Apple Corporation, known to many as Apple Inc., is a multinational corporation whose headquarters are in Cupertino, California. This company deals in the design, development, and selling of electronics, online services, and computer software (Christie and Warburton, 2017). Some of the hardware products that Apple deal in are iPad tablets, iPhone smartphone, Mac PCs, iPods, Apple TVs, Apple Watch smartwatches, HomePod speakers, and digital media players. On the same note, Apple software include iOS and macOS operating systems, the Safari web browser, the iTunes media player, iWork and iLife creativity, productivity suites, and professional applications such as Logic Pro, Final Cut Pro, and Xcode (Alier, 2016, pg. 134).
In relation to the production line of Apple Inc., this activity will discuss issues affecting the general operations of Apple Inc. such as:
In the sector of operational management, a couple of challenges have hindered Apple Inc. as well as other multinational organizations worldwide from achieving ultimate success. This paper, in relation to operational management issues, identifies Apple Inc. as the suitable organizational case study towards the achievement of its study goals (Agyeman, Bullard and Evans, 2015).
The challenges fall in the following categories:
For a decade, Apple Inc. has been collaborating with Intel to produce the processors for its PC designs. However, Apple plans to replace Intel as the supplier for its PC processors. Such a decision comes after Apple realizing that even while the world is technologically advancing for the better, Intel is still stagnant on the old models and designs used decades ago, thus, hindering technological growth (Alier, 2016, pg. 134). According to future portfolios worldwide, the society is moving towards a world that is wireless with a lot of focus put on the use of batteries. As noted by several research sources on technological advancements, computers that are Intel-powered computers are regarded as out of sync as more technological advancement s have been realized. At the prudence of Intel, Apple had to give customers a span of two years to upgrade their PC while competitors like Microsoft provided time-to-time software upgrades (Christie and Warburton, 2017).
The fact that Intel relies on microarchitectural changes that are insignificant compared to the level of technological advancements required by Apple makes Apple Inc. unable to maintain its momentum on technological improvements (Collard, 2015). According to the CEO of Apple Inc., Mr. Tim Cook, Intel has reached the limit of what it perceives as achievable when it comes to the production of microchips. Thus, Intel is yet to be in a position to figure what step to take after the production of old silicon models (De Wit and Meyer, 2014). In the early years of production, Apple had its technological ambitions well known to its suppliers and other stakeholders; however, since Intel has been lagging on its deliverance end, the company has struggled to achieve its ultimate technological success. According to production management determinants of Intel, the company does not find any power efficiency related gains in the production of smaller chips that the current market require; Apple included. Thus, Intel has not been able to compete with the ARM, which produces processors that are modeled to ensure maximum efficiency (Daly and Cobb, 2017).
Ultimately, Apple realizes the need to manufacture its own A-series chips that are recognized by the technological markets. Such processors would ensure that Apple PC is improved in efficiency, performance, and capability and of which would leave other competitors behind in advancement. According to reports on technological advancements, the new AAPL chips that Apple is on the verge of producing integrated silicon chip technology and would be used in iPhones, Mac PCs, and iPads (De Wit and Meyer, 2013).
Impacts of Continued Market Globalization
The process of globalization involves a couple of processes that interrelated such as trade and finance internationalization. The globalization of the technology market has helped Apple increase its profits. Within the global market for technological products, Apple Inc. has exceptionally succeeded in its marketing strategies particularly in terms of exportation, importation, and foreign outsourcing. By 2013, Apple had already erected more than 500 retail stores in as many as 14 countries as well as other online stores, which generated global sales of about $16billion dollars. Since Apple Inc. is a global organization, the management of realizes that globalization is important for the growth of the organization (Hair, Et al., 2018).
The difference between Apple Inc. and its competitors is the fact that it is a creative company and not a production venture. As a result, the company has been in a position in which it enjoys an overall profit of about $450,000 dollars from its online and international workers. Since Apple decided to go global, the company has applied the technique of foreign outsourcing to ensure that its products are globally marketed (Geisler and Hoang, 2013, pg. 39). Several years down the line, Apple Inc. can be described as a visional organization because it offers work to individuals globally thereby ensuring that the sustainable development goal of “decent works and economic growth” is achieved. The reason why Apple support the employment of foreigners is that Apple realized that its 14,020 American employees earned a total sum close to $800 million while its 27,300 workers pocketed a reduced amount of about $350 million. To reduce the amount spent o workers while increasing labor force, Apple decided to go for foreign employees. Apple applied the Marxism theory of exploiting cheaper labor to increase the profit base (De Wit and Meyer, 2014).
