...10 Ways to Build a Business Culture like Apple One of the big advantages of being an entrepreneur and starting your company from scratch is that you get to set the culture, which is much easier than changing the culture of an existing business. The challenge is how to do it, and how to do it right. Why not learn what you can from companies like Apple, who are leading the way with great growth and a great culture? Jim Stengel, in his latest book “Grow: How Ideals Power Growth and Profit” chronicles a ten-year study of the world’s fifty best businesses, including Apple, and concludes that those who centered their businesses on a culture of improving people’s lives had a growth rate triple that of competitors in their categories. Here are ten culture building principles, adapted for startups from this study, that I believe have the same potential for tripling the growth and survival potential of your entrepreneurial efforts: 1. Communicate your dream and operationalize it. Mission statements tend to be narrow, business oriented statements such as “Be the leader in customer satisfaction.” Your dream and your company culture needs to be outward focused with a higher good, extending beyond the company’s financial interests. 2. Be clear about what you stand for, inside and outside your company. Your personal priorities, values, and principles set the culture. The best way to be clear about them is to regularly engage team members, customers, and suppliers. People follow what...
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...Apple: A Class Above Every Other On April 1st, 1976, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak founded a company by the name of Apple Computers. Apple Computers released the Apple I, and established its company in Cupertino, California. During the mid 80s, Steve Jobs was dismissed from his own company due to the conflict in leadership and as to where the company should be headed; Furthermore, in the 1990s, Apple as a company was falling from grace and faced severe hits through their sales in the computer market and encountered low shares in the market. Through an acquisition of NeXT in 1996, Steve Jobs was able to return to Apple to pick the mantle of CEO. With Steve Jobs return, he introduced new corporate philosophical ideas and added more emphases on recognizable products and design. Steve Jobs was an innovator a creative genius, and a leader; He once said, “Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.” With Steve Jobs leadership, in 2001, Apple introduced the first iPod. Since Apple was branching out from the personal computing business it decided to drop the “Computer” from its name, which ushered a new era for Apple. On January 9th, 2007, Apple introduced the first generation iPhone that changed the face of the mobile industry and brought a new emphasis on how products are designed, marketed, produced, manufactured, and presented. Steve Jobs emphasizes excellence and perfection, he once said, “Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren’t used to an environment where excellence...
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...Apple Inc. has become one of the most valuable company in the world. Steve Jobs creates Apple on January 3, 1977. It was able to change the way people were able to listen to music. It became the No. 2 company in May 2010. Apple Inc. has grossed over $337 billion. It suffered from financial losses and the changing of numerous chief executive officers. According to Akkad (2011), In October of 2001, when Steve Jobs revealed the iPod, the company made a huge turnaround and went from just a computer-making company to the leader of the consumer mobile revolution (Akkad, 2011). When the iTunes store and iPhone came on the scene, consumers were able to use these two products to purchase apps and music instead of buying software to be put on computers. Apple takes pride in their ethical and social responsibility and the environment. Social responsibility is an act in doing something good for the society. Apple not only tries to keep their social responsibility at good standing, but it also tries to keep the environment in good health. The social responsibility violations that were made by suppliers may or may not have damaged its reputation. There are ways that can be utilize to make sure that Apple’s suppliers agree to wage and benefits standards. Apple is always coming up with new ways to make future products better than the last product. Because of the better technology, customers are always trying to keep up with the latest technology. With that being said, customers...
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...they could do? Apple faces many competitors in the various industries it participates in, especially on the mobile side. One of the biggest problems that apple faces is the high cost of its products, such as iPhones and iPads. Competitors are constantly cutting their products prices in order to attract customers away from apple. Therefore, Apple must find a way to keep its products cost down to an affordable price range to maintain its customers happy. Apple's competitors have the ability to sell their products at little to no profit forcing apple to find a way to reduce the cost involved with producing their products in order to maintain the same profit margins it has enjoyed. One of the areas Apple has a problem with is the scarcity of materials available that are crucial to building its products. In order to stay on top of the competition, Apple is constantly introducing new and updated products to the market with superior hardware than its competitors. These new technologies come from companies with very specific hardware that is hard to come by. Therefore, Apple must lock up these companies in order to use their hardware exclusively but also aid them in their growth. The demand for Apple products is so high that supplies to Apple have a hard time keeping up with production. Apple can help itself by investing in the infrastructure and growth of these companies it depends on to get its product out in quantities to satisfy the market. Apple maintains its market...
