...employees, Apple has been able to maintain its competitive position till date. The employees of Apple provide new values to customer through unique design and innovation. Apple has the ability to understand and deliver the customer’s needs in simple and sophisticated way. The major reason behind the success of apple is its strategy where it develops product that are completely differently than competitors i.e. it believes in being innovator rather than imitator. Case Issues The issues in this case can be listed as: * What are the key factors that have contributed to the innovation and creativity at Apple? * Is there any systematic approach to innovation at Apple? * Will Apple be able to keep up with customer’s expectation and continue to be a leading brand without its founder Steve Jobs? * Which is more important? Innovation or Brand image? Case Facts The facts mentioned in the case are listed below: * Apple went through a lot of turbulent phases and had many ups and down in the past but still, it struggled and never gave up. Due to its commitment towards product design and development it has been able to sustain itself as world’s top Brand. * Apple always believed in keeping it simple yet sophisticated. It always focused on customers need and wants and creatively developed user friendly product which are easy to use and highly interactive. * Apple’s products are stylish, fashionable and trendy which makes it look classy and elegant. This is also...
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...understanding the needs of the consumers and guaranteeing that they meet those consumers’ needs will improve relationships with customers and increase product usage; to improve their brand image. A business can even improve their marketing strategy so that their products can reach each target segment. One form of marketing is utilization of the Strategic Business Insight (SBI) system, VALS, an eight-part typology to segment the market based on psychographic measures. This involves consumer lifestyles and values and breaking them down into eight different groups, four with higher resources and four with lower resources. The higher groups include: innovators, thinkers, achievers, and experiencers; the lower groups include: believers, strivers, makers, and survivors. When I took my VALS, it showed me that I am a primary thinker and secondary innovator; a person who dominates life approaches and ethics is my motivation. As a thinker I am a mature, satisfied, comfortable and reflective person that has the following values: knowledge, responsibility, and order (SBI, 2014, b). What struck me as odd is that it stated that I tend to be well educated and seek out information to make decisions; but remains well-informed about the world and national events and opportunities to widen the knowledge that I have (SBI, 2014, b). I know that is me too a “t”; I love learning new things and being able to learn keeps me ahead of the competition when searching for a job; but it is also a downfall because...
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...Customers as Innovators: A New Way to Create Value by Stefan Thomke and Eric von Hippel Reprint r0204f April 2002 HBR Case Study The Cost Center That Paid Its Way Julia Kirby r0204a First Person If You Want Honesty, Break Some Rules Ginger L. Graham r0204b Big Picture Wealth Happens Mark Buchanan r0204c Maneuver Warfare: Can Modern Military Strategy Lead You to Victory? Eric K. Clemons and Jason A. Santamaria r0204d Executive Women and the Myth of Having It All Sylvia Ann Hewlett r0204e Customers as Innovators: A New Way to Create Value Stefan Thomke and Eric von Hippel r0204f Reawakening Your Passion for Work Richard Boyatzis, Annie McKee, and Daniel Goleman r0204g r0204h Best Practice Saving Your Rookie Managers from Themselves Carol A. Walker The Entrepreneur Out of the Blue and into the Black Frank Batten r0204j Innovators A New Way to Create Value R&D has long been a costly and inexact process. Now some companies are trying a radically new approach, giving customers the tools to design and develop their own products. Customers as by Stefan Thomke and Eric von Hippel “L isten carefully to what your customers want and then respond with new products that meet or exceed their needs.” That mantra has dominated many a business, and it has undoubtedly led to great products and has even shaped entire industries. But slavishly obeying that conventional wisdom can also threaten a company’s ability...
