Manu1373 Strategic Management For American Assessment Answers

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Introduction

Apple Inc Company is one of the American multinational technology organizations which are being headquartered in Cupertino, California. The company is specializes in designing, developing and selling consumer electronics, computer software along with different kinds of online services. The number of stores which is situated in various countries is inclusive of more than 500 and the area served by the company is worldwide. Lastly, the revenue which is being earned by the Apple Inc Company is US$229.234 billion (Apple 2018).

Strategy Formulation Process

The formulation of the strategy process is inclusive of vision, mission, SWOT and Porter’s Five Forces Analysis of Apple Inc Company. 

Vision and Mission

The mission of Apple Inc Company is to develop the world’s best computers along with mobile phones. Apple leads digital music revolution with different iTunes and iPods online store.

The vision of the Apple Inc Organization is innovation of the different products which are being sold by them in order to compete in the entire market which is competitive in nature. The vision statement includes various details of strategic management.

SWOT Analysis

With the help of SWOT analysis, the internal factors can be analyzed which can be helpful in the formulation of the strategy for Apple Inc which is being described as follows:

Strengths

• The company has huge base of clients wherein they are serving more than 200 countries around the world and this helps them in gaining huge share in the market
• Apple is one of the most valuable manufacturer of the personal computers along with smart phones and this has helped them in strengthening their brand image as well
• Apple has highly committed and trained staffs wherein the company have huge strength in the human resources to implement the different policies (Armstronget al. 2015)

Weaknesses

• The high prices of the different products which are being sold by Apple has locked out a huge portion of the individuals in the entire competitive market and this is weakness in the marketing strategy
• The different products of the company are incompatible with the other devices which is difficult for the different customers in the market to switch to Apple products from the other mobile phones

Opportunities

• The different global operations of Apple has opened different kinds of opportunities to open new stores in the entire world
• The demand for the different smart phones along with other tablets have increased and this is enlarging the share in the market as well

Threats

• There is fierce amount of competition in the entire market and the main competitors of Apple includes Samsung and Nokia which are entering the market with similar kind of products to attract the different customer base
• The different kinds of fluctuations in the market can threaten the entire financial survival of Apple and this is difficult for them to plan for future

Environmental Audit

Furthermore, this is essential to carry out the environmental audit for Apple Inc Company as this will help in providing a detailed analysis on the different competitors and threats which can affect the overall reputation of the company.

Competition Rivalry with Apple is strong force as this has been seen that:

• High level of aggressiveness of the firms is the strong force
• Low cost of switching is the strong force

Bargaining power of the buyers is the strong force wherein:

• Low switching costs is strong force
• Small size of the different individual buyers is the weak force

Bargaining power of Suppliers is the weak force which is inclusive of:

• High number of suppliers is the weak force
• The overall high supply is the other weak force

Threat of the substitutes is the weak force which is inclusive of:

• The high availability of the substitutes is the moderate force
• The low performance of the different substitutes is the weak force

Threat of new entrants is moderate force wherein:

• High requirements of the capital is weak force
• High cost of the development of the brand is the weak force

Strategy Implementation Process

In order to implement a strategy for Apple Inc, there are three major points which can be taken into consideration which are described as follows:

• Cost Leadership Strategy
• Differentiation Strategy
• Integration Strategy

Firstly, all the strategies are required to be analyzed as per the different merits and demerits as this will assist in managing the different kinds of issues in an efficient manner. In the cost leadership strategy, this helps in establishing competitive advantage and in other means this is the lowest cost strategy operation in the industry. Apple Inc uses the cost leadership strategy by drawing different kinds of policies along with different strategies which aims in ensuring that the organization has lowest cost producer along with the distributor in the entire market.

Cost Leadership Strategy

Advantages

• This helps in gaining high profitability by selling the different products at competitive pricing and keep greater amount of margins in comparison to the different competitors
• This will increase the overall market share of the company and satisfying the different needs of the customers in the market

Disadvantages

On the other hand, there are few disadvantages which can be faced by Apple Inc which is inclusive of the following:

• Apple Inc needs to lower the cost of few of the services and this can lead to loss of loyalty among the different customers
• There will be lack of innovation which will negatively impact the customers for updated technologies (Collings, Wood and Szamosi 2018)

Differentiation Strategy separating

In the year 1980, Apple Inc tried to implement the differentiation strategy as this helped them in separating their products in the market from the other competitors. They started introducing different kinds of products such as Mac Book along with iPhone and iPad.

