Introduction
The business systems and processes have been revolutionized in view of the technology advancement that the world has witnessed, and the suppleness of organizations has increased with regards to the available resources at their disposal.
The development of the team and their skills set is as important as the development and innovation in the products and services.
The focus of an organization with regards to developing competitive advantage is through hiring employees who are self motivated and also have the necessary skill set to succeed.
Strategic Competency Development is in essence defined as a process that comprehends the competitive landscape, and the priorities of the organization are aligned with regards to the outcomes and measures (Berkeley HR, 2014).
The strategic competency of an organization is measured both from an in internal and external perspective, however once the internal values i.e. Values, Mission, Corporate Culture is incorporated in the systems and processes.
Apple Inc. Mission Statement and Corporate Culture
Apple Inc. is a trend setter when it comes to developing new technology and innovation. Under the visionary leadership Steve Jobs, the company has created new grounds and with an excellence based corporate culture.
Apple has managed to come up with products and services that have been synonymous with the brand in terms of convenience and visual beauty, but also creating a linkage of the way firm conducts its business.
With a nonconventional leader and products portfolio, the mission statement of Apple is also nonconventional in view of the fact that it elaborates on the product features of Apple brands.
There is no mention of key internal and external factors in the mission statement that are the feature of a typical mission statement, the systems and process philosophy, the target market.
Also no mention of the employees to act as a guide to the corporate culture and is in essence a product oriented statement.
“Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the world, along with OS X, iLife, iWork and professional software. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store. Apple has reinvented the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, and is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices with iPad” (Blodget. H, 2013).
However, in view of the success of company and creating brand that is global, the steps taken by Apple have in essence helped them to create commitment and involvement of the team members.
Thus, factors like creativity, philosophy and the understanding of the customer’s needs are delineated in the products and service the firm offer in an effective manner in a constant level.
With regards to the corporate culture incorporating into the working details at Apple, the management of workstation design is a significant aspect as at Apple the workstations are designed in such a manner that workers can function more effectively without being exposed to any kind of hazard.
Apple Inc. is very much committed to environmental health and safety (EHS) in view of focusing on sustainability and undertaking more than a few aspects of operations in view of addressing the skill development of the workers and development of technologically innovative products (Apple EHS Policy, 2013)
At Apple in view of the mission statement and its inclination towards product, the culture at Apple supports in creating big ideas in terms of concept and that is the premise for innovation and also creating core competency with regards to competition.
An understanding of the concept of core competency is very important in view of understanding the focus of Apple towards human resource development with regards to a focus on creating a product portfolio that is different and user-friendly.
The core competency of Apple is ‘design’ that has in essence enabled Apple to compete in both the hardware and software.
However, from a practical viewpoint it is not always necessary that Apple have the right resources to manage an issue in terms of product development.
Since the focus is on product and design, at Apple the focus is on entering newer markets and thus when Apple decided to engage in the radio frequency for their struggling maps service, Apple hired radio frequency engineers and that eventually helped then to launch iPhone (Carr, A, 2013).
Apple’s success as an organization lies in its undertaking to a thorough investigation of potential opportunities in meeting the needs and demands both from an internal external perspective.
That is the employees and the consumers in accordance with the trends of the generation and this can be gauged from the fact that as stated in Blodget. H, (2013), article the mission statement of Apple has changed with the trends accordingly.
The corporate culture is one the most significant value that was focused on by the late Steve Jobs and helped him built the brand that Apple is today. It is the focus on the culture that a sales associate or a top management executive are united by the common theme of the culture.
It is this reason that the customers enjoy the experience whenever they interact with Apple the brand from their stores, technical support line or the management (Moreland. J, 2011).
Apple Inc. Investment in SHRD
For an organization to achieve success on a sustained level, it is of paramount importance that an investment in the strategic human resource development is done both from a short and long-term perspective.
Since Apple Inc. is a technology based organization the needs and skills set of the employees and the resource change with times on a constant level in view of the changing trends, competition and the utilization of technology in the sector.
At Apple there are no formal training methods and more often than not the employees at Apple are responsible themselves for developing their skills with regards to the job at hand and the basic essence at Apple is to make the employees own their learning, training and development (Dr. Sullivan. J, 2011).