The management of Apple employs creativity, top-notch excellence in production, and innovation in the process of the organization. As a result, Apple Inc. has been branded as the leader of design and innovation. Otherwise, the organization boasts of a culture that empowers its stakeholders to work smart and diligently (Kim, Han and Srivastava, 2013). Apart from that, the organization has created a competitive advantage in the market through its proper work culture thus, strengthening the brand as well. In every process of innovation, the company employs excellence and creativity (Ganesh Arnold, and Reynolds, 2015, pg. 71).
However, with reference to employee expectations, the company experiences a set of issues since the culture of Apple upholds moderate combativeness as well as secrecy. In such a case, the rapport between workers is limited while morale reduced. Such issues are cultural in nature and are likely to reduce the effectiveness of Apple in the future while increasing worker turnover (Dillon and Reif, 2014, pg. 9). To address such issues before the company loses its track, Apple is required to restructure its culture through combativeness of employees should be upheld as a factor of production. Employee-related issues can only be addressed by the management through the employment of combative strategies such as carrying out management-worker discussions and meetings. Apart from that, Apple needs to employ new traits in its culture to ensure that the business remains relevant in the market while addressing issues that employees may raise (Dobson, 2014).
According to Apple’s operational portfolio, workers do not require the lavish office to ensure productivity. However, the organization needs to be creative enough with the available operational space. As a result, the offices of Apple are spacious, have abundant natural light, and the rooms encourage private meeting holdings and collaboration of workers. With such, the level of productivity and satisfaction of employees is increased. Individuals feel free to work without necessarily being tied to their working positions. In future, such working structure will create more collaborations and work opportunities for Apple (Devall, 2013).
Since the working places are interesting and beautiful, workers are able to interact and be more productive. Apple understands that the creation of isolated cubicles, dingy lighting, and offices that are colorless results in uninspiring work environments that also put off workers. In the future, Apple will mostly invest in the ambiance of its offices while expanding to new markets to improve the mood within the working environment (Christie and Warburton, 2017).
When the workforce is innovative, the organization is in a good position to achieve success. Apple ensures that its workers adapt to its operational culture of innovation by allowing workers from all departments to share their ideas with the administration. In the future, future innovation will depend on how much Apple regards its collaborative culture even in new rigid markets (Dillon and Reif, 2014, pg. 15).
One of the key concerns of management at Apple Inc. is intellectual property theft. This issue has been a thorn on the operations of the company for a long period. The management of Apple is concerned with ensuring that proprietary information is kept a secret so that other companies aren’t able to steal their ideas. Such a case has led to several lawsuits between the company and its competitors and several other lawsuits are likely to affect the operations of Apple in future since the company is still unable to solve intellectual proprietary theft issues (PC World, 2013).
There are a number of ways through which global manufacturing could affect the operations of Apple in the near future. For instance, the current unstable economy is likely to get worse due to the increasing sovereign debt crises, volatility of the financial market, increasing health care costs, increasing fuel costs, reducing consumer spending, and increasing unemployment; all of which could lead to Apple’s downfall (Bullard, 2017).
Apart from the impacts of deteriorating global economy, the consumers of Apple goods are also likely to buy cheap pirated goods from competitor companies. According to Apple’s management, a lot of money is spent on the designs and development of products including the operating systems, hardware, software applications, as well as related services. According to reports provided by Apple, its competitors skip such manufacturing costs by copying the designs of its products thereby infringing on its intellectual property (PC World, 2013).
Apple Inc. has been successful throughout its years of operation because of its quality management. However, there is a particular aspect of management that have ensured such success (Dillon and Reif, 2014, pg. 11).
One such aspect is simplicity. By being simple means that the company bases its success on a single brand. Having a single brand makes the company minimize its processes of decision-making. For iPhones alone, Apple has different models; about 25 of them that are simple and available worldwide. The company has carried out several research activities on consumer activities for over 25 years. As a result, it understands what customers need in relation to tech products in the market (Devall, 2013).
