B7840 Strategy Formulation, Implementation, and Evaluation Week 7.1
Running Head: GLOBAL STRATEGY ANALYSIS
GLOBAL STRATEGY ANALYSIS 6
B7840 Strategy Formulation, Implementation, and Evaluation
Assignment 2: Global Strategy Analysis – The Choice of Business
Christopher Walters
Argosy University
January 17, 2018
Global Strategy Analysis
Company: Apple, Inc.
Apple is a business organization that operates for an international market. The company primarily operates in the technology industry and provides a wide variety of products such as smartphones and personal computers.
Mission
The following is the mission statement of Apple.
"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."
With respect to the company's mission statement, its major purpose is to manufacture and sell high-quality products that will enable the consumers to achieve their objectives. Its objective is to serve the world by going beyond international boundaries.
Vision
Below is part of Apple’s vision:
”We believe that we are on the face of the earth to make great products and that’s not changing…” Basically, the company is looking forward to keeping on providing the best products in the world.
Core beliefs
One of the beliefs is the idea that the company was established to make great products. This is a belief that has enabled Apple to meet and exceed the expectations of the consumers in terms of the quality of their products and services. The company also believes that technology is at the core of its success. By investing in the latest technology, business organizations are able to be competitive and stay ahead of the rest in the market (Rugman, 2010).
Company Culture
Apple's company culture is rooted in innovation. The management team of the organization has been able to create a sense of creativity within the company’s entire employee base. Regardless of the position that an employee holds, they have a responsibility of coming up with the new idea that can help your organization become better.
Business Description
Industry
As aforementioned, Apple operates in the technological industry. The industry is very competitive considering the kind of businesses that carry out their operations in it. Some of their competitors in the technology industry include Samsung and Microsoft. These are companies that ship this industry. They have set the bar so high that it has become difficult for new entrants to find a significant market share.
Business Life Cycle Stage
At the moment, Apple is at the growth stage in the business lifecycle. This is because the company is experiencing significant growth as a result of the introduction of new models of products. For instance, the company recently introduced the iPhone X and the iPhone S, this is in addition to the iPhone 6 plus. A business organization is considered to be at the growth stage when it is still introducing new products and attracting new customers.
Type of Organization
Basically, Apple is a for-profit organization because it sells its products and it determines its growth depending on how much profits it makes. Its financial position as a result of its operations is very important. It is a business that was primarily established to make a profit.
Needs to be satisfied with the expansion initiative
The expansion initiative is expected to enable the company increase its sales and cover a larger geographical area.
Ownership
Apple is a publicly traded company implying that the public, through shares, basically owns it. The CEO, Tim Cook, is among the majority shareholders with more than 900,000 shares.
Current location, size, and products
Apple is an international business organization. The company has a total of 499 stores spread across 17 countries. 271 of this are in the United States. As of 2017, the company had 123,000 employees. The company's products include the iPhone, iPad, and Mac. The services include iTunes and the Apple store.
Strategic advantage
The company's strategic advantage is closely connected to innovation and creativity. The company has a team that comes up with new ideas and concepts that enable you to come up with unique products. This has been its major advantage as competitors are unable to match it. Uniqueness and differentiation are significant to the success of a business in the technology industry.
Legal Structure
The company has a generally horizontal structure that enables employees at different levels to interact equally. The horizontal legal structure is advantageous as it boosts information sharing, thereby contributing towards the competitiveness of our business (Peng, 2016).
Geographic Scope of Apple
As aforementioned, the company is present in 17 countries. Apple is a global business and this implies that its geographical scope is throughout the world. The company has coverage in the Americas, Europe, and Asia, as well as a few other countries in other continents. However, plans are in place to enable the company to spread its presence across all countries.
References
Peng, M. (2016). Global Business. London: Cengage Brain.
Rugman, A. (2010), The Oxford Handbook of International Business. Oxford: Oxford University Press.