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...[pic] NOVEMBER 10, 2004 THE GREAT INNOVATORS By Mike Brewster | | | | |Mark McCormack, Superagent | |The founder of IMG managed and marketed athletes from Arnold Palmer to Monica Seles in a way that changed the game profoundly | In a famous scene in the 1996 film Jerry Maguire, the sports agent played by Tom Cruise is goaded by his client, played by Cuba Gooding Jr., to repeatedly scream into the phone "Show me the money." By the time that film came out, however, the role of the sports agent had long since been transformed into one far more sophisticated than simply negotiating contracts. And while screenwriter Cameron Crowe based the Jerry Maguire character on agent Leigh Steinberg, it was Mark McCormack who ushered in the modern era of sports management and marketing. McCormack, founder of International Management Group (IMG), believed the popularity and marketability of athletes could transcend borders, cultures, language, even sports itself. McCormack-managed athletes were the first to endorse clothing, watches, and motor oil. They played exhibition matches around the world (you can thank McCormack for golf's...
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...PLANNING Decision-making and planning is said to be having the same characteristics in process however, planning is more integrative of a complex of forces and values harmonizing a breadth of goal and sub goals that is longer in term while decision-making is composite. It incorporates a statement of problem to be treated, a formulation and evaluation of imaginable alternative responses and the selection among them. Planners strive to learn of the practical difficulties awaiting their work progress. They must persuade their clients to accept their plan. Their decision must reflect consistent consideration of benefits and penalties and that it is devoted to what is good. We have two major extreme planning models. First is the rational planning model which seeks to construct an objectively ‘best’ plan and to maximize the role of the planner as expert. Goals are defined and priorities set among the desired consequence of policy. Alternatives are analyzed and the best will be chosen, one most likely and economically attainable. The experts’ crucial role would be in acquiring and assessing technical information and in selecting alternative. While the public's function is to define the goals then the planner advises how to best reach them. Second is the advocacy model which claims that alternative policies inevitably restrict value choices, properly within the realm of politics, rather than the preserve of experts. It believes that the public should be involved throughout the planning...
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...Although the interest in “motion pictures” dates back hundreds of years, it wasn’t until the early 19th century that the American people began to focus on advancing the visual art of film. DIfferent methods of image projection served as the rudimentary foundations of motion picture entertainment, and they advanced rapidly throughout the 1800s. Innovators such as Thomas Edison and Eadweard Muybridge began building off of image-projecting technologies to create the roots of America’s film industry. The history of the “motion picture” as we know it begins with photographer and entrepreneur Eadweard Muybridge in California in the late 19th century. He used timed exposures of photos of racehorses to capture the different stages of a horse’s gallop and placed them on a projector to simulate motion. He traveled with his creation in hopes of advancing his invention, and he eventually met with Thomas Edison at one of his shows. During this time, Edison and Muybridge worked together while trying to discover a way to set these moving images to sound from Edison’s phonograph. Soon after their meeting, Edison set out to create an even better camera that could capture more images, and eventually created the kinetograph and the kinetoscope. By the turn of the century, it was evident that the film industry was s profitable enterprise. Many early films contained little to no story line, such as Edison’s The Kiss and The Sneeze. Later, when the ability to pan a camera was born, cinema company...
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...VALS Framework and Segment on Laptop: Innovator. # successful, sophisticated, take-charge people. They are directed towards the “Finer things in life”. so they will choose apple laptop as Apple is playing the most active role and has the superior brand value in this arena. # Image is important to Innovators, not as evidence of status or power but as an expression of their taste, independence, and personality. Prefer those products which will express their taste, independence and character. Apple is the best match for them to express this type of people. MacBook has stunning display and it is slim, powerful, light and fast which also gives excellent quality # change leaders who are most receptive to new ideas and technologies so they are the group of people who will be changing their product frequently. # Innovators posses highest income. Apple plays the active role and requires highest price- MacBook’s price range is from $887- $ 2712, and they can afford it. #For their high self esteem they like to lead and Apple helps them with its high quality. MacBook’s processor type is Intel core processor of different generations. Thinkers. # Thinkers are highly motivated by standards. HP (Hewlett-Packard) is a standard brand for laptops. Its installed ram is 1-8 GB, hard drive capacity 100- 2000 GB based on variety and display size is 17-19 inch # They have enough financial resources, but...
