Innovation and Creativity Strategies at Apple Inc. Analysis

This essay provides an in-depth analysis of innovation and creativity at Apple Inc. It begins with an introduction to the company and its mission, emphasizing the importance of innovation in maintaining a competitive advantage. The essay then discusses the current state of innovation within Apple, noting a perceived decrease in recent years, particularly after the leadership transition from Steve Jobs to Tim Cook. It explores key drivers of innovation, including leadership, organizational culture, innovation strategies, competition, and customer preferences. The essay highlights the influence of Steve Jobs' leadership in fostering a culture of innovation and the shift in focus under Tim Cook. The analysis also examines the impact of organizational culture, innovation strategies, and competition on Apple's ability to innovate. The essay concludes with a comprehensive overview of the company's innovation strategies and their impact on the market, offering insights into the challenges and opportunities facing Apple Inc. in maintaining its innovative edge.

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Introduction
In the increasingly competitive nature of business environments, it is essential for the
organizations to develop strategies that may help them to obtain and maintain a competitive
advantage in the market along with the generation of a positive brand identity and presence
among the targeted customers. One of the strategies adopted by such business organization
pertains to the improvement of business operations through the application of innovation and
creativity. The adoption of creativity and innovation in the business operations and functions
by organization aids them to utilize the resources available to them efficiently as well as avail
the opportunities for their growth and development (Tidd and Bessant 2018). Furthermore,
creativity and innovation in business operations also enables the organizations to effectively
cater to the requirements of the customers reducing their tendencies to switch to other brands.
From the perspective of the employees and other members of the business organization, the
adoption of creativity and innovation enables them to improve their processes of problem
solving and create new arenas for cost effective solutions for business operations (Gruber and
Tal 2017). This in turn helps in increasing the productivity and profitability of the business
organization in an exponential manner. Apple Inc. is a multinational technology company,
widely recognized throughout the world for the employment of innovation and creativity in
their business processes and operations. Innovation in Apple Inc. is one of their key
strategies, for which the employees and other members of the organization are always
encouraged to utilize their skills and knowledge efficiently for the creation of new products
and innovative models for business (Apple.com 2020). However, it has also been observed
that the capacity for innovation in Apple Inc. has significantly reduced in the recent years.
The essay will further evaluate the current state of innovation in the company and identify the
key factors working behind such strategies. Furthermore, certain recommendations will be
provided using the tool of innovation value chain.

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Discussion
About the Company
Apple Inc. is recognized as a multinational company of technology, founded in the
year 1976 and its headquarters in California. The company specializes in the designing,
development and manufacture of computer electronics, online services and computer
software. The company is recognized to be one of the four major technology companies of
the world along with Google, Amazon and Facebook. The current Chief Executive Officer of
the company is Tim Cook who took over the operations of the company after Steve Jobs in
the year 2011. One of the primary strategies of the company is to adopt creative and
innovative methods in their business processes so as to create an impact on their global
customers. Such innovation and creativity adopted by the company also prioritizes on
minimizing the impact f their technology on the environment so as to perform their
responsibility towards the local communities and the environment as a whole. Furthermore,
the company has also adopted the value of inclusion and diversity, which enables them to
regard all the employees and other members of the organization with equal importance. The
value of inclusion and diversity also focuses on utilizing the best minds of the world,
irrespective of their geographical or cultural origin in order to create products that serve the
requirements of the global customers. In this regard, it can be mentioned that the mission of
the company is to provide the best experience to the customers through innovative software,
hardware and services. The vision of the company is to produce great products consistently
through a focus on innovation.
Current State of Innovation and Creativity at Apple
Being one of the widely recognized technology companies in the world, Apple Inc.
has adopted the strategy of incorporating innovation and creativity in their business
operations efficiently. The talent pool available in the company in terms of the skills and

