Assignment Content Use your selected company from Weeks 1 – 3 for this week’s assessment. (APPLE INC) As a recent hire, you’d like to become familiar with the current organizational structure in your organization. This org chart has not yet been created,

Name of the Company

Apple Inc

Industry

Computer hardware and computer software

A brief history of the company

1. The company was founded in 1976 by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak

2. The first computer was Apple. I designed as a typewriter connected to regular TV.

3. The company was incorporated in 1977

4. In 1977 Apple II a foundation for the personal computer industry.

· The VisiCalc software developed in 1979 was a key source of product success

· The product also included color graphics

5. Released Apple III in 1980

6. Went public in 1980 at an IPO of $22 per share

7. Released Apple Lisa which was unsuccessful to high price and limited software support

8. In 1981 the company launched Macintosh, which was a low-cost computer. The computer was also small and friendly. The product was successful

9. In 1983 Sculley became company CEO

10. Steve Jobs left the company in 1985. After he left the company upheld the strategy to sell products at high prices

11. In 1991 Apple introduced the systems 7 OS and PowerBook laptop

12. in the 1990s the company also introduced the Newton Message Pad

13. In the last years of the decade (the 1980s) the company faced critical competition from Microsoft and IBM

14. The company invested in digital cameras, speakers, audio players and TV set appliances which were unsuccessful

15. Sculley in 1993 was replaced by Michael Spindler and later replaced by Gil Amelio in 1996 after the constant decline

16. In 1997 Apple purchased NeXT computer and brought back Steve Jobs

17. Jobs was reinstated as CEO and reduced the range of products

18. In 2001 the company introduced Mac OS X

19. In 2006 Apple intel infrastructure to the MacBook Pro laptop

20. In 2007 Apple introduced the iPhone using the iOS

21. In 2008 Apple Inc launched App store to sell third-party apps

22. Steve Jobs resigned in 2011 for health reasons and was replaced by Tim Cook

23. In the Tim Cook era, the company continue to develop iPhone, iPad and MacBook new models

Key milestones from the Company History

1. The introduction of Macintosh in 1984 with a graphic user interface.

2. The company bought NeXT Computer in 1997

3. The adoption of the intel infrastructure in MacBook Pro laptop in 2006

4. The introduction of the iPhone and iOS in 2007

Resources for Locating the company Information

1. Business Source Complete

2. Company website https://www.apple.com/sitemap/

3. Yoffie, D. B., & Baldwin, E. (2018). Apple Inc. in 2018. Retrieved https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=54420

4. Heracleous, L. (2013). Quantum strategy at Apple Inc. Organizational Dynamics, 42(2), 92-99. Retrieved from http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.720.3278&rep=rep1&type=pdf

Unique business opportunity for competitive advantage

One unique opportunity for Apple Inc to increase competitive advantage is an investment in the

1. Health Tech.

· Wearable devices such as Apple Watch which captures levels has market potentials

· The company can increase healthcare services to capture a unique market value underexplored by competitors

· Mobile App such as optical sensors has a great value in pulse rate

· The company can leverage the value of the smart devices in the healthcare sectors to achieve unique competitive advantage

· Healthcare services present many underexplored opportunities

Management Function needed for the opportunity

1. Project management

· agile methodology

· team leadership

· motivation

· Controlling

· Planning for the teams’ vision