External Analysis

Firms rely on a set of frameworks to analyze their external environment—that is, the industry in which they operate, and the competitive forces that surround them from the outside. Study the external environment of the firm you have selected for this project and how that environment might be affecting that firm’s quest for competitive advantage.

For this module answer the following questions:

1. Are any changes taking place in the macroenvironment that might have a positive or negative impact on the industry in which your company is based? Apply the PESTEL framework to identify which factors may be the most important in your industry. What will be the effect on your industry?

2. Apply the five forces model to your industry. What does this model tell you about the nature of competition in the industry?

3. Identify any strategic groups that might exist in the industry. How does the intensity of competition differ across the strategic groups you have identified?

4. How dynamic is the industry in which your company is based? Is there evidence that industry structure is reshaping competition or has done so in the recent past?

Paper Submission Details:

• Submit the assignment in Microsoft Office format.
• Format the assignment using APA formatting and writing style.

Running Head: APPLE COMPANY PAPER 1 Apple Company Paper Katrina Brewer May 2021 Oakwood University APPLE COMPANY PAPER 2 Brief History of Apple Inc. Apple Computers, Inc. was created on 1st April of the year of 1976, by two dropout’s students from a college. They were Steve brothers Jobs and Wozniak, who presented a sight to the innovative business of improving people's perceptions of computers. Jobs and Wozniak decided to build machines that could be used in people's homes or workplaces. In simple terms, they desired a user-friendly device. Jobs and Wozniak began by hand-building Apple I computers in his backyard and with no screen, keyboard, or case selling them (which they thought to be added on from 1977). From launching the first-ever graphics with color, the Apple II revolutionized the electronics industry 1. In the year 1980, the Apple Company was highlighted in headlines, sales amplified from $7.8 million to $117 million. Due to a squabble between Steve Jobs and CEO John Sculley in 1985, Jobs separated from Apple and founded NeXT the following year. Following that, Apple adopted the "fifty-five or die" scheme, which refers to a high margin profit of 55 percent on Macintosh computers. However, with the introduction of new goods to the market, this approach could no longer be maintained. During the 1990s, the company launched similar goods at different rates targeted at different markets, causing buyers to be perplexed by the variations. As Microsoft managed to increase its market share with Windows by concentrating on selling applications to low-cost commodity machines, the consumer rejected Apple's costly experience. Apple attempted to change the business in a variety of ways, including changing the CEO and cutting costs. After all of these measures failed, Apple bought NeXT and brought Steve Jobs back to the company. Top Management and Leadership Skills The list of the top management of Apple inc. is as given in the following table. APPLE COMPANY PAPER 3 Names Designations Tim Cook CEO Katherine Adams Senior VP & General Counsel Eddy Cue Senior VP for Internet Software and Services Craig Federighi Senior VP for Software Engineering John Giannandrea Senior VP for Machine Learning & AI Strategy Greg Joswiak Senior VP for Global Marketing Sabih Khan Senior VP for Operations Luca Maestri Senior VP & CFO Deirdre O’Brien Senior VP for Retail + People Johny Srouji Senior VP for Hardware Technologies John Ternus Senior VP for Hardware Engineering Jeff Williams COO Lisa Jackson VP for Environment, Policy and Social Initiatives Isabel Ge Mahe VP & MD of China Region Tor Myhren VP for Marketing Communications Adrian Perica VP for Corporate Development Phil Schiller Fellow of Apple inc. With their experiences and leadership skills, these executives of Apple inc. bring success to the company. The executives of the company are visionary, global thinkers who are committed to building advanced learning companies, promoting diversity, and ensuring that workers are involved in significant activity that is sustainable and gives their company an APPLE COMPANY PAPER 4 advantage of competition (Myles Bassell, 2019). Apple's leadership was dictatorial during the Steve Jobs period, everything flowed through Steve Jobs while he was in charge. Apple’s leadership style has changed significantly under Tim Cook. Tim Cook, the new CEO, practices and supports democratic leadership. Cook believes it is important to achieve senior management consensus on strategic business decisions. Furthermore, since taking the helm, Cook has given the current product development team more independence, reducing the CEO's direct involvement in the development phase. Apple's leadership principle of relying on technologists rather than general managers for decision-making is an intriguing one. This theory is based on logic. The business