Apple Company

                                                            Apple Company

                                                 Outline

1. Introduction
2. Thesis Statement
3. Argumentative Role
4. Literature Review
5. Mission
6. Market
7. Product and Services
8. Competitors
9. Marketing Strategy
10. Corporate Affairs
11. Apple culture
12. Internal and External Environment
13. Organizational Setting
14. Annotated Bibliography
15. Conclusion

                                                      Apple company

Introduction

Apple is an American multinational company that deals with technology. The Apple company is based in the United States of America in Cupertino in the state of California. The company deals in the designing, developing, distribution and selling of computer software, consumer-related electronic and online services worldwide. The Apple company is one of the Big five companies in the world. The Big Five consists of Amazon, Google, Facebook, Microsoft, and Apple itself. The company was initially known as the Apple Computer Company from 1976-1977 and later it was changed to Apple Computer Inc. from 1977-2007 (Rawlinson,2017). The company is identified under the public type of company. The major components that are dealt with in the company are; computer software and hardware, semiconductors, cloud computing, fables silicon design, media, financial technology, digital distribution, consumer electronics, and artificial intelligence. The Apple company is 44 years old as it was first founded in 1976 on the 1^st of April (Rawlinson, 2017). The founders of the Apple company are Steve Wozniak, Steve Jobs, and Ronald Wayne. By 2019, the company had grown to have more than 500 retail stores. The company serves the whole world respectively. The main products of the Apple company are; iPhone, iPad, logic pro, shazam, iWork, Apple TV, Homepod, Macintosh, and Siri.

On the other hand, Apple’s services are; Apple News, Apple Music, Apple Books, Apple store, Apple pay, imessage, Mac Apple Store, Apple card, and Apple Arcade. Within the 44 years of active operational activities, the company has grown and has increased its revenue drastically. The revenue of the Apple company as of 2019 was at US$260.174 billion (Vasilaki & Tsakalidis, 2019). The operating income was at US$63.930 billion as of 2019. The total assets of the company were adding up to US$338.516 billion in 2019 and the total equity of the company was US$90.488billion in 2019. The number of employees of the Apple company has increased up to 137,000 by 2019 (Vasilaki & Tsakalidis, 2019). Even though the Apple company is widely spread, it has a number of subsidiaries. These subsidiaries are Apple Energy, LLC, Apple Worldwide video, Claris, Braeburn Capital, Anobit, Beats Electronics, Beddit, Apple Services, and Apple sales international.

Mission

The mission of a company simply emphasizes the aim and objectives of the company. In the case of the Apple company, the main objective of the company is to bring out the best user experience to all the Apple user customers through the innovation of the software, hardware, and services through their products. Therefore, the Apple company is more concerned with the satisfaction of its customers around the world. In 2009, the vision of the Apple company was “We believe that we are the face of the earth to make great products and that is not changing”. The company is well aware of the benefits that it has brought to the people around the world with its production of different technological devices (Soh & Najihah, 2019). Therefore, the Apple company is certain that it is the face of the earth in making great products for the benefit of the human race and that is not changing any time soon. The reason as to why the Apple company has been able to succeed over the years is simply because of the fact that the company recognizes and understands its mission and vision and sticks to it. The mission of the business, therefore, focusses more on the objectives of the company and the different effective mechanisms that can be used to fulfill those objectives. Therefore, the first step into achieving the goals of the company and its objectives, it’s first having an understanding of the mission and the vision of the company (Rawlinson, 2017). As of 2018, the Apple company had three main elements of its mission. These are; innovation of hardware, best user experience, and finally innovation of software and services.

     Market

The Apple company is a huge company that has a huge target market considering that its design, produce, and distributes a wide range of technology devices. With technological advancements, the Apple company is playing a huge role in ensuring that people are able to get the devices and services that are helpful in their operational. Therefore, the Apple company does not have a specific group of target market since its products are widely used around the world. For the longest USA has been recognized as the largest market of Apple products but that is taking a new turn as China is now becoming the fastest Apple market in the world. With the economic stability in China and the large population, The Apple company has had China as its largest market in terms of sales. For instance, in 2014, China only was able to generate US$ 29.846 billion in net sales for the Apple company. Apple products are not only available in well-developed countries but also in developing countries especially in Africa and Asia (Grigoras et al. 2019). Despite the fact that Apple products are available around the world there is a difference in the total net sales considering economic stability. For instance, African countries may not be as high as in countries like China because of the poverty levels making many people not afford Apple products.

