Introduction
This analytical treatise attempts to present a mixture of the global standardization and localization strategies as ideal in the current business situation of the Apple Company.
Current internationalization strategies of the Apple Company
Market foresight strategy
Foresight is very crucial since it gives a company rough perspective and an overview of the future concerning the expected and unexpected changes in the market (Wall and Bronwen 31). Therefore, Apple Company had to carefully examine and evaluate their past and endeavor to adopt relevant skills that are relevant for future challenges and responsibilities. In the quest for internationalization, Apple Company opted to use local labor as a strategy within countries of operation such as London, China, and Japan through training of young and talented managers. Besides, the company embraced the need for creation of an integrated structure to absorb its goals, which favor business in the branches operating outside the US (Gelder 24). In turn, this gave the Apple Company various meanings with relation to their prospective or viewpoints as foreign market citizens have unique cultures.
Product proliferation
The Company’s internationalization strategy opted to embrace the unique culture of the foreign market in customizing its products to fit their unique demands. In doing this, the company incorporated distribution agency control of the foreign markets and customized the products to suit consumers. In effect, the prevailing trends determine an organization’s functions and the context within which it operates (Wall and Bronwen 29).
Therefore, this strategy was very crucial, especially in forecast of future direction as the foreign markets are used for customization and the introduction of special aspects in the communication industry. As a strategy aimed at keeping customers, the process embraced corporate social responsibility in the foreign markets such as sponsorship of education products and partnership with the local medical societies. For instance, in South Africa, the company sponsored the heart walk campaign aimed at raising awareness on the treatments and prevention of heart diseases (Apple Inc. par. 6).
Business ethics and acculturation
In business management, culture encompasses the aspects of national culture, professional culture, personal culture, and corporate culture. Thus, the need for an ethical connection between such cultures and management is important. In order to maximize gain, Apple Company steps in to cut a sustainable niche in the international PC market by pushing for franchises that saw the company open up many distribution branches across the world. Through this, the company was able to establish an efficient team through streamlining operations that fit with appropriate set standards (Cigliano, Georgiadis, Pleasance, and Whalley 73). The culture of informed decision making and extensive research has made the company very popular among the young customers spread across the globe. As asserted by marketing director, “the entire infrastructure is already there for the iPhone 4, and the relationship with carriers is already there” (Apple Inc, par. 9).
Unique corporate culture
Ethics and practice are entrusted by the company to offer the latest researched mechanisms of maintaining acceptable performance through the inclusion of the company’s culture of market leadership. The Apple Inc Company has had a long history in the culture of product class stratification that is tailored for each market segment. The focused differentiation strategy adopted by Apple Company targets the relatively wealthy clients who desire the best in the market. Since the target group for Apple Company is already established, the company has managed to remain profitable and has an admirable potential for growth. Besides, few rivals are interested in the upend market clients who have established loyalty towards the Apple products (Wall andBronwen 14).
Issue identification
The Apple Company is a multinational establishment that trades in personal computers, music streaming, and communication gadgets. It has presence in over 200 countries. The company’s revenues are embedded on a number of business strategic strengths such effective advertisement, diversity of products, and consistency in the quality of its innovative products. However, the global market is currently threatened by the centralized system of product development, advertisement, and approach to different consumer segments.
To survive the competition, it is important for the company to embrace a blend of the global standardization and localization strategies since the company’s markets have different needs which should be met without compromising central market expansion strategies from the headquarters. Specifically, the Apple Company has to urgently address the unique customer requirements demands in Asia, the US, Africa and the rest of the world while remaining the profitable business which cares for the specific demands of its customers (Apple Inc, par. 11).
Analysis
Amalgamation or consolidation is the uniting of a number of small sub-brands into a single unit that is more appealing in a place branding strategy. Major policy arguments for amalgamations/consolidations are greater efficiency in marketing and tracking of brand performance. This can be made possible by the technological revolution and inventions aimed at remodeling efficiency, reducing redundancy, and embracing systematic orientations in the Apple products through brand equity. In order to diversify market operations, the company has created multiple products from the same product with different coloration, features, specs, and size.
As a result, this created an environment of own competition and block other competitors from encroaching into this expansive market. These sub-products were differentiated by features, prices, and the difference in quality (Wall and Bronwen 24). However, the Samsung Company is threatening to eat into the Apple’s global share within the PC industry. The above scenario rationalizes the recommendations below.
Recommendation
In order to move the Apple brand forward, it is critical to adopt brand amalgamation and consolidation through a long term global standardization strategy that directly appeals to different target markets while remaining as the company that has localized the means production and marketing to appeal to different customer bases.
The blend of global standardization and localization strategies that should be adopted by the Apple Company is an examination of needs and requirements which come from the triangulation of the “how”, “where”, and “what” (Cigliano et al. 69). It is basically involved with three major issues; identifying unmet customer needs, examining and deploying potential enablers in new converging innovative technologies, and identifying capabilities to ensure that the needs are met within the expectation of the local markets.Generally, these concepts have been applied in the Apple brand before. However, they should be redesigned to be flexible to market dynamics and embrace alterations where necessary.
Executive Summary
The blend of global standardization and localization strategies will determine the success and sustainability of the Apple Company in penetrating the global market. To increase credibility and maintain professionalism, the global standardization and localization strategies will flawlessly facilitate a healthy and a lifetime relationship between the company and its clients. The current internalization strategies of the Apple Company include market foresight, unique corporate culture, business ethics and acculturation, and product proliferation.
Works Cited
Apple Inc. Business Application Development. 2014. Web.
Cigliano, James, Michael Georgiadis, Daniel Pleasance, and Sarah Whalley. “The price of loyalty.” McKinsey Quarterly, 4.2 (2002): 68 – 77. Web.
Gelder, Van. Global brand strategy: Unlocking branding potential across countries cultures and markets, London: Kogan Page Publishers, 2005. Print.
Wall, Stuart and R. Bronwen. International business, New York: Financial Times Prentice Hall, 2004. Print.