Introduction
Apple can be one of the most stimulating places to work. It is surrounded by some of the best people in manufacturing, and given Apple’s extraordinary work ethic, there is continuous pressure to perform at the highest level. A significant number of people have a working understanding of the fact that Apple lost the PC wars to Microsoft and only recognize that when Apple created the iPod and then the iPhone, the company moved in a new direction. People who go to Apple outlets know well about Apple’s customer service, and the outlet represents the gold standard for trading and supporting technological tools. But outside of that, the details of why Apple is indeed successful are still unknown to numerous people. There are an adequate number of books about Apple that discuss everything from its founder Steve Jobs’ past to principles of Apple’s corporate operations and mysteries about Apple’s unique organizational concepts. However, I have followed Apple for quite some years, observing it closely and individually and developing relationships with its CEOs, as well as cooperating with numerous Apple executives over the years.
Discussion
Driving Forces
Driving forces are part of the external analysis and offer the company an understanding of opportunities and threats that it should deal with. Some of the driving forces for Apple Inc. are as follows:
The growth rate of Apple (Short or Long term)
The computer business has been sluggish for some time. It is affected by the weak economy and lower disposable income among consumers due to redundancies and the outsourcing of jobs outside the United States. Technological advances have not been sufficiently progressive to permit continuous upgrades, so numerous customers delay purchases until significant improvements are available. The business has typically been supported by immense corporations, and since the slowdown, the large corporate market has not been growing, so additional CPUs and software may not be considered essential. Apple has to consider additional obstacles when examining this issue because large corporations are more focused on the Wintel operating system, and with the lower cost of clone PCs, they are more affordable (Porter, 1985).
Changes in the society-concerns, attitudes, and lifestyles
Most people buying computers have become familiar with using Windows operating systems. The population has grown, and many people who come into contact with computers are exposed to the Windows environment. Numerous people are not well-informed about the Apple operating system and have only seen Macintosh computers. Younger generations are becoming familiar with Apple through the introduction of syncing, iPods, and iTunes. This is bringing a younger generation into Apple’s marketing world, but Apple has yet to convince them that its computer systems offer the same quality and ease of use as the music tools that Apple can supply to them.
Product innovation and technological variations
Central processing units, semiconductors, memory, storage, and computer drives are always changing, and as technology progresses, so must Apple. Numerous product innovations are being driven by the trend toward miniaturization. Businesses spend billions of dollars to position themselves to make the next pioneering development. Consumers wish to retain the most up-to-date and advanced products, so the combination of businesses trying to generate new products and consumers wishing to be the first “on the block” with innovations creates a primary driving force.
Competition of Apple in a global marketplace
Apple did not modify its phones substantially in terms of features and appearance. Thus, Apple is applying the notion of “global” at a high level, using a one-size-fits-all method, with an identical plan across all states, a similar choice of goods for all countries, and no noticeable customization, which is also called localization, except for the power source, pricing, and importers’ particulars. Numerous global activities have to be executed by Apple Inc. to enlarge and continue its trade in the global market. Apple Inc. performs exporting and importing activities to purchase and trade goods in the global market. There are numerous kinds of levies and taxes that have to be paid by the company.
Importing and exporting involve the buying and selling of goods from one country to another and are essential to international trade. Also, licensing is another global activity that is carried out to distribute its goods overseas with less risk. Apple also follows global rules and regulations to work ethically. At the same time, the organization has to make comprehensive policies and trade plans to raise its efficiency. It also conducts global planning by licensing the use of intangible assets in the global marketplace, such as trademarks, methods, and processes.
Workforce Diversity
Apple’s current diversity reporting shows that women represent 35% of its global workforce. In its U.S. workforce, 9% of employees are Black and 15% are Hispanic or Latinx. The older retail and leadership percentages in the original paragraph should not be presented as current company-wide figures.
Ethics & Morality
Apple Company expects complete integrity and ethical conduct while building corporate relationships. Apple believes its workers should avoid circumstances where a conflict of interest may occur or appear to occur. If something inevitably serious occurs, then the company must respond carefully. There was no certainty that the Apple phone could contain valuable records, mainly because the device was only the work phone of one of the suspects and not the suspect’s private mobile device in the recent attack on the medical center. However, some believed that Apple had a moral obligation to provide access to the phone. In a rare circumstance involving a company and its loyal followers, Apple was confronting an ethical issue that could harm its own business. It was, of course, presented as an ethical action on behalf of the company.
Technological innovation
Apple’s preference for discarding the old and introducing the new, while annoying and misunderstood at times, is one of the things that makes Apple successful. Over the course of Apple’s history, the company assisted in promoting some technologies that rapidly became normal throughout the business. While Apple doesn’t often design entirely new technologies from scratch, it has an extensive history of repurposing and refining current technologies in ways that resonate with end users and eventually prompt competitors to follow suit. However, Apple continually generates innovative products, so it would be suitable for it to remain attentive to the danger of its products cannibalizing each other (Apple Inc., 2020).
Conclusions
As a company, Apple has to continue to innovate to preserve a competitive advantage because its businesses are incredibly reliant on rapidly changing technologies and are also positioned in dynamic industries where the typical lifetime of goods runs from about 7 to 8 months. These businesses experience a very high level of rivalry due to the presence of many well-established companies, and so for Apple to continue succeeding, it cannot afford to be complacent. Apple’s approach lies in its widely recognized business model of owning and integrating both its software and hardware.
References
Apple Inc. (2020). Annual report for the fiscal year ended September 26, 2020. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/320193/000032019320000096/aapl-20200926.htm
Porter, M. E. (1985). Competitive advantage: Creating and sustaining superior performance. Free Press. https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=193
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