The big picture case study examples

Finance & Economics – Apple Inc

Answer 1
The organization chosen in Apple Inc. It’s symbol is AAPL. Apple Inc. is a firm that operates in the technology products industry which is extremely competitive and dynamic. Innovation plays a very crucial role in this business and so human resources form a critical element or an asset of the organization. The fact that innovation and vision are prime factors that helped Apple succeed, the death of Steve Jobs, the prime visionary of Apple, is a great loss to the firm.
It will be an interesting focus for the application of economic ideas because there are several elements in this industry as well as firm which has enabled it to possess the highest market capitalization and move from the 26th rank to 1st rank in terms of market capitalization. These elements make it an extremely important trend setter and a good focus for the application of economic ideas. It helps understand the intricacies and the role of economics in the formation of big ideas as well as understand how people make choices and choose a brand like Apple, even though it has a premium pricing strategy (Aglietta, 2009).

Answer 2

The big ideas referred to in the given theory include firstly, choices involve tradeoffs and secondly choices involve incentives. Choices involve tradeoffs and consumers of Apple require to choose between several other brands and there is a trade-off involved. Moreover, even for Apple as an organization, in order to innovate there are capital research and development costs involved. Yet they are able to manage this trade off through premium pricing. The next concept is that choices involve incentives (Schumpeter, 2011).
The choice of Apple to innovate and invest in research and development does involve incentives in the form of premium prices availed to it. Moreover the consumer makes a choice to buy Apple because it helps them achieve better levels of satisfaction based on quality of the product, the technology and the whole experience of using the products of Apple. Moreover innovation has always made Apple grow as a firm and this needs to be continued for the welfare of Apple and all of its stakeholders (Aghion & Howitt, 2002). We can state that the business quality of Apple is high and also the mutual value is symbolic.

Answer 3

The roles of the firm, Apple Inc is to ensure that there is innovation and another is to ensure that there is strategic efficiency in operations. It enables the firm to create effective functioning and also helps them grow. Thus there are bright chances of growth for Apple. Innovation and leadership can help it grow as well as achieve a lot more than its present position. Based on its current strengths and the opportunities in the future, it is essential that Apple exploits its present position and grows accordingly.
The financial situation of Apple is quite positive and growth oriented. Competition, Strategic innovation and Efficiency in operations, especially manufacturing are some of the other issues apart from succession that Apple requires to consider. Yet if it can innovate effectively, it can result in eliminating competition as it would benefit it in the form of uniqueness and differentiation which will automatically help Apple gain economies of scale. In case of its manufacturing processes, as technology products are involved and there are no other firms manufacturing the same products, it becomes essential for Apple to ensure that its manufacturing processes are effective. It needs to use several quality checks and total quality management tools for ensuring improvement in its manufacturing processes. . In this way it is possible for the organization to obtain better growth as well as expansion. This strategy helps the organization obtain better market position and build competencies. It has also helped the firm diversify successfully and acquire several premium brands (Adebanjo, et. al., 2010).

Answer 4

The market capitalization of Apple has grown in leaps and bounds and in a span of 5 years its market capitalization position has grown from 26th rank to 1st rank. Apple was lucky to have a period of ten years for its succession planning and should now imbibe succession planning into the company’s policy as well as the strategy so that it becomes possible for Apple to remain dynamic and have a perpetual existence and this has helped it maintain its current financial health. In the absence of succession planning, the employees would have feared the discontinuation of the firm and this would have reduced their job security. They would be extremely worried about the future of the firm. Moreover the customers and the society would have lost a socially responsible corporate firm that provides extremely innovative products to them. Quality and innovations would have become an important question for the customers. The key strategy is the main element in the essential features of the company. It is the component that distinguishes it in the market and in society. So is the encounter with his mission. With the space it occupies and his performance style. Strategic resources involve identifying the most important thing and does the company have, in terms of knowledge of its staff, physical assets, and processes developed thus helping the firm achieve its present status.

References

Aglietta, M., (2009). A Theory of Capitalist Regulation. New Left Books, London.
Adebanjo, D., Abbas, A. & Mann, R. (2010). An investigation of the adoption and implementation of benchmarking. International Journal of Operations and Production Management, 30 (11), pp. 1140-1169.
Aghion, P., & Howitt, P. (2002). A model of growth through creative destruction. Econometrica, 60, pp. 323-351.
Schumpeter, J. (2011). Big and clever: Why large firms are often more inventive than small ones. The Economist [Accessed 11 December 2012].