ESSAY ON APPLE INCORPORATION

Submitted By:
B01522263 – Onwuemene Chidimma Jessica
B01513298 – Reem Niroula
B01128294 – Sushant Bharati
B00872440 – Jaspreet Kaur
B01607351 – Sumant Singh

Submitted To:

University of the West Scotland

Session: 2023-2024
INTRODUCTION

Apple Incorporation is the largest global tech firm founded in 1976 by Steve Jobs, headquarter
located in Cupertino, California, USA. In 1980, it gained the status of a publicly held corporation
and has over 16 billion shares outstanding as of Sep, 2022. It is the top capitalized corporation in
S & P 500 index under IT sector.

In the beginning, it is limited to the IT related hardware and software products. Later on, it
engaged in consumer electronics and several services. Its product line includes iPhone, iPad,
Mac, Air Pods, iCloud, Apple Watch and Apple TV that are some ground breaking devices that
have achieved a remarkable success in the digital industry. It also provides services that includes
advertising, IT technical support, Cloud services, payment services and digital content provider
through various stores such as iTunes store, iBook store and App store. It sells its products and
provide services in Europe, Japan, People's Republic of China, United States of America and in
Asian countries (Zhang et al., 2018).

There is significant increase observed in the financial statements of the corporation as compared
to previous years. According to FY 2022, its annual revenue was $99803 million which was
increased by 5.41% as compared to FY 2021. Its earning per share was increased by 8.46% as
compared to FY2021. It annual turnover was $394,328 million which was 8% more than FY2021
due increase in sales of iPhone, services and Mac. (Apple Inc, 2022).

APPLICATION OF MANAGEMENT THEORIES

The process of economic evolution and research have produced various organizational theories
and management approaches. Different organizational management techniques and
conceptualizations are supported by various academics and businesspeople. Although many
times the relevance of these ideas has been challenged by researchers and business community
which recognized the need to examine the methodologies and principles in both theory and
practice. Apple Inc. has existed for many years and across numerous centuries, thus, it does seem
to be the ideal topic for this type of study.
There are several management theories which have been implemented in Apple Inc. Some are
illustrated below:

The basic management approach adopted by Apple Inc. is scientific management which was
theorized by Frederick Winslow Taylor in 19 th century on the basis of his observation and
research. Scientific management involves quantitative methods and techniques to optimize
production processes efficiently (Huang et al., 2013). This theory discourage subjective decision
making. It presented four scientific management principles:

i. The first principle entails that all decisions should be made on the basis of logical
grounds or objectively not on the basis of gut feelings or subjectively.
ii. Tasks should be distributed to the workers according to their knowledge and skill set, for
this purpose train them first and then allocate jobs
iii. Effective supervision and guidance should be needed to ensure that the workers are
properly working according the methods and techniques which have been taught them.
iv. A balanced work load should be assigned to the personnel for efficiency and
effectiveness in the work.

Apple Inc. employs assembly lines to reduce the time cycle of products, provides high quality
training to its employees, arranges modern equipment and tools for them to work efficiently,
offers performance based incentives, designs the products and services by using standardization
and specification principles to remove unnecessary actions and to reduce cost, provides trained
supervisors and project heads to its workers to monitor and motivate them. Moreover, proper
well written job descriptions shows the division of work between management and workers
(Adel et al., 2021).

The second most well-known theory of motivation is Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, which
considers needs in terms of (Steve Denning, 2012):

Physiological needs include needs for food, water, shelter, sex, and other bodily functions. Apple
allows its personnel flexible hours to work, entertainment means and workplace support.

Safety need include security and defense against physical and emotional harm. Apple Inc. has
completed an admirable act of providing for these incentives, such as minimum time scale, safe
atmosphere of working, and other perquisites. There is still room for development in terms of job
security and reduction in fear of termination on the basis of their performance.

Social need include Belonging, acceptance, affection, and friendship. The company is
continuously struggling to develop cooperative relations between the management and
employees which leads to creativity and innovative work behavior at the workplace.

Self Esteem involves internal esteem elements like prestige, acclaim, and attention. Attractive
incentives, promotion chances, recognition on the job accomplishment, acceptance of self-
respect, organizational objectives fulfillment reduce the chances of employee turnover (Urwiler
and Frolick, 2008).

Self-actualization refers to Development, realizing one's potential, and fulfilling one's goals.
Apple Inc. has always given its personnel innovative and challenging jobs in their routine work.
If a complicated task is accomplished accurately, they gain inner satisfaction and joy which lead
them to feel achievement and self-actualization.

OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT AND PARTNERS

For the smooth working of all the functional areas and segments of the business, Apple Inc.
deploys operations management philosophies and techniques. In this way, the decisions relating
to inventory management and control, product and service design, capacity building design,
selection of site, total quality management system, and other operational areas carried out by
harmonized struggles in the company's various business segments, advertising and sales,
designing and developing products and services, and supply chain management (Fámúwàgún,
2021).

