Corporate Responsibility and Marketing Strategies

Apple is an American multinational corporation which designs, manufactures and markets a range of consumer electronics and software products (Apple Inc., 2008). At the end of last fiscal year, Apple’s worldwide annual sales amounted to $32.5 billion, an increase of 35% from 2007 (Apple Inc., 2008). Not surprisingly then, was Apple voted America’s most admired company, also topping the global survey (Fortune,

Since 1976 Apple’s innovation has helped the company become a market leader in computer and mobile electronics. Through this time the company has faced a number of challenges either it be an internal power struggles or criticism from the media for certain aspects of their business model. This report covers five different issues that the company is facing or may face in the future.

Apple Inc. commonly known as Apple has effectively managed to be a successful company in a very competitive consumer electronics industry by been innovative and differentiating the company’s products with similar products in the markets by offering high quality products and good customer service while the actual manufacturing of the products is outsourced to trusted third party suppliers. On a wider perspective, the company has set high standards that even the company itself has to be on its level best to maintain the standards that it has set. Over the last few years, the consumer electronics market has

Apple is one of the most valuable brands in the world. The company has strong brand loyalty, impressive revenue growth and superior innovations in technology. There are many aspects of the company that contribute to Apples success. One of the most important aspects is the company’s ethical decision making. Apple has a strong ethical code of conduct that represents the company as being ethical in all decisions being made. Despite Apples positive representation, the company has been faced with many ethical issues. Apple has been involved in many litigations ranging from a domain name dispute and patent infringement, to the use of refurbished products in their repairs. These unethical acts are risky for the company and can affect the company in negative ways. Another aspect that can affect the company is their competitiveness in the technology industry. This industry has many competitors that Apple has to compete with. However, Apple has been overly aggressive in protecting their property rights.

Apple was established as an IT company dealing in exclusively in computers. However, competition in the technology sector forced the firm to focus on other consumer products. The diversification strategy has seen Apple’s sales grow tremendously in the last decade, earning the firm the No. 1 brand position at Forbes. The Apple brand is recognized on an international scale and enjoys a strong recognition thanks to its aggressiveness when it comes to creativity and innovation (Tar, 2013). It has a large number of loyal customers who would purchase the new products regardless of the market price, which guarantees profits from the new division.

In relation to Apple’s internal environment, the company encourages an innovative culture, involving staff creativity and open-mindedness to novel ideas. In addition, Apple stresses the use of environmentally friendly practices, and protection of employees’ safety and health at work (Schneider, 1995, p. 70). Apple’s external environment poses a challenge to the company in terms of emerging firms in the technology business line, competitors selling substitute products, charging lower prices that entice customers because of their affordability, in comparison to the high quality and pricing of similar items from Apple (Apple, 2012, p.1).

Apple is committed to maintaining the highest standards, for both environmental responsibility and ethical conducts. They follow strict

Apple Incorporated understands that climate change is a huge global issue that the world faces and knows that change has to start somewhere, so they are taking rigorous steps to measure their environmental impact. For more than two decades, Apple has gone to great lengths to try and minimize their impact that they and their products have on the environment. Apple measures their carbon footprint using a comprehensive product life cycle analysis (Jackson, 2014). Apple computes this analysis report with the help of a digital media resource, the World Resource Institute (WRI)/World Business Council for Sustainable Developments (WBCSD) Greenhouse Gas Protocol, which provides various calculation tools and a database for a wide range of professional companies just like Apple (Jackson, 2014). Apple would not successfully be able to acquire such a detailed calculations report of their carbon emissions without the assistance of the digital media database of the World Resource Institute (WRI)/World Business Council for Sustainable Developments

The social psychologist Kurt Lewin (1890-1947), once wrote: “There is nothing as practical as a good theory”. According to this saying we tend to consider theory very important and that it can be helpful to guide us on the correct way. This doesn’t state that practice is not important as well. Therefore using a good balance between theory and practice can help to save cost and time.

A strategic plan is a plan that is formulated by higher management, and it is a plan that looks far into the future. At the helm of the top management team is the CEO of the company. Apple’s strategic plan, or long-term goals include “environmental responsibilities, leveraging ability to design and develop, and enhancing and expanding” to take care of the environment, to develop and design more efficiently, and to capitalize and extend the reach of the organization (Reference). The first long term goal is environment responsibility. Apple has foster this goal in the sense that their offices and stores are being run on renewable energy. Apple has “renewable energy... [that is] ... utilized in 94% of the corporate office” (Reference). Not only are the offices being powered by renewal energy, but Apple is also working on its products and processes to make the products to make them more eco-friendly. The products and production would become more environmental friendly by “eliminating toxic substances” (Reference). The first element of Apple’s strategic plan is reforming their manufacturing techniques to make the environment safer; the second element of their strategy leveraging the ability to design and develop. Their goal in making products in an efficient way is their most difficult aspect of their plan. This goal in particular is difficult for the reason that there is competition. If Apple does not

Apple Incorporated was founded in April of 1976 by Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs. The founders of the corporation were college dropouts that worked together to build computer boxes which were sold without keyboards and power supplies. Apple Incorporated is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, that designs, develops, and sells consumer electronics, computer software, and online services understands that without their stakeholders The purpose of this paper is to specify the nature, structure, and types of products or services offer. This paper will look into the factors that influence Apple’s external environment. This paper will also explore Apple’s stakeholder influence and its controversial corporate social responsibility. (Apple Computer, Inc. - Company Profile, Information, Business Description, History, Background Information on Apple Computer, Inc.)

Although Apple has consistently won first place as the World’s Most Admired Company, it has experienced several ethical issues within recent years. Among are privacy, sustainability, product quality, intellectual property and patents.

Despite its global recognition and status, Apple Inc. has come under scrutiny in recent years. Criticism concerning Apple’s unethical labour conditions (causing both physical and emotional distress to employees) on a considerable number of occasions has led to this. Unethical labour conditions has not been an isolated incident, rather a disapprovingly common occurrence for such a well-regarded global brand.

Corporate social responsibility is an ambiguous topic to say the least. There has been a vast array of research conducted aimed at understanding why businesses use it, and its effects on consumers and brand equity. In the following section, I will highlight some of the main literature, and critically discuss some of the findings. There is however, a gap in research in terms of critically analysing the extent to which firms position themselves with CSR initiatives through the use of language and power. The purpose of my study is to analyse Starbucks’ corporate reports, searching for any dissonant discourse that may represent any distinct ideologies that help us to gain a deeper understanding as to how and why Starbucks

For the past years, corporate social responsibility also referred, as corporate conscience has been a respected subject for discussion. Corporate social responsibility, unquestionably, contains more viewpoint than simply worried about the ecological impacts of associations. It came in people groups mind at the later 1880, time of essential modern advancement that associations ought to think about the thought of social obligation. Associations that are near to social obligation issues got to be worry about the principled ground of attaining to social commitment. Latter 1880 manifestation of the accountability for society has got soundness however after that period the association started to include in humanitarian force strongly (Adamsson and Johansson 2008). This study hopes to explore the corporate social responsibility and furthermore how and why affiliation its participate in corporate social responsibility. A number of multinational firms offering essentialness to the social and business substance that can give an organization a humane face and eventually it will bring notoriety and moment business advantage as individuals get to be unwavering to this. Thus, this is the reason organizations are taking CSR issue as an unquestionable requirement for getting an additional profit on present exceptionally aggressive world and along these lines happily keeping their buyer group protected from other rivalry.