The four differentiation strategies which are being used by Apple in the market in the entire worldwide are inclusive of the following:

• Product Design is the major aspect of the differentiation strategy which have been adopted by Apple Inc in a positive manner in comparison to the different kinds of competitors in the market. Apple has tried to introduce the design of the product of the product differentiation strategy wherein they introduced iPad, iPhone and iPod which was totally different from the other competitors in the market.
• Pricing strategy which was adopted by Apple Inc is completely different from other competitors in the market wherein Steve Jobs created topnotch products with proportionate kind of pricing which matched the quality of the product which was being sold by Apple.
• The brand loyalty is the other aspect which helps Apple in differentiating themselves from the other competitors in the market which is inclusive of different iTunes and other TV shows which could have been watched by the customers on their Apple products. `

Integration Strategy

The competition with Apple Inc Company is difficult as the technology which is being by Apple is unique and high tech in nature which makes it difficult for the other competitors in the market. Apple builds great kind of hardware and tries to optimizes their software for the hardware and equips the same with web services as well which helps in controlling the selling experience of the own retail stores (Vivares-Vergara et al. 2014).

Environmental Scanning

Proper environmental analysis is essential in nature which helps Apple Inc in gaining information to serve the tactical kind of strategies. The categories which are required to be considered in environmental scanning are inclusive of the following:

• Social Forces is inclusive of the social conditions which will be inclusive of the different kinds of aspects such as GDP of the country.
• Demographic Forces is inclusive of the different kinds of young generation people who are the main targets of the Apple.
• Economic Forces is the other aspect in which purchasing power of the different customers relies on the economic conditions which will help Apple in gaining competitive advantage (Brewster, Chung and Sparrow 2016).
• Technological Forces is the aspect in which apple is successful in the entire world as they are huge and expert in innovation
• Political Forces is inclusive of terrorism and health issues which can affect the growth of Apple Inc.
• Legal Forces is inclusive of the legal obligations that can affect the growth of Apple Inc Company.
• Competitive Forces is the aspect in which there is huge competition in the entire market and major competitors is inclusive of Samsung, Nokia and HTC. However, the ability of Apple Inc has helped them in becoming the best in the market (Albrecht et al. 2015)

Furthermore, Steve Jobs in Apple uses the environmental scanning as to gain business intelligence by tracking their customers and the usage of the products in a systematic manner. This helps in allowing the people in obtaining information from the system feedback as to analyze the adjustments which are required in the quality to the strategies of marketing (Luthans et al. 2015). The preset world is technologically advanced and in order to gain competitive advantage in the rapidly changing environment, Apple seems to have the formula for success and this kind of implementation of strategies has helped Apple in becoming successful in the different kinds of approaches.

Role of strategic human resource management

The human resources are the driving forces towards the development strategy of the organization which will help in managing the different activities effectually. In Apple Inc. Company the major departments and the people who are working are technical, marketing and staff positions (Kleinaltenkamp, Plinke and Geiger 2016). The main purpose of Apple is attracting and retaining the different talents and this helps the company in becoming more competitive in nature.

• Recruitment and Selection of Candidatesis the first aspect as Apple has put into huge amount in the process of recruitment and objective is to gain the right candidates for the company (Keller and Kotler 2016).
• Diversity along with equal employment opportunitiesis the aspect in which Apple provides equal kind of opportunities to the different individuals working in the organization which will help in attracting and retaining the talented individuals (Hutchinson et al. 2015).
• Appreciation and recognition of employees is the other aspect wherein Apple Fellows Program which was created in 1995 to recognize the people that make an unusual involvement to the organization. This strategy helps and motivates the different employees as this is the economic benefit (Foxall2014).

Human Resource Management Policy and Procedure

There are various types of human resource policies and procedures which are being followed by Apple Inc Company are inclusive of the following:

• There are different complianceswhich are being maintained in Apple which is inclusive of safety and healthy workplace which is being provided to the employees in the organization (Di Benedetto, C. A., and Lindgreen 2018)
• There are career opportunitieswhich is applied in Apple Inc which is inclusive of the different kinds of opportunities provided to the employees such as promotional activities which help the company in becoming more effective (Chernev 2018)
• The recruitment policy of Apple Incis the other aspect which is being followed as the main aim of Apple is that the candidates needs to fit with the organizational culture and this will improve the productivity of the organization appropriately (Charter 2017)

Staff Recruiting and Selection

The recruitment and selection of the different candidates in the organization are the keys to success of Apple Inc. Furthermore, Apple tried to invest a lot of amount of recruitment and selection with the main objective of selecting the suitable candidates who can settle with the culture of the organization in an effective manner. Apple requires different employees who are dedicated towards the tasks and hard working in nature (Bresler and Lubbe 2014).

The recruitment strategy which is being used at Apple varies from the other employers as in Apple; the company does not assure the employees for the future succession of career.  The employees in the organization are required to own their career and in this respective case; Apple does not maintain the career path. On the other hand, the process of selection is based on the vocal interviews and this enables them to select the right candidates for the different positions in the organization appropriately (Chambers and Humble 2017).

