Apple has opportunities for growth through technological innovation, global expansion, and strategic alliances. However, threats include increased competition from Dell, HP, and Android phones. Apple's financial position is strong with high profitability, but it faces threats from the economic recession and decreasing demand. Overall, technological innovation and expanding globally are Apple's most important opportunities, while economic challenges pose the largest threats.
This presentation gives in & out insights of economics related to particular business.
Return on Investment on Apple Inc.
Thinking Process behind products.
Earlier stage & future growth.
Design Thinking and Innovation at Apple IncSHREYANSH VATS
The following presentation is based on a case on Apple Inc about how Apple goes about implementing innovation and design thinking at their firm, and how there's a shift with the arrival of Tim Cook. The case was a part of our course called BusinessInnovation in New Environment (BINE)
In today’s rapidly changing business world, the pressure on a business to take up a proactive approach has increased due to factors such as globalization, rapid technological advancement and changing needs of customers (Mazzero et al., 2015). Businesses which have emerged as market leaders are devising their strategies in accordance to the customer needs and environmental changes. Strategy is defined as setting the future direction or goals of an organization and allocating the resources for the attainment of those goals (Proctor, 2014). The strategic planning process involves taking up a systematic approach in devising goals and strategies. Furthermore, the process of strategic management involves identifying the opportunities in market and experimenting in order to develop a competitive advantage in the longer run (Hill et al., 2014). The businesses that have outperformed; have been successful in recognizing the opportunities present in the market before their rivals could do. Apple is one such business that has achieved phenomenal success due to its preemptive approach (Rawlinson, 2017). Over the years, Apple has successfully developed a very strong brand name and highly loyal customer base and has been ranked as one of the world’s “most valuable brand” (“The World’s Most Valuable Brands List,” 2018). Therefore, the purpose of this report is to carry out a strategic analysis of Apple and to make strategic recommendations for its future direction. The report will firstly give a brief overview of Apple Inc. and will then carry out the external and internal analysis of the company. The report will then move to identification of Apple’s sustainable competitive advantage and will then give recommendations based on analysis.
Launching Amazon Go
What, how and where should we communicate to resonate with our target audience and get the biggest spread, for the lowest cost, with the highest impact?
The Apple logo is one of the most famous logos in the world. Apple fans not only put this logo on their vehicles to show their loyalty, they go to the extreme of tattooing themselves with it, a level of dedication very few brands achieved.
The presentation is made under the guidance of professor Sameer Mathur, IIM lucknow. This presentation tells a few details about the apple company and how it begun and what its current position is, what are the current marketing aspects of the company and what are their future scopes of expansion. The presentation also describes why the company is such a good innovator.
Strategic Management Presentation - Apple Inc.Colby Nelson
The presentation slides for a Strategic Management class at Biola University. We presented on Apple Inc. and through a semester long study came up with recommendations for Apple to implement to create more sustainable competitive advantage.
Full strategic case analysis for Apple incorporation including industry , competitor's and firm's self analysis. It covers all the strategic issues facing the industry and Apple inc. as well as the recommended solutions for these issues on business and corporate levels.
The study shows the development on the Apple Inc. mission& vision and the strategic objectives over time.
This presentation gives in & out insights of economics related to particular business.
Return on Investment on Apple Inc.
Thinking Process behind products.
Earlier stage & future growth.
Design Thinking and Innovation at Apple IncSHREYANSH VATS
The following presentation is based on a case on Apple Inc about how Apple goes about implementing innovation and design thinking at their firm, and how there's a shift with the arrival of Tim Cook. The case was a part of our course called BusinessInnovation in New Environment (BINE)
In today’s rapidly changing business world, the pressure on a business to take up a proactive approach has increased due to factors such as globalization, rapid technological advancement and changing needs of customers (Mazzero et al., 2015). Businesses which have emerged as market leaders are devising their strategies in accordance to the customer needs and environmental changes. Strategy is defined as setting the future direction or goals of an organization and allocating the resources for the attainment of those goals (Proctor, 2014). The strategic planning process involves taking up a systematic approach in devising goals and strategies. Furthermore, the process of strategic management involves identifying the opportunities in market and experimenting in order to develop a competitive advantage in the longer run (Hill et al., 2014). The businesses that have outperformed; have been successful in recognizing the opportunities present in the market before their rivals could do. Apple is one such business that has achieved phenomenal success due to its preemptive approach (Rawlinson, 2017). Over the years, Apple has successfully developed a very strong brand name and highly loyal customer base and has been ranked as one of the world’s “most valuable brand” (“The World’s Most Valuable Brands List,” 2018). Therefore, the purpose of this report is to carry out a strategic analysis of Apple and to make strategic recommendations for its future direction. The report will firstly give a brief overview of Apple Inc. and will then carry out the external and internal analysis of the company. The report will then move to identification of Apple’s sustainable competitive advantage and will then give recommendations based on analysis.
