Managing Innovation in Business Assignment : Apple Inc

Managing Innovation
in Business -Apple
Inc.
1

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This assignment elaborates about the importance of bringing innovation within an
organisation. As it is consider to be one of the most essential activity which support in
developing competitive advantage that further help in achieving sustainability in marketplace.
This project is about the Apple Inc. which belongs to technology sector and due to increasing
competition and quick changes that take place within an industry it become very essential for
company to bring innovation continuously in its operations. This assignment is divided into three
sections. First part explains about the future of technology industry, second part talks about the
importance of innovational practices for apple and technologies that must be opt by company for
future practices. Third part explains about the things to be consider for developing future
capabilities for making organisation compatible to new innovation or changes. Apple is consider
to be an organisation which emphases over bringing continuous innovation in their product as
well as operations. So it is recommended to Apple Inc. that they must bring regular innovational
practice to achieve market sustainability and competitive edge.
2

Table of Contents
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY.............................................................................................................2
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
Future of industry 2020 and beyond.......................................................................................1
Organisations innovation requirements 2020 and beyond.....................................................2
Building the Future Capabilities for the organisation............................................................6
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................1
1

INTRODUCTION
Innovation refers to the set of activities that work toward converting the idea into reality
for achieving higher sustainability in market place. This process includes collecting information,
resources, manpower to develop a innovative product that adds value to customers. This project
explains about Apple Incorporation which is an American multinational company. It deals in
product categories like consumer electronics, computer hardware & software etc. The founder of
Apple is Steve job and Steve Wozniak by launching commercial computer named as apple I in
year 1976 .
This project includes detail description about the future of technology industry by year
2020 and beyond. Further It explains about requirement of innovation in Apple corporation for
dealing with future changes and competition. This section describes about various technologies
that Apple Inc. can anticipate in future. In addition to this it explains about the capabilities that
are required to be develop by organisation in order to implement innovational approach in future.
Future of industry 2020 and beyond
Technology industry is a sector which deals in research & development or distribution of
technological and innovation based good. This sectors consists of companies that are belongs to
manufacturing of consumer electronics, software, computer, mobiles and many more product
that are linked with information technology. This sectors offers wide range of product or services
to both customers as well as businesses (Archibald and Archibald, 2016). Consumer products
such as personal computer, mobile, home appliances, television etc. On the other hand business
side products are innovations from technological sector for developing enterprise software,
logistic systems, database protection which help them in formulating strategic business decisions
(The Tech Industry, 2018).
Technological sector is more attractive investment destination in every country's
economy which invite many investors to invest in innovative idea for brining a product in a
market that provide growth and tough competition to other players of industry. This sector work
toward improving the standard of living for making the earth a better place by providing various
innovative gadgets (Biemans, 2018). Technology sector is gaining more attention of people
around the world and make them depended over the use of instruments. This has developed an
environment which provide higher growth to the companies belong to technology sector.
Therefore, the future of this industry is very bright.

Technology industry is a rapid growing sector which anticipated with new changes as
daily new innovative technology launched by the players of this industry. This sector has
experience numerous changes which are continuing and expected for future also. Some of the
well known player in innovation industry are Samsung, LG, Sony Ericsson, HP and many more
which always try to offer new and innovative gadgets to simplify the life of human beings. For
instance, HP currently introduce a 3D printer which is generally tailored for small or medium
sized product development team (Wesley and Barczak, 2016). This can be used by various
organisation for transforming their production process digitally which provides economies of
scale. Apart from this Samsung recently launches its new mobile Galaxy A7, first smartphone of
its history which have triple camera made up of three different lenses. This mobile is launched to
challenge the competition provided by China. Various other technologies are expected to
launched in future which includes driverless cars, pill bottles will remind to take our medicines,
artificial intelligence(AI), virtual reality are some of them. These technologies or innovation are
expected to be present around the world in nearby future up-to 2020. Therefore, the technology
industry is consider to be one the fastest changing as well as growing sector and is one of the
highest revenue generation industry. This provides a clear picture of future growth of industry to
2020 and beyond that.
Organisations innovation requirements 2020 and beyond
Apple Incorporation is an American multinational technology company based in
California which deals in computer hardware, software, Consumer electronics, digital
distribution and corporate venture capital. It is founded by Steve Jobs, Ronald Wayne and Steve
Wozniak in year 1976 by launching their first personal computer Apple I. Company is known for
its innovative features in their products or services which make it different from others. Apple
keep on bringing new or advanced technologies in their offerings to capture higher market share
and to give tough competition to other players within industry (Apple at Work, 2018).
As technology industry is growing faster and companies belong this sector are
continuously emphasizing over bringing new innovative products to capture market share. So
with the increase in market competition and changing demand among customers to use new
gadget, it increases the requirement of innovation for future growth. Following are some
2