Challenges for Human Recourse Management in the future

There are different kinds of challenges which can be faced by the HRM department of Apple Inc Company in the future which is inclusive of the following:

Firstly, there can be a problem with the compliance which can be faced by Apple in the future. The company is unethical towards the employees as there is no bonus or overtime which is being paid to the employees and this can affect the overall productivity of the organization.

Secondly, the changes in the management at Apple can be the other issue which can be faced by Apple in the future. The company is mainly focused on innovation and there is no such focus on the viewpoints of the different employees which will be lowering the morale of the employees in a negative manner.

Lastly, adapting to the innovation is the other major issue which can be faced by Apple in the future as the innovation can be disruptive in nature and this can affect the overall brand image of the company. The leadership qualities are required to be gained by the current CEO or else this will be a major issue for Apple to sustain competitive advantage (Litman 2018)

Furthermore, there are other major issues which can be faced by Apple Inc and this is required to be analyzed in an efficient manner.

Relationship with employees

The relationship with the employees is the major challenge which can be faced by HRM at Apple in which this can be seen that the employees are the major assets of the company and they should be valued. There are different criticisms which are being faced by Apple in order to unethical approach towards employees and this can affect the brand image of the company in the future if the same is being continued (Kotler 2015).

Apple needs to establish good working relationships with the employees as they are the assets of the organization. The employees play a major role in gaining success in the organization and the quality of employer and employee relationship in organization helps in improving the overall productivity and morale of the organization and employees as well (Baker 2016).

Relationship with customers

Proper maintenance of the relationship with the customers are assets as this will help in gaining huge competitive advantage. Apple Inc needs to maintain and build the network as this will increase their sales. Furthermore, in future, the company Apple can introduce e-mail marketing which will help in keeping strong relationships and reward the loyal customers in the organization as well. Apple can provide proper customer support which will be beneficial for Apple in gaining competitive advantage in the entire market as well (Miquel-Romero, Caplliure-Giner and Adame-Sánchez 2014).

Corporate social responsibility

The CSR activities are defined as how the company manages the different business practices in the organization which will help in producing overall positive impact on the society. The different kinds of CSR activities of Apple are inclusive of the following:

Sustainable human progress

The sustainable human progress is essential in nature which helps in meeting the human development goals and at the same time supporting the overall ability of the normal systems to provide the different kinds of natural resources along with the eco-systems services upon which the nation and culture depends (Martín-de Castro 2015). The sustainable development along with the human progress at Apple Inc Company is inclusive of the following:

• Carbon Footprint
• Packaging
• Recycling of the different materials
• Usage of the different renewable resources
• Improvement of the different security in the different facilities

As per the different sustainability reports, this can be analyzed and identified that Apple Inc Company is one of the most sustainable kind of organizations. The example of being Apple is the most sustainable companies in the entire world is that the company tried to provide training to more than 2.3 million workers about their rights in the year 2014.

There are different kinds of resources which are inclusive of financial resources, production along with marketing resources which are required for implementing the interactive strategies at Apple Inc. This is advisable to Apple that the company needs to incorporate more physical resources in the organization as this will help them in improving the quality of the product.

Furthermore, the human resource is the other major requirement for the implementation of the strategy and this can be implemented by Apple through proper training and development of the different employees. Lastly, these all resources of strategy implementation are involved with start up costs along with Apple needs to allocate the appropriate kind of finances for these kind of implementation activities. 

Furthermore, this can be analyzed and seen that more than 92%of the different compliances regarding the different norms of the 60 working hours per week is maximum and the company has been successful. From these, this can be analyzed that there are different kinds of advantages of the sustainable performance in the organization which is inclusive of increasing in the brand image of the organization along with products and services are being innovated in an effective manner and they are technologically advanced as well (Bratton and Gold 2017).  

Resources

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Baker, M. J. 2016. What is marketing?. In The Marketing Book (pp. 25-42). Routledge.

Bratton, J. and Gold, J., 2017. Human resource management: theory and practice. Palgrave.

Bresler, M., and Lubbe, I. 2014. Marketing management.

Brewster, C., Chung, C. and Sparrow, P., 2016. Globalizing human resource management. Routledge.

Chambers, I., and Humble, J. 2017. Plan for the planet: a business plan for a sustainable world. Routledge.

Charter, M. (Ed.). 2017. Greener marketing: A responsible approach to business. Routledge.

Chernev, A. (2018). Strategic marketing management. Cerebellum Press.

Collings, D.G., Wood, G.T. and Szamosi, L.T., 2018. Human resource management: A critical approach. In Human Resource Management (pp. 1-23). Routledge.

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Foxall, G. 2014. Strategic Marketing Management (RLE Marketing) (Vol. 3). Routledge.

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Kleinaltenkamp, M., Plinke, W., and Geiger, I. 2016. Business Relationship Management and Marketing. Springer-Verlag Berlin An.

Kotler, P. 2015. Framework for marketing management. Pearson Education India.

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