Another aspect is the provision of in-store experience and great customer service. Apple understands that technology has one major conundrum even if simple products are developed. The conundrum is that there are a number of things that customers would wish to use technology for, thus creating complexity. Therefore, consumers prefer to be handheld at times. The management of Apple thus, use such conundrum to advantage production (Christie and Warburton, 2017). The management ensures that the product touches on the heart of technological questions consumers may have towards the products they buy. Since the culture of Apple is oriented towards customer satisfaction, whenever customers raise questions or sort for help, workers ensure that customers are taken care of as fast as possible (PC World, 2013).
Another aspect is staying ahead of competitors. Among all management factors that lead to organizational success, being able to stay ahead of competitors makes other technology companies most scared (Kim, Han and Srivastava, 2013). However, being able to stay ahead of the competitors year-in-year-out is because of the fact that Apple is creative in its endeavors. As mentioned before, the difference between Apple Inc. and its competitors is the fact that it is a creative company and not a production venture. As a result, the company has been in a position in which it enjoys an overall profit of about $450,000 dollars from its online and international workers. Since Apple decided to go global, the company has applied the technique of foreign outsourcing to ensure that its products are globally marketed (PC World, 2013). Several years down the line, Apple Inc. can be described as a visional organization because it offers work to individuals globally thereby ensuring that the sustainable development goal of “decent works and economic growth” is achieved. The reason why Apple support the employment of foreigners is that Apple realized that its 14,020 American employees earned a total sum close to $800 million while its 27,300 workers pocketed a reduced amount of about $350 million. To reduce the amount spent o workers while increasing labor force, Apple decided to go for foreign employees (Bullard, 2017).
However, while competitors struggle to ensure that the products they sent to the market are competitive, Apple is developing products that will seize the market well ahead of time. For instance, the current iPhone products that are marketed currently were designed and signed off for sales two years back making the company in a position to design and manufacture products that will be sold in 2020 or 2021. Such a strategy has proved to be a nightmare for competitors and the same trend will continue for a long period (Dillon and Reif, 2014, pg. 9).
The most important stakeholders in Apple Inc. are those who work in the staff, technical, and marketing positions in line with the objective of the company to attract and keep its workers. As a result, Apple employs a number of human resource management strategies to attract and keep professionals that are skilled. Apart from that, the company considers human capital as the leading factor towards competitiveness (Devall, 2013). Proper management of the human resource is the main reason for Apple’s productive development strategies. In most sectors of operation, the organization has capitalized on the staff’s competencies with the main objective of achieving a competitive advantage over other technological companies. Apple boasts of great people and talents management approaches employed to ensure that it is the most innovative IT organization in the technology industry (Christie and Warburton, 2017).
According to Apple’s reports on organizational management, the HR department works hard to ensure that the organization maximizes its investment returns by ensuring that financial risks are reduced through capitalization on human capital. Apple Inc.’s HR department is also charged with other responsibilities like the development of leadership, selection and recruitment, compensation of incentive, and the development of relations among others. Such activities are the responsibility of the HR Manager and are regarded as the key strategic functions of the human resource department (PC World, 2013).
Selection and Recruitment
For most organizations, selection and recruitment of employees are the most important activities towards the realization of success. As a result, Apple Inc. has invested a lot in such processes with one major objective; sourcing perfect talents to fit into the culture of the organizational and enhance productivity. The workers should not only be working hard but also committed to activities of innovation and creativity in the working environment (Kim, Han and Srivastava, 2013). In this case, the strategy for recruiting workers used by Apple is different from the ones used by other organizations. First, it does not give promises to workers on career progression but encourages workers to be owners of their own careers. Meaning that Apple is not, a supporter of a career path but encourage employees to seek information on the jobs they perform. Second, Apple relies on pirate raiding of workers that are talented no matter where they work. The recruitment process is designed in such a way that only employees who fit the organizational culture are hired. The selection process is based on the verbal interview. The recruitment and selection model enables the company to get the right talents to serve the organization (Bullard, 2017).
