determinant
of competitiveness and industry leadership, especially in
addressing aggressive and rapid
technological innovation and product development. Here are the
main characteristics of Apple
culture:
1. Excellence is top-notch
2. Creativity
3. Innovation
4. Confidentiality
5. Moderate competitiveness
The finest excellence. Apple's organizational culture comes
with only the best employment policy on
the job market. Steve Jobs was known to sack employees who
had not met his expectations. This

tradition continues under Tim Cook. This tradition preserves,
promotes, values, and values the
corporate culture and expects distinguished distinction among
employees. This cultural feature has
been institutionalized at the Apple Foundation. For example, the
company has programs that
recognize and reward employee remuneration. Excellence has
been emphasized as a critical success
factor in business, especially in product design and
development, which is a major growth strategy
(see Apple's overall strategy and intensive growth strategies).
creativity. This cultural property is related to new ideas that
help to improve business and its
products. Apple management prefers creativity among employee
knowledge, skills and capabilities.
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This characteristic of corporate culture enables the company to
ensure adequate creativity, especially
among employees involved in product design and development
processes. This creativity can be seen
in the design and features of the iPhone, Mac and iPad, among
other products included in Apple's

marketing mix or 4Ps. In this regard, organizational culture
helps maintain the company's ability to
meet customer expectations and preferences
innovation. Apple's organizational culture supports rapid
innovation. The company is often rated as
one of the most innovative companies in the world. Based on
this cultural aspect, the company trains
and motivates employees, to innovate in terms of individual
work performance and contributions to
product development processes. The company's culture
facilitates rapid innovation, which is at the
heart of Apple Inc.'s business .. Rapid innovation ensures the
company continues to offer profitable
and attractive new products to its target customers.
Confidentiality. Steve Jobs developed Apple to have an
organizational culture of confidentiality.
This cultural characteristic continues to determine the
company's human resource development.
Confidentiality is part of the company's strategy to reduce theft
of property or intellectual property
information. It is also a strategic management approach that
enables Apple Inc. From achieving
maximum leadership in facing competitors. Through the

corporate culture, employees are
encouraged and expected to keep business information within
the company. This cultural feature is
strengthened by the company's policies, rules and employment
contracts. In this context, Apple's
organizational culture helps protect businesses from mass
espionage and the negative effects of
employee hunting.
Moderate fighting. Apple's organizational culture is
characterized by moderate combat ability. This
feature is related to Steve Jobs and his combat approach to
driving. He was known to randomly
challenge employees to make sure they have what it takes to
work on Apple. However, under the
leadership of Tim Cook, the company changed the corporate
culture to a more social and less
fighting culture. However, combat capability still has a major
impact on business. Apple's culture
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demonstrates a moderate degree of combat ability that presents
challenges designed to boost

employee productivity.
2.
Apple tries to increase market demand for its products through
differentiation, which necessitates
making its products unique and attractive to consumers. The
company's products are always
designed to be on the cutting edge compared to its peers.
Despite the high competition, Apple
succeeded in creating demand for its products, giving the
company authority over prices by product
differentiation, innovative advertising, brand loyalty, and the
buzz around launching new products.
By focusing on customers wanting to pay more and maintaining
an excellent price at the expense of
unit size, Apple has also placed a artificial barrier to entry to
competitors.
Apple sells its products and sells third-party products in most of
its main markets directly to
consumers and small and medium businesses through retail
stores and online stores and its direct
sales force. The company also employs a variety of indirect
distribution channels, such as third-party
cellular network companies, wholesalers, retailers and value-
added suppliers.

Apple uses a retail strategy called “minimum advertised price”
(or MAP). Minimum advertised
pricing policies prohibit resellers or dealers from advertising a
manufacturer’s products below a
certain minimum price. MAP is usually enforced through
marketing subsidies offered by a
manufacturer to its resellers.
According to a piece in Macworld, Apple maintains the
popularity of its high-priced products by
only offering retailers such as Wal-Mart or Best Buy a marginal
wholesale discount. This small
percentage in savings isn’t enough of a profit margin for
retailers to offer big discounts on Apple’s
products, which means customers end up paying a price close to
the manufacturer suggested retail
price (or MSRP). However, a retailer could give up this small
profit margin and offer products at a
http://www.macworld.com/article/2024257/how-apple-sets-its-
prices.html
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discount to attract more customers. Apple prevents this scenario
by offering monetary incentives to

