Management Portfolio Apple Inc.

Chris Florence Texas A&M Universty Central Texas MGMT 301: Principles of Management Prof. Louis Fry October 6, 2011

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Career and Company Analysis The company I am interested in is Apple. The position is Product Marketing Manager. Apple is committed to bringing the best personal computing experience to students, educators, creative professionals and consumers around the world through its innovative hardware, software and Internet offerings. (Apple, 2004) Apple has changed the way many people use computers today, and I want to be a part of Apple when it happens again. Apple is known not only for its extraordinary products, but also for its outstanding marketing and advertising. Apples world-class Marketing team comprises some of the smartest, most dedicated people on the planet. From graphic design to events to public relations, they ensure that all of our messaging lives up to the Apple standard of excellence. (Apple.com, 2011) Apple is looking for a people person who loves to think both creatively and strategically and is willing to go the extra mile for every project. Needed Skills and Ability On Apples website, Jobs at Apple lists Product Marketing Manager as a dynamic, highly motivated worldwide product manager to be responsible to drive the creation of the accessory products that will complement the iPod, iPhone, and iPad.

To work as a Product Marketing Manager, Apple normally requires the following: Bachelors of Science or Bachelors of Arts degree in engineering or business 2-5 years of experience in product management of consumer electronics devices; audio, hardware or technology accessories preferred Strong oral and written communication skills

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Gap Analysis

Skills
BS/BA degree in engineering or business; MS/MA/MBA is a plus 2-5 years of experience in product management of consumer electronics devices Strong oral and written communication skills

Current
College Senior Experience as assistant manager.

Gap
Need to obtain Bachelors; expected completion April 2012 Need management experience with consumer products Goal met and improving

Goal met

Action Plan After comparing the gap analysis, to become a Product Marketing Manager at Apple Inc. has a few areas in which I need to gain knowledge and experience to be an eligible candidate. I am on schedule to complete my bachelors next semester in the Spring. One way to gain the management experience needed would be to seek out manager training programs or management internships at local retailers while in school. My experience as a Public Affairs Specialist in the Army has helped me to improve my communication with superiors and subordinates. I am also currently enrolled in a business communications course this semester. As stated in the job description, a masters degree is a plus which is also a part of my action plan. I plan to pursue a masters in Marketing upon completion of my bachelors. I believe with this action plan I will be a qualified candidate for the position at Apple Inc. Artifacts that will reflect my Management Portfolio Upon completion of my action plan I am confident that my portfolio will place me in a class above the average candidate for the Product Marketing Manager position at Apple Inc. Through my journey of gaining the knowledge and experience I am seeking, I will also gain a

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network of references who will vouch for me. I can also include a masters degree in one of the recommended fields to strengthen my portfolio. References Kane, Yukari and Rohwedder, Cecilie. (June 8, 2010); Apple Strives for Global Markets. Electronics Giant Speeds Overseas Rollout of New iPhone to 88 Countries as It Looks for Growth. Wall Street Journal. Retrieved October 5, 2011 from, http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703302604575294530119152528.html Store List. (n.d.) Apple.com. Retrieved on October 4, 2011 from http://www.apple.com/retail/storelist/ Apple Store. (n.d.) Wikipedia.com. Retrieved on October 4, 2011 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Store Cary, John. (September 3, 2011) Apple's philanthropy needs a reboot. Retrieved on October 5, 2011 from http://articles.cnn.com/2011-09-03/opinion/martin.cary.apple.charity_1_applefans-apple-gadgets-app-store?_s=PM:OPINION Steve Jobs' Magic Kingdom. How Apple's demanding visionary will shake up Disney and the world of entertainment. Businessweek.com. (September 6, 2006) Retrieved on October 4, 2011 from http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/06_06/b3970001.htm Fortune Insight: Apple's Inner Decision-Making Process, Steve Jobs' Anger and Dictatorship. (n.d.) Received on October 4, 2011 from Globalites.com. http://globalelites.net/steve-jobs/188-fortune-insight-apple-s-inner-decision-makingprocess-steve-jobs-anger-and-dictatorship.html.