The organization provides equal employment opportunities to everyone globally without considering aspects of race, gender, disability, or ethnicity among other. In other words, Apple employs individuals from diverse backgrounds. Therefore, Apple has been one of those organizations that attract talented individuals worldwide that contributes to its continued success (Dobson, 2014).
The company provides incentives for competitive packages to attract workers. All the provided benefits are based on the status of employment as well as the worker’s geographical location. However, Apple provides general benefits to its stakeholders including stock purchase programs, insurance cover, savings plans, and investment (Hong, Et al., 2013, pg. 31). Workers are also given product discounts and bonuses. Apart from that, Apple Inc. also has a flex benefits program provided to the workers in which they are required to choose benefits and conditions that suit their lifestyles. This is one of the economic rewards that Apple has strategically employed to retain its workers. Otherwise, workers are given periodic stock grants for the contributions they have made to the company. Such is one good opportunity through which workers create wealth as well as realize personal accomplishment after retirement (IDC, 2016).
Apple Inc. also embraces agility. By doing so, the company has been successful as well as retaining the workers. Through agility, workers have the freedom to shift from one department to another. For example, a worker can move from the music industry to the smartphone industry, and then to the computer industry. In every situation, workers are reminded to be master of every activity in the company even when the company prepares to move to the next cycle of innovation and achievement (Jarvenpaa and Todd, 2017, pg. 67).
In relation to employee recognition and appreciation, Apple has a program called the Apple Fellows Program that recognizes workers who come up with exemplary ideas or make extraordinary contributions (Bullard, 2017). Those that receive such an award are later appointed as leaders in the organization and are charged with providing visionary guidance in their areas of expertise. Such a strategy mainly benefits the company in the improvement of employee motivation. However, the strategy has associated economic benefits. The company values and appreciates workers that are committed to innovation (Kim, Han and Srivastava, 2013).
Apple’s recruitment policy is focused on ensuring that an individual fit into the culture and not anything to do with experience and skills. Apple also provides its employees with the opportunity to advance in terms of gained skills. Such skill advancements are possible by ensuring that workers are trained in company operations and the latest innovations. Apart from that, the company absorbs workers via internships (Lee and Holland, 2013). Individuals that are on an internship with Apple are equipped with the actual learning experiences, which enable them to develop their prospective careers. Internship programs have always attracted talented students since they are given the opportunity to have their skills developed and equipped with future opportunities for employment. At the end of such internship programs, students that portray outstanding performance get absorbed into the company. Otherwise, students who are not able to be absorbed into the company can find jobs elsewhere almost immediately. Such is because Apple real learning experience which cannot be provided by other organizations. Interns from Apple get prompt employment from other companies in the same industry (PC World, 2013).
Capacity Management
According to several reports, Apple Inc. has requested its suppliers to produce about 95million units of new smartphone models, which have 5.5, and 4.7-inch displays by 2020 after outstanding success with the previous iPhone models. With such milestones, Apple has become one of the world’s most profiting organizations (CRN, 2016). Back in 2015, Apple made a profit of about $20bn in a span of four months. However, such kind of a success could not be realized if its supply chain was ineffective. However, Apple has been at the forefront of ensuring that its products are supplied globally to meet the current demands (Cock and Hopwood, 2016).
Currently, the organization relies on two smartphone assemblers and it is looking for a third strategic supplier. The reason behind looking for a third supplier is to increase its supply capacity. However, the process of getting the third supplier is a bit hectic because it takes time for suppliers to have their own production capacities increased (Buckingam–Hatfield, 2017). The management of capacity ought to be aligned with the development of new products. Therefore, Apple has come up with a manufacturing cycle known as the “ticktock” cycle for the production of new iPhone and PC models. This cycle comes with a major change in design like larger display features and others (Bullard, 2017).
However, capacity management depends on other operational management factors mentioned earlier before. For instance, availability of flexible, lively workplaces ensures that productivity is increased. On the contrary, it was earlier on mentioned that increased worker productivity does not require a lavish office. However, the organization needs to be creative enough with the available operational space (Bradford, 2016). As a result, the offices of Apple are spacious, have abundant natural light, and the rooms encourage private meeting holdings and collaboration of workers. With such, the level of productivity and satisfaction of employees is increased. Individuals feel free to work without necessarily being tied to their working positions. In future, such working structure will create more collaborations and work opportunities for Apple (Bennholdt-Thomsen and Mies, 2016).
