Apple sustainability related strategies and issues

Introduction

A technology company is a company that has the primary product of some kind of technology, including software or hardware. It sells products involving sophisticated technology. Commonly, high-technology companies deal in electronics, computers and scientific research Apple really meets that definition, and even then, Apple is selling technology partly as a way to sell other stuff — music, for example. In list of top technology companies, Apple is known as a strong lion on the technology market.

Apple Inc founded in 1976 by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak is an American multinational corporation headquartered in Cupertino, California, that designs, develops, and sells consumer electronics, computer software and personal computers. Its best-known hardware products are the Mac line of computers, the iPod media player, the iPhone smartphone, and the iPad tablet computer. Its software includes the OS X and iOS operating systems, the iTunes media browser, the Safari web browser, and the iLife and iWork creativity and productivity suites.

Apple maintains 408 retail stores in fourteen countries as well as the online Apple Store and iTunes Store (which is the world’s largest music retailer). Apple is the largest publicly traded corporation in the world by market capitalization ( $446 billion by January, 2014)

To have this great success, Apple focuses on not only innovation in manufacturing, building reputation, expanding business market but also promoting effective management to create big and stable supply chain over the world.

Apple sustainability related strategies and issues

With many development years, Apple built a great management system with many good sustainability related strategies and issues.

Role of organisationalbehaviour

Organizational behavior is the study of human behavior in the workplace, the interaction between people and the organization, and the organization itself in purpose are to explain, predict and control behavior. Organizational behavior in Apple relates to the process rather than the content of conducting managerial work. An important role of organizational behavior in Apple Inc is to improve organizational effectiveness, the extent to which Apple is productive and satisfies the demands of its interested parties.

Organisational behaviour offers Apple several ideas to management as to how human factor should be properly emphasised to achieve organisational objectives. It also provides opportunity to management of Apple to analyze staff’s behaviour and prescribe means for shaping it to a particular direction.

It helps Apple’s managers analyse ‘why’ and ‘how’ an individual behaves of Apple in a particular way. It integrates these factors including the psychological, social and cultural implications to provide simplicity in understanding the human behavior.

After understanding the mechanism of human behavior, managers in Apple are required to control and direct the behavior. Thus, managers are required to control and direct the behavior at all levels of individual interaction. Therefore, it helps the managers in controlling and directing in different areas such as use of power and sanction, leadership, communication and building organizational climate favorable for better interaction.

Apple organizational behavior brings new insights and understanding to the practice and theory of leadership. It identifies various leadership styles available to a manager and analyses which style is more appropriate in a given situation. Thus, managers can adopt styles keeping in view the various dimensions of organizations, individuals and situations.

The reason why Apple enterprise is able to keep on developing its excellent operating and management is that it builds a mature system of organizational culture, design and structure and improves organizational effectiveness. Obviously, Apple is an enterprise with a very strong organizational culture which makes employees recognize the shared assumptions, values and beliefs.

Apple encourages its employees actively share their opinions and inspires, which can create an explicit direction for employees’ assumptions, values and beliefs, and behavior. At the same time, this corporate culture allows employees communicate and cooperate easier, and their consensus can be reached easily.

Unlike other large enterprises, as Apple builds excellent employee relations and communications, which are not limited by the level of employees, employees’ personal vision and opinion can easily communicate with others. Also, Apple is an enterprise which needs so much inspires and creative ideas, so that it need employees to keep on creating. In Apple, if you can provide an outstanding inspire or creation no matter which level of employee you are, you will be the hero in the company. By motivating, employees in Apple always are working in an active and creative status.

Human resource management practices

The notion of “HRM practices” has become an increasingly used way of referring to high levels of delegation of decisions, extensive lateral and vertical communication channels, high reward systems, often linked to multiple performance indicators, and other practices that Apple are deployed to achieve high levels of organizational performance. HRM practices in Apple involve: a) delegation of responsibility, such as team production; b) knowledge incentives, such as profit sharing, individual incentives and incentives for knowledge sharing; c) internal communication, encouraged for instance by practices related to knowledge sharing or job rotation; d) employee training, both internal and external; and e) recruitment and retention, such as internal promotion policies)

HRIS

Apple uses HRIS to generate reports of strategic and demographic employee data, process payroll. Other popular functions of leading HRISs in Apple include:

• Benefits management and enrollment
• PTO and leave tracking
• Compliance filings
• Applicant tracking
• Performance management
• Training

Healthcare benefits

To attract and keep good employees, Apple offers benefits that are at least comparable to its competitors. To find out what others offer, Apple manager chat up colleagues, join a local employer health coalition and a professional group.