Also, Europe is another Apple largest market but that is about to change according to studies suggesting that China will overtake Europe as the second-largest Apple market in the world. Therefore, the top three markets for Apple products are the United States of America, Europe, and China.  countries are behind these three great economies of the world (Haongove, 2018). Therefore, Apple produces a wide range of products that are useful to a lot of people in the world regardless of gender, age, or background. The mission of the Apple company is to improve on the user experience to ensure that all its consumers are satisfied.

Products and Services

The Apple company is well known for the production of a wide range of products and offering of services to the world. This particular part of the article will emphasize on the products and services that are produced and offered by the Apple company. Apple products include; Macintosh; the Macintoshes are currently under production. The first Macintosh was the Imac that was first produced as a consumer all in one computer desktop and introduced in 1988 (Rawlinson, 2017). Later in 2005, the company introduced the Mac Mini which was a consumer sub-desktop computer. The mini-one was smaller than the previous one. In 2006, the company introduced the MacBook Pro which was well recognized as a workstation desktop computer. In 2008, the company came up with the MacBook Air which is a consumer ultra-thin and portable computer. Despite the sale of the above products, the company also sells a number of computer accessories like a magic trackpad, thunderbolt display, magic keyboard, and magic mouse. The other major product by the company is the iPod. The iPod was first introduced in 2001 as a digital music player (Rawlinson, 20217). The sales of this particular product were very high and in 2015 the company was able to ship more than 390 million units around the world. Apple has been able to partner with Nike in offering the Nike+iPod sport kit. The other product is the iPhone. During the Macworld Conference & Expo which took place in January 2007, Steve Jobs introduced the iPhone which enabled people to use smartphone internet and iPods. The iPhone is the largest selling product of the Apple company since its introduction in 2007 (Rawlinson, 2017). The other product is the iPad which was introduced in 2010 on January 27^th. The iPad is a media tablet that is well used for the access of multimedia accessories like e-books, music, newspapers, and photos. Other products of the Apple company are the Apple Watch, Apple TV, and Home Pod (Yoffie & Baldwin, 2018).

Competitors

Despite the fact that the technology devices are very competitive, the Apple company does not face a lot of competition from other related companies. Not all companies are at the same level as the Apple company but that does not that the company does not face any competition. The major competitor is Samsung. Alongside Samsung, there are other tech companies that are also doing good in the market. Such companies are; Sony, Lenovo, Dell, and HP. Despite the existence of other tech companies, both Apple and Samsung are the major companies whose products are very popular and recognized all over the world.

Considering the fact that the Apple company operates in the field of technology, then it is normal for it to face competition. With technological advancement, it is usual for other companies to grow according to the demand of technology devices around the world. For example, Dell is one of Apple’s primary competitors considering that the company is also into the production of desktops and mobile computing devices (Soh & Najihah, 2019). Another competitor of the Apple company is Lenovo Group. Lenovo is also a manufacturing company dealing with PC, mobile phones, and other electronic products. Lenovo is a Chinese company and a primary competitor of the Apple company.

HP Inc.is is a major competitor of the Apple company especially outside the United States of America. The company is known for the production of affordable computer products compared to other related companies making it to be one of the major competitors of the Apple company. Sony is another major competitor of the Apple company and is also recognized globally (Sommer, 2017). The company has grown over the years making it possible for the production of a wide range of electronics products for both personal use and video game consoles. Lastly, the major competitor and a company that is doing so well in the market is Samsung. Samsung is a North Korean company that is well known in Asia and around the world. Its electronic products are increasing in the market. Samsung is in the production of both smartphones and personal computers making it to be the major competitor of the Apple company. For instance, Samsung Galaxy and Note Series are the primary reasons why there has been a reduction in the sales of iPhones around the world. Therefore, no matter how big a company is, there is always a possibility of competition even if the competition is from primary and growing companies.

Marketing Strategy

Marketing strategies are important in any organization because they give a company a competitive advantage over the other related manufacturers and organizations. Therefore, for Applet be able to stay at the top of the game, it has to ensure that it has a number of marketing strategies that will help the company to win over other major and primary competitors (Nielsen & Lund, 2018). The way a company brand its products plays an important role in attracting and maintaining customers. For instance, the Apple logo is very famous and unique which makes people have that desire of owning an Apple product. Also, the advertising and social networking of a product  a lot in attracting and maintaining customers for the consumption of a particular product.

