Analysis of the Strategic Decision of Apple Inc Essay

Analysis of the Strategic Decision of Apple Inc - Essay Example Hence, this study has strong relevance as well as significance in the field of business research. For this study, Apple Inc. has been chosen as the organization. The reason behind choosing Apple is the recent shift in the leadership of Steve Jobs to Tim Cook. Analyzing the strategic decision making of Apple will also help in clearly understanding the differences in strategic management approach. However to get further deep into the study, a brief synopsis of the chosen company are presented below. Apple: A Brief Synopsis Apple Inc., commonly known as Apple Computers is a US based Multinational Corporation, headquartered at Cupertino, California. The company was incorporated in the year 1976 and was founded by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne. The role of Steve Jobs has been instrumental in transforming the company into one of the world’s largest MNCs. Apple is best known for its continuous innovation and trendy products. The company now operates in almost every part of the world and is regarded as the â€Å"home of innovation†. The company is involved in designing, developing and selling consumer electronic goods, personal computers and computer software. The company presently operates with 406 company owned retail stores. Some of the bestsellers of the company include hardware products such as iPhone, iPad, iPod and software packages such as iOS, iTunes and Safari Web browser among others. In the year 2007, the company was renamed by removing the word ‘computer’ from its name thereby making it apparent that the company will focus more on the consumer electronics segment. The major competitors of the company are Samsung Electronics, Nokia, Motorola and LG among others.... The information to be collected for a study is considered as one of the most important factors for satisfying the objectives of the study. Information related to the strategy of the company during the era of Steve Jobs and the current strategy of the company will be collected. This will help in contrasting the strategic management styles of the two leaders. In addition, raw data in the form of responses from the managers of Apple will be also collected so as to get a better understanding of the situation. Furthermore, information related to the strategic decision of Apple will be also gathered. Another aim of the study is to recommend Apple about how they can deal with the challenges of the future. In doing so, it is important to at first identify the potential threats of the company. The information required in this context is the previous performance of the company and the information about its internal environment. The data will be collected again from the managers of the organiza tion. However, the assistance of the secondary sources will be also taken. The important part of a study is the analysis of the data. This stage appears after the collection of data. As mentioned earlier, data will be collected from both primary and secondary sources. The analysis will be done qualitatively. Since the aim is to identify the differences in the strategic decision making process of Steve Jobs and Tim Cook, it is evident that the study does not include any kind of numerical data. Thus, conducting a qualitative research is justified.

The Energy Crisis in 2050, Global Warming, Renewable Sources of Energy Essay

The Energy Crisis in 2050, Global Warming, Renewable Sources of Energy and Types of Geothermal Energy - Essay Example The researcher states that the crisis determines their survival, collapse or fate of prosperity. Some of the most respected economic, social and political setups have been twisted on their heads. In a sense, entrepreneurship is still the leading economic model. It is now, however, growing radically in response to resource scarcity, demographic trends, ecological impacts, technology plus a host of other reasons. The continuous consumer tradition that was widespread all of the first world has all but fallen. It is now reinstated by the people’s societal need to preserve resources. Although there are still several wealthy individuals around, money is concentrated in the lessening higher class of people. By 2050, customary free-market entrepreneurship is mostly viewed as a wrecked system. In an environmental view, carbon discharges from previous decades remain kept away in storage tanks because of the high carbon tax. This belated reaction will persist to change climate stability and weather patterns, as will the constant destruction of the earth's rainforests, some of which are transitioning from carbon sinks to carbon sources. Almost half of the Amazon rainforest has been destroyed. Global warming refers to the increasing normal temperature of the land and oceans as from the late 19th century as well as its estimated prolongation. As from the early 20th century, the earth standard ground temperature has gone up by about 0.8 Â °C (1.4 Â °F). This is with two-thirds of the growth happening since 1980. Warming of the atmosphere is clear. Scientists are more than 80% sure that nearly all of it is attributable to increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases produced by human actions. Such actions are the burning of fossil fuels and deforestation. These findings are documented by the National Science Academies located in all leading industrialized countries.

