Apple Inc. Strategic Analysis - Organizational Strategy and Leadership

ORGANIZATIONAL STRATEGY AND LEADERSHIP
Apple Inc. Strategic Analysis
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ORGANIZATIONAL STRATEGY AND LEADERSHIP
Executive Summary
The following report is strategic Analysis report of Apple Inc. It also includes
general strategy, organizational culture and formal organization structure of the
company. Apple Inc. uses product differentiation strategy, have open and innovative
culture and the organization structure of Apple is flat. In spite of being such an old
company, the company is recognized as biggest startup. The report describes various
aspects like its supply chain, its products, its culture, its leadership etc.

ORGANIZATIONAL STRATEGY AND LEADERSHIP
Introduction
Apple Inc. is U.S. based global Consumer Electronics Company. The company is
spread across world. The company is famous for its innovative product and services.
Apple has a unique position in market. It has competitors like Samsung, OnePlus etc.
But none of them could meet the same brand value. The company is master in
attracting international and national customers.
Steve Job started a company in year 1976 which was named as Apple Inc. The
company used to deal in computers. The company is famous for updated technology,
product design, vision of the executives. Initially the company started out as I.T.
companies. Later it started focusing on consumer products due to high competition in
tech sector. The company offers laptops, tablets, television, music players, mobile
phones and computers etc. Apple has gained high customer loyalty and brand
recognition. Apple has been accepted as a brand. Their design and technology are
appreciated by customers. Initially it launched personal computers. That was huge
success. But after expanding its product line, it has experienced high growth of sales
and managed cash flow. The company soon became the number 1 brand in consumer
electronics. Steve Job’s approach for the company is innovation and creativity. The
company has also controlled its supply chain which further enhances its brand
recognition. However, the company faces issue in direct sales in some parts of country.
The company has its operating system named iOS. The products are priced premium
so are the luxury products. The company is trend setter in terms of its offering advanced
technology and unique product.

ORGANIZATIONAL STRATEGY AND LEADERSHIP
Generic Business Strategy of Apple
The companies follow generic business strategy to achieve above average
returns. This includes differentiation, cost leadership and focus (Grant, 2016). However,
there are mainly two types of competitive advantage : low cost or product differentiation
(Ogbari & Ibidunni, 2018). Low cost or cost leadership means company tries to become
low cost producer. It includes various factors like economies of scale, technology. In
case of differentiation strategy, the company aims to be unique and different in the
industry along some attribute which are valued by organization (Johnson, 2016).
Porter has given the theory of generic business strategy. Porter divided the
business level strategies into four quadrants wherein each quadrant represents the
business strategy that organization use. These four strategies can be shown as:
Cost Leadership Product Differentiation
Apple uses this strategy
Cost Focus Cost Differentiation
With the product differentiation strategy, Apple Inc. has been able to create a niche in
the market. One of the strategies of Apple’s current CEO Tim Cook is to create halo
effect in order to create excitement in the minds of customers for Apple’s new products
(Perry, 2016). Apple tries to increase demand in the market for its products using
product differentiation strategy (Wheelen & Bamford, 2017). It thrives to make its
product attract and unique. Apple designs its products much before its peers thought