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Appendix Management Portfolio Chapter 1 1. Describe the firm. Apple Inc., formerly Apple Computer, Inc., is a multinational corporation that creates consumer electronics, computer software, and commercial servers. Apple's core product lines are the iPhone, iPod music player, and Macintosh computer line-up. Founders Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak effectively created Apple Computer on April 1, 1976, with the release of the Apple I, and incorporated the company on January 3, 1977, in Cupertino, California. For more than two decades, Apple Computer was predominantly a manufacturer of personal computers, including the Apple II, Macintosh, and Power Mac lines, but it faced rocky sales and low market share during the 1990s. Jobs, who had been ousted from the company in 1985, returned to become Apple's CEO in 1996 after his company NeXT was bought by Apple Inc., and he brought with him a new corporate philosophy of recognizable products and simple design. With the introduction of the successful iPod music player in 2001, Apple established itself as a leader in the consumer electronics industry, dropping "Computer" from its name. The latest era of phenomenal success for the company has been in the iOS (Apple) range of products that began with the iPhone, iPod Touch and now iPad. Today, Apple is the largest technology firm in the world, with annual revenues of more than $60 billion. (Wikipedia.com) How old is it?

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Established on April 1, 1976 in Cupertino, California, and incorporated January 3, 1977. (Wikipedia.com) What industry (or industries) is the firm active in? consumer technology. (Wikipedia.com) What products or services does it sell? consumer electronics, computer software, and personal computers. (Apple.com) Who are its principal competitors? In recent years, it could be argued that most PC manufacturers were rivals to Apple, like Dell, Alienware, Gateway, and IBM. Factor in Microsoft as a rival to their Operating System (OS X/XP). But in recent years they have branched out considerably, into online media (iTunes, MobileMe, iPhone) so you can factor in Napster and other legal music download sites, Hotmail and Gmail, and Nokia, Samsung, Blackberry and alike. (Wikipedia.com) Is it active internationally? As of October 2010, the company operates 317 retail stores in ten countries. (Wikipedia.com) How many employees does it have? 2010 Employees: 49,400 (Wall Street Journal) What are its sales and profits? Financial results for its fiscal 2011 third quarter ended June 25, 2011: The Company posted record quarterly revenue of $28.57 billion and record quarterly net profit of $7.31 billion, or $7.79 per diluted share. ( Apple.com)

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2. How well has the firm performed recently compared to rivals? Apple Inc. has outperformed its competitors. (Wikipedia.com) Has it outperformed rivals or underperformed them? Apple Inc. has outperformed its competitors Why? The popularity of the iPhone and iPad. (Wikipedia.com) 3. Who is the CEO? Tim Cook. (Apple.com) How long has she or he been in this position? August 2011. (Apple.com) Steve Jobs stepped down as CEO august 24, 2011, and is now the Chairman of the Board. (Apple.com) What has been the career track of the CEO? Before being named CEO in August 2011, Tim was Apple's Chief Operating Officer and was responsible for all of the companys worldwide sales and operations, including endto-end management of Apples supply chain, sales activities, and service and support in all markets and countries. He also headed Apples Macintosh division and played a key role in the continued development of strategic reseller and supplier relationships, ensuring flexibility in response to an increasingly demanding marketplace. (Apple.com) 4. Can you find examples of how the CEO has performed the basic tasks of management strategizing, planning, organizing, controlling, developing, and leading his or her organization? Tim Cook is fairly new as CEO of Apple Inc. Steve Jobs, Cooks predecessor, was the CEO and co-founder of the company. Jobs, after an absence from Apple, returned to the

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company in 1997 and reinvented it with a new management team and a swarm of innovative and groundbreaking products, effective branding campaigns, and stylish designs. (Wikipedia.com)

Chapter 2 1. Describe the nature of the task environment the firm is facing. What are the opportunities here, and what are the threats? The capital investment requirements to be as competitive as Dell, Gateway, or IBM are tremendous. If a company can create a niche for itself as Apple has done, then there is a chance of competition increasing. To challenge the industry leader (Microsoft) would take extreme amounts of capital and R&D. Apple has a strong hold on certain niche markets, but its market share for business and professional use is low. Apple is in the computer industry, yet theyre in their own market alone. It will be difficult for another company to join the same market segment that Apple is in and have the success that Apple has had. 2. Has the task environment been influenced by trends in the general environment over the last decade? If so, what are these trends and how have they changed things? The current economic situation has not been much of a factor as far as revenue is concerned. Apple continued to sell its products. Apple has seen its share of legal complaints from competitors. Apple and Samsung have recently been battling over intellectual property. 3. What are the sources of uncertainty in the task environment confronting the firm? What strategies have managers at the firm adopted to try and cope with this uncertainty?

