Case Study #2 Free Essays

Case study # 2: The apple of your â€Å"I† This case study will describe why Apple Inc. is a very successful company and has become the second largest public company in the world. It all started  in the 1980’s when Apple started producing home computers. We will write a custom essay sample on Case Study #2 or any similar topic only for you Order Now This helped those who were full-time students and workers by also producing a particular computer, the Macintosh computer. However, in 1985 Steve Jobs lost against the Apple board, and because of the unfortunate negative outcome of the meeting, Steve found a positive outlook from the situation. He then founded another PC company called NeXT while Apple took a turn for the worst. In 1996 Apple reconnected with Steve and bought his NeXT Company and gained the technology that would later help create the MAC. The Apple bounce back was far from over though; Apple needed to step away from their comfort zone with the computer PC’s and think outside the box in order to achieve the goal of being on top once more. How were they going to do so though? What changes and where? These were the types of questions that needed to be answered before that leap was taken. Q1. Which of Porter’s four competitive strategies does Apple engage in? Explain. Porter’s four competitive strategies are described as an organization that can focus on being the cost leader, or it can focus on differentiating its products or services from those of the competition. Further, the organization can use the cost or differentiation strategy across an industry or it can focus its strategy on a particular industry segment. Apple engages in better product/service across the industry, because Apple values their customer’s visits and loyalty. Apples retail stores have a very modern look to them and appeal to many people from young to old. Apple is always coming out with a better/newer product that can bring more customers in. Apple is constantly offering some form of a newer product every six months to a year. Apple is always on top of new technology that has come out and they implement it to their products. Q2. What do you think are the three most important factors in Apple’s incredible success? Justify your answer. One of Apple’s successes is making sure that they value their customer’s and their opinions. The second one is always having the next big product that can do something that the last one couldn’t. For example, the difference between the IPhone 4 and the IPhone 4s. Apple included in the IPhone 4s a new feature called Siri. Siri is a voice recognition application that the user can ask almost anything and Siri will be able to not only understand it, but be able to search for anything on the internet.. It is thing The third one is making sure that their products are updated and ready to go before they put them on the shelves. They also are constantly updating their products that are out in the public. People who work on the sales floor for Apple make sure that they can help the customers out in every way by never saying â€Å"we can’t† or â€Å"no†. The reason one of their successes is the next big product is because of the example they give, â€Å"the iPod fed iTunes and created a growing customer base that was ripe for the iPhone†. Q3. Steve Jobs passed away in the Fall of 2011. Until his death, he had been the heart and soul of Apple’s innovation. Today, 35,000 Apple employees continue onward in his absence. A huge question too many investors is whether the company can be successful without him. What is your opinion? What role did he play? How can Apple respond to his loss? Would you be willing to invest in Apple without his leadership? Why or why not? Apple can most definitely be successful without Steve jobs. Apple is a major brand that dominates the technology field. You have probably the most popular cellular device out now, with most major retailers selling the IPhone. Most major cellphone carriers now carry the IPhone for their plans, and just recently virgin mobile started offering the IPhone with its pre-paid plan. Steve Jobs played the founding role for Apple. The public liked these new gadgets because of their â€Å"cool† accessories and sleekness. The iPod could hold thousands of songs and came in many different colors and sizes, and the iPhone had a screen that would rotate when turned sideways and also had a full touch screen keyboard. He set the foundation for Apple to continue to build off of, with the IPhone, iPad and MacBook’s. Apple can continue to improve those products for a good long while. Steve Jobs made Apple a household name to where almost every person somehow uses some form of an Apple product Apple could respond to Steve Jobs death by encouraging that Apple will continue to remain the way Steve Jobs ran the company I have and will continue to Invest in Apple even without Steve Jobs. I also feel like Apple will continue to successful without Steve Jobs because Apple will still be using the same tactics as if Jobs was still alive, mainly because having an unbeatable product is part of the culture Jobs created in Apple. Apple may change a bit but Apple always seem to make every product almost irresistible, even if it really serves almost no purpose. Their products that they offer are very well manufactured and their customer service is top-notch too. Apple has amazing products and I believe they will continue to have them for a while. Q4. Microsoft took an early lead in the development of slate devices (like the iPad), and it the world’s leading operating system and applications for over 20 years. Provide five reasons why Microsoft was not able to achieve the same success that Apple has. Most industry analysts would agree that the skills and abilities of Microsoft’s 88,000 employees are as good, on average, as Apple’s. Microsoft took an early lead in the development of slate devices; however Microsoft has not been as successful as Apple has. There are many reasons for this success in Apple than Microsoft; here are five specific reasons why Apple has become much more successful than Microsoft. Microsoft has a market of only $212. 5 billion, compared to Apple’s growing market of over $300 billion. Microsoft continued its work with the PC while Apple broke away and started working towards the iPod, iPhone and the iPad. Microsoft also had many issues and bugs with Microsoft Silverlight and Adobe Flash. In addition, Apple took on retailer problems by opening its own stores, instead of selling through other stores such as Best Buy. In turn, this pioneered the sale of music and applications over the internet, unlike Microsoft. Apple shared its revenue to encourage the development of the iPhone and iPad apps. Apple paid over $2. 5 billion to application developers. â€Å"Every sales success feeds every other sales success† The sales of music over the internet led to the development of the iPod, which led to a better iTunes and this created a growing customer base. That then led to the iPhone, the sales of the iPhone fed the stores, which in turn helped and paid the developer community, and that is what led to more applications. Q5. Considering your answers to the four questions above, if you had a spare $5,000 in your portfolio and wanted to buy an equality of stock with it, would you buy AAPL (Apple)? Why or why not? I would buy an equity stock, because Apple continues to rise on the stock charts. From 1984 to 2005 it was very steady in its growth. Then from 2005 to present day, it shot up quickly because of the products that they keep upgrading and making new ones. I would also buy an equity stock because; Apple also dominates more than 85% of the Mp3 player market globally. In addition, Apple retail stores are statistically the best performing store in the U. S. making roughly $4 per square foot per year. This is because the stores are clean and simple, giving each product its own section within the stores. Apple takes pride in being offering different products than its competitors. When you invest in Apple you know that whatever money you invest is going towards a strong, well put together company. As of 2011, Apple has over 300 retail outlets that are ran with great customer service and positive attitudes. Their facilities need their employees to be able to problem solve and are not allowed to use the world ‘unfortunately’. This is what Apple wanted to give back to the public; they wanted their company to be known for their great ideas and become the most common technology, and the way to do this is to give a customer service base that is friendly and easy to use. Overall, the lesson to learn here is that every sale success feeds ever other sales success. Because of the iPod ITunes came to be and created a growing customer base that also helped the iPhone. The things the IPhone allowed helped create the iPad. This was a chain effect that helped turn Apple around. Because of the success from these gadgets their company has now just about reached its goal in becoming the most popular PC and phone dealer in today’s society. It is a very well-known name and has become affordable for every class of society. and who knows what they will come up with next! -Works Cited- Kroenke, D. M. (2012). Using MIS. Saddle River: Pearson Education, Inc. How to cite Case Study #2, Free Case study samples