Introduction
The paper gives a report of an interview, which was carried out with a purchasing and supply professional from Apple Inc. The interviewee, who is a data analyst at the company, shared some information about the work that he does. He elaborated about the roles, challenges, achievements, and functions of a data analyst. The paper, therefore, describes the work of a data analyst in depth, as analyzed from the interview. It focuses on the goals, mission, operational and strategic objectives of the supply and purchasing department. Lastly, the paper will compare the company’s goals and mission with the supply management objectives.
The mission and goals of Apple Inc.
Apple Inc. manufactures technological devices such as phones, software, applications, and computers.
Mission statement
Apple Inc. has a unique mission statement, which describes directly the different products that the company offers. The company designs Macs, which is the most available brand of personal computers globally. It creates software for professional purposes. It is involved in the music industry; it creates iTunes and IPhone, Apps stores and other technological devices (Linzmayer, 2004).
Goals and objectives
Description of the data Analyst (interviewee)
Job duties and responsibilities
Data analysis involves the collection, analysis and processing of statistical data into meaningful information. The (interviewee) data analyst performs the following responsibilities and functions at Apple Inc.:
1. Interpreting data, analyzing results and providing related reports through statistical methods.
2. Mining data from both primary and secondary sources and creating a database for the mined data.
3. Identifying, analyzing and interpreting current and existing trends in the most complex data sets.
4. Establishing and implementing data collection and mining systems and strategies that improve data quality and efficiency.
5. Working in close collaboration with various departments such as the information technology and management departments to attend to all business and information needs.
6. Coming up with creative or innovative projects that will help in capitalizing on the opportunities available.
7. Filtering data and carrying out reviews on reports, performance indicators, and printouts to correct codes, which might have some problems.
Educational background
The job requires either a bachelor’s degree in mathematics, computer science, information management, statistics, and economics.
Skills
The interviewee has analytical skills, which are needed to gather, arrange, interpret and disseminate a large amount of information with high levels of accuracy and details. He has excellent communication and problem-solving skills as well. He has a valuable expertise in data mining, data modeling, and database designing.
Professional experience
The interviewee has experience and knowledge in programming like JavaScript, database, and reporting packages, which are accompanied by recommendations and proven working experience for a couple of years. He is well-experienced in report writing, presentation of findings and adaptation to queries.
Achievements
The interviewee has established and created modern software, which handles huge data. The software can carry out data mining, mapping, and data warehousing efficiently and is cost effective.
Personal challenges
Maintaining data integrity is sometimes hard for the interviewee, especially when dealing with complex codes and significant data. A need arises to redo the whole process to justify his integrity and provide answers to queries after human errors arise, which is another challenge to him. Since his role changes from one business to another, role confusion is another challenge. Some companies require higher programming skills than others do. Results can be rejected after a task, which implies that statistical evidence is needed to convince the management of the validity of the results.
Operational and strategic objectives of the supply and purchasing department
Following the advancement in technology among other factors, the role of the purchasing and supply departments has changed over time. In the previous years, agencies supplied orders, equipment, and raw material, which has currently changed. The objectives have thus, changed and are grouped into operational and strategic objectives; they are no longer grouped into one group.
Operational objectives of Apple Inc. include:
Purchasing of goods and services at the right price, quantity, delivery at the right time and meet the needs of a particular firm and the customers.
Managing the internal operation of the enterprise.
Identifying and capitalizing on any opportunities that emerge for the benefit of the entire organization (Monczka et. al, 2015).
Strategic objectives of Apple Inc. include (Monczka et. al, 2015):
Establishing supply options and contingency plans, which support the original company’s plans.
Embracing the company’s need to ensure that a diverse and international competitive supply and purchasing base is established.
Learning about the new trends and incorporating them into the company’ strategies
The relationship between the supply objectives and the company’s mission and goals
The supply objectives are in line with the companies’ objectives and mission. Supply objectives focus on the quality, just like the company, which aims at providing high-quality products that meet the users’ needs and requirements. In addition, the products offered are sold at an affordable price to the users. The company has opened shops and online platforms globally, where people purchase their goods, thus save on the purchasing and delivery time. Apple Inc. embraces diversity, in that it provides a broad range of devices, which are equipped with the current technology. Apple Inc. offers mobile phones, software, applications personal computers among other products that justify the diversity of products (Linzmayer, 2004). To produce more products that incorporate new technology concepts, the company utilizes the opportunities provided by the advancement in technology.
References
Monczka, R. M., Handfield, R. B., Giunipero, L. C., & Patterson, J. L. (2015). Purchasing and supply chain management. Cengage Learning.
Linzmayer, O. W. (2004). Apple Confidential 2.0: The definitive history of the world's most colorful company. No Starch Press.
