Final Exam Case Study Submitted by Saikat Nandy Sn10745

XYZ

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This case describes Apple Inc’s appointment of Mr John Browett as Sr. VP for retail. The primary responsibility of Mr Browett will be expansion of Apple’s retail stores, worldwide.

Following the death of Mr Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple Inc, Mr Tim Cook had taken over as the CEO of the company and this is his first direct recruitment. He wanted a massive retail expansion and has described the greater China market as ripe for retail expansion, noting that the region is "very key," and that Apple was still "just scratching the surface" of that market segment. Apple has previously said it would open 25 stores in China by then end of next year, hoping to leverage the strong sales occurring in the Asia Pacific market. Compared to the year ago quarter, Apple's Asia Pacific sales were up an astounding 247 percent, more than three times its overall growth of 82 percent. Regional sales growth in Asia Pacific countries also dwarfed Apple's retail store growth over the past year, suggesting strong potential for new profits once the company builds out its own retail presence in Greater China.1

However there are many doubts and apprehensions floating around in the media and business world about this particular appointment. Mr Browett used to head Dixons in UK and he has now has to understand and overcome the total cultural shift, moving from UK to US and also for moving from Dixons to Apple.

In this brief report, I will logically and factually demonstrate that Mr Browett has sufficient leadership qualities that would be required to handle this cultural shift and will put recommendations for few behavioural attributes and aspects that he will need to take care of.

INTRODUCTION

Apple Inc. is already massively profitable organization. One of the key aspects of Apple’s success is that they believe that their stores are all about customer service. Great design is in the core of...