Apple Inc Case Study Final

Apple Inc. Case Report

Carlos Castro
Luis Guzman
Zuchytil Padilla
Sergio Smith

I. COMPANY BACKGROUND
Apple INC, was founded on April 1,1976 in a garage by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne. ‘The young entrepreneurs brought different strength to their fledgling company. Jobs had a flair for conceptualizing products, while Wozniak had the technical know-how to make them happened” (Washington Post Economy, 2012). At first, they only focused on personal computers but are now stationed in Curpentino, California; this Multinational Corporation operates on a global scale with multiple locations worldwide. Their main objective is to design, develop and sell not only a series of personal computers, but portable media players, mobile phones, computer software and hardware accessories as well.
II. MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE
Apple’s organizational structure is based on success. To acquire this success, the company prioritizes in hierarchy, the recognition of guidelines, policies and procedures. In addition to these priorities, it depicts levels of management from the top down in order to achieve goals and objectives. The key elements of Apple’s organization structure are the following:
Work Specialization: Apple’s work specialization starts at the manufacturing level. Once the raw material reaches the facilities, workers are assigned individual tasks to guarantee proper functioning of the robots, amongst other tasks. At the Apple headquarters, work specialization is based on brainstorming for functionality and design of the products.
Departmentalization: The activities in development of Apple are based on product departmentalization. There are a variety of items produced, such as The IPhone, iPod, iPad, Siri, Apple TV, Mac, iWatch. Each, and everyone of these products relay under the supervision of a single manager that is responsible for the outcome of the product.
Chain of Command: Decisions at Apple are made by the upper levels and are expected to be obeyed. Some lower level managers, like the store managers, have some authorization to make decisions involving the employees, although there is a HR department that takes care of most of the employees’ issues.
Span of control: For a store manager, the span of control is of approximately 120 employees, but they do have back up in the form of a manager, second in control, and a market manager. Each of these will have shift leaders who report to upper level managers directly. Each of those shift leaders does not control more than 12 employees in a shift.
As we mentioned before, Apple follows a chain of command, the line of authority extending from upper organizational levels to lower levels (Coulter 135). Their management structure is perfectly designed; everything revolves around the CEO, Timothy Cook. Each of the Vice-Presidents reports directly to him (see Index A). Cook is the decision maker of the organization and has the final decision on all Apple products. However, Tim Cook is supervised by the board of Directors, which is in charge of the ethical operations of Apple (see Index B). This Board must make sure that the long-term interests of shareholders are being served. In order to satisfy the Board 's duties, directors are expected to take a practical approach to their positions, and set standards to ensure that Apple is committed to business success through the maintenance of high standards of responsibility and ethics.

III. OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE
According to Apple’s Annual Report, the Company manages its own business around the globe. Its products include the well-known iPhone, iPad, Mac, iPod, iTunes, Mac App Store, and iCloud. The Operative Systems for these products are IOS and OSX, iLife iWork, Apple TV among others.
The software is created in the U.S. while the hardware is created mainly in China. Apple global sourcing comes from different countries depending on the cost of each of the raw materials. Apple imports raw materials from Japan, Taiwan, the Philippines, Malaysia, China, Germany, Switzerland, and the Netherlands. Once these parts have been manufactured they are shipped to the Shenzhen Factory where they are assembled and transported to distributors in order to be exported around the globe. Apple has always been a leader in the use of automated systems in the production and distribution of their computers. Apple manufactures and distributes the computers at this Elk Grove,CA facility. The system was designed for 24 hour per day operation with a total of 20 cases per minute on 15 different models of computers. 
Once the products are received from manufacturers, the Company sells its products through its retail, online stores, and its direct sales force. The Company also employs a variety of indirect distribution channels, such as third-party cellular network carriers, wholesalers, retailers, and value-added resellers. The key of success of Apple Inc. is base in the creation of its innovative and differentiated products.

IV. HUMAN RESOURCE STRUCTURE
We look at how our company, Apple Inc, motivates and encourages their employees. Apple uses Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs to plan out their motivational strategies. Apple employee’s Physiological needs are taken care of in the way that the average salary is 108,483, which is extremely good money. Next on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is safety, which is promoted by teaching employees how to detect signs of danger, and giving each employee safety equipment. Apple then meets the belonging needs by making their workers feel welcome and feeling part of a family. An example of this is that Apple supports social networks to improve relations among workers. As for esteem needs, this illustrious company has the ability to increase salaries as rewards for hard-working employees to make them feel appreciated for their hard work and dedication. In addition to all of that, the company also offers benefits packages to the employees depending on the position, location and years with the company. Below we mention these benefits:
Health and Life Insurance
Flexible Spending Accounts
Short and Long term Disability
Long term care insurance
401K plan with Company match
Tuition Assistance
Paid Vacations and Holidays
Product Discounts
Wellness Program
Employee Stock Purchase Plan
All of this allows Apple employees to realize that they are greatly appreciated for what they do, and allows Apple to have a great staff and be an extremely successful company.

V. STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE
Due to the fact that Apple is a company surrounded by many competitors around the globe, they are always facing different challenges. We look at the SWOT analysis of the company to determine what are those outcomes that managers encounter on a daily base. Lets compare the major strengths and weaknesses as well as opportunities and threats that the company faces between 2012 and 2013.
2012 Strengths
Great price on Hardware cost savings, and Return on Investment (ROI)
Software (SW) licensing cost savings
On the go connectivity for a mobile workforce
The incoming workforce (Gen Y and millennial are well equipped and technological savvy 2012 Weaknesses System integration interoperability challenges Huge concern over users habits and work style
Mobile enablement bring the needs for additional security and policies
The “Shiny new device” syndrome- CIOs are pressured to keep up with employees and customers expectations 2012 Opportunities
Mobile Advertising (AD) tools are more information technology (IT) friendly, bringing a significant opportunity for custom developed mobile apps
Mobile brings an opportunity for increased collaboration and ideation
Work and life balance can be enhanced with greater access to corporate data via mobile platforms
Independent Software Vendors (ISV) have brought cost effective and proven tools to the market to manage devices and applications 2012 Threats
Increasing security risks like data leakage, malware, resource and service availability abuse
Lines can blur between work and personal and impact productivity and potentially lead to burnout
Financial risk to potential exposure to unauthorized access to corporate resource data
Moving forward to multinational corporation (MNC) with mobile enable employees who frequently travel outside of their home state will need to track tax and visitations compliance. On 2013 the strengths and weaknesses were a little bit different. Apple now has growth by offering superiors products compare to competitors. The company positioned itself as the leader industry in the developed of computer, software, and mobile device. However, they faced a difficult task ensuring consistency and quality of its products. 2013 Strengths
Customer loyalty combined with expanding closed ecosystem
Leading innovator in mobile device technology
Strong financial performance
Brand reputation of highly innovative, well design products
Retail Stores ensuring high quality of customer experience
Strong marketing and advertising teams
2013 Weaknesses
High prices
Incompatibility with different Operating System (OS)
Decreasing market share
Patent infringement
Further changes in management
Defects of new products
Long term gross margin decline 2013 Opportunities
High demand of iPad mini and iPhone 5 iTV launch
Emergency of the new provider of application processors
Growth of tablet and smartphone markets
Obtaining patents through acquisitions
Damages from patent infringements
Strong growth of mobile advertising market
Increasing demand for cloud based services
2013 Threats
Rapid technological changes
2013 tax increases
Rising pay levels for Foxconn workers
Breached Internet Protocol (IP) rights
Price pressure from Samsung over key components
Strong dollar
Android Operating System (OS) growth
Competitors moves in online music market
According to the financial results of the first quarter of 2014, the company had been performance really well. It reports revenue of $57.6 billion, net profit of $13.1 billion, and gross margin of 37.9 percent. International sales accounted for 63 percent of the quarter’s revenue.
Even though Apple has been going through many challenges in the past two years, the company is recognized to be the initiator in the technology world focusing in new improvements to keep leading the industry. Even with the highest prices in the market, they are always launching new items that impact the competition. Apple still working efficiently because they make their products unique, satisfies consumer’s expectations, and creates a huge number of loyal consumers.

Index
Index A

Apple’s Board of Directors

Index B
Apple’s Management Structure Diagram

Works Cited
"Apple and the Environment." . N.p.. Web. 15 Apr 2014. <http://www.apple.com/environment/>.

"Apple Inc.Financial History." N.p.. Web. 15 Apr 2014. <http://investor.apple.com/financials.cfm>.

"Apple SWOT Analysis 2013." N.p. Web. 15 Apr 2014. <http://www.strategicmanagementinsight.com/swot-analyses/apple-swot-analysis.html>.

Apple - Press Info - Apple Reports First Quarter Results. N.p., 27 Jan. 2014. Web. . <http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2014/01/27Apple-Reports-First-Quarter-Results.html>.

Robbins, Stephen , David Decenzo, and Mary Coulter. Fundamentals of Management. 8TH. Pearson , 135. Print.

Washington Post Economy 2012. Retrieved from Washington Post: http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/apple-a-history-of-one-of-the-worlds-most-valuable-companies/2012/02/29/gIQA1VFVmR_gallery.html

Cited: "Apple and the Environment." . N.p.. Web. 15 Apr 2014. <http://www.apple.com/environment/>. "Apple Inc.Financial History." N.p.. Web. 15 Apr 2014. <http://investor.apple.com/financials.cfm>. "Apple SWOT Analysis 2013." N.p. Web. 15 Apr 2014. <http://www.strategicmanagementinsight.com/swot-analyses/apple-swot-analysis.html>. Apple - Press Info - Apple Reports First Quarter Results. N.p., 27 Jan. 2014. Web. . <http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2014/01/27Apple-Reports-First-Quarter-Results.html>. Robbins, Stephen , David Decenzo, and Mary Coulter. Fundamentals of Management. 8TH. Pearson , 135. Print. Washington Post Economy 2012. Retrieved from Washington Post: http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/apple-a-history-of-one-of-the-worlds-most-valuable-companies/2012/02/29/gIQA1VFVmR_gallery.html