Since the working places are interesting and beautiful, workers are able to interact and be more productive (Bookchin, 2017). Apple understands that the creation of isolated cubicles, dingy lighting, and offices that are colorless results in uninspiring work environments that also put off workers. In the future, Apple will mostly invest in the ambiance of its offices while expanding to new markets to improve the mood within the working environment (Daly, 2015). When the workforce is innovative, the organization is in a good position to achieve success. Apple ensures that its workers adapt to its operational culture of innovation by allowing workers from all departments to share their ideas with the administration. In the future, future innovation will depend on how much Apple regards its collaborative culture even in new rigid markets (Beck, 2017).
One of the key concerns of management at Apple Inc. is intellectual property theft. This issue has been a thorn on the operations of the company for a long period. The management of Apple is concerned with ensuring that proprietary information is kept a secret so that other companies aren’t able to steal their ideas. Such a case has led to several lawsuits between the company and its competitors and several other lawsuits are likely to affect the operations of Apple in future since the company is still unable to solve intellectual proprietary theft issues (Blowers, 2015). There are a number of ways through which global manufacturing could affect the operations of Apple in the near future. For instance, the current unstable economy is likely to get worse due to the increasing sovereign debt crises, volatility of the financial market, increasing health care costs, increasing fuel costs, reducing consumer spending, and increasing unemployment; all of which could lead to Apple’s downfall (Bramwell, 2014). Apart from the impacts of deteriorating global economy, the consumers of Apple goods are also likely to buy cheap pirated goods from competitor companies. According to Apple’s management, a lot of money is spent on the designs and development of products including the operating systems, hardware, software applications, as well as related services. According to reports provided by Apple, its competitors skip such manufacturing costs by copying the designs of its products thereby infringing on its intellectual property (Archie and Carrol, 2017).
Conclusion
In general, this paper has discussed management issues that impact on the operations of Apple Inc. To achieve its objectives, the work was divided into two major sections; A and B. Part A discussed “Operations Management Issues Affecting Future Growth” of Apple Inc., while part B discussed “Operation Management Issues to Cause Success”. However, the two sections reflected mainly on the factors below:
The paper, as a result, has been clear on the fact that the operations of Apple Inc. have been beneficial to the corporation and the society. However, the company has experienced a number of operational setbacks in relation to the discussed management factors. For instance, the company lost its shares to products that are lower-priced; in particular, those that run under the Microsoft Windows operating system. However, in spite of such challenges, the management of Apple has ensured that the corporation enjoys profound success (Archie and Carrol, 2017).
Reference
Agyeman J, Bullard R., and Evans B. (2015) Just Sustainabilities: Development In An Unequal World. London: Earthscan.
Alier, J. M. (2016) Problems of Ecological Degradation: Environmental Justice or Ecological Modernization. Capitalism Nature Socialism. 14: 133-140
Archie, B. and Carrol. (2017) The Pyramid of Corporate Social Responsibility: Toward the moral management of the School of Business at Indiana University.
Beck U. (2017) The Risk Society. Sage: London
Bennholdt-Thomsen, V., and Mies M. (2016) The Subsistence Perspective. Zed Press: London
Blowers A. (2015) The Time for Change. In Planning for a Sustainable Environment, Blowers A (ed). Earthscan: London
Bookchin M. (2017) Remaking Society. Black Rose Books: Montreal
Bradford G. (2016) How Deep is Deep Ecology? Times Change Press: Ojai, California
Bramwell A. (2014) Ecology in the Twentieth Century: a history. Yale University Press: London.
