Management in the Apple Company Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Management in the Apple Company - Research Paper Example The fanatical loyalty of the Apple brand becomes obvious to an outsider when he/she sees the shoppers sleeping just next to the shop-door in an attempt to be the first one to buy the new Apple item. Apple’s success as a company and the development of liking among the people for the Apple products as well as the whole Apple culture is an outcome of prudent and timely planning. This paper looks into the way management of the Apple Company has dealt with the four management functions of planning, organizing, leading and controlling. Management Functions 1. Planning Apple’s successful strategic planning is the most fundamental reason of its success. Apple’s foresightedness is a virtue that helps the Company display excellent and realistic planning. Apple regularly assesses the risks in the planning phase, thinks of a number of ways in which the risk can be mitigated and finally, takes the action that incurs Apple the minimal cost and the offers maximal advantage to t he Company. Challenges that the Apple Company has conventionally planned for include but are not limited to the altering buying attitude of the target customers under effect of the global economy and/or their local economies, and growth in the number of fake and pirated items. Apple has frequently employed branding as a strategy to succeed in the ever-increasing competition. Branding can be defined as a process through which a brand develops association of the consumers with itself so that they would approach the very brand when they need to purchase something. There are few people who decide to purchase an Apple computer, though they surely want to try the less expensive gadgets like iPhone and iPod. Apple provides new users with an opportunity to learn about Apple by selling such gadgets at a significantly lower cost. Hence, Apple plans to use the small gadgets as advertisers to convince the users to buy larger and more expensive Apple products like Apple computers. 2. Organizing In the start, Apple was facing the problem of recognition. The sales staffers have for long been insufficiently informed of the Apple products. In order to tackle this problem, Apple resolved to establish its own stores that would have nothing but all Apple products in them. This enabled Apple not only to give a unique identity to its products amongst the similar computing devices already available in the market, but also make a customer-loyalty move. Consumers are facilitated with the establishment of Apple stores since both the PC and the Mac users can shop together. â€Å"This is a space where Macheads can not only get service but also hang out with others who enjoy Apple products just as much as they do. By creating this space, Apple encourages current and new customers to get excited about what it has to offer† (Inside CRM, 2011). 3. Leading Steve P. Jobs is Apple’s cofounder and the chief executive of the Company. Apple’s success can also be attributed to a significant extent to the exceptional leadership skills of Jobs. Jobs has invested so much energy in taking Apple from the nascent state to the level where it is today that he has taken little care of his own health. Owing to his deteriorating health, Jobs has taken medical leave for the company thrice within a period of ten years. In his absence, Timothy D. Cook used to look after the everyday works in the Apple Company. Most experts are of the view that although Jobs has