Apple Company - Business Plan Example

Apple Company Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Summary of the Salient Facts of the Organisation 3 Strategies, Tactics and Operations 4 Strategies 4 Tactics 5 Operations 5 Information needed for taking the Strategic, Tactic and the Operational Decisions 7 Competitor’s Strategies, Tactics and Operations 9 Importance of B2B (E-Commerce) 11 References 12 12 Summary of the Salient Facts of the Organisation Apple, Inc was established in the late 1976 by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak with an amount of $1,300 and received the status of a public company by the next year. Astonishingly, by the sixth year of its incorporation, the company earned revenue of around $1 billion (Funding Universe, n.d.). Presently, the company is an American Corporation. Its products and services are mostly concentric to the manufacturing and designing of computer hardware, software, and other electronic gadgets to be rendered to the world wide customers. As per to state its targeted market area, the company hosts its potential customers in almost 10 countries through 284 retail outlets. Conclusively, in the current fiscal year of 2010, the company was recorded to earn its all time highest profit of $15.68 billion, certainly as a result of its efficient strategic choices (Apple, 2010). An appropriate strategic alliance is undoubtedly a crucial tool to determine the success of a company. Thus, the paper in its further discussion shall emphasise on the strategies adapted by the company and their competency level in comparison to the major competitors Strategies, Tactics and Operations Apple Inc. at present is ranked first in the computer manufacturing industry, with an over all score of 7.95 in the international market. To secure the company in this position the management had to adapt numerous strategies, tactics and operational measures. For instance, the innovation strategy, the expansion strategy, the financial strategy, and many other strategies have continuously implemented by the company to achieve the position it is holding in the global industry (Tkaczyk, 2010). Strategies The company has been known in the market to bring up continuous innovations and creations to develop its competency. The history of Apple Inc. is stuffed with many such creations of new products and developments of the old ones to bring about revolution in the global technology industry. Even in the current year the company is not without its technological creation. For instance, the company adapted a strategy in the current year to diversify its marketing product from merely PC based to non-PC based items. It was in this respect that the company launched the iPad after the impressive success of iPods and iPhones (Yoffie & Kim, 2010). Tactics As strategies mean the planning and decision taking for the betterment of the company, tactic refers to the clever implementation of the planning. It is important due to a certain reason that a strategic plan is only going to be successful if it is applied in the correct form at the correct time. Apple is also not any exclusion to the matter. To be included, in the month of October 2010, the company had introduced a new model of its most admired notebook, MacBook. Earlier, the product needed a particular hardware system to be connected with eth internet service. But the new design suggests that the model is not going to require any kind of such devices. Additionally, it is the lightest among the notebooks available in the market weighing as light as 2.3 pounds only (Apple, 2010). Operations Apart from the strategic planning and implementation, the company also needs to focus on its internal operations. This will not only help the company to identify its key success factors but also will help to strengthen the company internally. Recognizing the fact, the company has also taken some measures to control its growth and forecast its future perspectives. In its last fiscal year, i.e. 2009-2010’s performance, Apple has earned the maximum amount of profits in its history. The iPhones were sold with a recorded growth by 100%; while on the contrary, the iPods faced a decline by 8% in its sales during the same period. Suspecting a kind of error in the accounting standards adapted by the company, the executors decided to practice a new accounting standard for the iPhones and the iPods from the current fiscal. This is certainly a significant change in the company’s history as it will have an immense affect on its operations (Apple, 2010). Information needed for taking the Strategic, Tactic and the Operational Decisions A company before taking any kind of strategic, tactic or operational decisions needs certain information. The information is basically collected on the factors that influence its decision directly and can determine its success or failure in its final implementation. For instance, the strategic decision to diversify its market segment from the marketing of PC products to the non-PC items can be constraint to the economical factors like the global recession. For instance, the global recession was recorded to have an immense affect on the technological industry in whole. A major consequence brought by the down turn was the reduction in the spending power of the potential customers. This resulted in affecting the pricing strategy of different products in the market. This can be one of the vital reasons for Apple to adapt a vertical diversification strategy (BI-ME, 2010). However, to state about the tactical decision it highly depends on the competitive factors of the external markets. The economical down-turn had in this context, also laid some opportunities in the tactical decisions of the company. To be mentioned, the decreasing global GDP and increasing inflationary rates affected the cost structure of the technology industry negatively. This led many participant companies into ambiguous situation regarding the cost and product features (BI-ME, 2010). In such a situation when other companies were in a mode of recovery from the recessionary affects, Apple’s tactic to launch a new version