The intent of the aforementioned is that the focus on strengthening employees self-reliance and making them proactive to counter the fast pace work and business dynamic of the technology sector.
Apple New Product Process (ANPP) is referred to as the process utilized for new product development and is considered a gem terms of processes and systems adopted at Apple in view of the fact that the process in focused on product with regards to innovation and designing the prototypes.
According to Panzarino, M (2012), the process helps the employees in deciding the effectiveness of the business analytics of the product and concept testing.
An action plan developed through the ANPP process that in essence helps the product in the launching phase.
The SHRD is in essence dependent primarily on the employees themselves and this can be stated in the Apple’s philosophy on the career development as stated in the career management brochure as early as the 1990’s.
It that stated that the guarantee to life employment cannot be given, however, the growth, development should be taken care by the employee themselves (Caudron. S, 1994).
The focus of Apples investment in SHRD to develop new products and services in essence turned a new leaf when Steve Jobs was asked to rejoin Apple as the CEO to which he agreed in 1997 (Hill C & Jones G, 2008).
Steve Jobs energized the environment by setting goals for the employees to develop state of the art and stylish PCs using the NeXT technology, a venture that Steve Jobs started when he was asked to leave Apple in the early 1990’s.
This set the tone for the strategic blueprint of differentiation in terms of hardware, software, designs of Apple products and services.
The aforementioned helped in launching Mp3 players, and they created a support with Mac Pc’s by storing huge music files.
iPod, iPhone, iPads and more recently iWatches are some of the product lines that have been created through the excellence of the skills set that is employed by Apple’s team on a daily basis.
The focus of Apple has always been to attract, develop and hang on to resourceful and capable staff, although the company has faced stringent criticism with regards to the management of the human resource from different quarters.
The career management programs at Apple as mentioned in Caudron. S, (1994) case study on Apple’s career management programs are as follows:
- Career Resource Library, a collection of information of the industry trends and professional association through newspapers, magazines, cooks and audio/video tapes.
- Brown Bag Seminars used as an informal hour-long session to update the employees on the technological; changes, trends, business and career prospects.
- Networking groups were utilized at Apple for employees who wanted a switch in a different department internally and also with a move to a different company through the help of the networking groups.
- Online job posting was utilized at Apple in view of both switching and downsizing for employees.
This clearly represents little change in terms of Apple’s focus on strategic human resource development of their employees.
With regards to the skills level at Apple the reason the company is towering above its competitors Samsung, Google, Amazon, Microsoft.
Reason being that Apple has invested strategically in the skills set of the employees at all levels i.e. hardware, software and in services.
The other companies mentioned operate and excel on one or two skill levels (Yarow, J, 2013).
The engineers and their designs are the focal point of a technology company and Apple hires engineers with a design-centric focus, and they focus on building process on application interface and this skill level differs from competition on a design level.
On a more recent and strategic level, Apple’s Growth Partners employee development model helps the managers and associates to chart out the skills required to be a success at their jobs in Apple and also have the prerequisite excellence to shine (Day. J, 2011).
The sales and marketing team are one of the most important element at Apple and in view of being the face of the company at the Apple stores the skills set in view of being a success starts with the job description that focus on hiring specialists with a peoples and customer oriented mindset.
Since Apple’s product are based on having an experience, with regards to a branding perspective the sales and marketing team in essence drives the creativity that has a positive impact on Apple as a company in terms of business.
Apple is not afraid to hire fresh graduates as opposed to other organizations and the aforementioned program help recruit fresh minds and the training given to them helps in understand the Apple’s philosophy in terms of way forward both in job and life.
The primary feature of the program is to work hard in order to meet the goals and get rewarded, the program is supported by the senior management at Apple and they look at new ways to assist the new hires and less experienced employees gain new skills.
According to Katie Lee, the human resource manager at Apple, the understanding in terms of career development and promotion is not comprehended fully by the employees and they get promoted without acquiring new skills set that is necessary in view of being a success in their new job profile (Day. J, 2011).
