Week 10 Assignment – Capstone
Overview: In this assignment, you are to use the same corporation you selected and focused on for assignments in Weeks 3, 6, and 8. Research the company on its website, the public filings on the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Filings & Forms page, Strayer University’s online databases, and Lexis. Advanced database, and any other sources you can find. The annual report will often provide insights that can help address some of these questions. You will give a 15-minute presentation to the board of directors of the corporation. Use the Capstone Template [PPTX] to ensure that your assignment meets the requirements
Requirements
Develop an 8-12 slide PowerPoint presentation with speaker notes based upon your assignments from Weeks 3, 6, and 8, and the following. Develop an executive-level PowerPoint presentation with 8-12 slides that contain speaker notes and appropriate graphics. Create a SWOT analysis for the company to determine its major strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Based on the SWOT analysis, outline a strategy for the company to capitalize on its strengths and opportunities, and minimize its weaknesses and threats. Discuss the various levels and types of strategies the firm may use to maximize its competitiveness and profitability. Outline a communications plan the company could use to make the strategies you recommend above known to all stakeholders. Assess efforts by this corporation to be a responsible (ethical) corporate citizen and determine the impact these efforts (or lack thereof) have on the company’s bottom line. The specific course learning outcome associated with this assignment is as follows:
Develop a corporate presentation based on a SWOT analysis, strategies for maximizing competitiveness and profitability, a communications plan, and an assessment of efforts related to ethics
Week 10 Assignment – Capstone
SWOT analysis
Strength- Apple is considered to be one of the most reliable companies when it comes to personalized computers and smart technology devices (Podolny & Hansen, 2020, p. 88). Apple was the first company that introduced innovative products that change the world like iPhone, and Air Pod. Apple ranked first in consecutive 9 years with a brand value of $408 Billion.
Weakness- The major weakness of Apple is that the Apple product is luxury and comes at a premium price. Low-income people cannot afford Apple products.
Opportunities- The major opportunity for Apple is that all the company professionals are highly qualified and with years of experience. Apple has expansive network distribution which helps to attract more customers.
Threat- Although Apple is a big brand company the completion and the threat are there with other emerging companies. The Apple Air tag is used to find misplaced items with the help of Bluetooth but there are lots of instances where criminal uses it to steal cars or to stalk people.
Strategies used
Based on the SWOT analysis a strategy for Apple to capitalize on its strengths and opportunities, and minimize its weaknesses and threats is stated below-
Cross-sell more products- The strategy which Apple should use is cross-selling the product. It means that the Apple product should not only connect to Apple devices but it can connect to any other brand devices. The Bluetooth of Apple can be used by any Android set as it helps to increase the more customer and opportunities. Then more people will purchase the product and the sales will increase.
Product differentiation- In the case of product differentiation, Apple should produce different types of products with superior technology, features, pricing, or styling. If the same type of product is manufactured then the customer loses their interest in the product but adding new features and looks attracts more customers in the market.
Various Levels and Types of Strategies to Maximize Competitiveness
The strategy which Apple should apply is diversification. Diversification is a growth strategy that involves entering a new market or industry (Li, 2021, p.75). As is seen that the Apple Company is manufacturing electronic devices but the company can also go to other sectors like the manufacturing of electronic products television, refrigerators, etc. This will help to increase the competitiveness in the market and able to attract more customers to the market. The level which the company should follow is the business level so that it can able to attract more customers through differential strategies.
Profitability
For the profitability of the company the strategy which should be used by the company is the cost leadership strategy. In the cist leadership strategy, a competitive price is offered for the product and the services. In cost leadership, Apple should charge a lower price for the product by remaining profitable. As the price of the Apple product is higher than other brands and if these strategies will be applied then the company can be more profitable and more customers will be attracted to them. The company should always follow a corporate-level strategy so that it can able to attract more customers through the product as the price management is done by the upper level.
Communication Plan of Competitiveness Strategies
Communication is important for any organization and acts as the lifeblood of the organization. The communication plan communicates the competitiveness strategies to stakeholders of two-level internal and external levels. The first stage is to analyze the stakeholder interest and the second step is to determine how they convey the information to the stakeholders. In the case of competitiveness, the communication plan can be of first provide the detail of the product they are manufacturing and the new product which Apple wants to manufacture (Adel, Omar & Abdulammeer, 2021, p.1407). Secondly, the communication plan should be simple and concise so that it can help stakeholders to understand easily. Thirdly identify which area should be covered first and which customer should be attracted more.
Communication Plan of Profitability Strategies
For the profitability strategies, a good communication plan should be made. Firstly, the plan be short with easy language and provide brief detail. Secondly, the plan should be made on keeping in mind the price of the product because as per the leadership strategy the leaders should communicate with the stakeholders regarding the product that should be reduced. Thirdly the consent of the stakeholders should be taken and provided the full detail about this strategy to the stakeholder. Fourthly all the information related to the profit and what prices need to be reduced should be provided to the stakeholder.
Responsible (ethical) corporate citizen
Apple does business in the most ethical possible manner. For example, Apple commits to carbon neutrality for its supply chain and products by 2030. The other specific ethical effort made by the company is related to the conservation of resources. For example, Apple uses 100 percent recycled product and eliminate plastic waste.
The Impact of the Effect
Due to the responsible ethical corporate citizen, there is a certain impact in the organization which takes place.
Firstly, the impact is taking place on the productivity of the company. For example, being a responsible ethical citizen boosts the morale in the workplace which helps to boost the productivity of the company.
Secondly, the company gains a reputation and creates an image in the market (Monden, 2020, p.10). For example, due to its social-ethical corporate citizen company gain more attention and is one of the reputed companies in the world with maximum sales.
References
Podolny, J. M., & Hansen, M. T. (2020). How Apple is organized for innovation. Harvard Business Review, 98(6), 86-95.
Li, Y. (2021). Apple Inc. Analysis and Forecast Evaluation. Proceedings of Business and Economic Studies, 4(4), 71-78.
Monden, Y. (2020). Risk Spreading between the Diversified Subscription Businesses and the Existing Business: Focusing on the Case of Apple. Management Control Systems For Strategic Changes: Applying To Dematurity And Transformation Of Organizations, 17, 1.
Adel, A. F. S., Omar, A., & Abdulammeer, H. D. (2021). EMPLOYEES’PERFORMANCE ON APPLE COMPANY. PalArch’s Journal of Archaeology of Egypt/Egyptology, 18(4), 1405-1413.