Essay for admission to college Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

For admission to college - Essay Example As a student, I feel that I learn best when I test the theories that I have studied through textbooks. – BU attracts students from more countries than are represented in the United Nations. Our global presence and reputation are important and are reflected in the perspectives, opinions, and experiences of our students. Why is this type of environment important to you? (500 words, 5000 characters) o As an international student, I have decided to study abroad to broaden my view and understanding of the world. Since I have experienced education systems in Korea, as well as United States, I am clearly aware of the differences between them. In Korea, students are forced to study while competing with their fellow students. After school, every single student is forced to attend afternoon study sessions until 12:00 am. This ruthless and yet systematic approach of education mechanizes students and teaches them only how to study, rather than coupling education with the knowledge of how to live like a good citizen in the society. All they learn in the school is how to become an efficient â€Å"student†. Due to this reason, they forget how to think creatively and react quickly to rapidly changing situations. As one of these students, I realized that learning under this environment would shrink my view and keep me away from being myself. Boston University’s norm of attracti ng students from different ethnical and racial backgrounds will surely set up a satisfactory learning environment that will guide me throughout my college career. A variety of arguments and opinions will help me understand different perspectives and contribute in my growth. o Undoubtedly, New York University is a prestigious university that focuses on the needs of its students and attempts to elevate their learning curve through careful nurture, education and providing

Helping Children through Divorce Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Helping Children through Divorce - Essay Example Parental education about divorce, interventions designed to help children open up, discuss issues and to acquire problem solving skills as well as peer support do help. Schools are important in helping a child to adjust. This essay presents a discussion about ways to help children through a divorce or a reorganization of their family. The Western world, including United States of America and Canada, continues to experience a disturbing trend that shows high divorce rates (Harvey, 2003, pp. 3). In the 1960s, three out of ten marriages were likely to end in a divorce in the United States of America, but the divorce rate increased to five out of ten in 1975. This rate continued to persist until recently, when an increase in the number of couples living together without getting married skewed the marriage and divorce statistics (Jayson, 2005, Paragraph 1). Those who are living together can break up without causing much of a stir and this means that close relationships remain fragile. Thus, the Western world in general and the United States in particular, continue to experience weak family structures with high rates of solo parenting. Research suggests that the impact of a divorce on children is often devastating, because of divided loyalties between parents, the emotional and financial tensions, split families with former spouses living apart and continued conflict between parents (Harvey, 2003, pp. 3 – 6) and (McCormick-Wege, 2001, pp. 14 – 17). More than a million children in the United States of America now become children of divorce every year and these children are more likely to develop psychological problems compared to others, even if their financial and economic support continues. Children of divorce experience adjustment problems that do vary depending on the age, developmental maturity, gender, the time since the divorce and the nature of the support systems