innovational approaches that Apple must try to anticipate to achieve higher sustainability in
market place:
 iPhone features by 2020:- As iPhone is one of the main product which has take Apple
inc. to new heights. This is one of the most demanding device by people around the world
and are ready to purchase up-to any cost (iPhone essentials, 2018). But because of its
recognition and high growth other competitors stared coping its feature to their mobile
device and earn the same growth (Bucic and Singh, 2018). This has develop an
environment of huge competition for Apple because its competitors are offering mobile
phones with same features but at relatively low cost for capturing market share.
Therefore, in order to deal with competition, Apple is required to add new innovational
features in its iPhone to maintain its competitive strength in market place. It can add
features like a phone with single slab of glass and without charging port. Going port-less
works toward wireless charging which help in attracting large number of customers
(Coughlin, 2016). This feature can be add on with the help of replacing Lightning port
with magnetic Smart connector. This will provide various benefits to apple phone users
like phone charges quickly, transfer of data from computer much faster just with the help
of magnetic connector which connect mobiles with other accessories without using wire.
 Cognitive Computing :- With the changing demands of customers and development in
the field of technology has bring on several competition in front of Apple Inc. Therefore
bringing innovation to current product or services is become the major necessities of
company to remain competitive in market. So, cognitive computing is a feature that
Apple can add on to their computers which contribute towards its growth and in maintain
its brand image as a true innovator (Dolata, 2017). Cognitive computing refers to a
Artificial Intelligence system which aims at simulating the human thoughts. This will
help in identifying the best possible solution to problems through synthesizing data from
different sources. Cognitive system will help in mimicking the human thought process.
By introducing this feature, Apple can make their computers more useful as they can
build up the capabilities of thinking like a human. This add on strength to the range of
Apple computers which also enhance the trust and confidence of customer within
company's product.
3

This will be helpful in simplifying the complex procedures and operations
performed by users. For instance, cognitive computing can be very helpful in medical
sector where it help in collating information, data and reports from different sources like
patient history, diagnostic tools and documentation related to similar line of treatment
used in past. This provide physician an evidence based recommendation that support in
enhancing the level of patient care. Apart from these benefits, existence of cognitive
computing will bring various change into industry (Understanding Cognitive Computing,
2018.). Like, the level of innovation as well as technology will be higher that make
majority of computing systems obsolete. Further it also support in enhancing the process
of developing a gadget by providing technicians a platform where they can easily assess
the data.
 Apple AR headset:- Another major invention which is expected to launch by Apple is AR
or Augmented Reality headset by 2020. Apple is working toward bringing a headset
which is capable of running AR technology. This includes features like 8K display for
each eye which provide higher resolution as compare to TV. Apple headset would be
connected with dedicated box by using a wireless, high-speed technology which will act
as a brain for AR. This work toward connecting the user with physical world. For
instance businesses can use AR as a platform to keep their user connected with their
brand. As it help in displaying a relevant object in augmented version of their world
which immediately develop a emotional interaction between customer and brand.
This device will not only beneficial for customer but it also provide various
benefits to technology industry. AR will provide such a platform which provide a step-
by-step instruction to technicians. It is time saving and help in improving performance.
 Foldable iPhone:- Apple is planning to launch a foldable phone by 2020 which would be
the next major form factor in smartphone range. Because if a smartphone along with
giant iPad like display could be folded to make it a pocket sized gadget then it would be
the biggest innovation ever (Foldable iPhone for 2020, 2018.). This will be most
comfortable device to hold and durable as it is over the concept of foldable device hence
the chances of glass break will be eliminated. Another major benefit this device will offer
to mobile users is larger display and it could be fold in small shape which is easier to
carry.
4