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...HRM FOR CUSTOMERS: HOW TO MANAGE CUSTOMER INVOLVEMENT FOR MAXIMUM INNOVATIVE CAPABILITY 1JM06 – Essay N.F.J. Hubbers 0752194 Eindhoven University of Technology June 4, 2012 Abstract The role of the customer is changing. Nowadays customers demand an even more sophisticated role in the production process. Organizations can benefit from this change in role by using user knowledge in the innovation process. However this change in role has influence on both the existing HRM activities directed at the employees as well on new HRM activities directed at the customers. This research shows most important changes within the HRM functions: Reqruitement, Performance appraisal and rewarding. Key words: Lead user involvement, HRM, customer employee interaction 1JM06 – N.F.J. Hubbers – HRM FOR CUSTOMERS Introduction Within the technical innovation environment we see an up march of the involvement of the so called lead users, which are users of a product or service that currently experience needs still unknown to the public and who also benefit greatly if they obtain a solution to these needs (Von Hippel 1986). New perspectives within organizations have emerged over the past decades focusing on the co-creation of value as more leading companies acknowledge the potential benefits from attracting important stock holders (such as lead users) into the innovation process. Since this involvement results in mutual influence on both the employees within the organization as well on these...
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...in the study, such as infrastructure, health and education, and technological readiness. The country scored especially well in terms of goods and labour market efficiency and financial market development, it added. "Singapore possesses world class infrastructure, with excellent roads, ports and air transport facilities," the WEF said. "Its economy can also rely on a sound macroeconomic environment and fiscal management its budget surplus amounted to 6.9 per cent of GDP (gross domestic product) in 2013." The WEF said Singapore's competitiveness is enhanced by its strong focus on education, which has translated into a steady improvement in higher education and training. Singapore's private sector is also becoming increasingly sophisticated and more innovative, the WEF added, "although room for improvement exists in both areas, which are the keys to Singapore's future prosperity". These are also the two areas in which topranked Switzerland does particularly well. "Switzerland's topnotch scientific research institutions, along with other factors, make...
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...Internet Connection Study Prepared for: Northeastern Health Services, Inc. Prepared by Joe Smith, Health Care Technology Consultant Annotated Bibliography: Haggard, J. (2014). America’s Embrace of the Mobile Internet : Analyses and Issues. New York: Nova Science Publishers, Inc. In this collection of articles, the editor brings together papers covering three different topics - adoption of mobile internet and how it differs between demographic groups; how culture is able to impact design and usage of mobile devices; and how text and multimedia messaging present new challenges for policymakers. With regard to this proposal, the first article discusses how mobile internet usage in rural areas has lagged behind the rest of the population. The article also points out that while there have been improvements in coverage, the build-out of mobile networks has typically been less extensive than in urban areas. Solution: Mobile/Wireless Internet Its Use: Mobile Internet service could potentially be used in conjunction with site-to-site VPN connections, in order to establish connectivity from the remote locations to the hospital. Application: Mobile Internet hotspot devices could be used to get Internet access in Northeastern Health Services’ remote offices. In conjuction with these hotspots, firewall appliances can be used to establish a site-to-site VPN connection from each of the offices to the hospital’s radiology department. However, because of the lower levels of...
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...DARE TO DISRUPT!! DARE TO DISRUPT!! Theme: Means to tackle disruptive innovation Name: Prasun Kumar Das PGPM Participant, Batch 1114 Information Management S. P. Jain Institute of Management & Research Mobile - +91 7506793925 DISRUPTION – The New Age Competitive Strategy Everything is fair in love and war; and competition in a business environment is like a cold war. Innovation has always been the major strategy used by businesses around the world to stay competitive. The traditional paradigm of innovation was to improve the performance of the existing technology, thereby steeping up the performance trajectory. However, value creation for customers may be much simpler than high performing technology. There is always a threshold level till which customers can absorb and appreciate which the traditional paradigm fails to address. This has lead to a gradual shift in paradigm, over the last five decades, from a continuous performance improvement to that of something called ‘Disruption’. Clayton Christensen coined this term and today it has become a big buzzword. He identified ‘Disruptive Innovation’ as a product or service, so compelling in nature that everyone rapidly abandons their current way of doing things to this new approach. IT has been the big enabler of this disruption. The fundamental aspect of disruption is to use the right benchmark, which becomes additive with time. When that happens, we find entire product lines – even the whole market...