There are a number of marketing strategies that are common in the Apple company that help the company to have a competitive advantage over its competitors. The first marketing strategy by the company is about rethinking the need for advertising (Peng, et al. 2020). Most of the world companies usually rely on Google ads and the role played by PPC for the sake of advertisement of their products. For the sake of increasing net sales and equally the revenues and profits, many companies use Google and social media platforms like Facebook (Sommer, 2017). That is not the case for the Apple company. For the Apple company, it mostly relies on the product placement where the Apple products appear in most of the popular shows and also through the celebrities. Studies have shown that celebrity advertisement is a major type of advertisement since people look up to their celebrities as idols. The secret of appearing into shows was revealed though the litigation with the Samsung company and it has been working.

The second marketing strategy that Apple is the avoidance of price wars by simply emphasizing the unique value of the proposition. As mentioned earlier Apple company is very unique because of the logo and the features of its products. It is a fact that the iPhone has fewer apps and features compared to Android but iPhone’s apps are much better than those in android and therefore that is a unique feature that makes people prefer iPhones to other products (Sommer, 2017). According to many entrepreneurs, price is the key aspect when it comes to competition with other related firms. Firms may think that since their products are cheap then they will attract many consumers but that is not always the case. In the case of Apple, the company has decided to sell the product, not because of the price but the uniqueness of the product. Apple is not known to have to in a single time wavered on the pricing strategy. Therefore, Apple focuses mostly on the Unique Value Proposition (UVP). The strategy is working for the company and it is making it possible for the packing of the products to fit well in the smaller boxes.

The third marketing strategy used by the Apple company is keeping the company’s marketing and products simple (Singh, 2019). There is no need for the company to make a big deal out of the products and services that it offers but do things in a simple way. Apple Inc. understands perfectly that technology consumers are always overwhelmed and so are other niches and industries. That overwhelming is a problem because it creates confusion in the marketing mix. The Apple company has learned the trick of reducing the consumer’s confusion by have it web simplified and selling the copy to the consumers to make their working easier. The approach is very helpful as it helps in reducing the confusion of information for the consumers. As Leornardo Da Vinci said, simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. Therefore, Appl always aims at keeping everything simple for her consumers.

Another marketing strategy that Apple is using is knowing and understanding her audience and talking to them in their own language (Singh, 2019). The Apple company always mentions the specifications of the products but after the beautiful images of the products as a way of informing the consumers what they are missing for not using the product. Initially, the Apple consumers could not easily come across words like gigahertz and megabytes but could see terms that were easy for them to understand like retina display, edge to edge glass, and LED backlighting (Sommer, 2017). Knowing and understanding the consumers well is the primary reason that has made Apple maintain loyalty with her consumers at all times. For example, the iPhone is not just a smartphone but it also helps in putting the power of an Apple computer on the phone.

Designing a better consumer experience is the other marketing strategy that makes the Apple company to always be at the top of the market. Most of the consumers of Apple products usually make videos of themselves unwrapping their Apple products and then post them. This process is called unboxing. For example, the installation of the Apple products is very easy and it is very easy for people to do it on their own without any help. Therefore, Apple concentrates more on making the customers happy by making everything easy (Peng et al. 2020). The company takes time in ensuring that the designs made are at their best. Also, Apple spends a lot of time in testing and designing the design to ensure that the expectations of the consumers from the outside match what is inside the box. Apple ensures that what is inside the box is a copy of what has designed outside the box. Therefore, the company ensures that her consumers are not disappointed by the difference in the designs of the products (Peng, et al. 2020).