 Apple car:- Apple Inc. has numerous of projects on which company is working in which
one of them is car and this project is named as 'Titan'. Apple is continuously putting
efforts to develop a technology to bring up a self-driving car in existence. In this model a
3D detection system system will be used which is know as VoxelNet. This will help
people in avoiding the collisions with cyclists and pedestrians while driving autonomous
car.
 Hologram: - Apple is now planning to launch a 3D display technology TV by 2020 which
provides a 3D gesture and imaging design which replace the remote from hologram. This
model creates a invisible space in front of user which allows them to work with a
holographic image or project their hand on screen to manipulate switches or more parts of
presentation.
5

Building the Future Capabilities for the organisation
Apple is known for its innovational products which are highly demand by large amount
of population around the world. As company belongs to technology sector which is consider to
be the fastest developing and growing industry which experience regular changes. So it is highly
competitive sector where companies move faster toward bringing new or innovative products to
eat other player's market share and profit. Therefore, to survive in this competitive market place
it is very essential for Apple to build up capabilities for dealing with future challenges. This help
company in capturing larger market share and in providing higher customer satisfaction. In
building capabilities for future innovation factors there are two main factors to be consider:
Organisational knowledge:- Most essential factor that help Apple in building future
capabilities is knowledge that a company have about market. It is very essential for Apple to
have adequate information about demand of the customers so that they can predict the future
practices to keep their customer satisfy (Keen, Rushing and Shortlidge, 2017) Organisational
knowledge help company in bringing new innovations that are harder to substitute and sustain
for longer period of time. This also help in developing strategy that are required to implement
innovational plans into practices to achieve desired result.
Cross functional cooperation:- Another major function that help Apple in developing
innovational capabilities is cross functional cooperation. As for brining new technologies in
future, company must required to develop a team of expertise belongs to different department.
This help in implementing innovational plan more effectively and also support in bringing
positive outcome. By using cross functional approach company can develop better innovation
idea and they can examine the each and every aspect of that plan.
In order to build up future capabilities, Apple is required to formulates strategical
planning which help in determining the actions to be performed in this directions. Further it also
assists in monitoring the activities so that they can evaluate the feasibility of these practices. This
help in ensuring that the activities are performed according to the plan and provide positive
6

outcomes (Kodama, 2018). This plan will help in providing the road map which enlist step by
step execution of tasks to be performed to achieve desired outcome for building up future
capabilities. Following points describe about the road map that can be used by Apple Inc. for
building up future capabilities:
Suggest:- In order deal with and achieving sustainability in dynamic environment, it is
very essential for Apple to bring new innovation in their operations. As technology industry is
fastest developing sectors which daily introduce new technology and innovation that result in
early outdating of product or services. It is the biggest challenge for Apple, so it must required to
build up future capabilities by bringing new innovations in their offerings. It may bring new
technology, for instance they can add new features in their iPhone series which provide a option
of charging and transferring data without using wire.
Reason:- Main reason behind bringing innovation in their operations is increasing
competition in marketplace. As Apple always tries to offer something new to their customers
which is the main reason behind brand recognition and success of company. As it is always the
first company to introduce new products or services. But because of this competencies and
growth strategy other competitors copying the features of Apple's gadget into their product to
achieve higher success (Kumar, 2016). This situation somewhere cutting down the market share
of Apple, as competitors are offering mobile phones with same feature at lower price. So in order
to deal with this situation it is very essential for Apple to bring on new innovative products to
achieve sustainability in market. By launching its new feature wireless portable mobile, Apple
can offer such product to market which is harder to imitate. Therefore, this product help in
achieve market sustainability for longer period of time.
Impact of changes:- For bringing this new technologies to market by 2020 or beyond
Apple is required to bring changes to its current processes. By anticipating these modification,
company will be able to prepare their employees as well as resources to develop and introduce
new technologies to market by 2020. Following are the factors which are required to be asses
and improve for developing the capabilities related to future changes: Research & development:- It is consider to be one of the most essential factor for
implementing innovation. R&d plays a crucial in implementing the innovational practices
within the organisation and in identifying the opportunities for developing capabilities.
For implementing these innovation various changes are required to be made in R&D
7