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4. What are the strengths of the organization? What are the weaknesses? Apples strengths are in the areas of design, innovation, ease of use and quality. A weakness Apple may want to consider is the price of its products. Apple products are expensive in comparison to its competitors.

Chapter 3 1. Outline how the processes of globalization have impacted your firm and might affect it in the future. What challenges is globalization creating? What opportunities are emerging as a result of globalization? Apple struggled with overseas sales before the release of the iPhone. About 55% of iPhone sales are now made outside of the U.S., from about 25% two years ago. The iPhone 4 is now being sold in 88 countries. (Wall Street Journal)

2. Is your firm active outside its home market? How much of its business comes from foreign sales? Yes. Apple now has more than 300 stores worldwide. (Apple.com) Apple got 58% of its revenue from outside the Americas region in the latest quarter. (Wall Street Journal) 3. What is the largest foreign market of your firm? How does it do business in that market (through wholly owned subsidiaries, joint ventures, exporting)? Why do you think managers at the firm chose that entry mode? The United Kingdom is the largest foreign market with 33 stores. (Wikipedia.com) 4. In what ways has your firm benefited from going global? Apples growth continues to outpace that of the rest of the industry, Apple

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remains committed to creating products that have the least amount of impact on the environment. (Apple.com)

Chapter 4 1. Is it satisfying the claims of key stakeholders, including employees, customers, shareholders, and the general public? If so, how? If not, why not? The attitudes and behaviors of managers toward their people are of primary importance. Employees should be able to trust the motives and integrity of their supervisors. It is the responsibility of management to create a productive environment where Apple Values flourish. (Apple Employee Handbook)

2. How would you characterize the ethical climate of the organization you have chosen to follow? What evidence is there to support your conclusion? In 2006, the Mail on Sunday reported that sweatshop conditions existed in some factories in China, where the contract manufacturers, Foxconn and Inventec, operate the factories that produce the iPod. Immediately after the allegations, Apple launched an investigation and worked with their manufacturers to ensure that conditions were acceptable to Apple. (Wikipedia.com) 3. Find out if the organization has been the focus of any adverse ethical issues in recent years (look at historic news reports). If it has, try to determine whether this was due to the isolated actions of rogue managers or to more systemic, organization-wide problems. Greenpeace has campaigned against Apple on various environmental issues, including a global end-of-life take-back plan, non-recyclable hardware components and toxins within

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some Apple products. In 2007, Apple started yearly audits of all its suppliers regarding worker's rights, slowly raising standards and pruning suppliers that did not comply. Yearly progress reports have been published since 2008 (Wikipedia.com) 4. Does the organization undertake social investments that go beyond its narrow economic selfinterest? If so, what kind of investments has it made? Whom do these investments benefit? Do you approve of these investments? Apple has no publicized corporate giving strategy of any kind, aside from a "(RED)" edition iPod Nano, $25 iTunes gift card and new iPad cover through which some undisclosed percentage of profits ultimately goes to organizations fighting AIDS in Africa. According to the (RED) website, the proceeds from the sale of one iPod Nano "provides life saving medicine for one person in Africa for more than three weeks." (CNN.com) This summer Apple was the most profitable corporation on earth. I believe that Apple could be more philanthropic.

Chapter 5 1. Find out as much as you can about the mission, vision, values, and major goals of the organization. 2. Evaluate the firms mission, vision, values, and goals. What are the positive aspects of these statements? Is there anything you would criticize? Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the world, along with OS X, iLife, iWork, and professional software. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store. Apple reinvented the mobile phone with its

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revolutionary iPhone and App Store, and has recently introduced its magical iPad which is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices. (Apple.com) Chapter 6 1. What is the business-level strategy of this firm? (For a multi-business firm, focus on the largest business unit.) Apple business-level strategies have been focused on enhancing performance and marketing. 2. Plot the position to which the firm aspires on the efficiency frontier. Also plot its actual position if that is different. If you think the firm is positioned inside the frontier, state why. If you think it is on the frontier, how did it get there?