Aiming at the emotions of the prospects of the company is another reason why Apple is able to be competitive in the market. It is a fact that emotional connections are always the key to successful marketing strategies. Therefore, Apple ensures that her consumers stay happy at all times and are satisfied in accordance with their expectations. Another way that the Apple company is winning is by building a community of users and consumers (Haongova, 2018). Apple has those consumers that are always waiting for a new product to come out. Over the years, Apple company has been able to build the most hardcore fan bases for most of her products. Apple has been able to create a brand personality which is friendly, cool, and fun for her users. The marketing strategy, in this case, is that Apple aims at wanting to make her consumers part of her community by engaging the consumers and taking into action the ideas of the product users. Therefore, it is certain that the Apple company is winning over other producers and manufacturers in the same market because of the special marketing strategies (Haongova, 2019). Apple is also winning because it has a complete ecosystem which helps the company to respond quickly to the security threats. The complete ecosystem is a perfect way to boom the sales of the company’s products (Grigoras et al. 2019). Another reason why Apple is winning is because of the youth vote. The younger generation with a lot of the young people aiming at pursuing their careers has helped in growing the Apple Inc. partnership and employee’s choice is another reason that is making the Apple company win. Security in the use of Apple products has also helped the Apple company to grow drastically over the years.

Corporate Affairs

Apple culture

Studies  that Apple is one of the several companies that were created back in the 1970s but has prospered over the years. Over the years with the operational activities in Apple Inc. the company has grown to become a fortune 500 company. With the changes of the executive officers of the Apple company, there is a loss of some of the original culture of the company (Barnes, 2020). In order to recognize the best employees of Appl Inc. the company decided to create an Apple Fellows Program that helps in awarding the best employees in the company. Some of the people who have been awarded through the program are; Rod Holt, Steve Capps, Alan Kay, Steve Wozniak, Don Norman, Bill Artinson, and Rich Page (Barnes, 2020).

Internal and External Factors/Environment

Apple is a big company that operates worldwide therefore, it is open and vulnerable to be affected by internal and external factors in the daily operational activities. Internal factors are those factors that  a company and the firm has control over them. On the other hand, external factors are those factors that affect the operations of a firm and the firm doesn’t have control over them. For instance, Apple company don’t have any control over them like inflation and the exchange rates. Examples of internal factors that affect the Apple company are; financial risks, operational risks, and credit risks (Soh & Najihah, 2019). On the other hand, the external factors affecting the Apple company are inflation, exchange rates, and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) (Soh & Najihah, 2019). Therefore, it is certain that Apple is a big company that is open to be affected by internal factors which luckily the company has control over them and external factors which the firm doesn’t have the capacity or the ability to control.

Organizational setting

The Apple Inc. has a hierarchical type of organizational structure that includes notable divisional characteristics and a weak functional matrix. The divisional feature of the Apple company refers to the product-based grouping within the Apple company such as the iOS and macOS. The Apple company structure helps in contributing to the company’s rapid innovation and effectiveness in the operational activities of the company. The corporate structure of the Apple company helps it in pushing further to have more and more technological innovation. The leadership of the founder of Apple company, Steve Jobs has always been linked to the development and success of Apple Inc. Under the leadership of the new CEO Tim Cook, the company has made some changes in the organizational setting as a way of making the company more suitable to the current global market and the increased demands in the industry. There are three main characteristics of Apple’s corporate setting. These are; product-based divisions, spoke-and-wheel hierarchy and weak functional matrix. The organizational hierarchy in Apple company is the reason why it is winning and competing with huge companies like Amazon and Google.

Annotated Bibliography

1. Armstrong, G. M., Kotler, P., Harker, M., & Brennan, R. (2018). Marketing: an introduction. Pearson UK.

https://books.google.co.ke/books?hl=en&lr=&id=XAGcDwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PT21&dq=apple+company+marketing+strategy+2019&ots=J6mb4qFoUd&sig=CB4VOZQSJDIQ0j6qZt1OTZ7h1KM&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false

This particular article is written by Armstrong alongside other schoolers emphasizing on the marketing strategies and their importance to various companies and their operational activities. This article, therefore, aims at directing firms and organizations to the use of effective marketing strategies that will help according to the nature of the organization and the products that the company deals with. The creation of value to customers helps a lot in capturing the value from the consumers in return. Therefore, it is important for any company to put value creation above anything else in the production of goods and services as a way of ensuring that the company gets that in return from the consumers.

The article also aims at exploring the importance of creating customer value and having a founded relationship. To achieve that, companies just like Apple should ensure that they are able to build and manage brands that  brand equality. Companies should also be able to harness new marketing strategies and technologies during this digital era in order to maintain and improve on the net sales and the total revenue of the company. Popular companies like Apple should, therefore, be ready to have improvements and additions to their marketing strategies to ensure that they don’t lose any of their consumers in any way. Also, these additions and improvements in the marketing strategies are important in ensuring that the company is able to attract more consumers into using and purchasing its products.

