Individual Assignment

Fall 2020-2021

Individual Assignment

TEST INFORMATION

STUDENT INFORMATION

Question 1

Apple Company is a global company in computing, and this company was founded in 1976 by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak. The best -selling products for Apple include iPhone, iPad, among others (Gillam, 2008). PESTLE analysis of Apple indicates external factors influencing the competitiveness of the company in the global market. PESTLE analysis involves evaluating political, economic, socio-cultural, technological, legal, and environmental factors affecting Apple.  Apple’s performance is linked to effectiveness in addressing its external factors by exploiting its opportunities and protecting the business from threats.

Political factor influences competitive position within the industry by being an opportunity for the Apple Company. In Apple’s case, improving free trade policies will help the company distribute its products freely, increasing its competitive advantage. Political stability in developed countries is an opportunity for this company since this will have reduced problems that may affect the company’s operation in those countries, which will increase revenue for the company, thus making the company more competitive in the market. Trade disputes between China and U.S., for instance, are a threat to Apple since this is a threat to the potential growth of this company where higher tariffs will be imposed on the imported electronic products (Khan Alam & Alam, 2015).  In maintaining its competitive position, Apple can improve its performance by taking advantage of political opportunities while maintaining stability despite trade disputes.

Economic factors create opportunities for Apple-like stable economies of the developed countries, which allow the company to expand its market since the developing countries will offer support to the growing technology business. For example, Asia’s economic growth rate is an opportunity for Apple to increase its sales and revenue. Even though the other competitors in this industry still have their eyes on this economic opportunity, how fast and effective Apple is, is what will help it secure the opportunity faster, which will help the company have a competitive advantage against its competitors like Samsung.

The socio-cultural factor is another aspect of PESTLE analysis that will impact Apple’s competitive position. The social-cultural factor involves the behavior of customers and expectations. For instance, the rising use of mobiles is an opportunity for the company since the increasing demand for smartphones will dictate an increase in Apple’s revenue, increasing its competitive advantage (Zhang, 2017). Since we live in the era of technology, increasing demand and dependency on the digital system creates an opportunity for Apple to sell its products based on high demand. Despite the opportunity, Apple’s competitive position is threatened by the anti-Apple sentiment where people question lawsuits against product repair. Through the sentiment company’s brand image and consumer behavior are interfered with. For Apple to maintain its competitive position, the company should continue improving its policies and practices to avoid people questioning its business practices.

Technological factor implies the competitive position of Apple Company. Growth in cloud computing is an opportunity for the company to grow its business. Even though the company offers a limited extent of this strategy to exploit the opportunity, it should expand its clod infrastructure since it will offer cloud computing services comfortably, thus increasing its profitability. Other firms’ technological capabilities are threatening the company since more new players can enter the market, which will lead to stiff competition in the market, interfering with Apple’s competitive advantage. Ensuring that Apple maintains its competitive position should reinforce business capability to exploit the opportunity and protect the business against the competitive threat.

A sustainable business trend makes a company more competitive in the market. The ecological factor offers Apple an opportunity to strengthen its image. Its energy efficiency trend can adopt more efficient technology, which will help the company improve its competitive advantage against its competitors. Apple also has an opportunity of improving its operational cost-effectiveness by reducing its costs while producing quality products. It also can adjust its operations to meet the ecological trends, which will make it more competitive in the market.

Legal factors act as a threat to Apple, and this shows the impacts of laws on business. Government pressure on privacy has resulted in increasing privacy regulations on business. These impose costly regulatory compliance requirements, which is costly, thus interfering with its competitive position (Castro, 2016).  Apple can use these regulations as an opportunity to boost its business by enhancing its privacy measures and complying with government policies. Through its compliance, it will gain a competitive advantage against its competitors.  For Apple to maintain its competitiveness, it must emphasize privacy protection and regulatory compliance in its products and consider adjusting its policies and practices to address the current legal practices on business.

Question 2

The corporate-level strategy is a process used by owners and managers of a corporation in determining the plan of action, how to hit specific targets, and achieve the set goals (Purce, 2014). It acts as a direction towards achieving the set goals, and it provides a destination towards which the business is moving. The strategy of being a destination affects all other strategies in attaining success. Corporate level strategy gets everyone aligned towards achieving goals by providing one direction where all employees, customers, and managers pull towards.  The strategy also helps the business be proactive instead of reactive, thus preparing for future events, making the organization ahead of the curve. It also increases efficiency, which depicts profitability, and this achieved since the strategy gives the business a goal and provides various ways to achieve the goal. The strategy also makes business durable. Since the market keeps changing, incorporating the strategy on the organization helps provide a foundation on which the rest of the business can depend. Since the strategy offers a direction to other businesses, it becomes easier to define specific actions that a business needs to achieve its goals. It also increases market share, which in turn increases the profitability of the company.

Profitability and competitiveness are key in every organization, especially those operating in a global market—high competition in the global market results in decreased profitability. A company like Apple needs to adopt strategies that will ensure profitability and competitiveness, thus remaining relevant in the market (Dringoli, 2011). Apple should seek to employ a comprehensive corporate-level strategy that will help make decisions that are proper to regain its glory in the global market.  Value creation strategy will help Apple push its competitors to the edge by identifying ways to cut down costs of operation while improving the quality of its products. The strategy will be effective through diversification. They will enter other businesses that are less competitive to increase their survival in the market by gaining more profits and strengthening its financial requirement needed to compete in the global market.

References

Castro, R. B. (2016). Apple Inc.–A Marketing Success Story.

Dringoli, A. (2011). Growth Strategies: Types and Fundamental Bases. In Corporate Strategy and Firm Growth. Edward Elgar Publishing.

Gillam, S. (2008). Steve Jobs: Apple iCon: Apple iCon. ABDO.

Khan, U. A., Alam, M. N., & Alam, S. (2015). A critical analysis of the internal and external environment of Apple Inc. International Journal of Economics, Commerce and Management, 3(6), 955-961.

Purce, J. (2014). The impact of corporate strategy on human resource management. New Perspectives on Human Resource Management (Routledge Revivals), 67.

Zhang, Q. (2017). Research on Apple Inc’s Current Developing Conditions. Open Journal of Business and Management, 6(01), 39.