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knowledge of the employees and other members of the organization facilitates such
incorporation of innovation in the designing and developing of products as well as creating
methods of production that are not only cost efficient but also cause least impact on the
environment. In this regard, it can be noted that the members of the organization have
developed their business processes in such a manner so as to ensure the optimum utilization
of resources available to the company (Carlgren, Elmquist and Rauth 2016). Furthermore, the
company has also adopted efficient marketing strategies that enables it to reach out to the
customers and make them aware about the recent developments or innovations incorporated
in their products and services. One of the most important features if the marketing strategies
adopted by Apple Inc. includes the provision of unique value propositions for its products
and services to the targeted customers. Instead of engaging in competitive pricing with its
rivals, Apple Inc. focus on increasing the value of the products and services offered to the
targeted customers through innovative product development.
In terms of product development, it can be mentioned that the company Apple Inc.
has engaged in disruptive innovation through the designing and development of the iPhone.
The concept of disruptive innovation involves the creation of a product or service that aids
the creation of a new market, thereby disrupting an existing value network and market and
causing a displacement of the established products, and leading firms in the market (Brown
2008). In this regard, the iPhone is considered to be a disruptive innovation from the
company Apple Inc. because is disrupted the existing smartphone market. The launching of
the iPhone in the smartphone market in the year 2007, led to the creation of a new market for
internet access and new operating system that was not previously available in the market.
However, the current situation of innovation and creativity in the company y shows a
certain level of stagnancy as the company has ceased to innovate further in terms of design
and development of their products (Amabile and Khaire, 2008). The success of the company

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in terms of its productivity and profitability is significantly dependent on the loyal base of
customers or Apple users. The company has steadily focused on the needs and requirements
of the customers in the designing and development of its products and services. However,
with the change in leadership in the year 2011, Tim Cook, the new Chief Executive Officer
has prioritized maintaining of a stability in the business operations as was initiated by the
previous Chief Executive Officer of the company Steve Jobs. Stabilizing of business
operations and activities, has disabled the leader to drive creativity and innovation in the
company thereby decreasing the value proposition to the customer through lack of product
and design innovation. In other words, it may be said that the prioritization of the company
on its loyal customer base has led to a lack of focus on the value proposition of the company.
It has also been observed that Apple Inc. was considered to be one of the most innovative
technology companies in the world under the leadership of Steve Jobs. Jobs focused on
utilizing the talent pool available on the company in order to formulate strategies for product
development and marketing that would provide unique value propositions to its customers.
On the other hand, under the leadership of Tim Cook, the company has lost its ability and
scope to innovate any further because of his focus on bringing about excellence in operations,
thereby delivering the company with a sustained growth (Economictimes.indiatimes.com
2020).
Key Drivers of Innovation and their Influence
In order to incorporate innovation and creativity in business operations efficiently, the
organizations are dependent upon certain factors that influence such innovation positively.
The key drivers influencing creativity and innovation in Apple Inc. may be identified to be
the following:
Leadership – Leadership of the entrepreneur plays an important role in determining the
extent of innovation and creativity that can be incorporated within the business processes

5INNOVATION AND CREATIVITY IN APPLE INC.
(Wolcott and Lippitz 2007). One of the primary drivers of change for Apple Inc. is the
leadership of the former Chief Executive Officer, Steve Jobs. The scope of innovation
generated by Steve Jobs in the company did not pertain directly to making technological
advances. Rather, Jobs propelled entrepreneurial innovation by motivating the employees and
other members of the organization utilize their skills and knowledge for the purpose of
efficient product development that catered to the needs and interests of the customers.
Furthermore, he also significantly contributed to the creation of an organization culture that
prioritizes diversity and inclusion so as to build an effective talent pool within the scope of
the organization. This culture of diversity and inclusion in turn directly relates to the
utilization of the individual skills and expertise of the employees so that they can provide
significant inputs for creativity and innovation in the production processes.
Organizational culture – As discussed earlier, the organizational culture of Apple Inc.
incorporates within its scope diversity and inclusion. This culture enables the organization to
obtain optimum engagement and participation of the employees and various members of the
organization for the purpose of achieving the organizational objectives and strategies (Chen
2017). The other elements present in the organizational culture of the company include
excellence in the production and operational processes, incorporation of creativity and
innovation, and maintenance of secrecy in order to sustain the competitive advantage of the
company in the market. The organizational culture adopted by Apple Inc. allows the
employees to freely use their creative capabilities and contribute to the growth and
development of the organization. This in turn enables the integration of the organizational
objectives with the interests of the employees.
Innovation Strategies – One of primary objectives undertaken by the organization pertains
to the adoption of innovation strategies in order to optimize customer satisfaction and thereby
obtain a competitive edge in the market. The innovation strategies adopted by the company

