MGT201 Apple Management Case Study - Assignment Solution

Introduction

Apple Inc. has become a successful business in a global consumer electronics market, previously known as Apple Computer. By innovative products and distinguishing them with superior standards of service and high-quality products, the firm managed to outsell others. Apple has outsourced its production to a reliable third party manufacturing company called Foxconn Technology to ensure that standards are complied with. The smartphone industry has been moving toward marketing in recent years, in the three months ending March 31, Apple sold 52.2 million iPhones (Tibken, 2018). The intensive competition resulted in continuous innovation to resist its commercial marketability. Apple has strategic strengths such as custom-made hardware/software solutions to put the company in price, availability, inimitability, and non-substitution. However, the company may need to evaluate its corporate suitability to retain its dominance in the industry and preserve its market share as the best smartphone (United States Securities and Exchange Commission, 2019). This essay will review Apple's strategic mission and vision, the business model and value price cost framework and also the strategy will be tested by fit test, competitive advantage test, and performance test. 

Apple Inc. Operations

Apple is a technology company that has consistently developed, produced and sold its diverse line of products, including Mac, iPod, and iPhone, introducing innovators in the fields of laptops, TV Tablets, video devices, and mobiles. Apple now offers a range of related software, apps, products, networking tools, peripherals and digital content from third parties, marking a new period in Apple's creativity and differentiation. Although the digital touch panels are not the new Apple has managed, by developing and releasing the first iPhone in 2007, to gain mass adoption on the electronics market. The company seems early to have created a new market for its brand, requiring everybody else to reach the standards of Apple products (Elliot, 2012). The company sells its products globally via its retail stores, online shopping, and direct selling companies as well as cell network third parties, wholesalers, retailers, and resellers. The best way to take the future course is to develop a strategic vision of what the company will be in the future, compare it with how the organization is now, and then develop a strategy to bridge the gap: the Strategic Plan. They demonstrate how to do it efficiently and effectively within the Strategic Vision (Cowley and Domb, 2012). 

Apple Strategic Vision

“Innovating complex technologies in a simple manner to achieve optimal user experience by deep collaboration and cross-pollination” since its inception Apple has been producing products in a simple manner, the new strategic vision will not change the foundation on which the company lays. To further breakdown the strategic vision of Apple. The strategic vision for Apple suggests a vertical integration approach. This practice has an effect on distributors and the supply chain of the business. The focus is also placed on performance. The Apple corporate view statement functions like a value and company philosophy specification based on these details. Focus on innovating is placed to handle complex technologies but in a simple design that Apple has known for. The essential factor in this vision is the user experience for Apple products the vision has set the direction clear for the company to achieve the optimal level of experience for all users.