There is no doubt that a range of decisions related to the choice of strategy and the particular practices needed in order to implement it remain extremely important with regard to such factor as company performance. In fact, development of the proper strategy can be regarded as a difficult task due to the fact that business owners and managers are supposed to take into consideration a great number of internal and external threats that may create obstacles on the way of a company to commercial success. Apart from numerous threats, companies should ensure that all the measures chosen for their business and marketing strategies align with the most important statements that they have made before coming in the market. The latter include mission statements that should be regarded as a beacon helping a company to choose appropriate measures in order to bring positive changes. What is more, speaking about the factors that are supposed to have an impact on strategy of a company, it needs to be said that the higher management should do their best in order to analyze a company, define its strengths and weaknesses, and use this knowledge in the most appropriate way allowing to improve performance. Nowadays, there are a great number of companies whose products and services remain popular among common people all over the world, and it would be interesting to study practices that these companies apply to stay successful and the ways of how they implement their mission statements and the results of internal analysis. The particular company that is described in the given paper is Apple.
The reason why this particular company has been chosen is closely interrelated with the fact that numerous practices related to marketing strategy and competition that it applies seem to be really successful if we consider enormous popularity of Apple products. It is even more important if we take into account the fact that products offered by the given company are targeted at people with relatively high incomes, and it is much more difficult to create goods or services that would meet all the requirements of such customers. The given company exists for more than forty years, and, as it can be seen from the growing number of people appreciating their work, they have managed to find the best way to attract customers and their products are of a high quality. Nowadays, the company produces a range of goods such as electronic devices and software. Apart from that, they have started providing online services recently. The given firm is known as one whose managers pay an increased attention to shaping corporate culture and providing employees with an opportunity to develop their talents and self-actualize. In fact, the management of the company has introduced a few unique practices allowing them to distinguish the individuals who are the most talented in order to assign them with new tasks that imply high level of responsibility. To do that, Apple has established a special program that involves giving awards to the ones whose activity helps to improve performance of the company (“Apple Design Awards,” 2016). Due to that decision, the company has managed to motivate the employees and developers to improve their professional skills.
As for the strategy of the chosen company in connection with its mission statement, it is necessary to say that the mission of the company is related to implementation of new technologies in order to change mobile phones completely. It can be said that the company has managed to do it due to the fact that a great number of services and functions that owners of Apple smartphones can use helps modern people to use this device almost as a personal computer. As it can be seen, the company was established in order to provide people with extended opportunities to work with important information with the help of compact devices. In order to fulfil this mission, Apple has implemented a range of practices that allow it to accelerate technical revolution. In order to do that, specialists from the company try to do their best in two different spheres at the same time. To begin with, the company spends an enormous amount of money on development of new technology in order to ensure that customers will be provided with the best products possible. Also, in order to achieve the goal, Apple attracts the most experienced specialists who are supposed to work on its marketing campaigns. As it can be seen from many advertisements of their products, Apple often uses well-known images and characters in order to attract new customers and protects diversity (Todd, 2016). Apart from that, it can be said that their advertisements create the image of a person living in the future and using digital technologies in order to save time and pay attention to something besides work. In fact, many perspective customers seem to be attracted by these images, and this is another reason why the company has never been deprived of the attention of the masses of people. As it is clear from these practices, the mission statement established by the company (to create high-quality products and encourage further technological revolution) aligns with the strategy that is already implemented and helps to outline a way forward in order to reach new frontiers.
Aside from mission statement, there is a group of external factors that influence the decisions related to strategy of any company including Apple. Speaking about these factors, it is necessary to list threats to operations and funding. In fact, even though the company is regarded as one the most successful device producers, in cannot be denied that their work is related to a wide range of threats. For instance, despite the great number of people who prefer products from Apple to ones produced by other companies, there is a possibility that new companies providing high-quality services will enter the market and become popular. It can be supposed that such companies could implement new measures related to pricing policy in order to gain a significant advantage over Apple and its products. It is known that devices offered by the discussed company are relatively expensive, and this fact could be used by companies trying to substitute Apple in the market. In order to mitigate this possible threat and prevent customer attrition, the company members do their best in order to pay an increased attention to consumer preferences. Therefore, they allow customers to choose from many options to compensate for relatively high prices (Chan, Pun, & Selden, 2013). In order to achieve this goal and keep as many consumers as possible interested in products provided by Apple, the company works with prospective customers in three different directions. Consequently, there are three groups of customers who are supposed to use their products. To begin with, Apple provides services for those people who love listening to the music and primarily use digital devices for that purpose. The second group that is supposed to be interested in Apple products includes young and adult people who need to have a device allowing to work with information saving as much time as possible (this group is often represented by business people). In order to meet the needs of this group, the company sells a wide range of compact devices that are easy to use. For instance, they include Macbook and Iphone. In the end, there is a target group whose needs and preferences are difficult to be characterized due to the fact that it unites people of different ages who just appreciate new market entries and have relatively high incomes. In order to attract such customers and, therefore, mitigate possible threats related to increasing competition having a negative effect on business operations, the company offers such products as Iwatch, electronic books, and HD media players. As for possible threats to funding, the management of the company has taken a few measures in order to reduce the impact that they may have on business processes. In general, it can be stated that Apple tries to improve quality of the products and attract a lot of attention of the global community in order to be seen as an important strategic partner. Trying to fulfil the given task, Apple takes part in various activities aimed at improving environmental practices (Fourtané, 2017). For instance, the company chooses the most appropriate sources of energy to conduct its operations and avoids the use of some chemical substances such as PVC and similar ones that can make its products dangerous for the environment. Apart from that, the company implemented changes related to the basic parts of the devices. Thus, it started using displays for smartphones containing no mercury. It can be said that the given measures aimed at reducing environmental risks related to production are extremely important for the company. Due to increasing popularity of environment friendly products, the discussed practices can definitely help the company to increase its competitive advantage and, therefore, attract more investors. As for the latter, they prefer to collaborate with those firms that do their best to be in step with the times and always try to improve their reputation.
Speaking about strengths of the company, it is important to mention that it has enough financial resources to employ the best developers, managers, and specialists in marketing. Also, their products are appreciated not only because of the functions they provide but also due to attractive design. Apart from that, the company avoids engaging in open competition and comparing their products to ones produced by other corporations. Instead, Apple successfully uses so-called blue ocean strategy and the latter helps it to earn the respect of the global community (Kim & Mauborgne, 2014). As for the most important weaknesses, they include high prices that, as it has been mentioned, are put in equilibrium with a wide selection of high-quality devices. Another possible weakness is related to the fact that Apple is expected to produce perfect devices, and this is why every mistake can be fatal; due to that, the company cannot launch new products as fast as other famous corporations do (Beattie, 2015). In reference to possible recommendations, it can be said that the company has already managed to align its strong points with the mission and its commercial success proves it conclusively.
References
Apple Design Awards. (2016). Web.
Beattie, A. (2015). Apple’s key weaknesses. Web.
Chan, J., Pun, N., & Selden, M. (2013). The politics of global production: Apple, Foxconn and China’s new working class. New Technology, Work and Employment, 28(2), 100-115.
Fourtané, S. (2017). Apple embraces environmental best practices. Web.
Kim, W. C., & Mauborgne, R. (2014). Blue ocean leadership. Harvard Business Review, 92(5), 60-72.
Todd, D. M. (2016). Apple reports progress in workforce diversity. Web.