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are not limited to the scope of product designing and development but also in terms of
entrepreneurship. As discussed earlier, the former Chief Executive Officer of the company,
Steve Jobs, was widely recognized for his innovation in entrepreneurship and motivation
provided to the employees and other members of the organization for the purpose of
propagating creativity in the operational processes of business. Furthermore, the company has
also adopted innovation and creativity in its marketing strategies, which enables them to
reach out to their targeted customers in an effective and efficient manner.
Competition – Competition from rivals in the industry acts as one of the major drivers of
innovation for Apple Inc. Although Apple has developed an extensive customer base with
optimum brand loyalty across the world, the organization is required to keep at par with the
recent developments in technology and features incorporated in the products and services
offered by the competitors in the market. Such competitors can be recognized to be Samsung,
Xiaomi, Huawei and the like. For this purpose, Apple Inc. is required to update the features
of its products and services to such an extent so that they are able to not only retain the
present customer base but also expand it. In order to obtain such a competitive advantage in
the market the company has built a talent pool of employees to excel in their roles within the
scope of the organization and effectively work towards the growth and development of the
company.
Changing tastes and preferences of the customers – Another key driver of innovation in
the company is the changing tastes and preferences of the targeted customers. In this regard,
it can be said that easy accessibility of information regarding the products, services and their
features to the customers has enabled them to choose between a wide range of companies
available in the market. Furthermore, the consumers of premium quality smartphones,
computers and computer software have a tendency to develop a preference to use any recent
developments and advancements in technology. Hence, the company is required to keep their

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products and services updated to such advancements in order to meet the demands of the
customers efficiently.
Advancements in technology – Another important aspect of the innovation and creativity
incorporated in Apple Inc. pertains to the scope of recent developments in technology such as
the use of artificial intelligence, augmented reality, virtual reality, progressive web
applications, cloud applications, machine learning, 5G connectivity and the like. The
customers who are aware of such technological advancements would expect to use them in
the products being offered to by the company. In this regard, it may be said that such
advancements in technological significantly influence the level of innovation and creativity
to be adopted in the product designing and development processes.
Availability of adequate resources – Apple Inc. being one of the most widely recognized
technology companies in the world has access to adequate amount of resources required for
the purpose of research and development. Such large scale investments in research and
development helps the organization to strategize effective means to incorporate creativity and
innovation in the production processes. Furthermore, the investment in research and
development plays a crucial role in aiding the company to utilize the future capabilities and
transform them into new products, services and processes (Pisano 2015).
Context of Business Operations
The current state of stagnancy in innovation is owing to the replacement of the
strategy of innovation to the strategy of increasing operational efficiency by the current Chief
Executive Officer of the company, Tim Cook. Apple Inc. had developed to become one of the
biggest technology company lies in the world under the leadership of Steve Jobs. As
discussed earlier, the strategies adopted by Steve Jobs in order to bring about exponential
growth and development in the company included diversity and inclusion, and innovation.