Launching Amazon Go
What, how and where should we communicate to resonate with our target audience and get the biggest spread, for the lowest cost, with the highest impact?
The Apple logo is one of the most famous logos in the world. Apple fans not only put this logo on their vehicles to show their loyalty, they go to the extreme of tattooing themselves with it, a level of dedication very few brands achieved.
The presentation is made under the guidance of professor Sameer Mathur, IIM lucknow. This presentation tells a few details about the apple company and how it begun and what its current position is, what are the current marketing aspects of the company and what are their future scopes of expansion. The presentation also describes why the company is such a good innovator.
Strategic Management Presentation - Apple Inc.Colby Nelson
The presentation slides for a Strategic Management class at Biola University. We presented on Apple Inc. and through a semester long study came up with recommendations for Apple to implement to create more sustainable competitive advantage.
Full strategic case analysis for Apple incorporation including industry , competitor's and firm's self analysis. It covers all the strategic issues facing the industry and Apple inc. as well as the recommended solutions for these issues on business and corporate levels.
The study shows the development on the Apple Inc. mission& vision and the strategic objectives over time.
Over the last five decades, Apple Inc. has succeeded in creating a business empire in the technological industry. Apple’s I-products are among the most loved technological items across the world. In the business world, Apple’s IT products and operations are unmatched. To this end, Apple Inc. growth is remarkable and shows no signs that it will decline in the near future. This is typified by the fact that the company keeps setting new sales records for every product that it introduces into the market. Whatever Apple Inc.’s does only catches its competitors unaware and therefore they play the role of catching up by mimicking its strategy though largely unsuccessfully. This paper examines the impact of various internal and external organizational environments that affect Apple Inc. As such, the paper will keenly explore the extent to which the organizational environment affect Apple. Among the various external and internal environments that will examined in this paper include economic, social, technological and economic factors. It will also give the implications that these factors have on Apple Inc. if the company is to continue with its success story.
Headquartered in Cupertino, California, Apple Inc. experienced many c.pdffaizul123
Headquartered in Cupertino, California, Apple Inc. experienced many challenges throughout its
business history. In 1997 Apple's share price was \$3.30. Fifteen years later its share price rose to
$705.07 (although its share price decreased to $425 the following year). In 2014 Apple split its
stock 7-1, meaning each share was worth a seventh of its previous value, and stockholders were
given seven extra shares of stock to make up the difference. Apple's stock price has become a
key benchmark for the technology sector. For the past eight years, Apple earned first place
among Fortune magazine's World's Most Admired Companies. To millions of consumers, the
Apple brand embodies quality, prestige, and innovation. Although companies tried to copy the
Apple business model, none have been able to discover what it is that makes Apple so unique.
Apple is ranked first in innovation by Fortune magazine and is a market leader in the
development and sales of mobile devices. Many believe Apple's success stems from a
combination of several factors, including the remarkable leadership skills of former CEO Steve
Jobs, a corporate culture of enthusiasm and innovation, and the high-tech products for which
Apple is known. These combining qualities allow Apple to revolutionize the technology and
retail industries. Apple's History Apple's first product, the Apple I, was vastly different from the
Apple products most are familiar with today. This first handmade computer kit was constructed
by Apple cofounder Steve Wozniak. It lacked a graphic user interface (GUI), and buyers had to
add their own keyboard and display. Cofounder Steve Jobs convinced Wozniak that it could be
sold as a commercial product. In 1976 the Apple I was unvelled at the Home Brew Computer
Club and put on sale for $666.66. Jobs and Wozniak continued to create innovative products.
