Apple uses a differentiation business strategy, which falls under e-collaboration. Apple’s employees and departments work together in the creation of their products. Apple believes in deep collaboration, and that a great product is developed by all departments: design, hardware, software, etc. Collaboration (in an integrated way), control, and congruent engineering are some of the goals and behaviors Apple employees follow to create/develop innovating products. Apple has an integrated collaboration environment where virtual teams do their work. Also, Apple uses a process like the knowledge management system where the IT system supports the capturing, organizing, and dissemination of knowledge throughout the organization. The KM has to make sure that the company’s knowledge of facts, source of information, solutions, patents, trademarks, and the best-practice processes are available to all of its employees whenever needed.
Porter's Five Forces:
Buyer Power – High when buyers have many choices from whom to buy and low when their choices are few. High Buyer power due to the fact that there are different software programs and also different kinds of MP3’s on the market right now, and yet APPLE is able to overshadow them by its innovative thinking.Supplier Power – High when buyers have few choices to buy from and low when their choices are manyLow Supplier power due to the fact that APPLE designs and creates both; its hardware and its software. That means that all of the computers made have to use the software designed for it, not another company but APPLEThreat of Substitute products or services – High when there are many alternatives to a product or service and low when there are few. High as far as the iPod goes, because there are a lot of new MP3 players out there, some smaller in physical size, and you also have the Zune which is a direct substitute.Threat of new entrants - High when it easy for new comers to enter market and low when there are significant entry barriers to entering a marketLow threat because to enter in any level to be able to compete against apple you would have to be very innovative and also must have the cool design and yet the usefulness of their software or hardware. Rivalry among existing competitors – High when competition is fierce in a market and low when competition is more complacent High rivalry among Apple’s competitos. Lets take the commercial of MAC and PC, they are directly comparing each other to show how the old rivalry of the old software developers has become this epic struggle of power between two major companies of the computerized world, or three if you even want to count LINUX.
Business Initatives:
For Apple, one of the major business initiatives that are used are customer relationship management. When you walk into the actual store or call for technical support, they are always extremely helpful and ensure that the problem you're facing is fixed. They also use sales forces automation. They are always looking to sell their products in numerous ways, via online, television and magazines etc. The software used is a modern operating system that combines a stable core with advanced technologies to help you deliver world-class products. The technologies in Mac OS X help you do everything from manage your data to display high-resolution graphics and multimedia content, all while delivering the consistency and ease of use that are hallmarks of the Macintosh experience. Knowing how to use these technologies can help streamline your own development process, while providing you access to key Mac OS X features. These are top-line initiatives because overall they increase revenue. They reach new customer segments, offer new products and achieve in cross-selling related services
IT Organization:
Apple uses the Matrix IT method. This method is the used to maintain the IT personnel function but to also spread them across all of the other functions. This means that instead of having one boss or person to report to, they will have two or even sometimes several. Apple follows this Matrix function very seriously and that is one of the main reasons why Apple is so successful today. They are able to have everyone connected in all of the activities rather than having everyone in different departments working separately. Apples philosophical approach would be listed as Decentralized and also early adopters..Decentralized are early adopters of technology that empower their employees throughout the organization to try new and emerging technologies. Apple is always one step ahead and open to trying new things.
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