Internal Scan Of Apple Inc
Introduction
The apple Inc traces is roots back to 1976 when the two co-founders Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak brought together resources and started the Corporation. Steve Jobs is reckoned as the key icon that spearheaded the excelling performance of the organization. It is amazing how he moved the organization from scratch without using any shareholder’s money. The organization has since its incorporation enjoyed an outstanding leadership from Steve Jobs although he sometimes left the organization and came back, the employees of the corporation have applauded Jobs for his outstanding leadership competencies.
Apple Inc’s organizational structure
The organization has a functional organizational structure whereby the focus is on the duties performed, this is how the departments in the organization are established. The top management of the organization identifies people with a particular skill and groups them together; these groups form the various departments in the organization. The departments are under the ceiling of the top management. Apple Inc is among the leading investors in R&D, it has a strong department for this, and it has also a very strong sales and marketing team who sell the products of the organization direct to its markets. The key member in the management and who can be attributed to where it is today is the departed Steve Jobs.
The organizational structure of the corporation is in line with its strategies which include: differentiation, diversification, innovation and expanding its market share. The innovation and differentiation strategies are achieved through the R&D team, the organization sets aside overwhelming part of its profit reserves towards funding this department. It also ensures that the department is achieving its desired goals through identifying and bringing together talent, the organizations embarks in organizational poaching to hunt for talent, once talent is identified it is brought together in its respective departments.
The market share strategy is achieved by have a very strong sales team. The marketing department has very knowledgeable sales team as stated in the case. This team is effective in marketing its products to the various outlets. By having knowledgeable sales persons the organization is thus able to achieve its market share strategy. The diversification strategy is achieved through an array of product lines which include mobile phones, television sets, personal computers and software among many others, they have a pool of skills for making all its products.
Apple’s organizational culture
The organization’s organizational culture was inspired by Steve jobs; its driving theme is research and innovation. Organizational culture refers to ways of doing thins in an organization. The key icon of the organization was a charismatic leader as per the article; many employees admired Jobs and his way of doing things. It is stated in the article that he never directed the employees, he portrayed his leadership skill by working together with the employees. He is known as the best entrepreneurs, in periods when he went away from the organization, its performance began sinking, however when he came back the performance shoot up.
The driving theme of the organization which is research and innovation has seen it stay ahead of its competitors. It makes hardware and the respective software used by the hardware, its software is easy to use. The organization was also the first to promote the use of technology in the education process. It did this by channeling substantial resources towards funding selected schools to implement technology in their education, many other education institutions subsequently embraced technology in their learning process and this way the organization was able to catapult its sales above its competitors.
Apple’s resources
Apple Inc has invested largely in the human resources, the driving theme of the organization is innovation, to realize this, and it has brought together a pool of talent. The organizational continuously comes up with new products which see it sees it say on a competitive edge against it creditors; the iTunes and iPod saw the organization surpass all its competitors.The organization has a very knowledgeable sales team which markets its brands in its various outlets across the globe. The sales team is experts in the brands; they demonstrate to the customers the usage of the products and offer after sales services such as installation to them. This way the market share expansion strategy is met.
From the case article, only strengths of the functional units are available, apparently the organization does not have any perceived weakness. The strong research and innovation team which was inspired by Steve Jobs is apprised. The team has been able to come up with different product lines; diversification has enabled the organization stay ahead of its competitors even during tough economic times. The article also reckons the knowledgeable sales persons who sell its products effectively to its customers. Since the organization was established it has retained its competitive advantage in the market through its strategies of innovation, diversification, differentiation and market share expansion.
Reference
Moustafa, H. & Richard, D. et al. (2010). Apple Inc: Performance in a zero sum world economy. Case 7
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