operations. As number of expertise are required which have thorough knowledge about
innovational practices. This will help in determining the best practices or process to be
adopt for implementing the plan more effectively. Required resources:- This innovation implication plan also require new resources to
bring innovation for future opportunities. So, company is required to bring changes to its
current resources in order to arrange resources for developing further capabilities. As
Apple is current not working over technologies that are required to bring new
innovational products like cognitive computing or magnetic connector (Pearlson,
Saunders and Galletta, 2016). Therefore, Apple is required to bring or add new resources
for implementing these technologies. Major resources required during this process are
capital and manpower. More employees are required to employ with skills and adequate
knowledge about technologies so that plan can be implement more effectively without
any chance of failure. Apart from this Capital is also an essential factor, as for developing
this iPhone, Apple is required to invest more over equipment’s, R&D operations etc. Technological skills:- In order to bring innovational capabilities for future challenges,
Apple is required to change and improve its current technological skills. So that company
can develop the capabilities to manage future innovation (PPI, 2016). Apple is required to
appoint high skilled and competent technological staff so that they can develop their
mobile phone as they have planned. These skilled personnels will help in eliminating the
risk of failure by determining the each and every aspect of process. Legal aspects:- Apart from all the factor, this innovational plan also affect over the legal
aspects follow by Apple current for introducing new technologies without any legal
compliances. As for offering new technologies, company is required to compel all the
legal practices which are required to be follow for the security of both customer as well
as company.
 Cost of changes:- These changes also brings huge impact over the cost required by
company to implement new innovational practices. As Apple is planning to launch future
technologies which requires huge investment over research & development, acquiring
resources, recruiting & training staff members. Apple require capital around 3000 pounds
to develop and launch its wireless portable iPhone.
8

Feasibility:- After planning for all the innovational changes to be anticipate next step is
to analyse the feasibility of the plan. This help in identifying the facts that whether the
formulated plan will work for developing future innovational practices or required some
modification to make it reliable for achieving desired outcome. Before implementing plan, Apple
is required to assess the feasibility of its project in terms of: Economical:- This factor analyses that whether the company have required financial
capabilities to adopt these innovational approach or required to raise fund to adopt these
changes (Purkayastha and Sharma, 2016). Further it also help in determining the fact that
whether the cost of these new Apple iPhones with smart connector will be affordable to
people. As high cost may leads to decrease in the market share of the company which
leads to heavier loss. Legal:- Before implementing plan it is also very essential for company to analyse that
whether there plans are developed by considering all the legal rules and regulations. This
help in keeping the company secure from legal hazards as breaching of regulations leads
to greatest loss to company. Operational:- It is one of the major factor which Apple must be analyse to identify the
feasibility of project. As for implementing its innovational plan, company is required to
analyse its operational ability by determining whether they have employees with skills
and capabilities that are required to implement these future innovational practices.
Further it also help in assessing the capabilities which they are required to develop for
future.
 Technological:- This factor help in identifying the feasibility of company regarding its
availability of technological staff and resources. Technological analyses help in
identifying whether Apple is having technological resources required to develop planned
product or services. It also help in identifying the factors which company is required to
bring at their workplace for developing technological viability.
Approval process:- Before implementing any change within an organisation, approval
from higher authorities is very essential. So, company can organise board meeting in order to
convey their innovation planning in front of directors in order to get approval from them related
9

to implication of these changes (Trevino and Nelson, 2016).As no other changes can be
implement without taking the permission of key persons of an organisation.
Apply the changes:- After getting the approval from board of directors, company can
proceed to implement changes to their organisational practices to develop future capabilities.
Proper implication of plan is very essential for achieving success and failure to this may result in
sever loss to company. This may also affect the brand image of the Apple, so in order to apply
these changes toward building future capabilities leaders plays a major role. As they motivate
the employees to perform well and support in developing their capabilities required for
implication of future innovations (Wadood, Gharleghi and Samadi, 2016). Leaders also tries to
encourage team work as coordination will help in implementing changes more effectively.
Review the impact of changes:- This step is very crucial part of a road map as it depict
the progress of innovation plan after implementation of changes toward developing future
capabilities (Wang and Dass, 2017). This process will help in identifying the level of
development within employees after implementation of these changes and level of capabilities
within employees after working toward this project.
CONCLUSION
From the above given project it can be summarized that innovation plays a crucial role
within an organisational development and its success in marketplace. As by continuous
implementation of innovational practices, company can achieve competitive advantage within
the marketplace. In order to implement innovational practices, company must required to
develop the capabilities for being adoptable to future technologies. For developing this
capabilities company is required to have adequate knowledge about its current customer as well
as market so that future innovational ideas can be developed. In addition to this leaders also
plays an essential role in developing capabilities among employees so that their skills can be
fully utilized to achieve desired result. Technological industry is consider to be one of the fastest
growing sector as players belongs to this industry continuously bring new and innovative
products in order to remain competitive. Further it is also consider to be most developing sector
which provide higher success in term of both brand recognition as well as revenue. So, there are
number of factors present in this sector which foster Apple to bring innovation in their operation
as well as products i.e. demand of customer, competitors etc. Therefore by maintain innovational
capabilities Apple can sustain market share for longer duration.
10