2. Barnes, S. (2020). CEO Employee Approval and Firm Value: Evidence from Employees’ Choice Awards. Available at SSRN 3545481.

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3545481

This particular article by Spencer Barnes helps in examining the impact of employees’ opinions of the chief executive officer (CEO) on the value of the company. The leverage of the close employees in the firm vote shares in the regression discontinuity and event study. the Apple CEO Tim Cook once said that if people want him to do things for the return investment reasons, then they should get out of the stock.in most cases, the relationship between the opinion of the employees and the stand of the firm’s CEO may not be clear or even on the same page. Employees play an important role when it comes to customer impact and satisfaction. Therefore, it is very important for the CEO of a company to ensure that he/she takes enough time in ensuring that the employees in the firm are able to understand his/her stand in accordance with the aim and objectives of the company. Therefore, employees are the key factor in the production of a company’s products and services. They also ensure that the total revenue of the company is well boosted by giving their time in the production of the specific products. Employees are also important in the representation of the brand even if not directly. For instance, the Apple company would not be able to succeed without the presence of employees who make sure that everything in the firm goes as planned. Therefore, it is important to have the CEO Employee Approval and the value of the firm and for that to happen, then the CEO must invest time in making the employees understand his/her stand in regard to the employee’s opinions.

3. Coccia, M. (2018). Disruptive firms and industrial change. Journal of Economic and Social Thought, 4(4), 437-450.

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3100039

The article is about the concept of disruptive firms. According to the study, disruptive firms are those that introduce new and more advanced technological products that  them in destroying or rather winning against their competitors in the same field. Companies like Apple which are winning despite the huge numbers of other related companies that have the same product as Apple are taking this as a competitive advantage. The main aim of disruptive companies is to support industrial and technological changes change and encourage consumers into using the new products. Also, these disruptive firms aim at acting as temporary monopolies and have a competitive advantage over their competitors in the market. For instance, Apple is always introducing new computers and mobile phone with more advanced features and apps than the previous ones to ensure that they stay on the top of the market against Samsung and Sony which are the main competitors of the Apple Inc. therefore, according to the information in this particular article, it is certain that the Apple company is a disruptive firm mainly of the storage devices. The reason as to why Apple can be recognized as a disruptive firm is because it has the ability and capacity to support industrial and technological changes in the market power. Apple being one of the Big Five companies, it is then able to make changes in the market in terms of technological and industrial aspects as a way of attracting more and more consumers and destroying other firms in the same field.

4. Cheney, G., & Munshi, D. (2018). Alternative Organizational Culture. In Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Communication.

https://oxfordre.com/communication/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780190228613.001.0001/acrefore-9780190228613-e-637

The culture of an organization always plays an important role in ensuring that a firm is able to fulfill the aims and objectives of the company. Organizational culture can be explained using a number of aspects. These aspects are management, communication, and the form of leadership that is used in the company. For example, in Apple Inc. there have been a number of changes in the culture of the organization since each and every CEO that takes the position of the firm’s management comes with their own ways of leading the company. The culture of the firm may also change due to the fact that the objectives and goals of an organization keep on changing from time to time. For instance, the Apple company has had an evolution of computers and mobile phones over the years. Therefore, when the company achieves an objective it is time to go on the next level which may come with changes in the way of carrying out the activities in the firm. The latest mobile phone by Apple is the iPhone 11 which is new. Since the firm has achieved that and the product is selling, then it is time to make some changes and come up with something new. Therefore, it is certain and absolutely obvious that the culture of an organization is meant to change in one position.

5. Falcão, T. (2019). Open innovation applied to supply chain management(Doctoral dissertation).

https://run.unl.pt/bitstream/10362/69083/1/Falc%C3%A3o.pdf_2019.pdf

This particular article is written by Falcao with the aim of establishing supply chain management and the benefits of the application of open innovation in the supply chain. Open innovation can be defined clearly as the inflow and outflow of knowledge with the aim of accelerating the internal innovation of a company and expansion of the overall market in general. There are a number of noticeable trends that help in explaining open innovation and its purpose in big companies like Apple. Such trends are growing mobility and the number of skilled professionals in the firm. In the case of Apple, there needs to keep up with the customers and the public’s expectations, in general, has made the company take time in improving on the open innovation by increasing the number of skilled professionals in the company. Another trend is the increase in employee turnover which ensures that the company is able to deliver on time. Another visible trend that has made companies like Apple to be on their toes is technological advancements that are occurring each year. Such advancements are ensuring that companies like Apple are able to use open innovation in ensuring that the expectations of the consumers are always meet.