The five areas identified with a focus on the SHRD through which the employees can be tested were technical ability, client service, financial gain through the employee, business development and teamwork development and participation.
The aforementioned qualities in essence are focused in view of the sector that Apple operates in i.e. Technology as technical expertise with interaction with potential clients with teams and the business development aspect are all synched together very closely.
Strategic Direction of Employees
The skills and competency development is process that is triggered and effected by the changes in the business environment and also social changes that impacts the consumer and thus there is a frequent need for newer products and services with new features to satisfy the needs and demands of a particular generation.
At Apple the strategic development of the employee’s skills and their strategic direction in view of behaviour in terms of skills and professional development was also affected by the trends and generational gap in view of the products and customers needs and wants.
Starting from the Macintosh line of computers, The i series (iPhone, iTunes, iPods, iPads) and softwares all required different set of skills and were adapted and modified as per the requirement effectively.
The effective changes can be gauged from the fact that Apple is regarded as one of the most valuable brand and in spite of the price variance from the competition in terms of charging premium pricing.
Apple’s capability to invest in innovative endeavours has been consistent and furthermore, with regards to skills both the processes and innovation and employees behaviour towards skills sets.
This has enable Apple to develop products that are innovative and path breaking in terms of designs and user friendly, aspects that Apple in known for on a global level.
The attainment of knowledge with time affects the quality of innovation as well as to standardize the innovation against the products that were previously innovated (Athey & Schmutzler, 1995).
Attitude and aptitude goes hand in hand at Apple and the skills that are necessary has to be understood by the prospects in view of not studying technologies that Apple don’t work on and also never stop learning new skills and technologies and information that may help Apple.
On a concluding note it has to be taken into account that the systems and process with regards to the development of the employees have impacted on a very significant and positive level to grow Apple as an organization and also have a product portfolio that is not only different but also the most desirable all over the world
The root of all the innovation at Apple is rooted in the philosophy of creating extra value for the customer. Value of products will amplify the value of the firm, and the firm must not lag behind in enhancing the worth of Apple products and services.
For any organization the employees are an integral part of the firm’s innovative way forward in terms of systems and products, in an organization the corporate culture must encourage people to come up with new idea and concepts and this presents a significant competitive advantage to the organization.
Apple as an organization is not only focused on product innovation, it is also focused on process innovation to be able to find out the troubles that may lie in the operating procedures. The innovation process must not be cyclic; it should be a continuing endeavour of the organization.
Bibliography
Apple, 2013, Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) Policy Statement. March 2013.
Apple, 2014, Empowering Workers. Suppliers Responsibility. 2014.
Athey. S, & Schmutzler. A, 1995, Product and Process Flexibility in an Innovative Environment, RAD Journal of Economics, 26, 557-574.
Blodget. H, 2013, Apple's Mission Statement Is Making People Worry That The Company Has Gone To Hell. Business Insider. August 2013.
Berkeley HR, 2014, Competency & Skill-Building: Strategic Planning & Organizing. VC administration and Finance. 2014.
Carr. A, 2013, The core competency of Apple is ‘design’. Death to Core Competency: Lessons From Nike, Apple, Netflix. Fast Company & Inc. 2013.
Caudron. S, 1994, Apple Computer Leaves No Stone Unturned in Employee Career Management. Workforce. April 1994.
Dr. Sullivan. J, 2011, Talent Management Lessons from Apple A Case Study of the World’s most valuable firm. Ere Media. October 2011.
Day. J, 2011, Best Places to Work: Employee Development. IB Mag. September/October 2011.
Hill. C and Jones. G, 2008, Strategic Management: An Integrated Approach. Pg. 177, Tenth Edition. South-Western, Cengage Learning. 2008.
Moreland. J, 2011, Steve Jobs, Apple, and the Importance of Company Culture. Fast Company & Inc. 2011.
Matthew, P. 2012, This is how Apple’s top secret product development process works. The Next Web (TNW) Blog. January 2012.
Yarow, J, 2013, Tim Cook: Here's What Makes Apple Significantly Better Than Samsung, Google, Amazon, And Microsoft. Business Insider. February 2013.