retailers to sell goods at the MAPs fixed by the company.
This price strategy is effective insofar as it prevents retailers
from competing directly with Apple’s
own stores, and it also ensures that no one reseller has an
advantage over another. So, Apple is able
to keep its distribution channels clean as well as make more
money on its direct sales. The Macworld
article further noted that iPhones weren’t under a strict pricing
model, as they sold at a lower price
with wireless contract deals, as retailers gain a commission
from carriers.
Cellular structure operates as separate teams or cells, especially
seen in manufacturing organizations.
Each cell are specialized units. It is a latest concept of
organization. While network structure
operates as a single unit of interconnected structures, where
routine tasks are generally done.
• Cellular/modular structure operates as separate units, while
network structures are a single
unit of interconnected relationships.
• Cellular units can work independently and also join with other
units to work towards
common goals or to achieve a target. Hence, they are more

flexible, while network structures are
complex interconnections and performs normal tasks as present
themselves as facilitators
• Cellular Structures share specialized knowledge and resources,
while network structures may
not exhibit specialized knowledge and resources and contributes
their share of work rather than
contribute to the overall goal.
• Cellular Structures foster innovation, and mostly adopted by
manufacturing organizations,
while network structures perform nonspecialized activities, and
have a confusing network of
activities that are often observed in service organizations.
Multitasking is observed in Networked
organizations.
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References:

•
https://repositorio.iscteiul.pt/bitstream/10071/13973/1/MIM%20
Dissertaion%20Eve%20Pino
-Cardoso%20Final.pdf
• https://www.apple.com/diversity/
• https://www.apple.com/sa/environment/our-approach/
• U.S. Department of Commerce – International Trade
Administration – The Software and
Information Technology Services Industry in the United States.
Administration – The Media and
Entertainment Industry in the United States.
Administration – The Semiconductors
Industry in the United States.
Dissertaion%20Eve%20Pino-Cardoso%20Final.pdf
Dissertaion%20Eve%20Pino-Cardoso%20Final.pdf

https://www.apple.com/diversity/
https://www.apple.com/sa/environment/our-approach/
https://www.selectusa.gov/software-and-information-
technology-services-industry-united-states
https://www.selectusa.gov/software-and-information-
technology-services-industry-united-states
https://www.selectusa.gov/media-entertainment-industry-united-
states
https://www.selectusa.gov/media-entertainment-industry-united-
states
https://www.selectusa.gov/semiconductors-industry-united-
states
https://www.selectusa.gov/semiconductors-industry-united-
states
College of Administrative and Financial Sciences
Assignment 3- Strategic Management
(MGT 401)
Deadline: 11/04/2020 @ 23:59
Course Name: Strategic Management
Student’s Name:
Course Code: MGT 401
Student’s ID Number:
Semester: II
CRN:
Academic Year: 1440/1441 H
For Instructor’s Use only
Instructor’s Name: KARIM GARROUCH
Students’ Grade: Marks Obtained/Out of 15
Level of Marks: High/Middle/Low
Instructions for the three assignments – PLEASE READ THEM

CAREFULLY
· The Assignment must be submitted on Blackboard (WORD
format only) via allocated folder.
· Assignments submitted through email will not be accepted.
· Students are advised to make their work clear and well
presented, marks may be reduced for poor presentation. This
includes filling your information on the cover page.
· Students must mention question number clearly in their
answer.
· Late submission will NOT be accepted.
· Avoid plagiarism, the work should be in your own words,
copying from students or other resources without proper
referencing will result in ZERO marks. No exceptions.
· All answered must be typed using Times New Roman (size 12,
double-spaced) font. No pictures containing text will be
accepted and will be considered plagiarism).
· Submissions without this cover page will NOT be accepted.
Assignment 3:
Part 3 of project & Discussion Questions
Learning outcomes:
1. Understand issues related to strategic competitive advantage
in diversified organizations (Lo 2.2)
2. Gain insights into the strategy-making processes of different
types of organizations ( Lo 1.7)
3. Identify appropriate strategies for different situations (Lo
3.1).
This assignment 3 includes two independent sections: section 1-
complement of project & section 2- discussion questions.

Questions (8 Marks)
Consider the same company ‘X’ that you have already used in
assignment 1& 2 and answer the following questions.
1. Evaluate the performance of the main activity of your
selected company (performance of principal product/service).
What type(s) of criteria do you use to evaluate this
performance? (2 marks)
2. What type(s) of control of employees and production
processes is/are used by your selected company? (1.5 mark)
3. How does the corporation manage the environmental risks?
(2 marks)
4. Evaluate the competitive advantage of the corporation on its
market. Suggest some recommendations for the managers of
your selected company to improve this competitive advantage.
(2.5 marks)
End of the project
Questions (7
Marks)
Discuss the following questions:
1. Is the evaluation and control process appropriate for a
corporation that emphasizes creativity? Are control and
creativity compatible? Explain. - Max 300 words (3 Marks)
2. How can corporate culture be changed? Give examples. Max
250 words (2 Marks)
3. How is the cellular/modular structure different from the
network structure? Give at least three differences. – Max 200
words (2 Marks)

Answers:
1.
1.

3 P a g e Section 2 = Discussion Questions. Qu.docx

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