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...1. Executive Summary Apple as one of the most famous and successful corporations and brands in the world can attribute its past success to Steve Jobs and their employees. The whole organisation understands the companies (mainly Steve Jobs) vision and philosophy. In Apple, employees think that they can change the world and bring completely new values to the customers by design and innovation. They not only want to deliver these new values in a simple way, but also want to provide the customers with functionalities and features they need and that are competitive. Apple is capable of applying simplicity to the design and innovation of their products and at the same time considering customers' needs. While living this vision and philosophy, Apple does things different as compared to its competitors. Apple is going its own way and sets own industry standards and norms. Apple does not want to be an imitator but rather an innovator, with products and services that mean something special to their customers. The above described vision and philosophy is applied across the whole Apple organisation and all employees understand what Apple wants to stand for. Apple employees are dedicated and take on and fulfill their responsibilities accordingly. The question on hand is; Can Apple keep up its good performance and reputation after Steve Jobs' dead in 2011? 2. Introduction In the following sections, I will highlight some issues and threads that Apple will be facing with its...
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...1. What are some of Apple’s biggest successes and failures? Describe why. The Good How can we have a list of Apples greatest successes without including the computer that kicked it all off, the Apple II. This is the computer that started it all, built just 12 months after the Apple 1 came out, it was the computer that made Apple the company it is today. It was the fastest selling computer of its time, and was designed by cofounder Woznaik. Apple sold this line if computers for almost 20 years or until about 1993. The Apple II cost about $1300 when it first went on sale, but this did not stop the company from selling over 300,000 units in the first few months. This computer alone made Apple $79 million in revenue during 1979. The reason this computer was so successful for its time was the fact it had color graphics, came with two gaming paddles, and was expandable to the users who had it. It came with the ability to add a printer and floppy disk drive to it as well, which was well ahead for its time. I don’t know how anyone can talk about Apple and not mention ITunes. ITunes changed the way Apple was and will be forever. They changed the way an industry was, and actually killed CD’s in its wake. It was introduced in Jan 2001 and allowed users to store all the data in one place on a computer or portable device. When ITunes was first released it was only available for download on Mac OS 9, however when they partnered with Microsoft and created a platform on Windows...
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...analysis we will look at Apple’s standing in the digital age. How Apple has become a leader in innovation and first to market strategies and how their business strategy has helped them retain their revenues even through the recent recession. We will also look at how Apple’s financial standing helps them continue to innovate and come up with products that keep their customers coming back for more. Finally a SWOT analysis was done to show what the markets possibilities and threats are and how to overcome the weaknesses and threats and how to make the most of the strengths and opportunities. APPLE IN 2010 1. What are the chief elements of Apple’s overall competitive strategy? How well do the pieces fit together? Is the strategy evolving? Leading the industry in innovation has been the main strategy at Apple. The new products that Apple has introduced over the past decade have kept them out front of their competitors. Their differentiation strategy meets the needs of the global market by the offering of new industry leading products and improvements on the products they already produce. Being an innovator in in the industry and developing its own operating system and software used in these systems has kept Apple leaps and bounds ahead of their competition. Since they have complete control over their software and hardware, it allows them to be more flexible in their product development. When Apple was beginning back in the mid-1970s, their focus was on developing...
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...Product and Services chad University of Phoenix Ken Orgill Product and services They changed the way we communicate with the world, the way we gather information and the way we see entertainment. This company has made millions and will continue to surprise us each year. Apple’s success has changed the world and many companies to follow. Technology helps shape this company into what they are today. They are the technology. How technology has shaped Apple Apple doesn’t need technology it is the technology. They have produced some of the best personal computers. They started out big in 2001 when they introduced the apple ipod. This was the cutting edge music. The Ipod allowed us to step out of the box and play and load much more music than ever before. Technology has allowed them to take a small chip and load dozens of songs onto it and get rid of the old cd players or radios. Apple has become famous for the iPads and iPhones and the Mac. Apple has become one of the most admired companies on the market. Apple has changed the way we view cellphones and other companies are following in their footsteps. Because of technological advances, the company is able to keep improving on their technology. They sell one of a kind product. How has technology changed the product line? Apple is continuously changing their product line to focus on new technology that is coming about. They are one of the leading companies for cellphones and computers. Today’s technology...