6. Grigoraş, T., Mureşan, D., & Tatu, O. (2019). STEVE JOBS AND APPLE COMPANY’S NARCISSISTIC PERSONALITY DISORDER. Acta Medica Marisiensis, 65.

https://web.b.ebscohost.com/abstract?direct=true&profile=ehost&scope=site&authtype=crawler&jrnl=20683324&AN=136885985&h=FFJEmjiQyonnnWe2QlA8j5GpDfJ8rd2p4CEBd4pFXzjvDnA%2byeHEUPxpOrbFaU%2f4fn5pw1t5y241LgqqPyCjSw%3d%3d&crl=c&resultNs=AdminWebAuth&resultLocal=ErrCrlNotAuth&crlhashurl=login.aspx%3fdirect%3dtrue%26profile%3dehost%26scope%3dsite%26authtype%3dcrawler%26jrnl%3d20683324%26AN%3d136885985

The main objective of this particular paper is to examine the ideas behind the Apple company’s success from the time of its creation back in 1976 by Steve Jobs and his friend and partner Steve Wozniak on April 1^st. Steve Jobs is one of the greatest and well-known storytellers in the world of all . Steve Jobs, before the creation of the Apple company, he used to sell dreams until later when he started selling technology devices and products. Through his enthusiasm, Steve Jobs was able to exploit more of his ideas into creating the Apple company and giving it meaning and its personality. With the increase of the operational activities in the company, the two founders were encouraged to include other people in the business making it easier for the company to produce and innovate more and more products and technology devices. Therefore, the Apple company did not start as big and famous like it is today but did take time to grow to what it is today. Over the years, Apple has increased the number of products produced which as a result has increased the total net sales of the company making it to be one of the Big Five companies in the world.

7. Hoangova, T. V. (2018). Appalling Ethics of Apple Inc. and the Progress Achieved(Doctoral dissertation, Empire State College).

file:///C:/Users/Lewis/Downloads/Hoangova_Thien%20Vu_512376_Bachelor%20Thesis%20(1).pdf

This article by Haongova aims at exploring the appalling ethics of the Apple company that has helped it to stay at the top of the market over the years despite stiff competition from her major competitors like Samsung. The four major principles of Apple that contribute to its success are; compliance, respect, honesty, and confidentiality. Apple has always aimed at becoming the world’s number one choice when it comes to consumer satisfaction. To ensure that, Apple ensures that the description of the different products that are produced is the same as the real product inside the box. By doing that, the company is assured of having the trust of the consumers and the public in general. Therefore, it is certain that Appl is very careful in ensuring that it is able to maintain the number if her consumers and increase on others by ensuring that it is following on the main principles in displaying the integrity of the company.

8. Nielsen, C., & Lund, M. (2018). Building scalable business models. MIT Sloan Management Review, 59(2), 65-69.

https://search.proquest.com/openview/7efb0e628f0fdc0a65a9f09b0c0a74e0/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=26142

This article is by Nielsen and Lund which elaborates more on the building of scalable business models for the overall success of a firm. The aim of having scalable business models is because revenues always outpace the expenses in the production and distribution of the products. For a perfect business to be working in the right direction, then it is essential for the business to be able to have low expenses compared to the total revenue. Therefore, a company should take time in determining the major strongholds of the company to ensure that the total revenue at the end of the year is able to outpace the total expenses in the company at the end of the same trading year. A firm should also find its main stressors in ensuring that it does not miss in attaining the objectives at the end of a trading year.

9. Peng, Y., Song, S., Skowronski, K., & Dong, Y. (2020). Social Responsibility and Operational Risks in Merger and Acquisition Decisions. Available at SSRN 3525305.

