Identifying objectives for improving organizational business processes

¶ … improving the organization's internal business processes, and show how they relate to the mission, vision and strategy of the organization.

Three areas where Apple must focus on improving their internal business process include: enhancing the work environment, quality control and research / development. These are important as they will have an impact on the company's mission, vision and strategy. In the case of the work environment, improving conditions will help to lead to better collaboration between employees and managers. It is at this point when critical issues can be identified early and new ideas are shared with executives to make the firm more competitive. ("Internal Controls and Safe Working Environment," 2012)

Quality control is when Apple is concentrating on dealing with design flaws and issues associated with their products. This is occurring because the firm is working with third party providers in China (i.e. Foxxcon). In the past they have pledged to reduce the number of challenges that customers are having with their products. However, as time goes by these problems are becoming more pronounced. For example, the launch of I Phone 5 had disappointing sales. This is despite the fact that there were tremendous amounts of promotion to increase the popularity of the product. Once it was released, is when customers were reporting issues such as: cracked screens and scratches on their devices. Moreover, the life of the battery is much weaker in contrast with competitors. These problems resulted in declining sales on the opening weekend for the I Phone 5. (Sebastian, 2012)

Research and development is when there is a focus on creating new products and services that are cutting edge. Recently, the passing of Steve Jobs means that the firm is dealing with a void these areas. This is because he was actively involved the entire product development process. When an individual has tremendous amounts of control is the point that the company will focus on his ideas. This is problematic for Apple, as the firm has lost its key innovator and they are struggling to redefine themselves. (Thompson, 2012)

Objective

Measure

Target

Action

Enhancing the Work Environment

Conduct surveys to understand critical challenges.

To enhance the work environment and improve safety / environmental practices.

Have an annual review that evaluates and recommends ways to improve the work environment.

Improve Quality Control

Conduct surveys to understand critical challenges.

To increase the ability to prevent design flaws in the various products.

Work with third parties to create standard procedures that will increase quality.

Increase Research and Development

Conduct surveys to understand critical challenges.

To stay at the cutting edge for introducing new products and services.

Encourage employees and suppliers to share their ideas about how Apple can continue to innovate.

Relationships to other objectives

These areas will help the company to maintain its market share and meet the expectations of investors. This ensures that the company can provide streaming video to cliental, it creates an environment that will allow it to increase market share, improve their ability to compete and augment security procedures. The enhanced internal procedures will allow everyone to focus on addressing critical issues which are affecting Apple's products. ("Internal Controls and Safe Working Environment," 2012) (Sebastian, 2012) (Thompson, 2012)