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...Duke Ellington is known to be as one of the innovators to formulating the concept known as Big Band music today. Big Band music is known for its swing style manner that became famous thanks to the famous clarinetist Benny Goodman. Benny Goodman was hired by Fletcher Henderson who was known to have his arrangements broadcast on the radio that was sweeping the nation, this helped aid the new style to reaching national ears. As for any musician in the game it is important on how to get your content out there in order to increase your fan base. This is exactly what the people focused on in the Harlem Renaissance, getting their stuff out there for the public opinion. That is why Ellington’s compositions would be a part of movies, stage, and contemporary...
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...Ansel Easton Adams (famous western photographer) was born on February the 20th of 1902 in San Francisco, CA near the Golden Gate Bridge. He received his first camera (Kodak Brownie Box camera) in 1916 when he was about 14 years of age. He wanted to be a pianist but he gave up his piano and decided to be a photographer. His first professional photograph was Monolith, the Face of Half Dome (1927). Adams married Virginia Best, the daughter of an artist who inherited the studio to Virginia after he died in 1935. Adams and Best have two children, Michael and Anne. Adams’ sophisticated black and white photographs of Yosemite and West are placed amongst the most favourite photos of the 20th century. When Adam first published his photographs, the...
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...Opportunities for Action in Consumer Markets Trading Up: The New Luxury and Why We Need It Trading Up: The New Luxury and Why We Need It In the history of man, there have always been goods reserved for the upper classes. In ancient Rome, the elite built lavish marble baths for entertaining friends and allies, while the masses waited in line at public baths. In late-eighteenth-century France, the aristocracy turned to saddle maker Hermès for the perfect seat, while commoners had to walk through wet and muddy streets. But today we are witnessing a different phenomenon: the democratization of luxury. We define it as middlemarket consumers selectively trading up to higher levels of quality, taste, and aspiration. The democratization of luxury is occurring across a surprisingly broad set of categories, and it is destabilizing competition, creating new winners and losers, and offering new rules for brand strategy. Already, this force has transformed a score of markets. (See Exhibit 1.) Many more categories are ripe for the taking. The question for established marketers is, Who will be first to bring the new luxury to my category? To understand this movement, you must first appreciate the differences between the new luxury and the old, as well as the powerful emotional and economic forces behind consumers’ propensity to trade up and seek quality. It’s Not Your Father’s Luxury Old luxury is expensive. Only the really rich—a small segment, typically over 50 and conservative—can...
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...Mid-Level Luxury Performance Sedans Situation Analysis By Craig Schlesinger and Jason Wachter I. The Mid-Level Luxury Performance Sedan Market Consumer Overview This market attracts consumers exhilarated by the thrills of driving. They are willing to spend more on their cars to obtain a desired level of performance. Although these drivers are primarily concerned with speed and handling, they are also interested in the luxury components, safety features, and durability of their automobiles. Fuel-efficiency is neither the first nor the last thing on their minds – they are not willing to sacrifice performance for the environment, but they are environmentally conscious enough to stay away from lowmileage sports coupes. These consumers have adventurous aspirations for their driving experience. They want nimble turning capabilities and powerful engines. They are not interested in efficient, basic cars suited for point-to-point driving. Rather, they want fuel-injected speed and sports-tuned suspension designed for what lies between those points. These owners crave vehicles with an attitude to assuage their need for excitement. For some of these mid-size luxury performance owners, driving is a reflection of their day-to-day lives. They tend to be youthful and exuberant, and they invest in these sedans to fit an image and satisfy a craving for performance. They cannot necessarily afford more expensive sports cars, but are willing to pay higher prices to avoid association with...
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