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3525305

This article is written by Peng alongside other schoolers with the primary aim of elaborating on corporate social responsibility (CSR) and how it affects a company’s decision of mergers and acquisitions (M&As). Apple is one of the companies that are committed to high standards of social responsibility at all times. The company insists that all the company’s supplies should be provided with good working conditions at all times. Also, Apple insists that all the workers should be respected and treated with dignity at all times no matter what. The current CEO of the company, Tim Cook is aiming at having a proper corporate social responsibility in the company for its own benefit. Having a proper social responsibility is a clear definition of the fact that a business is more concerned with the overall social issues that affect the wider market instead of being concerned with the internal factors that affect the business internally and affect the profit margins of the single company. Corporate social responsibility also helps in improving the overall image of a company. The Apple company always aims at giving the best to its customers to ensure that its image is always protected and keeps on improving with time. CSR is also very helpful in terms of increasing brand awareness and recognition in the market. Apple is a huge company and for it to reach the point it is operating today is because of the proper CSR that the company has been using over the years. Everyone all over the world recognizes Apple products and desires to use one. Embracing the use of proper CSR is an easier way to win against competitors. Apple is always at the top of her game because of embracing the use of proper CSR making it win over her major competitors like Sony and Samsung.

10. Rawlinson, N. (2017). History of Apple: The story of Steve Jobs and the company he founded. Accessed online http://www. macworld. co. uk/feature/apple/history-of-apple-steve-jobs-mac-3606104/. Viewed, 25(04), 2017.

https://dl.acm.org/doi/book/10.5555/3153503

This particular article by Rawlinson is by the story of Steve Jobs the main founder of the Apple company and the history of the company. The company started early in 1976 back in the United States of America with the co-founders as Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak. This particular article explains more about the recent Apple product which is the Apple watch. The article also describes the watch fully and explain the electronic device that the company has created. The watch is very unique but that does not mean that it has overrated the other Apple products. The Apple company started from scratch and work its way up to the top where it is today. Over the 44 years, Apple has been coming up with new and innovative ideas that help in the creation and production of new products. The Apple company is well known for its production in computers and mobile phones. Apple products are not only recognized and used in the USA but also in Europe and China which is now the fastest-growing market of Apple products. Apple products don’t circulate in the developed countries only but it has found its way also in the developing countries especially in the African and Asian continent. Therefore, the history of Apple company is very inspiring seeing that the company started from a low point and it has now worked its way up even to a point of becoming among the Big Five companies in the world. Apple is competing in the same range as big companies like Google and Amazon. The company has had a lot of evolution over the years in the production of her products. It started with a big consumer computer desktop but today it has smaller and portable computers and also has engaged in the production of the Apple watch.

11. Sommer, J. (2017). The Best Investment Since 1926? Apple. New York Times.

https://www.value-square.be/media/1959-investment-apple.pdf

This article was written by Sommer with the aim of describing Apple company as the best investment since 1926. The reason why Apple is recognized as the best investment since 1926 is because Apple is almost one of the companies that were invented in the 1970s that have found it way up to the top competing with big companies like Amazon and Google. For instance, the iPhone has helped the company’s position in the market for the longest time. According to studies and statistics, the iPhone is one of the most valuable products to be traded in the world’s market since its invention. In the history of different markets, since 1926, Apple has generated more profit than any other company in the American market. Therefore, it is only fair to recognize the Apple company as the world’s best investment since 1926. Over the years, Apple has been able to generate millions from the products  has been inventing and producing over the years. The company is known to have started with the largest computer desktop that was not portable but today because of the innovative ideas all those years and demand, Apple has been able to make the small and portable consumer desktop computers that have more features compared to the first one. Therefore, with the innovation and increase in the net sales of Apple products, the company is now recognized as one of the Big Five companies in the world.

12. Singh, H. (2019). The apple of your eye: marketing in aesthetics. Journal of Aesthetic Nursing, 8(8), 406-407.

https://www.magonlinelibrary.com/doi/abs/10.12968/joan.2019.8.8.406

This article by Soh and Najihah is simply talking about the marketing of the Apple company. The technology market is very competitive and therefore Apple company has to find effective mechanisms that will help her to have a competitive advantage over her competitors in the same field. Apple has learned that communication is the key factor in the success of the company and therefore it has over the years connected with its consumers to know what they think and expects from the activities of the company. Apple is also using the consistency method to be top in the market. The company is always coming up with more desirable products to keep her consumers at their toes and also to gain popularity which is a competitive advantage over her other major competitors like Samsung and Sony. With all the technological advancements, the world needs more and more advanced technology devices to keep up with the race making the industry very competitive. Therefore, to win in such a competitive market, then a company like Apple needs to find her main strongholds and stressors to help her maintain the position.