Buckingam–Hatfield, S. (2017) Gender and Environment. Routledge: London
Bullard R. (2017) Dumping in Dixie: Race, Class, and Environmental Quality. Westview Press: Boulder, Colorado
Christie, I., and Warburton, D. (2017) From Here to Sustainability. Earthscan: London
Cock, M., and Hopwood, B. (2016) Global Warning: Socialism and the Environment. Militant Labour: London
Collard A. (2015) The Rape of the Wild. Women’s Press: London
CRN (2016) “Survey: Notebooks Surpass Desktop Sales For First Time”. Available at: https://www.crn.com/showArticle.jhtml?ArticleID=169400139 [Accessed 3 November 2018]
Daly, H. and Cobb J. (2017) For the Common Good: Redirecting the Economy towards Community, the Environment and a Sustainable Future. Green Print: London
Daly H. (2015) Sustainable Growth: An Impossibility Theorem. In Valuing the Earth: Economics, Ecology Ethics, Daly H, Townsend (eds). MIT Press: Cambridge, Mass.
De Wit, B. and Meyer, R. (2013) Strategy Process, Content, and Context International Perspective, 4th Edition, Cengage Learning.
De Wit, B. and Meyer, R. (2014) Strategy, an International Perspective, 5th Edition, Cengage Learning.
DETR, (2015) A Better Quality of Life: A strategy for sustainable development for the United Kingdom. DETR: London
Devall B. (2013) Simple in Means, Rich in Ends. Green Print: London
Dillon, T., and Reif, H. (2014) “Factors Influencing Consumers’ E-Commerce Commodity Purchases”. Information Technology, Learning and Performance Journal. 22 (2), 1-12.
Dobson, A. (2014) Sustainable Development and the Defence of the Natural World. In: Global Sustainable Development in the 21st Century
Ganesh, J., Arnold, M. and Reynolds, K. E. (2015) “Understanding the Customer Base of Service Providers: An Examination of the Differences between Switchers and Stayers”, Journal of Marketing, 64 (3). 65-88.
Geisler, E. and Hoang, W. (2013) “Purchasing Information Technologies: Behavior Patterns in Service Companies”. International Journal of Purchasing and Materials Management. 28(3), 38-42.
Hair, J., Anderson, R., Tatham, R., and Black, W. (2018) Multivariate Data Analysis, 5th Edition. New York: Prentice Hall.
Hong, Se-Joon, L., Lerch, F. and Javier. (2013) “A Laboratory Study of Consumers’ Preferences and Purchasing Behavior with Regards to Software Components”. ACM SIGMIS, 33 (3), 23-37.
IDC, (2016) “It’s Gut-Check Time as Disruptive Business Models Gain Traction” [Online] “IDC Predictions. Available at: www.idc.com/ExecutiveInsights.htm [Accessed 3 November 2018]
Jarvenpaa, S., and Todd, P. (2017) “Consumer Reactions to Electronic Shopping on the World Wide Web”. International Journal of Electronic Commerce. 1 (2), 59-88.
Kim, N., Han, J. K., and Srivastava, R. K. (2013) “A Dynamic IT Adoption Model for the SOHO Market: PC Generational Decisions with Technological Expectations”, Management Science, 48 (2), 222-242.
Lee, K. and Holland, A. (2013) Sustainable Development. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press; McNeill D (eds).
PC World (2013) “Notebooks, LCDs Get Sales Edge”. Available at: https://www.PCWorld_com-NotebooksLCDsGetSalesEdge.htm [Accessed 03 November 2018]
Essay Writing Service Features
Our Experience
No matter how complex your assignment is, we can find the right professional for your specific task. Contact Essay is an essay writing company that hires only the smartest minds to help you with your projects. Our expertise allows us to provide students with high-quality academic writing, editing & proofreading services.
Free Features
Free revision policy
$10Free bibliography & reference
$8Free title page
$8Free formatting
$8How Our Essay Writing Service Works
First, you will need to complete an order form. It's not difficult but, in case there is anything you find not to be clear, you may always call us so that we can guide you through it. On the order form, you will need to include some basic information concerning your order: subject, topic, number of pages, etc. We also encourage our clients to upload any relevant information or sources that will help.
Complete the order form
Once we have all the information and instructions that we need, we select the most suitable writer for your assignment. While everything seems to be clear, the writer, who has complete knowledge of the subject, may need clarification from you. It is at that point that you would receive a call or email from us.
Writer’s assignment
As soon as the writer has finished, it will be delivered both to the website and to your email address so that you will not miss it. If your deadline is close at hand, we will place a call to you to make sure that you receive the paper on time.
Completing the order and download