How about the employees? Of course, Apple considers its employees in any insurance plan decisions. It knows the insurance plan features that mean the most to them—and find out the way by conducting an employee survey.

HRM recruiting:

Apple has an interest recruitment practicewith attracting a collection of eligible candidates for an available post through particular measures like publicity, broadcasts and announcements. It is rather note-worthy that Apple has shown its capability in demonstrating such a cohesive branding know-how all through their commodities, promotion, vending and distributing, assisting clients, and hiring or appointing candidates.

• Commence Recruitment

The Director of Human Resources at Apple Headquarters in Cupertino completes the following documents before there is an announcement for a position:

• Recruitment request form
• Job description
• Job classification and suggested salary range
• Interview questions
• Test/Skill evaluation tools
• Criteria for evaluating candidates
• Announcement of Positions

The Human resource department announces the open position and draft advertisements. The job descriptions are circulated to about 340 agencies, universities and organizations. The Hiring Unit has to bear the cost of all other advertising expenses.

– Advertisements

Advertising is a prominent source to build a pool of Candidates:

• Print media – Newspapers: State, national or local; Other: specialist magazines/journals
• Other media – radio, television
• Decisions must be made as to which media to use and how the advertisement should be designed to target suitable applicants

Receiving complete Application/Resume and begin the Review Process

Applicants are accepted or rejected on the basis of their qualifications and experience in the field of engineering management. The criterion for selection is determined before the actual screening takes place. Once the screening is complete using the criteria of performance and experience, the Hiring Unit interviews at least three applicants.

HRM training:

Training at Apple Inc. can be defined as making available to employees planned and coordinated educational programs of instruction in professional, technical, or other fields that are or will be related to the employee’s job responsibilities. Training is accomplished through a variety of approaches, such as classroom training, e-learning, and professional conferences that are educational or instructional in nature. Development is generally considered to include training, structured on-the-job learning experiences, and education. Developmental programs include experiences such as coaching, mentoring, or rotational assignments. The essential aim of training and development programs is to assist the agency in achieving its mission and goals by improving individual and, ultimately, organizational performance. Apple provides regular training, which counts as work time, to keep you up to date on the latest Apple and third – party products. Employees can aslo get training to help them move ahead as a Genuis, Creative, or Manager – or to transition to one of those tracks from their current position.

HRM retaining:

To retain staffs, Apple builds a fun, innovative work environment for them. Besides, it also has possibility for career advancement and gives great benefits as good health and life Insurance, tuition assistance, product discounts and commuter programs to all people who work for Apple.

Role of international business

Apple always focuses on international business and its success is from this business trend. It evaluates the potential customer group, advertises widely and focuses on creating new and unique products lines. International business plays an important role in Apple’s development and business.

Apples target market in international business strategy is people who are willing to pay more for products with better user experience, people who like to have fun with technology, music enthusiasts and people who work with media and design professional. They have done a good job by finding out which customer needs to satisfy. Based on international business, Apple can cover and have a great number of customers over the world. They have found out that these customers wants a nice, beautiful and simple design and user input, and they have focused on programs that help you to take pictures, programs that edit both pictures and videos, and good music programs, both to listen, and to make music. To make these programs, they have to have to focus on innovation, and have programmers and designers that can make program like this, that are both easy to use, beautiful to look at, and can do everything you can expect from programs like these.

As we all know, Apple has dominated the portable media industry since the introduction of the iPod.   Since then, Apple has introduced many new products such as the iPhone, Macbook, and the iPad; all are sold throughout the globe. Apple international strategy is a Global strategy of a standardized products. The only modification Apple alters in their products is the power source because of the different power voltage in different countries.  Other than this, Apple products are precisely standardized throughout international markets. Apple’s engineering, design, and manufacturing is controlled by one source, which is why it differentiates from other computer makers. If Apple followed a multi-domestic strategy, they would have excess overhead and management would loose control of the company, more importantly the image of cutting edge and advanced technology, products, and marketing can be damaged. Apple’s engineering and design developers come up with ideas for the products in the U.S, but the complete manufacturing of Apple’s products is done by two large IT solution brands manufacturers named Foxconn and Inventec, which are located in China. Apple manufacturers its products in China is because labor costs in China are much cheaper, most of the products needed for manufacturing are made in China. Moreover, Apple also has access to a big market with China which has the biggest population on the globe and a very strong, stable economy.