8INNOVATION AND CREATIVITY IN APPLE INC.
The adoption of such strategies provided the employees and other workers of the company
with the freedom to utilize their expertise and knowledge for the purpose of contributing to
the development of new products, product features or technology that would increase
operational efficiency. On the other hand, the strategies adopted by Tim Cook as the new
Chief Executive Officer of Apple Inc. includes the increase of operational efficiency by
aiming to achieve the vision and objectives of Steve Jobs. However, the scope of this strategy
is limited and disables the company to effectively utilize the opportunities of further
innovation in order to leverage growth of the company. Tim Cook can be said to display and
adopt a democratic leadership style. This type of leadership has enabled him to adopt certain
leadership practices of the former Chief Executive Officer of Apple Inc., Steve Jobs as well
integrate all the employees and other members of the organization in order to foster strong
relationships among the various stakeholders of the company.
Influence on Innovation Strategy
The leadership of Tim Cook has had a major impact on the strategy and scope of
innovation and creativity adopted by the company. Unlike Steve Jobs, Tim Cook has focused
on fostering the business of existing products of the company instead of striving to develop
new ones. While this strategy has significantly raised the sales of the existing products of the
company, it has also caused a stagnancy in the scope of creative innovation and development
of new products or product features. His strategies have led to a shift of focus from the vision
of “innovation first” to that of utilizing the existing opportunities and strengths of the
company, reducing the capability of the company to take risks or effectively meet the
changing demands of the customers.
Proposal for Innovation Plan and Innovation Value Chain
In order to leverage innovation and creativity within the scope of the business of the
company, an innovation plan can be proposed using the tool of an innovation value chain.

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The innovation value chain provides a framework which helps the determination and
assessment of the innovation performance of a business organization, thereby identifying the
best practices that could be adopted by them in order to induce growth and development of
the company through innovation (Hansen and Birkinshaw 2007). Through this framework,
innovation is presented in a three phase process involving the generation, development and
diffusion of the ideas.
Innovation Value Chain Model
(Source: Hbr.org 2020)
In terms of idea generation, it can be said that the employees of the company have the
adequate expertise to generate creative ideas for innovation of products and production
processes. However, the company does not collaborate with any external parties in its
business operations. In terms of idea development, the company has adequate resources to
fund the new ideas and create prototypes to test its efficiency. Furthermore, the company may
also launch a limited number of the new product developed in order to check its acceptance

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among the targeted customers. The organizational culture enables the members to engage in
innovation and creativity thereby facilitating the dissemination of the proposed new ideas
across the organization. The innovation plan proposed for the company Apple Inc. may be
describes as under:
1. Objective
The objective of the innovation plan is to develop new ideas for the creation of new
products, product features or methods of cost and resource efficient production, which
will ultimately lead to an expansion of the customer base of the company.
2. Measuring and evaluating success
The success of the newly developed ideas for innovation can be measured and
evaluated using the following indicators:
 Number of products launched or product features upgraded annually
 Growth of revenue and profits from the new products
 Return on Investment
 Difference between actual and targeted breakeven point for the new products
 Rate of customer satisfaction derived from the new products
3. Implementation issues
The different issues that may occur during the process of implementing the innovation
plan is resistance from the employees and other members of the organization owing to
ambiguity regarding the purpose or outcome of the innovation plan (Tuff and Nagji
2012). Furthermore, the company may also undergo a lack of adequate funds required
for the process of research and development for idea generation and development.
4. Measures to overcome

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The implementation issues as discussed earlier may be overcome by the company
through effective means of communication with the different stakeholders. Such
communication will enable the employees and other members of the organization
understand the need for implementing the innovation plan and acquire their optimum
engagement and participation. Furthermore, the communication will also enable the
investors to measure the prospects of providing the necessary funds for research and
development of new ideas for innovation.
Conclusion
From the above discussion, it can be concluded that innovation and creativity are
important aspects of business operations by an organization, as it helps them to effectively
utilize the opportunities available in the market and prevent the company from getting
affected by the threats to the incorporation of new ideas that may create new avenues for the
growth and development of the company. Innovation in the company Apple Inc. has been
observed to become stagnant under the leadership of the new Chief Executive Officer Tim
Cook. However, it can be reintroduced within the scope of business through the assessment
of the innovation value chain and adoption of the innovation plan recommended.

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