Internal And External Factors Of Apple Computers

Internal and External Factors of Apple Computers

Globalization, Technology, and E-business are all major factors influencing today's business world. They influence many of our business related decisions on a daily basis. Some of these decisions could be deciding to use a computer to order a new desk from Singapore or using your cell phone to make a conference call in India. Even Apple's management functions are not immune to these critical factors.

Apple began selling personal computers produced in the garage of one of the founders in 1976. They were incorporated in 1977. Apple's first important product, the Apple II, personal computer was released in 1977 and by 1982 sales had increased to over $750 million. (Kimmel, 1998). It was clear that globalization played a big part in this success.

Globalization is becoming a must have for large organizations to excel above their competition. With that being said globalization has been influential to Apple's revenue. According to Apple, their "international sales accounted for 43 percent of the quarter's revenue" (Dowling, 2005), this is continuing to rise. The rise in revenue is a result of excellent management and planning. Because of the need to go international, Apple created a strategic plan to go forward in the direction of globalization. This type of globalization will involve countries with different needs and different markets. For instance, planning a marketing scheme must involve the different variables that apply for each market. When planning globally, company structure must be taken into consideration. With that being said organization and control go hand in hand.

Organizing the strategy can influence future success in controlling changes. For example, planning the roll out of a new Apple product and monitoring the response can assist each department involved to gain positive and negative feedback. After the feedback is received they can make the necessary changes to the original plan. If organized well, the department can roll out a similar product in the same market using the lessons learned with relative ease in the future. Establishing controls decreases the chance for unintended problems and change. Reducing the number of challenging occurrences will enhance the operation. Another factor that affects managerial operations at Apple is e-business.

To survive and succeed in today's complex business world, all established industries like Apple must develop a strategy that allows them to take maximum advantage of the latest trends in technology. Successful companies like Apple have implemented focused e-business strategies to build cutting-edge enterprises that serve and retain customers, manage supply and demand and integrate selling capabilities better than before. Apple has placed technology at the heart of their business strategy. They have taken technical ambitions and enabled it to provide maximum flexibility for online customers.

How does Apple make all of this happen with the fast paced environment that Apple competes in? First, Apple has to continuously develop cutting edge ideas and technology to stay one step ahead of all other competitors. They must develop, design, and look at the overall success of the product to determine if it is solid enough to make the grade. Planning when the new product hits the market is crucial and could make or break the initial success of product. To make a new product successful, you have to have the right people in the right place. Having a strong management team that understands the industry and what customers want and need makes a huge difference in the success of the company and their products.

There must be some type of control factor that a company implements in all aspects of the project and ensures that these controls are being met in a timely manner. Periodic status reports need to be mandated so that financial goals and timelines are achieved. All of these functions are crucial in making Apple the success it is today, which ultimately boils down to Apple's management and its technology.

The executive leaders of the Mac project set out only basic principles for the team which meant the group members were allowed to create and solve problems at the same time. Without much organization, each member became responsible for a fairly large