Apple is a multinational American information technology firm headquartered in Cupertino, California. The firm was established on 3rd January 1977 and designs, produces and sells online services, computer software, and electronics. The hardware products of Apple include the HomePod smart speaker, the Apple TV digital media player, the Apple Watch smartwatch, the iPod portable media player, the Mac personal computer, the iPad tablet computer, and the iPhone smartphones. Besides, the software products of the company include the iWork and iLife productivity and creativity suites, the Safari web browser, the iTunes media player, and the iOS and macOS operating systems. The online services of Apple Inc. include iCloud, Mac App Store, the iOS App Store, and the iTunes Store. Apple’s segments include Japan, Greater China, Rest of Asia Pacific, Europe, and the Americas. The firm’s Americas segment constitutes South and North America. On the other hand, the Europe segment of the company constitutes Africa, the Middle East, India, and the European countries. Apple’s Greater China division constitutes Taiwan, Hong Kong, and China (Hennessy " Najjar, 2017).
In terms of size, Apple Inc is the second largest mobile phone producer globally after Samsung. Besides, it is also the largest technology firm globally based on revenue. For instance, in 2015, it was the first American firm to be valued at more than US$700 billion. As of 1st September 2017, the total number of full-time employees of Apple was 123,000. By the end of 2017, the company had 499 retail stores established in twenty-two nations globally. The 2017 financial year reported that the company’s globally yearly revenue was $229 billion. The company also has different types of customers whose loyalty is very optimal. Some of the customers or clients of Apple include business people, university and college students, adults, and teenagers.
Apple meets the corporate social responsibilities and interests of its shareholders. The internal shareholders of the company are its employees since they are employed by Apple and are allowed to have a say on the events happening in the firm. On the other hand, the external shareholders of the company are its customers. The customers are considered as external shareholders since they do not have any say on what occurs in the company and the product features (Kundu, 2018).
Three Major Problems the Organization Faces
The three major problems faced by Apple include stiff competition, low market share value, and shipping. The motivation of Apple’s employees has been affected by the stiff competition in the telecommunication industry. Regardless of the innovating effort of Apple, the competitors in the technology industry continue to remain very strong. Majority of the competitors improves at a higher rate than Apple. The employees of Apple are not able to optimize their efforts and talents due to the fact that they cannot compete with the rivals in terms of innovative pace. Samsung is a perfect example of an innovative firm that continues to impress the global technology hence it would stress the employees of Apple leading to their demotivation. Also, Apple employees continue to be demotivated due to the decline in the number of sales of iMac products. Therefore, in the current competitive world, the Apple competitors are succeeding in providing alternatives to other prospective customers.
Based on the issue of market share, Apple has a low market share value. Microsoft has a high market share value thus the employees of Apple in all the organizational levels continue to be tense. As the competitor continues to gain high market share, the more tensed the employees of Apple would be thus leading to their demotivation. Besides, there is a wide gap between Jobs and Tim Cook. The present CEO, Tim Cook, is not able to acknowledge the weakness of Apple products prior to their launch. The problems are also not rectified even after their detection. The CEO only apologized for the problem. The previous CEO of the company tried hard to meet the customer demands and sustain their loyalty. Nevertheless, Tim has failed to satisfy the customers’ demands. Provided Tim does not enhance the performance of the company in the future, the employees and customers will be demoralized thus leading to a reduction of the market share of Apple. Tim is a perfect leader, however, there are signs that things are not right in the company since top managers and other valuable staff members are leaving the company hence it will continue to negatively affect its market share (Kumar, 2017).
Shipping is also another major problem that Apple faces. The company has been affected by the supply problems it encounters in its supply chain. There are some products such as Apple TV, iPad mini that reaches prospective customers when they are hot. Besides, products such as Apple Watch Series 2, iPhone 7 Plus, iPhone SE, and Apple Pencil reaches clients when they are constrained. At times, customers fail to get products such as AirPods in time. The main problems in the supply chain might be attributed to different factors such as priorities, resources, wrong demand forecasting or last-minute changes to the production processes or materials (Robbins, Coulter, " Langton, 2016).
Part 2
One Problem Chosen
• Stiff Competition in the market
Three Distinct Alternatives to Solve the One Problem
For Apple to deal with the problem of stiff competition in the market, there are various alternatives that it can employ. The three distinct alternatives to solve the problem include:
i. Implementation of a successful retail strategy
ii. Establish a centralized management committee
iii. Think Different
3 Advantages and 3 Disadvantages of Each Alternative
i. Implementation of a successful retail strategy
Advantages
Apple able to regulate the retail experience and offer valuable customer associations and services.
