Global Supply Chain Management of Apple Inc

Added on -2019-09-25

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APPLE INC.International Supply Chain Networks
IntroductionIn this present paper, we will discuss the global supply chain management of Apple Inc. The paper also provides the supply chain network analysis through cost vs. efficiency tradeoff, elements of global supply chain, connectivity of elements through distribution channel and recommendations.Supply chain management is considered the management of information and material flow in asupply chain to offer the high-level customer satisfaction at the least cost. On the other hand,supply chain management also considers the integration of important processes of business frominitial raw material extraction to the end customer, containing transportation activities,intermediate processing, and storage activities (Farahani, 2014). In this paper, the internationalsupply chain of Apple Inc. is analyzed. This was done in the lights of Porter's Diamond, Uppsala,and Dunning Eclectic Paradigm theories. Apple is a famous multinational technology companyof America whose headquarter is situated in Cupertino, California. It operates in a large numberof countries like US, India, Singapore, Germany and various others.Supply chain network of Apple Inc. through its Cost vs. efficiencies trade-offsApple is a famous multinational brand. It is considered as the world leader in innovation,software Ecosystem, and Branding. When the organization comes under the practices of supplychain management, most of the people think that its sophisticated software system and supplychain model are the secret weapons that help its management in maintaining its leadership and
competitive advantage in the potential market (Baghalian, 2013). IT research organizationGartner ranks supply chain network of apple as the best supply chain in the world for 4 years in arow. The following figure represents the supply chain processes of Apple Inc. From the above figure, it can be said that supply chain planning at Apple Inc. is a good exampleof new product development process. It is considered the combination of Marketing, R & D(Research and Development) or various other functions under the management of supply chain.From the above-mentioned figure, Apple Inc. accelerates its new product introduction byacquiring 3rd party businesses or the licensing. Interested fact about the organization is that it hasto make the pre-payments to some suppliers for securing its strategic raw materials. Cost vs.efficiency tradeoff help the organization in covering the large market by improving its supplychain network. Above mentioned supply chain network help the organization in gainingefficiency in its product offerings. It can be said that the organization follows the efficiencytrade-off for offering its products to its customers (Fallah, 2015). Efficiency trades off help it toimprove quality and efficiency of the product rather than concerning about its cost. If it focuseson the cost of its product, it never is able to attract large size of the customer in its potentialmarkets. Due to the focusing of efficiency trade-off, quality of its product is higher than the other
organizations. Efficiency tradeoff makes it the leader in a market on the basis of which itsignificantly able to gain a competitive advantage over its competitors. Other organizations suchas Micromax follow the concept of cost trade off which enables it to deliver a product with fewerprices and high efficiency. Apple supply Chain Evaluation by using Uppsala and Dunning Eclectic ParadigmUppsala model and Dunning Eclectic Paradigm are two important approaches which helpful in measuring the supply chain of the organization. Uppsala theory of learning mainly explains how different organizations intensify their activities in foreign markets. According to the concept of Uppsala learning theory, it can be said that supply chain of Apple is quite strong and it can perform its activities in foreign countries also (Lynn Childs, 2014). The organization has a great opportunity to expand itself in countries. It is because of their development and high population. With the help of Uppsala model the organization can focus more on making an investment in high psychic distance countries, and can also use the high commitment mode of entry. Furthermore, the establishment chain and psychic distance play an important role in internationalizing organization functions. With the help of establishment chain, Apple can propose a commitment to engage in operations of a particular foreign market. On the other hand, psychic chain helps it in entering into the new foreign market. Thus, it can be said that the organization has huge opportunity to expand itself into a foreign market.Moreover, Dunning Eclectic Paradigm is a theory that provides a three-tiered framework to determine the benefits of direct foreign investment (Dunning, 2015). It is necessary for the organization to avoid transactions in the open market when internal transactions carry a lower

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