Soon their new company, Apple Computer Inc., surpassed \$1 million in sales. However, the
mid-1980s brought difficult times for Apple. In 1983 the company introduced the Apple Lisa for
$10,000. The product flopped. In 1985 Steve Jobs was ousted after internal conflicts with the
Apple CEO. Its computer products the Mac I and the Newton were not successful, and the
company underwent several CEO changes. With declining stock prices, the future of Apple was
in jeopardy. 'This case was prepared by Jennifer Sawayda, Harper Baind. Danielle Jolley, and
Julian Mathias for and under the direction of O.C. Ferrell and Linda Ferrell. It was prepared for
classroom discussion rather than to illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of an
administrative, ethical, or legal decision by management. All sources used for this case were
obtained through publidy avalable material on the Apple website 62015.
Steve Jobs returned to Apple in 1997 to try and save the struggling company. The return of Jobs
introduced a new era for Apple. Jobs immediately began to change the company's corporate
culture. Before Jobs's return, employees were m.
For Retailing, my group and I decided to create a campus bar for our business. We did everything from find an actual location, to finances and financial forecasts, to inventory, to marketing for our business plan.
For Marketing Research, our class did a research project for the Greeley Tribune. My group and I were assigned to do the research for the "who" part of the project, which included who read currently and who the Greeley Tribune needs to target.
Epistemic Interaction - tuning interfaces to provide information for AI supportAlan Dix
Paper presented at SYNERGY workshop at AVI 2024, Genoa, Italy. 3rd June 2024
https://alandix.com/academic/papers/synergy2024-epistemic/
As machine learning integrates deeper into human-computer interactions, the concept of epistemic interaction emerges, aiming to refine these interactions to enhance system adaptability. This approach encourages minor, intentional adjustments in user behaviour to enrich the data available for system learning. This paper introduces epistemic interaction within the context of human-system communication, illustrating how deliberate interaction design can improve system understanding and adaptation. Through concrete examples, we demonstrate the potential of epistemic interaction to significantly advance human-computer interaction by leveraging intuitive human communication strategies to inform system design and functionality, offering a novel pathway for enriching user-system engagements.
GDG Cloud Southlake #33: Boule & Rebala: Effective AppSec in SDLC using Deplo...James Anderson
Effective Application Security in Software Delivery lifecycle using Deployment Firewall and DBOM
The modern software delivery process (or the CI/CD process) includes many tools, distributed teams, open-source code, and cloud platforms. Constant focus on speed to release software to market, along with the traditional slow and manual security checks has caused gaps in continuous security as an important piece in the software supply chain. Today organizations feel more susceptible to external and internal cyber threats due to the vast attack surface in their applications supply chain and the lack of end-to-end governance and risk management.
The software team must secure its software delivery process to avoid vulnerability and security breaches. This needs to be achieved with existing tool chains and without extensive rework of the delivery processes. This talk will present strategies and techniques for providing visibility into the true risk of the existing vulnerabilities, preventing the introduction of security issues in the software, resolving vulnerabilities in production environments quickly, and capturing the deployment bill of materials (DBOM).
Speakers:
Bob Boule
Robert Boule is a technology enthusiast with PASSION for technology and making things work along with a knack for helping others understand how things work. He comes with around 20 years of solution engineering experience in application security, software continuous delivery, and SaaS platforms. He is known for his dynamic presentations in CI/CD and application security integrated in software delivery lifecycle.
Gopinath Rebala
Gopinath Rebala is the CTO of OpsMx, where he has overall responsibility for the machine learning and data processing architectures for Secure Software Delivery. Gopi also has a strong connection with our customers, leading design and architecture for strategic implementations. Gopi is a frequent speaker and well-known leader in continuous delivery and integrating security into software delivery.
DevOps and Testing slides at DASA ConnectKari Kakkonen
My and Rik Marselis slides at 30.5.2024 DASA Connect conference. We discuss about what is testing, then what is agile testing and finally what is Testing in DevOps. Finally we had lovely workshop with the participants trying to find out different ways to think about quality and testing in different parts of the DevOps infinity loop.
