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BUS499: Business Administration Capstone
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1 Feb 2022
Strategic Management and Strategic Competitiveness
Strategic management is the systematic approach by a company to plan and execute its
success. The long term action plan by a company to get the edge over its rivals is competitive
strategy. The evolving world brings about globalization and technology as some of the key
pillars in the businesses world. Businesses that have maximized the use of technology as well as
globalizing their brand are at the top of the food chain. They get the lion’s share in the finite
marketplaces.
Globalization
Apple, best known for its series of personal computers, the iPod and its innovative
marketing strategies for its products, is a leading hardware and software company. Having the
better strategies is what has let to its success. When the company was launched, its immediate
market was the American citizen, but globalization has allowed apple to become a multinational
company. Currently around a third of sales form the Americas according to the annual report.
Sales in Asia are also growing fast.
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Globalization has impacted significantly the company’s supply chain. The company earns
high profits because it is able to produce at a low price and then sell them at a high price
(Chakrabotty, 2012). Despite being an American company, it assembles its products in China
because all the components are made there and also the low cost of labor from the high
population there. Logistics suppliers like FedEx make this possible as they can quickly move
finished products around the world via a number of hubs.
By cutting costs and having a vast market, Apple has managed to maximize profits
making it one of the biggest companies in the world with a net world of $900 billion.
Technology
The iPhone has propelled Apple. Over the past decade, Apple has gone from a large
computer company to a $1 trillion mega company with operations around the globe and 137,000
full time employees. Its success owes to the fact that it was the first of its kind, the first
Smartphone from Apple. “Unquestionably, it’s the most impactful consumer tech product over
the past decade,” Loup Ventures founder and longtime Apple analyst Gene Munster said.
When Apple launched the iPhone in 2007, it wasn’t as successful as it is now owing to
the fact that much better phones such as the Nokia ruled the market. With better connectivity, a
much larger storage and a better camera the Nokia was their biggest competition yet. The
company was torn between whether to release it or not for fear that it would cause the fall of
their key seller, the iPod. With a sleeker design and a much better processor, the iPhone could do
what a computer could and still make calls as well as send messages.
The ability of Apple’s products to use the same operating system, software and
applications as well as share information among them is what is keeping Apple ahead of its