3. What is the corporate-level strategy of the firm? In your opinion, does this strategy create additional value, boosting the profitability of the enterprise, or is it destroying value and lowering profitability? How did you reach your conclusion? Apple has two major long-term strategies and tactics that they focus on. The first being strategic alliances that they have with IBM, Microsoft, and AT&T. The alliances they formed with IBM and Microsoft have enabled Apple to further their computer growth and guarantee software that is available and familiar to consumers all over the world. The alliance with AT&T was a recent alliance that was formed when Apple came out with their iPhone. Their contract with AT&T ends in 2010, and the phone world is anxiously waiting to see if they will continue this alliance or create a new one. The second strategy is concentration on internal growth which they are implementing by developing new products for the markets they have already established and by finding

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new markets for their current products. For example Apple created a new market for their Macintosh computers by pushing them into the education market and creating their mark among students and teachers. Chapter 7 1. Is this firm efficiently run at the operating level? What is your evidence? (Hint: One way of getting at this is comparing the firm against its competitors.) Yes. Apples entry into the mobile device market has generated huge momentum for the company. Apple has out-performed its competitors for mobile devices. 2. Are there any ways in which the firm might be able to improve its operating efficiency? If so, what operating strategies could it pursue, and how might they enhance the competitiveness of the enterprise? N/A. 3. If the firm is a manufacturing enterprise, could the firm implement a build- to- order strategy? What would be the benefits of doing so? What would it have to do to deliver on that strategy? (If the firm already has a build- to- order strategy, outline the benefits and state how it implemented that strategy). N/A 4. If the firm is a service enterprise, is its product offering standardized or customized to individual customers or customer groups? Are there benefits to increasing product customization? What operating process would have to be put in place to do that? N/A

Chapter 8

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1. Describe the basic organization structure of the enterprise. Apple uses a multi-divisional structure within their company. They have Tim Cook at the top as CEO and branch down to the COO and then branch down to their divisions that consist of: Worldwide Product Marketing, Software Engineering, Retail, Mac Hardware Engineering, iPhone Software Engineering, and Devices Hardware Engineering. Each of their divisions houses their own supervisors and employees. (Apple.com) 2. Does the structure match the strategy of the enterprise? If it does, explain how. If it does not, explain why not, and outline what should be changed to bring strategy and structure into alignment. 3. Does the organization have a tall or flat management hierarchy? Is the number of levels in the hierarchy appropriate? Apple organizational structure is flat with three levels. I think that with the huge success of the company with this strategy is appropriate. 4. What is the span of control of the CEO? In your judgment is this span too narrow, too wide, or just right? Apple is more centralized than decentralized with Steve Jobs as CEO. Jobs was often said to be a micromanager and somewhat demanding. (Businessweek.com) 5. What decisions within this organization are centralized at the head office? What decisions are decentralized to subunits? Does the approach toward centralization and decentralization make sense? Steve Jobs as CEO made all of the critical decisions for the company. (globalites.net) Chapter 9

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1. Try to discover all you can about the main methods top managers use to control the organization. Apple has a culture of secrecy. Some employees arent informed about new products until Apples famous Keynote Events in which this information is released. Apple uses bureaucratic controls and output controls. 2. Do these control methods make sense given the structure and strategy of the enterprise? How? Apples cultural secrecy is also a marketing strategy. The hype surrounding new Apple products and updates generates so much interest among its unusually loyal customers and potential customers. 3. Would you suggest any change in control methods for the organization? If so, what? I wouldnt change anything. Chapter 10 1. Scan through the companys Web site to find any explicit statements made about the companys culture. Does the company explain how long it has held these cultural values or how they were formed? To whom are these espoused values directed on the Web site? Prospective employees? Customers? Think Differently. Apple has applied this philosophy not only to its products, but also to its employee environment. Corporate jobs, without the corporate part can be seen on Apples jobs site. Working at Apple is a whole different thing. Because whatever you do here, you play a part in creating some of the best-loved technology on the planet. And in helping people discover all the amazing things they can do with it. You could call it work, or you could call it a mission. We call it a blast. (Apple.com)

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2. Look through a recent company annual report and search for recent news stories about the company (from either Internet searches or full-text newspaper sources available through your college librarys online portal). Are these stories generally consistent with or contrary to the companys espoused culture (what it says it values)? I believe Apple has sold being different from the start. People have started to buy into the idea. The popular products from Apple and the Apple stores stand out from the rest and people are buying it. Apple has made a profound impact with its philosophy through its products and the stock market shows this.

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