Kubernetes & AI - Beauty and the Beast !?! @KCD Istanbul 2024Tobias Schneck
As AI technology is pushing into IT I was wondering myself, as an “infrastructure container kubernetes guy”, how get this fancy AI technology get managed from an infrastructure operational view? Is it possible to apply our lovely cloud native principals as well? What benefit’s both technologies could bring to each other?
Let me take this questions and provide you a short journey through existing deployment models and use cases for AI software. On practical examples, we discuss what cloud/on-premise strategy we may need for applying it to our own infrastructure to get it to work from an enterprise perspective. I want to give an overview about infrastructure requirements and technologies, what could be beneficial or limiting your AI use cases in an enterprise environment. An interactive Demo will give you some insides, what approaches I got already working for real.
Transcript: Selling digital books in 2024: Insights from industry leaders - T...BookNet Canada
The publishing industry has been selling digital audiobooks and ebooks for over a decade and has found its groove. What’s changed? What has stayed the same? Where do we go from here? Join a group of leading sales peers from across the industry for a conversation about the lessons learned since the popularization of digital books, best practices, digital book supply chain management, and more.
Link to video recording: https://bnctechforum.ca/sessions/selling-digital-books-in-2024-insights-from-industry-leaders/
Presented by BookNet Canada on May 28, 2024, with support from the Department of Canadian Heritage.
UiPath Test Automation using UiPath Test Suite series, part 3DianaGray10
Welcome to UiPath Test Automation using UiPath Test Suite series part 3. In this session, we will cover desktop automation along with UI automation.
Topics covered:
UI automation Introduction,
UI automation Sample
Desktop automation flow
Pradeep Chinnala, Senior Consultant Automation Developer @WonderBotz and UiPath MVP
Deepak Rai, Automation Practice Lead, Boundaryless Group and UiPath MVP
LF Energy Webinar: Electrical Grid Modelling and Simulation Through PowSyBl -...DanBrown980551
Do you want to learn how to model and simulate an electrical network from scratch in under an hour?
Then welcome to this PowSyBl workshop, hosted by Rte, the French Transmission System Operator (TSO)!
During the webinar, you will discover the PowSyBl ecosystem as well as handle and study an electrical network through an interactive Python notebook.
PowSyBl is an open source project hosted by LF Energy, which offers a comprehensive set of features for electrical grid modelling and simulation. Among other advanced features, PowSyBl provides:
- A fully editable and extendable library for grid component modelling;
- Visualization tools to display your network;
- Grid simulation tools, such as power flows, security analyses (with or without remedial actions) and sensitivity analyses;
The framework is mostly written in Java, with a Python binding so that Python developers can access PowSyBl functionalities as well.
What you will learn during the webinar:
- For beginners: discover PowSyBl's functionalities through a quick general presentation and the notebook, without needing any expert coding skills;
- For advanced developers: master the skills to efficiently apply PowSyBl functionalities to your real-world scenarios.
3. Apple Computers originated in Cupertino, California by three friends, Steve Wozniak, Steve Jobs, and Ronald Wayne. Wozniak was the computer nerd of the three and had been working on a computer design and once Jobs convinced him of finishing his model and selling it to the public the beginning of Apple computers was underway. On January 3, 1977 the hard work of the three friends became Apple Computer, Inc. Soon after Wayne sold his share back to Jobs and Wozniak. The two Steve’s continued on to create one of the most successful companies that would in future years be known for their computers, music devices, cell phones, and software worldwide. Apple took off after Wozniak’s Apple I adding numerous versions of the Apple, the Macintosh line, the iPod, iPhone, and iTunes products, and numerous other computer/software products to the Apple Computer, Inc. family. Apple has made its mark on the technology industry by continuing to be successful innovators that lead their numerous product markets.