International business also helps Apple increase revenue quickly. Apple’s international business strategy refers to plans that guide commercial transactions taking place between entities in different countries. The goal of increasing profit gained due to international business, with high quality hardware and products and focusing on international business, Apple wins many big brands to cover the market.

Role of technology management

Apple technology management is set of management disciplines that allow it to manage its technological fundamentals to create competitive advantage. Typical concepts that Apple used in technology management are technology strategy (a logic or role of technology in Apple), technology forecasting (identification of possible relevant technologies for Apple, possibly through technology scouting), technology roadmap (mapping technologies to business and market needs), technology project portfolio (a set of projects under development) and technology portfolio (a set of technologies in use).

The role of the technology management function in Apple Inc is to understand the value of certain technology for the organization. Continuous development of technology is valuable and therefore the technology management function in Apple should be able to argue when to invest on technology development and when to withdraw.

Here is importance of technology management in Apple Inc:

• Growth of the Firm: The process of managing technology involves organizing, coordinating, and managing activities. If technology is well managed, an organization will improve and reduce on operational costs of the organization.
• Eliminates duplication: If technology is well managed, it will automate information flow in an organization. In this case, the technical team will set up a management information system (MIS) which provides periodic, predetermined and ad-hoc reporting capabilities. In most cases the MIS reports summarize or aggregate information to support decision-making tasks. Those systems include information through online analytical processing (OLAP) and conveying information to whoever needs it.

Entrepreneurship and innovation

Since apple establishment in 1975 apple is changing the world as we normally know. It is clear that Apple all over its history is leading the innovation worldwide through diffusing to consumers a new, reliable, innovative and special user experience solutions. Moreover, Apple is one of the few companies who have passed through two completely different management styles in it life time.

Managerial duties: Both Jobs & Wozniak left Apple taking with them the entrepreneurship spirit and its soul. As a conclusion, they have the culture of both innovative, entrepreneurial and stewardship management. Today Apple innovation ranks and consumer admiration rank is amazing. Based on CNN most admired company in America and most innovative company, Apple Innovation rank is number one.

Management and quality of product and services:  Rank number three for usage of corporate assets, financial soundness, quality of management and long term investment. Finally rank number five for social responsibility. There are some main techniques and concepts allied in Apple management steel, in addition to a unique culture which helps the boast of such continues achievement under the management of Jobs.

Apple thinks good design is a present, No other mass-consumer products company puts as much attention to detail into the fit and finish of the box, let alone the out-of-box experience. Apple “wraps great ideas inside great ideas,” Apple’s OS X operating system is the present waiting inside its sleek, beautiful hardware; its hardware is the present, artfully unveiled from inside the box. Production meeting the absolute opposite of the brainstorm meeting, where the aim is to put structure around the crazy ideas and define the how to, why, and when.

Future strategies management

Strategy 1

Open six computer retail stores (not just peripheral and accessories),has stores opened throughout the United States with only peripheral and accessories for their computers. Adding the hardware should generate more hands-on awareness and use already established locations. This will increase product accessibility for those who wish to view items other than just accessories and increase awareness of the originality of Apple’s products. 2 percent increase over the next 2 years in sales representatives for the computer hardware.

Strategy 2

Contract music spokes person to attract the upcoming generation who are attending high school and college. This will invoke a sense of style and linking apple with a distinctive and memorable top 10 hit. This will stay in the customer’s awareness and influence future purchase decisions. Contracting one music spokesperson estimated $6 million.

Strategy 3

Add more features to current products for greater Wintel compatibility. Features such as iTune software compatible with windows based computers. In late October 2003 Apple released an iTune software package that is PC ready. It will increase the United States market share at least 30 percent for the next 2-3 years. $50 million is the estimated cost for Research and Development.

Conclusion

Concluded from the management analysis at APPLE Inc is that technological industries are never easy to compete with. They have a lot invest at R&D and have to be proactive in order to compete with their competitors in the industry. As for APPLE is concerned they have been working so well as it is shown form their products. As Apple Inc is increasing also, those other businesses are increasing and trying to do something interesting for their own good. APPLE needs to make a drastic change such as focus more on customer support and improve the areas they already have problems.

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