The company is able to identify the strategic locations that will attract more prospective customers
Apple has direct conversations with their prospective clients or customers
Disadvantages
High prospect of competitors' copying the firm’s business techniques and stealing away its clients.
Very costly to implement the retail strategy.
The company might experience the risks of changing the preferences or tastes of its consumers.
ii. Establish a centralized management committee
Advantages
Ensures management works together effortlessly to make decisions about how the firm moves forward.
Ensures unified quality anticipations through the entire firm.
The firm’s employees can continue working while the management deals with an emergency situation.
Disadvantages
A disconnect might emerge between the management and other employees thus creating an apathy feeling towards the success of the firm.
Delayed decision making by the junior employees in case of emergencies thus affecting production process.
Employees might be reluctant to introduce any new innovative ideas during the production process without the approval of the centralized executive committee (Drabikova " Svetlik, 2018).
iii. Think Different
Advantages
Not permit what other firms do affect the products and services developed and brought to the market by Apple.
Allows employees to be innovative in the products and services invented.
Expands and enhances its online and retail stores.
Disadvantages
Not minding about what other companies do might make innovative strategies of the firm to lag behind.
Requires highly experienced implementers to ensure it works effectively.
Does not allow the company to examine the external markets and its competitors
Decision Matrix to Evaluate the Solutions
Factors
Cost
Time
Resources
Total
Apple
4
0
2
6
Samsung
8
15
6
29
Tecno
8
15
6
29
Nokia
0
10
4
14
From the decisive matrix, it is evident that Apple faces stiff competition in the market compared to the other companies in the technology industry.
One Alternative to the Solution Is the Implementation of a Successful Retail Strategy
The choice of implementation of a successful retail strategy will help to solve the problem since it will help to reduce, eliminate or enhance the situation of the problem. The retail strategy will help the company to concentrate on the customers ready to pay more and sustain the price of the premium at the total cost of each quantity. Besides, it will help to bar entry of the prospective competitors into the market hence enabling the company to prosper. The short-term impact of the alternative is that it will prohibit dealers or resellers from advertising the products of the company below a particular price level. Alternatively, the long-term impact of the alternative is that it will sustain the popularity of its electronic and online products by providing the best discounts to other retailers in the market such as Wal-Mart (Robbins, Coulter, " Langton, 2016).
Implementation of the Solution Provided
During the first month, the company will use different research techniques to define different parameters and particular types of retail strategies that the customers would find meet the value of the premium.
The best type of retail strategy essential for the target market will be selected during the second month and the company will concentrate its effort on improving its products to meet the requirements of the chosen strategy.
Between the third and fourth months, communication of the selected retail strategy for the company to end users, retail outlets, and distributors will be done. Branding and advertising will also be done to market the selected strategy (Drabikova " Svetlik, 2018).
The fifth and sixth months will involve a careful consideration of the factors that might hinder the success of the alternative chosen. The interests of the consumers change during the course of the implementation of the solution hence appropriate consideration will be made during the fifth and sixth months.
The main challenge that might emerge will be the cost of implementing the solution. The enactment of the solution requires a substantial amount of money hence it requires the company to set aside adequate financial resources. The challenge can be overcome by the management setting aside a fraction of the budget to deal with the implementation of the solution (Robbins, Coulter, " Langton, 2016).
References
Drabikova, E., " Svetlik, J. (2018). Improving Management Of The Company Through Cranfield Process Model. MM Science Journal, 2018(01), 2153-2157. doi:10.17973/mmsj.2018_03_201733
Hennessy, J., " Najjar, A. (2017). Apple Computer, Inc.: Think Different, Think Online Music. Kellogg School of Management Cases, 1(1), 1-24. doi:10.1108/case.kellogg.2016.000016
Kumar, R. (2017). Wealth creation—A case analysis of Apple. Strategic Financial Management Casebook, 175-197. doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-805475-8.00006-9
Kundu, J. (2018). The occurrence of Apple stem pitting virus and Apple stem grooving virus within field-grown apple cultivars evaluated by RT-PCR. Plant Protection Science, 39(No. 3), 88-92. doi:10.17221/3862-pps
Robbins, S. P., Coulter, M., " Langton, N. (2016). Chapter 6: Decision making, pp. 140-159. In Management
ORGA 201 (Second Custom Edition MacEwan University). Toronto: Pearson Prentice Hall.