The main objective of the company's operation strategy is to broaden its institutional and
national distribution network. Government agencies, small and medium-sized businesses,
corporations, and the education sector are among the institutions. In order to continue providing
the customer with a high-quality purchasing (Apple Inc. 2022).

Multiple organizational units and officials manages the operations and processes to produce and
deliver best quality products. For instance, a High-ranking vice president-Hardware Engineering
and a High-ranking vice president-Software Engineering are collaborated in the designing and
production of Macs. The company's internet services are run with similar activities and
cooperation (Panmore, 2023).

The company uses robotic procedures and continuous coordinating with suppliers to manage its
supply chain, through this supervision, the capability and productivity of the supplier are
evaluated, along with agreement with the Apple Supplier Code of Conduct.

More than 500 outlets are currently operated by the company in more than 20 different nations
(Statista, 2023). The 4Ps of Apple Inc.'s marketing mix, namely the distribution plan for
consumer electronics like iPhones, iPads, and MacBooks, are coordinated with this branch of
operations management. In spite of this constrained approach to reseller authorization, the
business is currently among the most lucrative in the world.

There are 350+ partners and suppliers from which Apple Inc. procures raw materials and avails
various IT services (Partnerbase, 2023). Top rated mobile strategy advisory services, application
development, background system incorporation, and business networking are all services offered
by these partners. Subsequently, they form the majority of the products of Apple, services, and
infrastructure. Major partners with their services are listed below:
Deloitte: Deloitte collaborates with Apple Inc. to make innovation in the products and services. It
has more than five thousands advisors. EnterpriseNext is a new service which from its plat form
to facilitate the clients so that they can enjoy the complete benefits of iOS ecosystem.
IBM: Innovative team work from Apple and IBM collaborate to influence how business
operates.
Salesforce: By deploying CRM tool in the operating system of Apple tremendously changed
experiences of consumers. Apple becomes successful in building special relations with its
customers by using this technique.

SAP: SAP support Apple in various segments of business significantly. Its software packages are
employed in the accounting and finance department, programming and development and to
improve the customer relationships.

Cisco: Cisco and Apple both are engaging themselves to manage and facilitate the customers
experiences by developing innovative networking environment and support.
HUMAN RESOURCE PRACTICES

The best employees of Apple Inc. are working on the posts of marketing and technology side.
The prime responsibility of the company to recruit and select talented work force from all over
the world (Smith and Rees, 2017). To do this, the business has used a variety of strategic human
resource practices to select qualified candidates. The business acknowledges that human capital
is a crucial component of total competitiveness (Storey, 2014). The organization's development
strategy is driven by its human resources. It’s employees exceptional skills and people
management techniques played a key role to gain competitive advantage.

Moreover, Apple has made a substantial investment in the recruitment and selection process of
talented work force that is compatible with company’s cultural values and norms (Storey, 2014).
Employees who are ready to struggle for the attainment of goals of the organization are
encouraged. Apple employs different and unique tactics to recruit work force. Apple doesn't give
assurance of proficient progression and career advancement. The personnel must be liable for
their future professional careers (Smith and Rees, 2017).

Furthermore, All people, regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, or disability, are given equal
employment opportunities at Apple (Grant, 2021). People from a variety of backgrounds work
for the company. As a result, it has been able to recruit and select outstanding employees from
all over the world, who have helped it continue to develop and succeed.

Besides the above, to search and hire excellent work force, Apple offers attractive reward
system. Incentives are accessible based on the workers’ job designation and the employees work
site (Storey, 2014).

COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE

The company's production, pricing, marketing and sales, and other strategies and approaches are
all straightly associated to its general strategy and aggressive growth strategies. The corporation
can employ the strategic options well-defined by porter’s diamond model for general tactics to
form its competitive edge in the consumer electronics industry, IT and services industries. IT
demonstrates how its overall business plan gives them a competitive edge over rival companies
like IBM Google Amazon, Sony Microsoft, , HP, Lenovo, Dell, , Netflix, BlackBerry, Huawei,
Samsung, LG and Disney and with their content delivery services. As an alternative, Igor
Ansoff's matrix of growth methods shapes possibilities for the tech industry to speedily enlarge
in both prevailing and new marketplaces and trades (Panmore, 2023).

Although the international corporation only uses a few basic differences to distinguish its
products, they are nonetheless appealing. As a basis for its competitive advantage, Apple has
expanded abilities and characteristics in its offerings. The company enjoys a first-mover
advantage that is long-lasting. If the management neglects to give the products new capabilities
and features, its competitive edge can be jeopardized. Besides product differentiation strategy,
Apple is deploying cost reduction strategy by approaching low cost locations of the world such
as China (Bingyan, 2022).
 References
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(Accessed: 10 June 2023)

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