13. Soh, N., & Najihah, N. (2019). AN ANALYSIS OF AN EXPLANATION OF APPLE INC.

https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/97280/

This particular article aims at analyzing the factors that affect the performance of the Apple company from the general perspective of the internal and external factors in the Apple Inc. the internal factors affecting the company are market risk, credit risk, financial risk, liquidity risk, and operating risk. For a company to be working within the range of its expectations, then the total assets should not in any way exceed the total revenue at the end of the trading year. Apple is then affected mostly be her financial issues that are part of the internal factors that  the company. On the other hand, the external factors affecting Apple companies are; inflation, exchange rates, Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and index rates. The dollar is not the same in all the countries in the world making it a challenge for the Apple company when it comes to the selling of her products in the world’s market. Some countries’ currencies have a very low value which may affect the total revenue of the Apple products that are sold in such countries especially the developing ones mostly in Asia and Africa. Therefore, Apple is fighting each and every day to ensure that it always has proper and effective mechanisms that  in dealing with both the internal and external factors affecting the operational activities in the company.

14. Vasilaki, M., & Tsakalidis Jr, G. (2019). Apple Inc. Equity Valuation.

https://repository.ihu.edu.gr/xmlui/handle/11544/29354

This article is aiming at the determination of Apple Inc. Equity Valuation. Apple is one of the Big Five companies in the world competing at the top with huge companies like Google and Amazon. For Apple to be that top, it means that it is doing well in the market and that the total value of revenue that is being generated is very high. The article was prepared by the International Hellenic University under the banking and finance major in the university which is part of the MSc postgraduate program at the University. The article also includes the analysis of the SWOT mechanism if Apple Inc. The other important part of this specific article is the financial ratios of the Apple company and her main competitor which is Samsung. The final part of the article discusses the Apple’s forecasts and the information regarding future expectations. Over the years, the total revenue that is been generated from the sale of Apple products is increasing with each year. Apple is always coming up with more and more advanced products which  on increasing the total sales by the company. Samsung is also a well-recognized technology company with her products selling all over the world making her the main competitor of the Apple company and her products.

15. Yoffie, D. B., & Baldwin, E. (2018). Apple Inc. in 2018.

https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=54420

This article is written by Yoffie and Baldwin exploring the overall aspects of the Apple company. Many people wondered what was going to happen after the death of Steve Jobs back in 2011. People would ask what were the changes that could take place in the company and the different ways that the company was going to run her daily operational activities. Despite the death of Steve Jobs, the company has exceeded the expectations of the people under the management of Tim Cook as the new CEO of the company. One of the main objectives of Tim was to improve on the corporate social responsibility of the company to ensure that there is success in all the activities undertaken in the company. Apple has been introducing a new range of products from the Apple watch to the Homepod. According to statistics, it has been ascertained that Apple products selling in the market have increased and doubled under the management of Tim Cook.

                                                             Conclusion

In conclusion, Apple is one of the Big Five companies in the world including winning companies like Amazon and Google. Therefore, the management of a big company like Apple is not a joke and it also needs a lot of concentration considering the fact that the company is operating in a competitive field if technological devices. Therefore, Apple is always coming up with new devices to ensure that it is able to compete with her many primary competitors like Lenovo and HP and her main competitors Sony and Samsung with Samsung being the major one. Over the years, Apple has been coming up with innovative ideas that have helped the company to be able to improve on her operations and also maintain the competitive advantage that it has over her competitors in the same market.

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Sommer, J. (2017). The Best Investment Since 1926? Apple. New York Times.

Singh, H. (2019). The apple of your eye: marketing in aesthetics. Journal of Aesthetic Nursing, 8(8), 406-407.

Soh, N., & Najihah, N. (2019). AN ANALYSIS OF AN EXPLANATION OF APPLE INC.

Vasilaki, M., & Tsakalidis Jr, G. (2019). Apple Inc. Equity Valuation.

Yoffie, D. B., & Baldwin, E. (2018). Apple Inc. in 2018.