5. Apple has two major long-term strategies and tactics that they focus on. The first being strategic alliances that they have with IBM, Microsoft, and AT&T. The alliances they formed with IBM and Microsoft have enabled Apple to further their computer growth and guarantee software that is available and familiar to consumers all over the world. The alliance with AT&T was a recent alliance that was formed when Apple came out with their iPhone. Their contract with AT&T ends in 2010, and the phone world is anxiously waiting to see if they will continue this alliance or create a new one. The second strategy is concentration on internal growth which they are implementing by developing new products for the markets they have already established and by finding new markets for their current products. For example Apple created a new market for their Macintosh computers by pushing them into the education market and creating their mark among students and teachers.
7. Currently Apple does not seem to have any short-term strategies and tactics. This could be very risky for Apple, but at the time being they seem to be successful without it. They may want to rethink their lack of strategy soon due to the illness of Steve Jobs and implement a plan incase they lose their leader.
9. Apple’s current strategies defined by Porter are product differentiation with a focus on a broad market. This can be seen by Apple’s many products including the iPod, the iPhone, and all their Mac books that are priced and designed to fit every person’s needs and wants. Apple’s current strategy defined by Miles & Snow is being a prospector. Apple creates new products and services, such as their iTunes when legally downloading music was needed, to changing market conditions. They also respond rapidly and try to be the first mover. By doing this they set a benchmark for their competitors and place their products in consumer’s mindset first.
11. Apple has been making large strides in order to make their company a “green” company. Looking at the transformation of their MacBook Pro from 2006 to 2008 you will see that they have gone from having BFR, PVC, mercury, and arsenic in their 2006 version to having none of them in their 2008 version. They have also been reducing their packaging to both save materials and to make it possible to store more packages on one mode of distribution, thus reducing the amounts of trips it would have had to make. Last but not least, Apple has also been putting more of their attention on getting more recycling centers set up for their products. One of their ways of doing this is having a program within their stores that allows a customer to bring in their old Apple product they don’t want anymore, and the store will take care of the recycling process. Apple’s efforts are a great way to start their journey to being a completely “green” company (Apple.com).
17. Apple’s most prominent threats are led by the economy ranked at 10. This top threat is an obvious one considering the prices of Apple products. For almost every product Apple has there is a similar low cost alternative and in the current economic times even people who would like to but Apple products will be forced to go with a lower cost substitute. The high rivalry among competitors in the technology industry makes it very important that Apple stay ahead of the curve with innovation. In this industry the company that has long-term success is the company that offers customers the newest and latest technology. Along with a slower economy comes the threat of decreased demand, this is a threat to Apple especially because of their limited product line.
19. Apple currently holds a very strong financial position. Over the last several years they have experienced an increase in their growth, sales, net profit, and stock price. One of Apple’s top financial strengths is the fact that they do not pay out any dividends. This enables them to re-invest the money into capital structures. Part of Apple’s financial strategy is to spend a high amount of money on R&D; allowing them access to the latest technology, which keeps them a leader in industry innovator.
21. Apple’s current ratio is slightly lower than the industry which suggests that Apple has fewer resources to pay its debts. Although this is true, all of the competitors have fewer resources available to pay back their debt than Apple. This ratio suggests that Apple would be considered to have good short-term financial strength. When looking at the quick ratio it is clear that when Apple is compared to the industry, Apple is better able to meet their current liability obligations by using their liquid assets. When compared to Microsoft, HP, and Dell, Apple is more liquid. Apple’s return on assets is on the higher end when compared to the listed competitors. This suggests that Apple’s assets are profitable in generating revenue. The industry has a negative ROA, suggesting a low amount of earnings derived from each dollar of assets. This means the industry’s assets are not profitable in generating revenue. Apple has a low return on equity in comparison to its competitors. This means that Apple isn’t as efficient in generating profits from their shareholder’s equity. Again, the industry has a negative ROE, which makes Apple highly appealing. Apple has a significantly lower return on investment than the competition. This means that the Apple gains less money on their investments. Apple doesn’t pay out any dividends; they instead reinvest the money into active capital structures.
22. Apple has a current Z-Score of 3.018. This z-score indicates that Apple has a very good financial standing and is not in any immediate danger of bankruptcy. Apple’s g* is -1.03. This indicates negative growth, which is mostly due to their high increase in assets. Even though their growth is shown to be negative, they are still having successful growth and can make it positive again.