operates in a market with a limited product life cycle and high rates of technological change and transformation. In new product development activities, there is no time for detailed consumer feedback and market predictions, so Apple must make bets on which products, facilities, and designs are likely to be successful. As a result, even for strategic decision-making, the tech company focuses more on technical experts than general managers, despite the fact that most executives are experts. As a result, for managerial roles at Apple, deep knowledge in their work is a must. The corporation's management style has been named "experts lead experts" (Dudovskiy, 2021). This is how these executives bring experience and leadership to the firm. Business Model In terms of sales, earnings, properties, and brand equity, Apple Inc. is one of the world's most successful multinational corporations. It is a technological behemoth on a global scale. It operates 498 retail locations in 22 countries around the world. It has grown from a small domestic business to a global corporation. However, it is the Irish subsidiary Apple Operations International that is responsible for the company's success (Marrero, 2018). Every year, Apple APPLE COMPANY PAPER 5 responds to the demands of its customers by releasing new and creative innovations in each device. Apple's business model is focused on consumer-centric gadgets and creativity. They've been able to maintain their customer base due to user-friendly interfaces and data transfer to new product lines. Jobs' incredible inventions pushed Apple to new heights until his death in 2011. In terms of hardware revenue and high-end accessories, Apple comfortably outperforms its rivals. Millennials grew up using Macs in massive quantities, due to the company's early 2000s popularity as a rebellious response to Microsoft. This is bolstered by Apple's genius emphasis on incorporating its products, which makes it easier to keep using new Apple products and therefore more difficult to switch to a potential competitor. This is attributed to the "Apple Ecosystem Lock." When it comes to the new technology sector, Apple's goods and services at their store locations are arguably the gold standard. Their designs are constantly improving as a result of a never-ending drive to refine the previous generation and continuous improvement by cuttingedge research and innovation (Mostafa F. Fawzy, 2018). Apple's recent success can be attributed to a business model that allows the company to exert unrivaled leverage over its multi-channel network. To accelerate development, this business model combines content (software, media, and apps) with hardware (laptops, phones, and tablets). The bulk of Apple's revenue comes from services like iCloud storage, Apple Music downloads, and AppleCare warranties. Apple says that its network has over 450 million paying users. Statement of Vision, Mission Statement, and Values The vision statement of Apple Inc. is to make the best products on the planet while also leaving the earth in a better shape than we find it. Apple's objective is to make products that are not just the best in the world, but also the best for the environment. As a result, the corporate vision statement is in line with Apple's corporate social responsibility approach, emphasizing APPLE COMPANY PAPER 6 conservation, environmental protection, and overall reduction of the company's ecological consequences. Apple's mission is to offer the best personal computing products and services to teachers, scholars, designers, researchers, developers, businessmen, and customers in over 140 countries around the world. This mission statement takes into account the changing market world, which has an effect on Apple Inc.'s capabilities. For example, the organization is aware of consumer electronics market trends and developments as well as the business environment. Apple's news releases and official announcements emphasize the company's purpose as a means of resolving existing business issues. Apple’s statement of value is that we believe we were put on this earth to create great products. We prefer the straightforward to the complicated. We assume that the key technologies that underpin our goods must be owned and regulated by us. We only engage in industries where we can have a meaningful impact. We believe in saying no to thousands of initiatives so that we can devote our full attention to the few that are genuinely significant to us. APPLE COMPANY PAPER 7 References Dudovskiy, J. (2021). Apple Leadership: a brief overview. Retrieved from https://researchmethodology.net/apple-leadership-and-apple-organizational-structure/ Marrero, A. G. (2018). The Rise of Apple Inc: Opportunities and Challenges in the International Marketplace. Journal for Global Business And Community, 1-13. Mostafa F. Fawzy, E. W. (2018). Total Quality Management & Apple Success. American Society for Engineering Management. Myles Bassell, S. L. (2019). Attitudes and opinions regarding leadership qualities of marketing executives: A quantitative analysis. Journal of Global Scholars of Marketing Science, 29(1), 138-150.