The effectiveness of pay for performance plan Essay

The effectiveness of pay for performance plan - Essay Example Not every employee is the same; therefore their preferences and motivating factors are as varied as their individual personalities. Utilizing, combining, and integrating the right compensation strategy in the corporate structure plays a critical role in maintaining employee motivation, retaining talent, and attracting high-performing candidates to the company. Although pay for performance compensation plans have always played an integral role in the compensation package of many companies there are a number of shortcomings related to the merit pay system. Traditional compensation models ignore the key emotional influencers that reveal an individual’s key motivating factors. According to a recent paper called â€Å"The Psychological Costs of Pay-for-Performance†, by Ian Larkin, Lamar Pierce of Harvard and Francesca Gino of Washington University, this working paper identify the psychological costs of how social comparison, employee overconfidence, and loss aversion are pri me determinants of the success and viability of individual performance-based compensation systems (Tighe, 2011). â€Å"Social comparison is the tendency of individuals to compare their pay vs. effort ratio with their peers and their expectations of their compensation to be â€Å"fair† based on these preconceived notions. As a result of this comparisons pay plan effectiveness or perceived fairness is often compromised. Individuals commonly judge the extent of other people’s work contribution based on what they can see and not on actual results. Consequently coworkers are often unfairly judged since the value or true extent of their work is performed off premises or behind closed doors such as with salespeople or executives. Although in the case of major CEO’s or star athletes for instance pay becomes a social measuring stick to which they compare against their peers, so pay becomes more closely tied to social factors and not necessarily economics. Employee overc onfidence is where individuals have the tendency to overestimate their own abilities and skill set therefore they are prone to accepting tasks above their capabilities. According to Larkin; â€Å"Psychologists and decision research scholars have long noted that people tend to be overconfident about their own abilities and too optimistic about their future."; "Recent research has shown that overconfidence is not as much an individual personality trait as it is a bias that affects most people"(Tighe, 2011). The authors elaborate that in general people tend to be overconfident in their ability to complete tasks that they tend to perform frequently. On the other hand individuals tend to underestimate their ability to complete tasks which they are not familiar with or seem too complex. Since pay-for-performance systems are based on the ability of individuals to pick and choose positions that they feel best matches their skill set, the misalignment between the individual’s percept ion of themselves and their true skill set can cause them to undertake projects or tasks that are beyond their capabilities (Tighe, 2011). Instead of pay-for-performance becoming a catalyst for increased organizational achievement and individual performance an employee’s overconfidence can cause them to underperform under pressure, increase general dissatisfaction, and can also bring about a

Manufacturing and Service Technologies Essay Example for Free

Manufacturing and Service Technologies Essay Manufacturing and Service Technologies technology refers to the work processes, techniques, machines, and actions used to transform organizational inputs into outputs. One important theme in this chapter is how core technology influences organization structure. Understanding core technology provides insight into how an organization can be structured for efficient performance. Core technology is the work process that is directly related to the organization’s mission. A non-core technology is a department work process that is important to the organization but is not directly related to its primary mission. Woodward developed a scale and organized the firms according to technical complexity of the manufacturing process. Technical complexity represents the extent of mechanization of the manufacturing process. High technical complexity means most of the work is performed by machines. Woodward’s scale consists of ten categories and these categories were further consolidated into three basic technology groups: The groups are consisted of small-batch and unit production, large-batch and mass production, and continuous-process production. Small-batch production relies heavily on the human operator; it is thus not highly mechanized. The large-batch is manufacturing process characterized by long production runs of standardized parts. In continuous-process production, the entire process is mechanized. Overall, the management systems in both unit-production and continuous -process technology are characterized as organic, as defined in Chapter 4. Mass production, however, is mechanistic, with standardized jobs and formalized procedures. When adopting a new technology, realign strategy, structure, and management process to achieve top performance. Lean manufacturing uses highly trained employees at every stage of the production process, who take a painstaking approach to details and problem solving to cut waste and improve quality. Lean manufacturing techniques have been implemented in hundreds of organizations all over the world and have led to dramatic improvements in quality, productivity, and efficiency. Service technologies are different from manufacturing technologies and, in turn, require a different organization design. The most obvious difference is that service technology produces an intangible output, rather than a tangible product. Hence, service organizations may have an organization structure with fewer boundary roles, greater geo-graphical dispersion, decentralization, highly skilled employees in the technical core, and generally less control than in manufacturing organizations. The feature of service technologies with a distinct influence on organizational structure and control systems is the need for technical core employees to be close to the customer. The impact of customer contact on organization structure is reflected in the use of boundary roles and structural disaggregation. The text also introduces Non-Core Departmental technology, as the section that shifts to the department level of analysis for departments not necessarily within the technical core. The framework that has had the greatest impact on the understanding of departmental technologies was developed by Charles Perrow. Perrow specified two dimensions of departmental activities: Variety and Analyzability. Variety is the frequency of unexpected and novel events that occur in the conversion process. Analyzability is when the work can be reduced to the mechanical steps and participants can follow an objective, computational procedure to solve problems. The dimensions of variety and analyzability form the basis for four major categories of technology: routine, craft, engineering, and nonroutine. (Daft) The text discusses both core and non-core work processes and their relationship to designing organization structure. The nature of the organization’s work processes must be considered in designing the organization for maximum efficiency and effectiveness. The text illustrates that forces affecting organization design come from both outside and inside the organization. External strategic needs create top-down pressure for designing the organization in such a way as to fit the environment and accomplish goals. This illustrates that today’s companies is that strategy, structure, and technology need to be aligned, especially when competitive conditions change. For example, several years ago, Dell created a business model to uild personal computers faster and cheaper, other computer manufacturers had to realign strategy, structure, and technology to stay competitive. Dell made PCs to order for each customer and sold most of them directly to consumers without expense of distributers or retailers. IBM for example, tried to differentiate their products and charge a premium price switched to a low-cost strategy, adopted new technology to enable them to customize PCs, revamped supply chains, and began outsourcing manufacturing to other companies that could do the job more efficiently.