24. This comparative income statement for Apple, the technology industry, and three major competitors shows why Apple is such a successful company. When comparing Apple’s sales to Microsoft, Dell, and HP one may conclude that Apple isn’t selling nearly as much; however, Apple is a much smaller company than the competitors presented above. When comparing cost of goods sold, Apple’s remains relatively low compared to Dell and HP, but are significantly higher than Microsoft. This could indicate that although Apple’s products are relatively expensive, they are able to produce their products at a lower cost than Dell and HP. However, Microsoft appears to produce their products at the lowest cost. It is worth noting that Apple spends the least amount of money on administrative expenses when compared to Microsoft, Dell, and HP. Lastly, Apple by far has the highest earning per share on its stock.
25. Apple has the lowest amount of inventory on hand when compared to Microsoft, HP, and Dell. Part of Apple’s strategy is to invest their capital into assets which are actually active because inventory creates an expense. Apple currently has the highest amount of long term investments in relation to its major competitors. This indicates that Apple’s management is focused on long-term growth. Apple and Microsoft are the only firms in this data set who actually have a higher level of equity in comparison to their liabilities. This is crucial for Apple because it allows them to generate enough equity from their resources to pay off their debts.
26. This year Apple has experienced its first negative cash flow in four years. This is not only due to the fact that they spent more than double the amount of money on capital expenditures than last year, but that they weren’t able to generate enough money from their operating activities to offset the major expenditures. This suggests that Apple needs to work on increasing their revenue and decreasing their expenses in order to see a positive cash flow next year.
28. Apple is showing a great level of profit for several reasons. First, and probably the most important is that they do not have any long term debt. The continually choose not to provide dividends in order to reinvest the money into capital infrastructures. Apple also has a very small amount of liabilities in comparison to the industry and its competitors. They generate enough equity from their resources to cover their short term debt. Another great indicator of their profitability is their high earnings per share. Apple is also currently growing faster than the industry. In order to sustain their profitability they need to make sure to continue to increase their growth rate.
30. The industry as a whole is doing quite well. When comparing the industry and Apple’s income statement it’s clear that both have experienced an increase in sales and have come out with a positive net income. Apple’s sales constitute about 33% of the entire industries sales. Considering the size of Apple and the amount of time they have been a major player in the industry, they are surely showing their potential. Both the industry and Apple have an extremely high earning per share when compared to Dell, HP, and Microsoft. This demonstrates the attractiveness of Apple for investors along with their profitability. When comparing balance sheet statements, the industry has a lot of inventory on hand, a lot of long term debt and current liabilities. In fact, the industry has more liabilities than it has generated equity. Clearly, the industry as a whole has a difficult time generating enough equity from their resources to pay off their debts. However, Apple has no problem here. They are very capable of paying off their debts. In conclusion, Apple is currently performing better than the industry.
33. Apple is currently growing faster than the industry. Apple’s growth rate is 9.30% while the industry is at 5.37%. Although the industry is in a strong position, Apple’s growth is soaring due to their innovative strategies.
35. Apple’s current market position is very strong. Microsoft, HP, and Dell currently hold a higher percentage of the market than Apple. Although this is true, Apple has proven to be an industry innovator. Virtually every product they have developed has created a huge sensation among consumers. Apple’s marketing efforts are truly one of kind. They rely heavily on guerilla tactics and celebrities to draw consumers in. The only downfall Apple faces is the fact that its competitors such as Microsoft, HP, and Dell have been able to create strong brand names over a long period of time. Apple has just recently become a major competitor in the industry. Even though this is true, they have done an impeccable job sustaining their position. They have successfully proven to provide high quality products and create a very strong brand name.
45. Apple has an unmistakable marketing style and it has been very successful for them in the past few years. Apple is known for their humorous commercials and hip and fun campaigns which draw in the young and the young at heart. Apple provides products that are cutting edge and in their commercials and ads they try to communicate that to the consumers. Another thing that they try to convince their viewers of is the easy to use operating system and products. In most Apple commercials they show actual games or apps that can be run on their products this is to draw in their potential customers and show them why they can’t live without the specific Apple product.
46.