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...technological era, we have come a long way in just the past decade. It is important to note and credit companies and organizations that have played a vital role in today’s technological growth, progress, and success. One of the most important companies responsible for this success is Apple. Millions of people shop at Apple every day, whether it is to buy a laptop, iPod, iPhone, desktop, or even a television. Apple has become a big part of society. In my family, my brother works at an Apple store in the Florida area as a Geek Squad. It is for this reason that the corporation Apple, Inc. will be used for this course’s project topic. With the experience and knowledge of the company, my brother will assist me in gathering information and useful resources that is required research and understand this organization. Steve Jobs originally founded Apple Company in 1976 (Sanford, 2012). At first, it was a company that essentially created and produced computers and other electronics such as music players, cellular phones, and other merchandises. Throughout the past five years, Apple has and continues to connect the world with its innovative technology that has also worked its way into the science world. This corporation not only serves the United States of America, but the rest of the world as well. In the first years that Apple was created, it was not at all popular and famous, or even successful for that matter. It was up until the early 2000s that Apple started catching people’s attention...
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...Marketing 18 March 2014 url - http://9to5mac.com/2014/03/02/apple-seemingly-turns-to-tumblr-to-promote-the-iphone-5c/ Apple seemingly turns to Tumblr to promote the iPhone 5c I. Summary Apple has used advertisements on the popular website tumblr. Apple used advertisements on tumblr to target special market with younger people. Apples iPhone 5c is use to attract the younger people with bright colors and a cheaper price value. The apple advertisements has different videos for different colors. Each video has his own name and has different settings of music. The videos also show off the brand-new case that comes with the phones that are available in different colors. The page is not an official Apple website page on tumblr. The page is actually named after the overall advertisement title. The source code for the page states that the videos come from a source name MAL. MAL is the name of the advertisement company for Apple in the US. II. Analysis I think that it was smart for Apple to target do users of tumblr. Tumblr has millions of users. The main target audience that uses tumblr are younger people. As a way to attract a younger people, Apple has made advertisements on some which is logical. Recently the iPhone 5c has become lower than Apple's expectation sells because they are failing to meet their targets. Apple is known to be one of the best brands in the world. Apple doesn't really try to go out of their way to sell their products. Their products are high-quality...
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...There are some weaknesses we found in the Apple company web site that we need to improve. As we know, the weakness of the Apple Company websites ( www.apple.com.my ) are less promotion event, lack of introduction video on every product, the comparison system and others. Therefore, Apple Company should take action as soon as possible on their weakness to become their strength and compete with their competitors. So there are several ways to improve the weakness of the Apple Company website which are increase promotion in Apple company web site, add video that can explain more specification information about the product and have comparison system with other company product. Firstly, the way to improve problem of less promotion event is increase promotion in Apple company web site. As we know Apple products are very popular among people especially teenagers even products of Apple are very expensive but have high quality. Even though Apple did promotion on their official website before this such as Back To School Promotion 2014 but it’s only limited to some countries (Apple Rebate, 2015). So, Apple should do more promotions that open for all countries. Besides, do more promotions of devices and accessories on Apple webpage. Apple products costlier as compared to other brands but have high quality so, people will take the opportunity to purchase Apple products when there are promotions especially promotion in the website. Secondly, add video that can explain more specification information...
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...electronics. It is the beginning of all the possible things that customers can do by wearing a product. Product Features and Target Market Needs Apple watch has multiple services that will make their customers happy and be able to stay in touch with everything conveniently. There are more than one watch to choose from, which will help each customer wanted one that meet their needs (Apple Inc., 2015). A company that have options are important because it allow their customers to have a choice in what they want versus not having any choice. Apple watch lets customers interact and navigate wearing a smaller device to wear around your wrist, but work just like an iPhone or a Mac computer (Apple Inc., 2015). The Apple watch has a retina display that will provide a better quality image, unlike other watches and recognize a simple touch to open up applications (Apple Inc., 2015). This will help customers who do not have smartphones wear something they are used to such as a watch and give them the same experience as those who have a smartphone. Apple Watch has also included a personal touch such as their Taptic Engine that alerts you by a tap and interact with other Apple watch user by sending them your heartbeat (Apple Inc., 2015). This is a personal touch that customers can use to send to their love ones when they are away. The Apple watch is worn on your wrist, and it is easier to track your physical activities, unlike a phone where you have to have it with you...
