Power and Politics for Steve Jobs and Apple

Apple is a company that everyone in the world knows about today, and most people own at least one Apple product, but Apple did not start out as a huge company. It started out with Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak working on computers in the garage of Steve Jobs. Jobs and Wozniak

Apple Inc, best known as Apple is an American based global company that designs and sells electronics, PCs and computer software. The company was established in 1976 by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak and was incorporated in 1977. Some of the Apple’s best-known products are the Macintosh range of personal computers, iPod, iPhone, and iPad. By 2012, Apple reported to have more than 300 retail stores located in more than 10 countries in the world and more than 60, 000 employees on permanent employment, and about 2,800 on temporal employment. Despite the success the company, Apple has faced hard competition from other electronics manufacturing companies. The objective of this paper is to develop a strategic plan that will enable Apple improve its position in the personal computer industry. The paper will use Michael Porter’s forces; key success factors, SWOT analysis and the competitive strength to point out specific, workable recommendations that will allow Apple stay afloat and improve its position in the personal computer industry (Gamble & Marino 2012).

This report has been prepared for Professor XXX. This report summarizes the complete review of Donna Dubinsky’s career at Apple Computer as the Director of Distribution and Sales Administration and the proposed distribution system. In addition, Donna Dubinsky’s response and handling of the proposed distribution system will be assessed.

Although surveys showed customers were very satisfied with Pioneer products, the sales force was unhappy and felt the lower margins were unacceptable. This drove a few dealers to speak disparagingly about Pioneer products and use bait and switch tactics to create profits for themselves. Mitchell knew the dealers’ support was critical to the current distribution chain, but he couldn’t go back to the old incentives. To continue to be profitable and adapt to the new electronics market, Pioneer reconsider its current distribution network.

When an individual adheres to the standards and regulation that are set by society, they are considered a conformist in its purest form. On the opposite side of the spectrum, those who do not follow these specific guidelines set by society are labeled as nonconformists. In essence, a nonconformist is an individual who goes beyond the principles of others, at the same time, is able to enhance the well-being and creativeness of other individuals. Steve Jobs, mastermind of Apple Inc., is a nonconformist of the 21st century. Jobs’ ultimate goal during his time with Apple was to inspire the creativeness others through the use of Apple’s technology. Before Jobs founded Apple Inc. in 1976, computers were nowhere to be found in homes, instead, computers were mostly found only in labs or in certain work offices. As someone who changed the computer industry and made the personal user experience possible, Jobs proved time and time again to be a nonconformist at heart by forgoing the standards of technology.

Apple incorporation, previously known as Apple Computer, is a multinational corporation that not only produces personal computers, consumer electronics, computer software, and servers but also a digital distributor of the media content. It has chain of retail stores known as Apple Stores. However, company’s information is summarized below:

Not long after that did he was introduced to his future partner in business Steve Wozniak through a friend.

As society takes steps forward, it always takes a few backward. We try to move past our judgmental and prejudice ways, but they tend to rear their heads repeatedly. It is the discernment that pushes people away from their goals, alters their mindset to the point of giving up. In the case of Steve Jobs and Straight Outta Compton, they both had to go through intense judgment from their peers and the government respectively; they prove that if you do not give up when things get tough you can persevere.

The term founding father is oftentimes portrayed in regards to those men in history who began the flawed yet irreplaceable nation we know today as the United States. In broader means, the term loosely refers to he innumerable men and women who created something out of nothing. They were and are the forerunners in any particular genre of business, technology, and all the other overlooked aspects that make up everyday life. In modern times of technology, Steve Jobs may not be perceived often for any particular significance as his lineage may now be ignored due to his recent departure. The brand that he founded, Apple, will go down in history as being a corporate giant in he field of electronic components. Even now, this essay is being constructed on a device possible primarily due to the original inventive genius that was Steve Jobs. Pressure to succeed whilst he was at the summit, lucidly, made it extremely difficult at times to remain a civilized human being or businessman. Ergo, many see Jobs as a tyrannical dictator of a monopolistic corporation. Certainly, there are many supportive details buttressing the arguments of either conjecture. Correspondingly, an attempt to better understand the uncompromising alienation will ensue. Plausibly, the aforementioned will be done through a look at his initial despondent family life, questionable business ventures, and the undeniable legacy left by the influential story impacting entrepreneurs to this day.

There are many roles a manager has within an organization. Henry Mintzberg explains ten specific managerial roles most commonly seen within organizations. Performing this role is the basis of a manager's job. The best manager is the one who perform his roles in a professional way and face the complications and challenges in a huge market, where several competitors already exist, however Steve Jobs in Apple Inc. proved himself and set an example in the world. Six managerial roles performed by Steve Jobs while he was working for Apple Inc. includes figurehead ,negotiator, leadership ,monitor, spokesperson, entrepreneur.

1. Describe the current distribution system of the company and explain why it is so important for its brand positioning? Please explain also how the brand is positioned on international markets.

Throughout history there have been many successful companies as well as companies that have been a debacle. The success of the company has to do with the management and how it executes its strategy. If the management is ineffective, the company will most likely fail; however, if the company has good management it is more likely to prosper. There are many responsibilities that a manager must complete, chief among them are the four functions of management are planning, organizing, leading, and controlling (PowerPoint). In order for the company to be successful the management must fulfill all four functions. In some case not all four functions are met to expectation, with the results that the company to be not as successful as it could be if they

From its start-up until the present, Apple’s corporate structure hasn’t changed a lot. Before his death, Steve Jobs was the one to make the calls regarding all the decisions; everything had to be passed through him. The company’s decision making processes were and still are centralized, in which the CEO makes all the decisions but it is incorporating more of a collaborative approach. The company is doing so by encouraging its hardware and software teams to collaborate. This approach however, never existed when Jobs was the CEO. Apple is considered a centralized company because it makes high capital investments that encourage centralization. It is highly competitive, offers high technology products, has a homogeneous product line, low product diversification, and has a lot of experience doing international business. Furthermore, it is organized on different basis; functional, divisional and geographical. Its functional structure is that the innovations and visions essentially come from top management and flow down the organization. Top management includes the board of directors in which they oversee and ensure that shareholders’ interests are being served for a long-term. Also, its functional structure is departmentalized and includes marketing, engineering, manufacturing, financing, IT, research and development. Its divisional functions include the products the company is offering, the market it is operating in and geographical areas. Apple has four product categories; the

The company started off as “Apple Computer,” best known for its Macintosh personal computers (PCs) in the 1980’s and 1990’s. Despite a strong brand, rapid growth, and high profits in the late 1980s, Apple almost went bankrupt in 1996 (Kim & Yoffie, 2010, p.1). This can be explained that Apple has become larger and more significant than other competitors put together in 1980. Because Apple failed to innovate in 1996, the company almost went bankruptcy but eventually Steve Jobs took Apple from bad situation to the company that can make billions of dollars through promoted itself as a hip alternative to other computer brands. Apple highlighted its computers as the world’s “greenest lineup of notebooks” that were energy efficient and used recyclable materials. The goal was to differentiate the Macintosh amid intense competition in the PC industry (Kim & Yoffie, p.4).

3: How can supply chain strategy help John Wolf reduce investment and space requirements while maintaining adequate service levels?