Apple Inc. Analysis and Organizational Culture
This essay will analyze Apple Inc., focusing on its organizational culture. It will discuss how the company’s culture has influenced its innovation, business strategies, and employee relations. Moreover, at PapersOwl, there are additional free essay samples connected to Analysis.
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Abstract
Technology today has in some way influenced our personal and professional lives. In touch of button we can make a phone call, order food, and even now facetime from our phones. Apple has become one of the largest companies providing consumers with electronic devices, computer software, and online services. Technology plays a big role in our everyday life. In this comprehensive analysis it will show some of the key concepts that has help form Apple Inc.
History of Apple Inc.
Today, Apple is one of the leading companies that has joined one of the big four of technology along with Amazon, Google, and Facebook. You may wonder how did an apple become the logo of Apple Inc? There are many myths of how a bite of an apple came to be the logo of Apple. Kumar (2018) explains one of the myths is that Apple’s logo represents knowledge and that the falling apple led Isaac Newton to discover the gravity concept. According to the author, a second myth is that it was tribute to Alan Turing who killed his self by eating an apple with cyanide or that Steve Jobs have gotten the name after returning for an apple farm. Whatever the case may have been Apple is one of the leading technology companies we have today. From iPhones, iMacs, Air pods, iPads, and IWatches these are some examples of what Apple has created. All these products are seen every day from schools, work, and personal use. Apple has revolutionized the way the world uses technology today.
“Apple was founded by Steven Job, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne in April 1976 to develop and sell Wozniak's Apple I personal computer; though Wayne sold his share back within 12 days. It was later incorporated as Apple Computer, Inc.” (Wikipedia Contributors 2019). Can you believe that Steven Jobs started development of the Apple I from his garage? It wasn’t until the Apple II that the company completely revolutionized the computer industry. Apple had increase in sales and profit and became known as the local computer company. According to the author in May of 1980, the Apple III was launched in order to compete with Microsoft and IBM. At this, time Apple’s profit and size had grown at historic rate. In 1985 Jobs would be ousted for his own company due to low sales and low market shares. Steven Job would later return to the company he created in 1996 as CEO (Wikipedia Contributors 2019). Today’s technology continues to change, and it will continue to change as software get out dated and new inventions come to light. Apple has been and will continue to be one of the front runners in technology. Apple has continuously come out with new innovative technology facing many obstacles along the way. Apples continue goal to create new technology and egorw in markets to outdo their competition.
Mission and Vision Statement
Every organization needs a mission and a vision statement a direction or guidance of what the organization wants to accomplish. Apple mission and vision statement is the foundation to the company success as one of the riches companies in the world. Apple has become well known for its leadership in innovation and design. Apple encourages their employees to be innovators to think outside the box and motivate and support their employees. Apple mission statement consists of “Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the world, along with OS X, iLife, iWork and professional software. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store. Apple has reinvented the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App store and is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices with iPad” (Rowland, 2019). Apple has come a long way from working in a garage. Their products have helped our life’s so much just by been able to put an alarm on iPhone to wake us up in the morning.
Apple vision statement is “we believe that we are on the face of the earth to make great products and that’s not changing. We believe that we need to own and control the primary technologies behind the products that we make, and participate only in markets where we can make a significant contribution. We believe in saying no to thousands of projects, so that we can really focus on the few that are truly important and meaningful to us.” ( Rowland, 2019). Based on Apple mission and vision statement, Apple has a high standard when it comes to innovation. Apple creates the best of their products for their consumers and are not afraid of change. Apple’s focus on innovation has led them to where they are today. The company’s mission and vision let us know what Apple intends to accomplish and how they intend to do it. Apple has done astonishing work when it comes to technology advancements. The core foundation of Apple runs through their mission and vision statement.
Code of Ethics
Code of ethics is a set of rules of what can be done or what can not be done in the organization(("Code of ethics dictionary definition | code of ethics defined", 2019). Almost every organization has set of guideline or policies set that an employee or manager must follow. Apple code of ethic guarantee that working environments are safe for employees. Apple make sure employees are treated with admiration and dignity that they out to have, and that Apple is in full compliance laws, guidelines, and practices as stated in each country in which they operate in (BUS100mlmuseAppleInc). Apple has also set up a code of ethic for their suppliers as well. The code of ethics for suppliers consist that Apple can visit their facility at any time or send someone a third party to check if they are complying of Apple’s code of ethics and (BUS100mlmuseAppleInc). According to the author, violation of Apple’s code of conduct can result in termination of as an Apple supplier and Apple can also seek legal action on supplier. Apple has done an excellent job trying to protect their employees and mangers by setting a strict rules and consequences for those who do not follow the code of ethics.
Organizational Culture
Organizational Cultures in one of the key items for Apple’s continue success in business. The organizational culture influences values, principles, traditions and they way organizational members act (En.wikipedia.org, 2019). One cultural trait that Apple has is the drive for innovation, which influences how competitive Apple is to come up with new technology. This type of organizational culture ties in to the mission and value statement of Apple ("Apple Inc.’s Organizational Culture & Its Characteristics (An Analysis) - Panmore Institute", 2019). Through Apple’s competitive organizational culture, it gives them an advantage to strengthens its competitive edge over other companies in the industry. Maintaining a high-level secrecy and competition was part of Steven Jobs culture. “While these things have proved effective at generating results, they are also known to hurt employee morale” (Pratap, J 2018). Jobs was not focused on employee morale or creating a great cultural for employees to work in. Since there was more competition for Apple to stay on top the industry and the growing of technology this cause Apple to be under intense pressure. Intense pressure became another organization cultural (Pratap, J 2018). Apple has intense pressure to make innovation products and price their products that a consumer could afford. All this type of intense pressure can build up in the work environment. One of the biggest pressures for Apple is to live up to the expectations of Steven Jobs.