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...i aim to compare the differences and similarities of two specific organisations, Apple and HSBC for the purpose of extended in-depth research i intend to use information collected independently via the internet and from the businesses themselves to attain a coherent comparison of said techniques used to market products. The organisations in question are businesses varying in sectors and specialities. Both of the businesses are mentioned in the best 100 global brand directory at number one (Apple) and number thirty two (HSBC) as shown below. Marketing techniques are tools used to ensure businesses reach their marketing objectives in the most efficient yet profitable manner. Survival, a technique that must be considered by the majority of start up/young businesses however, this aspect no longer applies to the businesses in question due to their success. Both businesses are similar considering that they must ensure they stay profitable, for example it is crucial that both businesses stay up to date with advances in technology, a form of product development. HSBC offer the “secure key” which intertwines safety of customer’s accounts and technological aspects of accessibility whilst being obtainable. Similarly to HSBC, Apple ensure they stay up to date in terms of safety for customers apps such as “find my iPhone” were launched whereby customers in the event of misplacing or losing their apple device can locate it via the GPS systems and place a message upon the screen instructing...
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...on the case “Apple inc. in 2010” (David B.Yoffie and Renée Kim) January 28th, 2012 Introduction Apple Inc. is an American multinational corporation that designs and sells consumer electronics, computer software and personal computers. The company's best-known hardware products are the Macintosh line of computers, the iPod, the iPhone and the iPad. Apple’s software includes the Mac OS X operating system; the iTunes media browser; Aperture, a professional photography package; the Safari web browser; and iOS, a mobile operating system. Fortune magazine named Apple the most admired company in the world from 2008 to 2011. But Apple experienced its share of difficulties in the 80s and was nearly bankrupt when Steve Jobs returned to the company to reclaim his position as CEO in 1997, after a 12 year hiatus. Jobs’ return signaled Apple’s turnaround, and the company’s strategy was redefined as it evolved to focus on the mobile world and the digital lifestyle of home consumers. This report will review Apple’s core competencies and the competitive advantage that has contributed to its unprecedented market success and phenomenal profitability. Apple inc. Core Competencies Apple’s most significant core competency has without a doubt been its ability to continuously innovate. In the past 10 years, Apple has successfully launched five legitimately life-changing innovations: the ipod, itunes, the ipad, the iphone and the Apple Apps have each altered the way people across the...
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...Reflection Paper Apple was founded by Steve Jobs, Stephen Gary Wozniak (Wozniak), and Ronald Gerald Wayne (Wayne) on April 1, 1976. Working at Jobs's garage they designed a personal computer (PC) that was sold as Apple I. The company was incorporated as Apple Computer, Inc. on January 3, 1977. Thereafter, the company grew by introducing many innovative and commercially successful products such as Apple II (1977) and Apple III (1980). Right from its inception, Apple had been a company committed to building great products using the latest technologies. The strong R&D focus that Jobs and Wozniak insisted on helped Apple to differentiate itself from its competitors. Product Innovation Apple Inc. (Apple) produces such items and services as “iPhone®, iPad®, Mac®, iPod®, Apple TV®, a portfolio of consumer and professional software applications, the iOS and Mac OS®X operating systems, iCloud®, and a variety of accessory, service and support offerings” (Apple, 2014). Apple’s innovation strategy, financials and business plan are described below and evaluated along with the risks involved with the strategies. Innovation Strategy Innovative companies can thrive even in a tough economy. Apple Inc. has seen hard times and good times. Apple has survived as a company because of a renewed commitment to innovation. This commitment to innovation spearheaded by Steve Jobs has caused other companies to analyze how Apple does so well. First, it is important to note that Apple has not been always...
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