Apple - Internal Aspects, Financial Appraisal, and Porters Five Forces Analysis - Essay Example

?Apple Table of Contents Question 3 Porter’s Five Forces Analysis 4 Marco Framework 5 Question 2 8 Internal Aspects of Apple 8 Financial Appraisal 9 Resource Based View of Apple 10 Value Chain Linkages of Apple 12 Question 3 13 Business Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility 13 External Stakeholder Issues in Apple 14 Reputation Management 15 Brand Equity 17 Question 4 18 References 22 Bibliography 28 Question 1 The smartphone and tablet industry is considered as one of the rapidly developing industries in the world. Innovations in this industry are observed to take place more frequently rather than other industries in the current phenomenon. The sales and adoption of tablet and smart phone are further being determined by high popularity of mobile phones. In present days, there is high requirement for immediate, on-demand access to the websites, computer and other networking tools along with numerous services among customers as well as organisations. Due to this reason, tablets with the facility of mobile have appeared as perfect product which can satisfy the demand of customers (Infinite Research, n.d.). The smartphone and tablet PC industry is characterised by creativity, dependability and expandability. Smartphone and tablets are highly innovative products with trendy features where numerous factors can inspire the demand of this industry such as usage of internet among customers, increased competitiveness and delivery of smartphones and tablets among others. In this regards, the five forces model presented by Michael Porter is an excellent tool for assessing the smart phone and the tablet industry. Porter’s Five Forces Analysis Rivalry The smart phone and tablet industry is unstable and competitive which gives rise to considerable rivalry. In order to survive in this industry there is need for continuous development of new products and incorporate innovative technologies for encouraging customers’ demand. In this industry, there are numerous competitors such as such as Microsoft, Apple and Google among others and due to vibrant characteristics it is possible for competitors to develop such product which can be desired by customers (James, 2009). Threat of New Entrants The risk of new entrants in smartphone and tablet industry is moderate. Due to international circulation of cutting edge technology, it is quite difficult for new organisations to enter into the highly competitive market of smartphone and tablet PC. Although it is easy for other organisations to develop device such as iPad, but in order to gain sustainability in the market, an organisation requires cost effectiveness too. Thus, unless new entrants in this industry gain higher economies of scale or higher market share, survival in this industry for the long run shall be quite challenging (James, 2009). Threat of Substitutes The threat of substitutes in smartphone and tablet PC industry is quite weak. The tablet PC and smartphone both act as an alternative product for notebook, computer and mobile phones. Through tablet PC and smartphone, people can enjoy the facilities of notebook, computer and mobile phones (James, 2009). Bargaining Power of Suppliers The bargaining power of suppliers is strong in smartphone and tablet PC industry. As this industry is associated with technology, suppliers play a vital part in providing inexpensive raw materials for production of finished products which can help organisations to gain cost competitiveness. Furthermore, smartphone processors are produced by only a few organisations due to which maintaining good relationship with those organisations become essential for accomplishing success in smartphone and tablet PC industry (James, 2009). Bargaining Power of Buyers The bargaining power of buyers in smartphone and tablet PC industry is moderate. The revenue of smartphone and tablet PC producers is derived by sales of product. In present day’s business context, buyers do not possess many alternatives but to acquire smartphone and tablet PCs. However, the power of buyer falls in switching the brand rather than ignoring the products (James, 2009). Marco Framework The macro framework also helps to recognise the aspects which can have a significant impact on smartphone and tablet PC industry. The macro framework used in the assessment of this industry is PEST analysis. PEST analysis helps to identify the potential influences of political, economic, social and technological aspects and provide vital indication about the smartphone and tablet PC industry (Oxford University Press, 2007). Political Factors Political condition is an essential part of any industry. Any changes in legislation and laws of the government can create an inevitable impact on the sales of smartphone and tablet PCs. The smartphone and tablet PCs are predicted to grow at quicker rate in developing nations. Thus, any changes in political conditions such as elimination of import taxes can result in sales growth of tablet PCs. Furthermore, higher focus on environment may influence technological trash and can result in strict environmental guidelines such as unsafe materials unused electrical equipment. The additional testing and warranty requirement directly influence the supply chain for smartphone and tablet producers causing higher expenses (Shah & Dalal, 2009). Economic Factors The international economic influences can also influence the growth of smartphone and tablet PC industry. The slowdown of global economy can create an impact on the spending pattern of consumers resulting in low demand for smartphone and tablet PCs. With due consideration to the future economic aspects, it is often assumed that the expenses on smartphone and tablet PCs will increase substantially in the upcoming years and capture the entire market of computer industry (Morgan Stanley, 2011). Social Factors Social aspects