of its ever liked MacBook, as MacBook Air proved to be beneficial. Moreover, its design to be cost affective in battery longevity and internet service without the extra cost of any hardware device was also effective as to relate with the customer preferences (Apple, 2010). On the other hand, the operational decisions were influenced majorly by the internal fluctuations arising within the company, rather than the external environmental factors. Considering the operational decision to undertake a new accounting standard to measure the annual revenue structure of the iPhones and iPads separately the influences of the internal factors can be analysed. The accounts showed the net sales of iPhones had increased by nearly 100% while the sales of iPods have declined radically. As per the company’s executors, this kind of revenue structure was a result of accounting error in the internal part. So the adaptation of a new accounting standard was undertaken ((Apple, 2010). Competitor’s Strategies, Tactics and Operations Apart from the above mentioned factors, the company also needs to emphasise on the trends which its major competitors are following. To be included, the major competitors of Apple Inc. in the present scenario are the Microsoft Corporation, The Dell Inc., and The Hewlett Packard Co. (Daily Finance, 2010). To be included in the context, Microsoft is another most renowned technology based companies in the global market. And much similar to the innovative strategies adapted by Apple, the company also has some innovative plans. One such plan was introduced by the company in lieu of its new Windows 7 Phone in the market of Philippines. This can certainly be affective to Apple’s business in that sector (NASDAQ, 2010). On another event, the company superiors of Microsoft also stated a new strategic plan to introduce efficient technology in the terms of E-Govt. Again, this strategy can affect Apple’s operations in the same market with lower preferences (Thia, 2010). To focus on the other competitors, Dell Inc. is also having some changes occurring in its operational structure, with the expected acquisition of Compellent Technologies Inc. This shall increase the market share and the internal strengths of the company which would in turn affect the competency level of Apple (Galaxy Stocks, 2010). The Hewlett Packard Co. better known as HPQ also have some major changes in its operations as was recorded recently. It is that the company has gained a contract for outsourcing from one of the giant energy producers in the European market. The contract’s worth as calculated was $1.4 bln, which shall be quite sufficient to provide the company a level of financial strength (Reuters, 2010). All these facts regarding the competitors and their current status, Apple should be much more focused on its strategic alliances, tactical decisions and operational reforms. Importance of B2B (E-Commerce) B2B or Business-To-Business marketing refers to the cross selling of products between two companies of related industries. As per the changing scenario of the modern world, the B2B relations are tending to be increasingly depended on the technological innovations. Presently, it is much more into the use of technology from the internet marketing, to the video-conference or even the online deals. Certainly, it is the digital revolution that is playing a significant role in the marketing zone (FEDMA, 2009). Conclusively, it can be stated that with such an increasing preference in the usage of technical gadgets, Apple can also diversify its activities towards a more B2B concentrated innovations. The company in this context has already gone into the invention of iPads. But the company has a major opportunity lying in the sector in terms of product marketing and in terms of operations as well. References Apple, 2010. Apple Reports First Quarter Results. Library. [Online] Available at: http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2010/01/25results.html [Accessed December 15, 2010]. Apple, 2010. Apple Introduces MacBook Air: The Next Generation of MacBooks. Hot News. [Online] Available at: http://www.apple.com/hotnews/ [Accessed December 15, 2010]. BI-ME, 2010. Technology Industry Trends In 2010. Luxury Goods & Duty Free. [Online] Available at: http://www.bi-me.com/main.php?c=3&cg=4&t=1&id=44127 [Accessed December 15, 2010]. Daily Finance, 2010. Apple Inc. Top Competitors. Apple Inc. [Online] Available at: http://www.dailyfinance.com/company/apple-inc/aapl/nas/top-competitors [Accessed December 15, 2010]. Finding Universe, No Date. Apple Computer, Inc. Company Histories. [Online] Available at: http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/Apple-Computer-Inc-Company-History.html [Accessed December 15, 2010]. FEDMA, 2009. Annual Conference: B2B Marketing in the 21st Century - The Digital Revolution. B2B Marketing. [Online] Available at: http://www.fedma.org/annual-conference-b2b-marketing-in-the-21st-century-the-digital-revolution.4645482-113759.html [Accessed December 15, 2010]. Galaxy Stocks, 2010. Dell Inc. and Compellent Expected Negotiations for Potential Acquisition - NASDAQ:DELL. Business News. [Online] Available at: http://galaxystocks.com/3028/business-news/dell-inc-and-compellent-expected-negotiations-for-potential-acquisition-nasdaqdell/ [Accessed December 15, 2010]. NASDAQ, 2010. Microsoft Corporation. Windows 7 Phone Release. [Online] Available at: http://www.stockbriefings.com/microsoft-corporation-nasdaqmsft-windows-7-phone-release/3178596 [Accessed December 15, 2010]. Thia, T., 2010. E-Govt Services to See Dramatic Change. News. [Online] Available at: http://www.zdnetasia.com/e-govt-services-to-see-dramatic-change-62205167.htm [Accessed December 15, 2010]. Tkaczyk, C., 2010. Worlds Most Admired Companies. Apple. [Online] Available at: http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/mostadmired/2010/snapshots/670.html [Accessed December 15, 2010]. Yoffie, D. B. & Kim, R., 2010. Apple Inc. in 2010. Havard Business Review. [Online] Available at: http://hbr.org/product/apple-inc-in-2010/an/710467-PDF-ENG [Accessed December 15, 2010]. Read More