Apple Case Study

Question #1

The modern Apple, Inc., which a number of consumers have come to know and love, is considered to be the Jobs’ era. Steve Jobs was ousted from the organization during his 1985 resignation, and eventually brought back as a part of the acquisition of NeXT. He was eventually named the permanent CEO of Apple in 2000 and ultimately sculpted Apple into the revolutionary organization it has become today. Apple has been able to become a revolutionary organization because Steve Jobs implemented a different business strategy than his predecessors. According the case study, “Much of Apple’s turnaround could be credited to Steve Jobs, who had idea after idea for how to improve the company and turn its performance around. He not only consistently pushed for innovative new ideas and products but also enforced several structural changes, including ridding the company of unprofitable segments and divisions (C-143, Thompson).” Through the elimination of Apple’s less useful operations the organization was able to consolidate resources in order to concentrate on innovating, differentiating, and developing new and/or existing products. Apple has applied this strategy to its computer, digital music, tablet, and phone lines to a great deal of success.

The most abundant strategy which affects all Apple’s products is how they are differentiated from the competition. From the hardware to the software, an average consumer could easily recognize an Apple product from the competition. An example from the case tells us that, “Apple’s proprietary operating system and strong graphics-handling capabilities differentiated Macs from PCs…(C-143, Thompson).” Apple’s use of proprietary hardware and software are a major force in differentiating the brand’s products from the competition. The software on Macs is similar to the software found on the iPhone, iPods, and iPad. No other brands’ have products that run Apple software, which is known for its innovative ease and usefulness. For...