such as preferences of customers, their income level and their lifestyle choices can also create an impact on the demand of smartphone and tablet PCs. These aspects can further influence the brand awareness of customers to a large extent. Families with higher and middle income can possibly afford and desire for smartphone and tablet PCs in the near future due to rapid innovation, surmounting availability and lowering price ranges of the products. Besides, the growth in young population has also led to the increase in terms of the overall usage or consumption of smartphone and tablet PCs. It is worth mentioning that in today’s technological revolution, more and more people are becoming highly affectionate towards these digital products (Shah & Dalal, 2009). Technological Factors Technological changes are occurring in the industry at very quick rate. Higher processing speed with low power consumption and affordable price are one of the major causes for higher demand of smartphone and tablet PCs which can be observed as one of the major contributions of technological advancements. According to a latest research by Jayawardhena & Korsah (2011), almost 300 million smartphones were traded throughout the world in the year 2010. It is further expected that by 2015, the number of smartphone sale will raise to 3.3 billion. It is in this context that in the year 2011 the international smartphone shipments were recorded to increase by 36%. As the entry barrier is high in this industry, only a few of major competitors exists in the market (Yahoo! Inc, 2012). For instance, in 2011, Apple was recognised as the chief dealer of smartphone throughout the world. The other giant smartphone dealer was Nokia and Samsung (Kerr, 2012). With respect to tablet PC, Apple had a lead with 58% market share in the year 2011. It had delivered almost 15.4 million iPads in the world throughout the fourth quarter of 2011 (Wauters, 2012). Question 2 Internal Aspects of Apple Apple has numerous internal aspects which have make it a successful organisation. Apple has strong stability in the computer industry through its innovativeness and trendy products. Apple is dedicated to deliver best experience to customers by its unique hardware, application and services. Apple incessantly devotes money in research and development, advertisement which is critical to the business. As the industry where Apple operates its business has low product lifecycle, the company need to simultaneously develop new products in order to stay attractive and maintain its competitive position in the market. Due to this reason, Apple is also considered as an innovative leader in the industry (James, 2009). The major strength of Apple is its international presence. Above 50% of income of Apple comes from outside of domestic market. A well-adjusted presence in developed as well as developing market allows the company to secure a stable increase in income. Apple is well recognised brand which also helps to differentiate its products and allows the company to impose high price. Moreover, the product selection of Apple is highly synergistic. The company design, manufacturing and market numerous products such as music player, computers, smartphones and tablet PCs among other help to decrease the reliance on single product line and improve cross-selling prospects (Datamonitor, 2006). The major internal weakness of Apple is risk for procuring major parts in producing Apple products. IBM is presently the single dealer of processor for Apple used in iMac. Freescale is also another sole supplier of processors used in the production of numerous portable devices. Thus, over reliance for procuring major parts can assist Apple in attaining considerable competitive disadvantages (Datamonitor, 2006). Financial Appraisal Apple demonstrates positive financial performance with respect to liquidity and operational affectivity. Apple has not only fulfilled the short-term debts but also progressively improved its receivables. In addition, Apple has a negligible level of debt which makes its financial performances much attractive. The success of iPod had resulted in increased sales volume permitting Apple a rise in the higher economies of scale with respect to production. The profitability of Apple can also be observed as better in comparison to other competitors because of its unique product line. It is worth mention that the financial performance of Apple has increased in recent years. Apple has been able to increase the revenue from US$65.2 billion in 2010 to US$108.2 billion in 2011. Most significantly, Apple has successfully reduced the expenses related with sales and management from 8.46% in 2010 to 7.02% in 2011 which demonstrates its financial competitiveness (Bloomberg L.P., 2012). Gross profit margin: The financial performance of Apple can be demonstrated by its gross margin. The gross profit margin of Apple has significantly increased from US$25.6 billion from 2010 to US$43.8 billion in 2011. The key driver of this increase is the low expenses incurred on certain components. However, the major issue that Apple has to face with this respect is high pressure from other competitors on the basis of price (Bloomberg L.P., 2012). Cash Flow: In 2011, the net income of Apple has increased by US$19.8 from that of 2008. The current ratio of Apple in 2011 was recorded to be 1.6 i.e. lower than the industry average. It denotes reduction of out-dated inventory and other immobile current resources. This indicates that the company was focussing on its cost retrenchments in order to gain efficiency in terms of cash flow which can be regarded as a traditional method to attain generate higher volume of cash. Subsequently, the growth of cash receivables in 2011 was recorded to be 48.17% which embarked a record growth in smartphone and tablet PC industry (Bloomberg L.P., 2012). However, Apple also had to face downward stress on the gross and operating profit boundary