Tim Cook took over Apple as the CEO after the passing of Steven Jobs. He has taken great steps to make Apple more off a friendly environment for employees. Apple will still strive for innovation and the pressure will remain. Time Cook has taken a different approach by replacing the old way with a new culture of collaboration (Pratap, J 2018). Apple want to continue to motivate their employee and get the best work from them to continue to be a leader. Understanding Apple Organizational Culture has help Apple become the company it is today.
Globalization
Globalization refers to the” interaction and incorporation between people, organizations and governments from all over the world” ("the definition of globalization", 2019) It is a process which is backed by international trade and investment and driven by information technology. The entire process of globalization has impacts on the economic progression, political stability, well-being of the society, culture and information technology ("What Is Globalization? | Globalization101", 2019). Apple has played a major role the way business is done globally. Apple has also had an increase in development in the globalization which had led Apple to an increase profit. How has apple been able to produce more profit from globalization.? Apple has taken manufacturing overseas to reduce cost and improve their products ("Apple Inc.’s Organizational Culture & Its Characteristics (An Analysis) - Panmore Institute", 2019). Labor and cost are cheaper in other countries then here locally in the U.S. Creating more revenue for Apple. Apple has received negative feedback for out sourcing job to other countries. On the other had Apple has created over 2 million jobs which include from Apple employees, U.S. supplier, and U.S. jobs through attributable to the App store ecosystem ("Job Creation", 2019). Which has helped the U.S economy and reduced unemployment rates in the U.S ("Globalization with Apple – Technology and Operations Management", 2019,) Apple has played huge role in globalization and will continue to influence the world’s economy thorough globalization.
Diversity
Diversity can play a huge role in a company’s success. It can be very difficult to have a diversity work force with growing demand of employees. Diversity can be challenging and sometimes daunting task for companies. Apple CEO Tim Cook stressed the importance of workplace diversity. Apple remains primarily white and male. “ Apple's US workforce also includes a larger percentage of women: 30 percent in 2015, compared with 27.7 percent in 2014” (Mihalcik, 2016). Diversity still needs to change in the Apple company. Apple has taken some small steps to improve diversity but has a long road ahead of the them to improve diversity in the company. Apple work force also showed that “8.7 percent of employees were black, and 11.8 percent were Hispanic, compared with 8 percent and 11.5 percent in 2014, employees of Asian origin saw the biggest gain at 17.4 percent in 2015, up from 16.3 percent the previous year” (Mihalcik, 2016). [image: See the source image]
Annual Report
Most major companies create annual report to investors or shareholders to give them an overview of what the company has done and what it plans. In this case Apple is no different, Apple releases their 10-K annual report and earnings every year. Apple information is open to the public to look at. The company gives a detailed explanation on how it is doing financially and what goals the company has sent in mind. Every company wants to make a profit. In Apple’s annual report it gives you a break down on revenues, expenditures, product information, employee information, and market shares to name a few items ("Apple - Investor Relations - Financial Information", 2019). Apple continues to be an open book for anyone to see how the company is doing. Apple emphasis on production and advancement contin
Apple has remained on of the top of technology companies around the world. Apple’s desire to innovation and inspire new products has made Apple what it is today. Apple mission and vision statement continue to be the core foundation of the company. Apple strives to be the best and expects the best form it’s employees. The organizational structure and globalization continue to play a key role in the continue progress of Apple. The company’s continue commitment to advancement in technology will continue to keep Apple on top.
References
- Rowland, C. (2019, February 13). Apple Inc.'s Mission Statement and Vision Statement (An Analysis). Retrieved from http://panmore.com/apple-mission-statement-vision-statementC. (2019, April 19).
- Apple Inc.. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 15:07, April 20, 2019, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Apple_Inc.&oldid=893163246
- Apple Inc. - Code of Conduct (Ethics Statement) - BUS100mlmuseAppleInc. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://sites.google.com/a/email.vccs.edu/bus100mlmuseappleinc/home/apple-inc-code-of-conduct
- Meyer, P. (2019, February 15). Apple Inc.'s Organizational Culture & Its Characteristics (An Analysis). Retrieved from http://panmore.com/apple-inc-organizational-culture-features-implications
- Pratap, A. (2018, November 14). An Analysis of Apple's Organizational Culture. Retrieved from https://notesmatic.com/2017/05/an-analysis-of-apples-organizational-culture/
- Lo, C. (2008). Global outsourcing of FDI: How did apple launch its ipod? Retrieved from http://www.docstoc.com/docs/43839664/Global-Outsourcing-or-FDI-How-Did-Apple-Launch-its—PDF
- Gurdus, L. (2017, May 05). Apple's investing $1 billion to expand US jobs-here's how many it's created so far. Retrieved from https://www.cnbc.com/2017/05/04/heres-how-many-jobs-apple-has-created-so-far.html
- Globalization with Apple. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://rctom.hbs.org/submission/globalization-with-apple/
- Faizul. (2017, August 23). SWOT Analysis of Apple Inc. Retrieved from http://www.gotabout.info/swot-analysis-apple-inc/
- Mihalcik, C. (2016, January 20). Apple pushes diversity, but progress is slow. Retrieved from https://www.cnet.com/news/apple-pushes-workforce-diversity-but-progress-is-slow/
- Apple's New Diversity Officer Will Report Directly to the CEO. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://fortune.com/2017/05/23/apple-diversity-officer-young-smith/
Apple Inc. Analysis and Organizational Culture. (2021, May 17). Retrieved from https://papersowl.com/examples/apple-inc-analysis-and-organizational-culture/