Apple is a California multinational corporation established in 1977 and headquartered in One Infinite Loop Cupertino, CA. The company is involved in the production of computing devices, tablets, and other electronics. The personal computer revolution of 1980s prompted the home computers of Apple have been designed so that they have good and reliable interfaces and have their Apple II PC which are used for home use. Apple Company is known to specialize in electronic devices because they design, develop, and manufacture electronic devices like computers, smart phones and software. Apple have known hardware products which have been popular by many people; they include iPod, iPhone, iPad and Macintosh. Macintosh was the first product designed for students and knowledgeable users. This innovation made Apple a major player in the PC industry with 20 percent share at one point .Under Steve Jobs stewardship in 1997, Apple became a household name with significant improvements in sales and profits.
According to EDGAR filling as at September 23th 2013, the company sold iPhones adding upto approximately nine million three days after the 5s and 5c models were released on September 20. The company estimated that the revenue they would get for the last quarter to be approximately between $34 million and $37 million that was recorded previously. The gross margin was also approximated to be near the range that was recorded last which was between 36% and 37%.
Globalization and technology have impacted Apple’s business perspective and framework in a big way. Globalization can be taken to be a concept that bring different universal technologies by eliminating barriers such as international trade tarrifs and the trade fees charged for imports and export quotas on the imports. Globalization and information technology aims to maximize the economic efficiencies of the countries involved by developing and fostering international relation and understanding.
With decreased trade barriers multinationals can outsource their manufacturing processes to countries with cheap cost of labor. For instance, the reduced tariffs on the export of manufactured goods in China and the overall cheaper labor cost in the Asia made multinationals such as Apple to outsource its production units to China making it a virtual company.
Towards the end of the year 2010, Apple recorded over 300 retail stores that were located in ten countries plus online stores that offered e-commerce products and services for the customers. Currently, Apple is recorded to be the leading technology company ahead of technology companies like Microsoft, and IBM. Apple was originally known as Apple Computer Inc. However, after some time, and a mutual agreement, it was agreed that the word computer be removed from the name so that it could accommodate globalization and integration of other products. They would also come up with other home products apart from computers (Form 8-k SEC Filing, 2007; Markoff, 2007). In the year 2010, there were over 45000 employees working for the company on a full-time basis and another 3000 working in outside offices. The revenue from sales was estimated to be over seven billion US dollars. This was enhanced by the globalization strategy employed by the company.
As noted earlier, Apple outsources most of the hardware manufacture to international and national supply chain partners for the manufacture and supply of most of their hardware. The components that are used to manufacture their iPod are manufactured in Hong Kong while the manufacture such peripherals like hard disks and flash memory cards are outsourced to such companies like Toshiba located in Japan and Samsung that is located in Korea. Other products like the metal components were outsourced so that they are manufactured by Foxconn in Taiwan. The plastic components are manufactured by some companies in Singapore. All the components are assembled to the final products in China and transported to the stores of Apple which are located in most of the countries in the world.
Apple has been able to capture the global market due to its differentiated product offering to customers through innovative hardware, software, and uniqueness.
Industry-based model of traditional strategic management theories is based on Structure-Conduct-Performance mode of Bain &Mason. According to this model, an organizations strategic orientation and behavior is determined by the structure of the industry. Apple’s strategic orientation and behavior affects its performance too. The most famous exponent of industry-based model is industry attraction determined by long-range profitability and competitive position within an enterprise. The competitive advantage of a company according to Porters five force model includes threats of new entrants, rivalry experienced among the players, the power of bargaining by the suppliers, buyers’ bargaining power, and threats of substitute products.
Apple differentiates itself from its competitors by strategically offering unique hardware products and operating systems which have reliable integrated business and design units. The company continues to build and advance robust platforms that enable it to edge out its rivals. The forces that can propel the company to more profitability and business include marketing mix, the performance of the products, the reliability and the quality of the product, software services that are up-to date and designs which are innovative. The introduction of the latest products iPhone 5c and 5s are a major improvement of its predecessors. It is also expected that iPhone 6 will be much better than iPhone 5 series.
Resource-based model is as a result of pioneer study of Penrose. According to the model, competitive advantage of an enterprise is determined by whether it can use its internally generated resources to cultivate core competencies by lower cost and faster speed than its competitors. Apple has been known to utilize its internal resources such as software application code to strategically surpass its competitors. As a matter of fact, Apple does not engage in community forums discussing new technologies and sharing code. Its research, design and coding are kept out of public domain. However, since it is difficult for an organization to keep core competencies for a long time while paying more attention to internal resources than external resources, it is imperative that Apple utilize complimentary advantages and external resources to achieve durable environment.
Apple’s mission statement is aligned to the success of the company. The company draws inspiration from Steve Jobs famous statement that "Man is the creator of change in this world. As such he should be above systems and structures, and not subordinate to them." As such it has advanced and revolutionized mobile media and computing devices. From Macs cited as the popular personal computer worldwide, to iPods, to iPhones, to iPads, Apple is committed to providing the best personalized, professional, and other consumer mobile and computing experience.
Apple integrates a number of stakeholders in its R&D, manufacturing and sales distribution chains. The collaborators are situated at different countries worldwide. Design and manufacturing is based in California, Singapore and Shanghai China. The global network enables Apple Company to design, and manufacture products in a large scale, spanning universal markets. The global operation phenomenon has given the company a cost saving advantage and increased profitability. Labor is cheap in China, for instance, as compared to USA. Thus, outsourcing of its operations among global stakeholders has contributed to the overall success of the company in the global markets.
References
Fortune. (2010). Worlds Most Admired Companies:Retrieved on 15th January, 2014 from http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/mostadmired/2010/snapshots/670.html.
Inc., A. (2007). Retrieved on 15th January 2014 from http://ccbn.10kwizard.com/cgi/convert/pdf/APPL pdf?pdf=1&repo=tenk&ipage=4589126&num=-2&pdf=1&xml=1&cik=320193&odef=8&rid=12&quest=1&dn=2&dn=.