because of higher competition and economic slowdown. Apple needed to continuously handle the global economic pressure because the products were served at premium price and could created an adverse impact on the consumer spending trend. The margin of sales volume is another internal issue of Apple, which can directly affect its overall financial competency. Apple needs to maintain a high sales margin in order to gain profit (James, 2009). Resource Based View of Apple The tangible resources of Apple are the programmers, inventors and engineers who use their ability for developing unique products for the benefits of the company at large. The resources of Apple demonstrate competitive uniformities and short-term advantages in the market. It is in this context that the resource mix of Apple is its major ability which can help to attain constant competitive advantages and beyond average performance in the industry (Masi, 2009). Apple stores: Apple Stores help the company to experience the benefits of physical existence in the market which acts as sales promotion as well as advertisement. The Apple stores allow the company to strongly regulate the brand image by delivering good customer services. This resource is of significant value for Apple which partly contributes to the success of the company (Masi, 2009). Experienced Employees: Experienced employees can be regarded as another significant resource of Apple. Apple recruits its employees very prudently who are excellent programmers and system developers. The experienced employees provide Apple with numerous products which are rare in the industry. Besides, the employees are also capable of developing striking software systems such as Macintosh Operating System which is difficult to reproduce (Masi, 2009). Customised products: One of the most significant aptitudes of Apple is to produce highly integrated products with applications which are customised and especially run into particular hardware. This makes Apple an exclusive company in the industry. This ability of Apple arises from its highly capable team (Masi, 2009). Value Chain Linkages of Apple One of the most significant strategies of Apple in the competitive market is its differentiation strategy. Apple seeks to distinguish its product from other competitors through unique product designs and features. In this regards, a major issue faced by Apple is it’s over reliance on Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) and overseas plants. Apple does not have any direct control over the procurement of raw materials which increases the risk of hampered product quality. Any gradual reduction in product quality can negatively affect Apple’s performance in the long run. Furthermore, reduced product quality can result in the rejection of high prices which is imposed on Apple products (Masi, 2009). With this concern, Apple intends to perform effectively with the major suppliers so that all parties in the value chain are benefitted. Apple has “Supplier Code of Conduct” which allows governing the activities of suppliers. With its automated refined system, Apple accelerates the business process and effectively maintains the inventory. Apple subcontracts production to third party associates for applying the economies of scale and eliminating the stress of manufacturing. However, the designs of products are performed internally in Apple by using industry knowledge (Masi, 2009). Question 3 Business Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility Ethics represents honest rules which administer good conduct. Performing ethically in business is extensively observed as moral business practice which is gaining increasing importance in the current phenomenon. Organisational ethics is directly related with Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) which denotes the tasks toward the stakeholders. CSR initiatives has gained significant attention and achieved new meaning in international market. CSR has reproduced new burdens for higher transparency and commercial citizenship. Presently the requirements of society have surpassed the ability of government to satisfy them completely. In this context, the attention of business is shifting on the role of organisations toward CSR as a method of differentiating themselves in the industry (Jamali & Mirshak, 2006). Numerous organisational ethical theories had been developed which incorporate ethics and policy. One of the most significant theories in organisational ethics is stakeholder theory. This theory governs how managers in an organisation function in ethical manner. The stakeholder theory is a step onward in recognising ethics and strategy links. Ethical principles help to provide a sense of prudence and social duty among people in an organisation. This approach is based on ethical concepts which demonstrate a viewpoint of CSR where ethics is considered to be vital (Mele & Guillen, 2006). Stakeholder theory commences with the thought that values are essentially and clearly an aspect of business. This theory has two major components. First component is the purpose of organisation which encourages managers to communicate a sense of value towards the stakeholders and allows causing exceptional performance. The second component is obligation of management towards stakeholders which drives managers to make how they prefer to conduct business. It is in this context that stakeholder theory assumes an organisation’s managers to be in need for developing good associations, stimulating the stakeholders and constructing societies where everyone attempts to provide their best in order to carry the value, the organisation assures (Freeman & et. al., 2004). External Stakeholder Issues in Apple Although Apple is considered as one of the most admired organisations in the world, it faces numerous external stakeholder issues in recent years. These issues have profound impact on corporate reputation and brand equity of Apple. Product: The major stakeholder issue Apple faced in recent years is product quality issues. The brand image of Apple largely depends on product quality where any fault can crate strong ethical problems. After the introduction of iPhone 4, Apple faced several problems from customers regarding response. The problems of iPhone 4 were aroused with antenna interloping. Apple has been complained by external stakeholders for intending to avoid the problem, rather than responding quickly to the requests of customers. It is due to the fact that external stakeholders observed product quality as inseparable where casualties in this field can lead to harm Apple’s brand equity. Privacy: Privacy can be identified another external stakeholders issue for Apple in recent year. In 2011, Apple and Google had released certain components for gathering information on phone locations. External stakeholders viewed this conduct as breach of customer privacy. Although the company announced that customers can disable this component, in certain phones it continued to gather information even after disabling which might have negative impact on corporate reputation and brand equity (Daniels Fund Ethics Initiative, n.d.). Reputation Management Reputation is often considered as an asset for an organisation which must be managed carefully. The belief of stakeholders about a brand can impact on the performance of a company. Without having good reputation in the market, organisations cannot ensure long-term success in business. Reputation is a utility of stakeholder awareness about honesty and effectiveness of an organisation which generates from numerous bases such as customer service, employee association, ethical behaviour and environment performance (Schultz & Werner, n.d.). Employee association: Apple is committed to maintain the right of employees. It does not involve in taking extreme recruitment charges and also prevent underage employment. It is worth mentioning that Apple is recorded to be the first organisation which acknowledged to the “Fair Labour Association” (FLA). Through FLA, Apple has made enormous developments for improving the working conditions and look after the employees in the organisation (Apple Inc., 2012). Ethical behaviour: The code of conduct practiced in Apple plays a vital role in assisting the company to act ethically. Apple’s code of conduct protects against any discrimination regarding employee race, culture, age, religion, gender, background, political relationship, union involvement, nationality and marital status among others. Apple’s Code set standard working hour i.e. maximum 60 hour in a week while permitting exemption in infrequent or emergency situations. Simultaneously, the Code of Conduct in Apple requires all employees to provide salary and other welfare to the employees effectively and in time manner as essential by appropriate policy and rule, hence prohibiting deduction of salaries as punitive actions (Apple Inc., 2012). Environment performance: Apple is committed for lessening the environmental influence on its business activities. Presently, Apple has developed its products in a way so that it can become more energy efficient and generate low noxious materials which can harm the environment. In the year 2011, Apple has successfully saved almost 5 million kilowatt power in theory operational facilities. The utilisation of biogas fuel also assists Apple so save energy as well as reduce the CO2 emission. Unlike other organisations, Apple does not generate much waste substances from its business operations. However, Apple reutilizes the minimum waste materials it produces (Apple Inc., 2012). These aspects have an overall impact on the corporate reputation and the brand equity of Apple. Although Apple has encountered numerous stakeholder issues, the company is committed toward ethical business performance for maintaining its reputation in the industry. Through better CSR activities and business ethics in the workplace, Apple has gained excellent corporate reputation. The “reputation quotient” (RQ) is metrics which measure the corporate reputation of an organisation. In the year 2012, Apple has been observed to gain RQ of 85.62 which is considered as highest score in the smartphone and tablet PC industry. With its corporate reputation Apple has surpassed its top competitors named Google, Microsoft and Samsung among others (Rama, 2012). Brand Equity With respect to brand equity Apple has made itself as one of the most reputed and valuable brand in the world. Apple’s public relation management through stakeholder engagement, employee association and environmental performance resulted in higher brand equity. According to the report of Interbrand in 2011, Apple was ranked in the 8th position among other global brands. The brand equity of Apple is characterised with due consideration to advanced technology to deliver exclusive personal experience for customers. Customers continue to follow the brand with expectation of good products and are ready to incorporate its trendy products in the life (Interbrand, 2011). Question 4 Apple faces aggressive competition in every business aspects such as product sales, pricing and quality. The technological improvements have evidently raised the abilities and utilisation of electronic products. The market where Apple operates requires frequent development of new innovative products with reasonable cost, attractive feature and performance. Apple’s smartphone and tablet PC products have faced huge competition from other organisations which had sponsored music contents and services. It is the strategy of Apple to differentiate its product though innovation. Apple constantly integrates new aspects and packages in their products. This strategy makes Apple an exclusive brand and helps to secure superior position in the market. On the basis of competitive forces the following strategic recommendations can be made for Apple. Differentiation