11

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Archibald, R.D. and Archibald, S., 2016. Leading and Managing Innovation: What Every
Executive Team Must Know about Project, Program, and Portfolio Management.
Auerbach Publications.
Biemans, W., 2018. Managing innovation within networks. Routledge.
Bucic, T. and Singh, G., 2018. Apple watch: managing innovation resistance.
Coughlin, T., 2016. Apple, Inc. v. Samsung Electronics Co.: Economics of Design Patent
Trolling. Cardozo Arts & Ent. LJ. 35. p.209.
Dolata, U., 2017. Apple, Amazon, Google, Facebook, Microsoft: Market concentration-
competition-innovation strategies (No. 2017-01). Stuttgarter Beiträge zur
Organisations-und Innovationsforschung, SOI Discussion Paper.
Keen, D.S., Rushing, J.S. and Shortlidge, T.A., Apple Inc, 2017. Managing user information—
background processing. U.S. Patent 9,582,642.
Kodama, M., 2018. Managing Innovation through Ma Thinking. Systems Research and
Behavioral Science. 35(2). pp.155-177.
Kumar, A., 2016. Talent Retention through Strategic Creation of Talent Magnets-A Case Study
Approach. International Journal of Engineering and Management Research (IJEMR).
6(2). pp.112-116.
Pearlson, K.E., Saunders, C.S. and Galletta, D.F., 2016. Managing and Using Information
Systems, Binder Ready Version: A Strategic Approach. John Wiley & Sons.
PPI, P.W., 2016. As American as Apple Inc.: Corporate Ownership and the Fight for Tax
Reform.
Purkayastha, A. and Sharma, S., 2016. Gaining competitive advantage through the right business
model: Analysis based on case studies. Journal of Strategy and Management. 9(2).
pp.138-155.
Trevino, L.K. and Nelson, K.A., 2016. Managing business ethics: Straight talk about how to do
it right. John Wiley & Sons.
Wadood, S., Gharleghi, B. and Samadi, B., 2016. Influence of Change in Management in
Technological Enterprises. Procedia Economics and Finance. 37. pp.129-136.
Wang, X. and Dass, M., 2017. Building innovation capability: The role of top management
innovativeness and relative-exploration orientation. Journal of Business Research. 76.
pp.127-135.
Wesley, D. and Barczak, G., 2016. Innovation and marketing in the video game industry:
avoiding the performance trap. Routledge.
Online

The Tech Industry. 2018. [Online] Available through
<https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2018/01/24/popular-trends-ready-to-
disrupt-the-tech-industry-in-2018/#35b85ce16ce1>./
Understanding Cognitive Computing. 2018. [Online] Available
through<https://www.goodworklabs.com/cognitive-computing-advantages/>./
Foldable iPhone for 2020. 2018. [Online] Available
through<http://fortune.com/2018/03/23/apple-foldable-iphone/>./
Apple at Work. 2018. [Online] Available through<https://www.apple.com/in/business/>./\
iPhone essentials. 2018. [Online] Available through<https://www.apple.com/in/iphone/>./
(Archibald and Archibald, 2016) (Biemans, 2018) (Bucic and Singh, 2018) (Coughlin, 2016)
(Dolata, 2017) (Keen, Rushing and Shortlidge, 2017) (Kodama, 2018) (Kumar, 2016) (Pearlson,
Saunders and Galletta, 2016) (PPI, 2016) (Purkayastha and Sharma, 2016) (Trevino and
Nelson, 2016) (Wadood, Gharleghi and Samadi, 2016) (Wang and Dass, 2017) (Wesley and
Barczak, 2016)