47. Apple uses a multi-divisional structure within their company. They have Steve Jobs at the top as CEO and branch down to the COO and then branch down to their divisions that consist of: Worldwide Product Marketing, Software Engineering, Retail, Mac Hardware Engineering, iPhone Software Engineering, and Devices Hardware Engineering. Each of their divisions houses their own supervisors and employees.
51. The vision that Apple’s top management has is to continue to be the leading innovator in their markets. They have continuously captured their target market audience by producing the latest and greatest products before any of their competitors. They also want to push for more worldwide success by expanding their retail stores and iTunes into more foreign countries that have not be fully exposed to their products. By doing this they will increase their sales overseas and will become a worldwide phenomenon just like they did in the United States.
53. Apple has had great success with their stock. It has been strong from the beginning and has been very strong as of late, currently selling at $194.34. Looking back at Apple’s stock it seems that though they look like they dip down here and there, they never go below selling for $50. This shows the strength of the company’s stock is for them (Yahoo Finance, 2009). As with any other product driven company, Apple’s stock heavily reflects the releases of their new products. This also favors Apple though because of their positioning as a market leader.
56. Apple doesn’t seem to have defined any values for their company, so we propose that Apple should define values concerning the environment, their community, and the world to reach a level of understanding with their consumers.
59. Apple’s management is a marginal success because of the weaknesses they still do possess. We believe that Apple can easily become a strong success since their weaknesses are concentrated to mainly one area that can be turned around relatively quickly. Apple’s strengths are strong and will continue to be strong, which will hold them at the success level that they are at until their weaknesses can be improved.
66. Apple’s greatest competitive advantage is differentiation of their products. Their computers and digital music devices set the standard for innovation and quality. They have various versions of almost every product including: Mac computers, software, iPhones, and iPods. Apple is well known for being an industry innovator. Apple guarantee’s their customers state of the art products that are not available anywhere else. In addition, Apple has managed to create a community of intensely brand loyal customers. These consumers who are proud to be a part of the “Apple culture” stand by their purchasing decisions with pride and commitment. In fact, most consumers who decide to go Mac, never go back to a PC.
72. Along with strengths come weaknesses. Apple has several weaknesses which they need to address in order to remain a top player in the industry. The fact that they have a high beta could make them be perceived as a risky company. It could be seen as unattractive to spend so much money on R&D because so much is being devoted to one area instead of other areas of their infrastructure. However, without it, they wouldn’t be a leader in innovation. Social responsibility is something that is very important to consumers today. Apple currently does not highlight their efforts towards social responsibility. It’s well known that Apple relies too heavily on Steve Jobs. If he were unable to perform because of his illness or even have to leave the company, Apple would be in serious trouble. Although secrecy is important in protecting Apple’s ideas, it has caused them trouble in the past in regards to withholding information from their stockholders. Consumers are also well aware that Apple’s batteries have a poor performance and are a huge inconvenience to have replaced. The last weakness for Apple is the fact that they are not very compatible with Microsoft products, which deters many consumers.
77. Some long-term strategy options that Apple has are to continue their internal growth by continuing to update their current products and services and to expand their “green” movement. By continuously updating their products and services they will continue to be the leading innovator in their markets and continue their long-term success. By expanding their “green” movement, Apple will become more appealing to consumers since the world’s population is looking for anyway to become a little greener. Another option would be to create more strategic alliances to expand their mobile phone carriers that support the iPhone. This would open up many more markets worldwide for them to take over.
79. Apple’s current positions in both Porter and Miles & Snow should not be changed. We recommend that they continue to hold their current positions at differentiation (Porter) and prospector (Miles & Snow) because of the success that they have had with being the leading innovator with all of their products in the different marketsBibliography<br />Birnbaum, B. (2000). Strategic Thinking, A Four Piece Puzzle. Birnbaum Associates.<br />Company News for Apple Inc. (n.d.). Retrieved November 2009, from Reuters: http://www.reuters.com/finance/stocks/companyNews?symbol=AAPL.O<br />Yahoo Finance. (2009, November). Retrieved November 2009, from Yahoo: http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=AAPL<br />Apple Retrieved November 2009: www.apple.com<br />