Strategy: The products of Apple confront with incessant downward stress with respect to product prices which create an impact on the productivity of the company. Through differentiation strategy Apple will be able to develop a unique brand image which can distinguish the company from other competitors and reduce the impact of price competitions on Apple’s products in the long term. Maintain good association with the suppliers: The suppliers are a vital part of Apple’s productivity in the market. As there are only few suppliers of Apple’s products, therefore, the company needs to maintain a beneficial relationship with them. In spite of searching for new suppliers which can provide raw materials at affordable rate, it will be profitable for Apple to strengthen the relationship with existing suppliers through increased alliance. It will not only help to lessen the bargaining power of suppliers over Apple, but also help to provide quality products with attractive rate. Diversification: Apple can also use diversification strategy by entering in other fields of consumer electronics products. As consumer electronics products is increasing constantly, thus producing admiring products in other product groups such as cell phone and applications can provide Apple a larger source to generate income and accessing greater consumer base. Hence, diversification strategy will help Apple to reduce the risk of failure of any particular product line in the market distributing its overall market risk. With respect to internal strategy, Apple continues to build its reputation on providing high performance products to the customers. Aspects such as customisation, technology, features and presentations are a few of the driving forces for Apple’s product demand in the market (Romaniuk & et. al., 2007). The internal culture Apple developed provides smooth incorporation of different hardware and application. In order to maintain its internal strength Apple can use following strategies. Branding: Apple has successfully positioned itself as differentiated brand and should continuously shape its business on this basis. Brand differentiation occurs when a company appeals to distinct customer base that chiefly value the differentiated characteristics of the brand. In this regards, Apple needs to differentiate the brand to the customers by recognising variables such as price or quality according to diverse target profiles. As Apple is considered to be an expensive brand amid the customers, it appeals towards high and middle income group customer segments. Through differentiated advertisement, Apple can gain public appeal and brand equity (Romaniuk & et. al., 2007). Apple also needs to give additional concentration product design improvement with internal resource distribution. It will help Apple to take a lead position in smartphone and tablet PC industry. Apple’s business system enjoys a significant competitive advantage for not depending on Microsoft in its products. However, several customers have not used the unified features provided by Apple. Through advertisement, Apple will be able to trade more products to the new as well as present customers. Expansion of Apple Stores: Apple stores are significant internal resources which have direct connection with the end users. Thus, extension of Apple stores can allow the company to deliver better facility to the customers and improve the user experience. As, Apple stores are vital source for generating income and it also act as collaborative advertisement for the company, the organisation can add more locations for its stores in domestic as well as international market. However, throughout the extension, Apple needs to ensure to evade over capacity and maintain its brand position as effective destination. Increase OEM partnership: As a part of competitive strategy, Apple needs to increase partnerships with OEM and exclude the competitors from accomplishing positive commercial contract. Accordingly, Apple also needs to defend its brand image and product quality by applying random quality assessment and quality review which can ensure that any quality related matters are identified in the initial stage and resolved at the earliest. Effective usage of money: Managing the financial performance is significant for Apple to maintain its position in the market. Thus, there is need for Apple to effectively use the money. For instance, in making annual budget, Apple should allocate substantial amount for investment in research and development, marketing and other business related activities. Better investment can offer advantages in future to business development and resources acquisitions. Value for customer: Apple is recognised for delivering substantial value for its products to the customers concerning service and quality. These qualities must be stated clearly to communicate the value of its products in comparison with similar products of other organisations. Apple has faced numerous public relation crises in recent years due to its product quality and weak responses of customers complain. However, the customers of Apple have not resisted for purchasing the products of Apple. Yet, in future, public relation crises can have magnitude impact on the stakeholders and brand reputation of Apple. In order to maintain good public relation, Apple needs to develop faithful image towards customers. Hence, maintaining a reliable and sincere relationship with the media is crucial aspect for public relation strategy. It shall not only help Apple to fight for public relation crises, enhancing its customer relationship and brand equity. Whenever any public relation crisis occurs Apple needs to go to the public with skilled representative in order to conduct session and thereby effectively deal with the condition preserving its customer relationship. References Apple Inc., 2012. Labour and Human Rights. Supplier Responsibility. 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