The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: The Formation of Ident

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave details the progression of a slave to a man, and thus, the formation of his identity. The narrative functions as a persuasive essay, written in the hopes that it would successfully lead to â€Å"hastening the glad day of deliverance to the millions of [his] brethren in bonds† (Douglass 331). As an institution, slavery endeavored to reduce the men, women, and children â€Å"in bonds† to a state less than human. The slave identity, according to the institution of slavery, was not to be that of a rational, self forming, equal human being, but rather, a human animal whose purpose is to work and obey the whims of their â€Å"master.† For these reasons, Douglass articulates a distinction between the terms ‘man’ and ‘slaves’ under the institution of slavery. In his narrative, Douglass describes the situations and conditions that portray the differences betwee n the two terms. Douglass also depicts the progression he makes from internalizing the slaveholder viewpoints about what his identity should be to creating an identity of his own making. Thus, Douglass’ narrative depicts not simply a search for freedom, but also a search for himself through the abandonment of the slave/animal identity forced upon him by the institution of slavery.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The reader is first introduced to the idea of Douglass’s formation of identity outside the constraints of slavery before he or she even begins reading the narrative. By viewing the title page and reading the words â€Å"The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, written by himself† the reader sees the advancement Douglass made from a dependent slave to an independent author (Stone 134). As a slave, he was forbidden a voice with which he might speak out against slavery. Furthermore, the traditional roles of slavery would have had him uneducated—unable to read and incapable of writing. However, by examining the full meaning of the title page, the reader is introduced to Douglass’s refusal to adhere to the slave role of uneducated and voiceless. Thus, even before reading the work, the reader knows that Douglass will show â€Å"how a slave was made a man† through â€Å"speaking out—the symbolic act of self-definition† (Stone 135).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the first chapter of the narrative, Douglass introduces the comparison between slaves and animals, writing that â€Å"the larger... ...details the transformation of a slave to a man. The institution of slavery defined a slave as less than human, and in order to perpetuate that impression, slaveholders forbade slaves the luxury of self definition. Therefore, when Douglass finally rejects the notions about his identity forced on him by slavery, and embraces an identity of his own creation, he has completed his journey from slave to man. He no longer defines himself in terms of the institution of slavery, but by his own thoughts regarding what his identity is. Through the metamorphosis of his identity as â€Å"an animal† to an author who fights for the abolitionist movement, Douglass presents his narrative not simply as a search for freedom, but also a search for himself. â€Å"It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men." – Frederick Douglass Works Cited Douglass, Frederick. â€Å"The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass.† The Classic Slave Narratives. Ed. Henry Louis Gates Jr. New York: Penguin Group, 1987. Stone, Albert. â€Å"Identity and Art in Frederick Douglass’s ‘Narrative’.† Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism: Volume 7. Ed. Paula Kepos. Detroit: Gale Research Inc., 1990. 134-137.