Innovation and Strategy of Apple Inc.

This report discusses the innovation and strategy of Apple Inc. in detail. It covers the company background, innovation approach, risks, and recommendations. The report also highlights the role of Steve Jobs in the success of Apple.

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Contents
Company Background and History.................................................................................................2
Discussion........................................................................................................................................2
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................4
Recommendations............................................................................................................................5
References........................................................................................................................................6
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Company Background and History
Apple Inc. which was previously known as Apple Computer, Inc. is a transnational company
which manufactures and markets consumer electronics, personal computers, computer software,
servers and is also a supplier of digital content. The company also possesses a chain of retail
stores which are termed as retail stores. Apple was founded by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak
when they created a first computer which was termed as Apple 1 and the company was
established in California in 1977. For close to 2 decades since their introduction, Apple
Computers In. was mainly a PC producer which included Power Mac, Apple 1, Apple 2, Apple 3
and Macintosh lines but at that period the company experienced unstable sales and low market
shares. Due to indifferences with the company, Steve Jobs resigned from the company in 1985
and set up a new company but later he re-joined the company in 1997 as the CEO of the
company and also bought with him a new corporate philosophy of identifiable product and
simple and sleek design based on consumer demand. By introducing a successful product in the
market in 2001, in the form of iPod, the company became a leader in the consumer electronics
industry and it maintained its position in the consumer electronics market with the introduction
of the iPhone and iPad.
Discussion
Innovation and Strategy followed in Apple
The business strategy which is being followed by Apple can be classified as product
differentiation in context of design and functionality. As a part of its business strategy, Apple
continues to increase its platforms regarding developing and supplying of third part digital
contents and applications through its App store. As stated by Dustin, Bharat & Jitendra (2014)
the business strategy of Apple also includes developing and spreading their retail and online
stores and also development and expansion of its third party supplier network for reaching to
more customers in a more effective manner and to provide them with high quality sales support
and also to offer them high quality support after sales.
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Apple focuses its innovation strategy on various aspects such as process, products, business
model, customer experience and leadership. Due to constant focus on innovation, the company
has been able to successfully utilize uncontrolled creativity. As a component of their innovation
strategy, the firm utilizes its different ecosystem including their existing and potential customers,
suppliers, staffs, global network and partners. As opined by Peter Prud'homme (2017) the
innovation strategy of Apple is based on the view that it does not simply designs products based
on market research results but they focus on designing their products based on the necessities of
the customers which they do not know by themselves.
Apple’s Innovation Approach
The organization culture which is followed in Apple helps in supporting rapid innovation in the
company. In order to foster and maintain innovation in the company, Apple continuously
provides training and implements motivation on their staffs for innovating in context of
performance in self work and support regarding the development process of products. The
culture of the company helps in fostering and maintaining innovation in Apple. As stated by PR
Newswire (2015) the rapid rate of innovation in the company makes sure that the employees of
the company are dedicated to work towards continuously introducing new products in the market
which are not only profitable in nature but are also attractive to the target customers of the
company. The organization culture of the company encourages the employees of the company to
foster innovativeness in their daily activities. As opined by Choudhary (2014) the various
elements of the Apple innovation model are the interface and noteworthy investments in the
combination of developer and provider of content offering, access of user and friction free
business, design of product, supply chain management, controlling of customer experiences, the
competitive internal market of the company and radical adjacencies such as retailing.
The various risks which Apple is facing currently are as follows:
 As stated by Steinke (2013) the over-reliance of the firm regarding entry to third party
digital content which may be unavailable to the company at all or at commercially
reasonable term.
 The performance of the company depends on the support of external developers of
software.
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 The company relies on the achievement of its suppliers, carriers and other resellers.
According to Ucler (2017) all the products of Apple are innovative in nature which is evident
from the high market share of all the products of the company. The innovative products of the
company are designed based on the needs and expectations of their target customers regrading
which they themselves are unaware of. The innovative products of the company are a result of
disruptive innovation which is followed by the company. The innovation strategy of the
company remains focused on providing unmatched experiences to the customers of the product.
As stated by Peter Prud'homme (2013) the organization culture which is being followed in Apple
integrates various important characteristics namely creativity and innovativeness, working under
pressure, maintaining a top level of secrecy and attention on diversity and inclusion. The above
mentioned components of the organization culture of the company help the company provides
direction to the human resources of the company to come up with various new concepts and
ideas regarding product design and development and work with the company to develop
innovative products.
Steve Jobs is considered as one of the major reasons, regarding the success of Apple, as he
helped in transforming the company to one of the major tech giants of the world when the
company was suffering in the market and was facing tough competition in the market. The vision
of Steve Jobs helped Apple, to scale new heights and achieve new milestones in the market
through its disruptive innovation. As stated by Liu & Chen (2015) Steve Jobs not only focused
on innovating the products of the company based on the requirements of the customers but he
also remained focused on delivering unique customer experiences through the products of the
company which is a major reason for the popularity of the products of the company. Steve Jobs
believed that innovation and innovative processes are alone not enough to make a company
successful in the market as it requires effective marketing efforts to make a company succeed in
the market. Steve Jobs believed that that there is no single approach to process and innovation
for its products and services as the customer expectations and beliefs from each product are
different.
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Conclusion
From the above report it is clear and evident that innovation plays a major role in the success of
Apple in the market in which it operates as innovation helps in creating a competitive edge for
the company and its products. From the above report it can also be stated that Apple has become
a successful company in the market by not only designing innovative products but also by
providing unique experiences to their customers.
Recommendations
Firstly it can be recommended to Apple to decrease its reliance on third party digital content and
third party software developers. It can be also recommended to Apple us to streamline the iPad,
iPhone and Apple watch family. Another recommendation to Apple is to release touch screen
Mac in the market. Another recommendation to the company is to reinvigorate the Apple
accessory market.
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References
Choudhary, A. (2014). FOUR CRITICAL TRAITS OF INNOVATIVE ORGANIZATIONS.
Journal of Organizational Culture, Communications and Conflict, 18(2), 45-58. Retrieved
from https://search.proquest.com/docview/1647822510?accountid=30552
Dustin, G., Bharat, M., & Jitendra, M. (2014). Competitive advantage and motivating
innovation. Advances in Management, 7(1), 1-7. Retrieved from
https://search.proquest.com/docview/1491286193?accountid=30552
Liu, T., & Chen, Y. (2015). Strategy orientation, product innovativeness, and new product
performance. Journal of Management and Organization, 21(1), 2-16.
doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/jmo.2014.63
Peter Prud'homme, v. R. (2013). Creating cultures of sustainable innovation. Journal of
Innovation Management, 1(1), 85-107. Retrieved from
https://search.proquest.com/docview/1957808883?accountid=30552
Peter Prud'homme, v. R. (2017). The culture of design thinking for innovation. Journal of
Innovation Management, 5(2), 56-80. Retrieved from
https://search.proquest.com/docview/1957729439?accountid=30552
PR Newswire Asia(2015). Chasing apple's shadow: Risk-taking culture required for innovation
with higher rates of return. PR Newswire Asia Retrieved from
https://search.proquest.com/docview/1738620871?accountid=30552
Steinke, A. L. (2013). Workplace innovation in the technology industry. Business Premium
Collection. Retrieved from https://search.proquest.com/docview/1466640769?
accountid=30552
Ucler, C. (2017). Intelligent assignment in clusters to enhance collaboration and
innovation. Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management, 28(5), 554-576.
doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/JMTM-07-2016-0103
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