Intellectual Capital the Author of This Report

Intellectual Capital

The author of this report is asked to answer a series of questions relating to intellectual capital (IC), both in general and in relation to Apple Corporation. The first question asks whether the organizational structure of Apple considers intellectual capital an asset. The second question asks how have ethical policies and practices affected the organization's intellectual capital and its value. The third question asks what strengths and weaknesses exist in structure and ethics. The fourth item asks the author to offer recommendations relating to increasing the value of the organization's intellectual capital based on structure and ethics (Apple, 2013).

Questions Answered

As for the first question, Apple's intellectual capital is absolutely an asset. Their structure and especially their brand names and patents are the core (pardon the pun) of Apple's strength and resilience. Their innovation and brand presence allow them to sell MP3 players for far high price points than other MP3 players are able to pull off. Apple is the juggernaut of mobile electronics, MP3 and cell phones in particular. Android is a threat in the cell phone arena but no single manufacturer, except for perhaps Samsung, is in Apple's echelon in terms of brand name power (Apple, 2013).

As for the ethical policies and practices that Apple engages in, they do press the envelope just a bit. Their legal fracases with Samsung Corporation (which is ironic because Apple actually uses Samsung parts in some of their goods not to mention the Intel chips that go in their computers) are a little aggressive in that they seek to bar the sale of Samsung Galaxy-line devices, which would almost certainly never happen even if Apple is ultimately successful (Apple, 2013).

That being said, Apple certainly attracts the best and the brightest, and the ultimate example of that was most certainly Steve Jobs. Jobs was actually forced out as the leader of Apple but was eventually brought back into the fold when Apple (sans Jobs) acquired the company that Jobs had founded and was running at the time. However, Jobs has obviously passed away recently and now other people are now in charge. Many have doubted the ability of Apple to move on and maintain its intellectual capital and market power with Jobs at the helm but they seem to be doing a fairly decent job thus far. But again, there are threats to their dominance like Samsung and the omnipresent PC/laptop market, even if PC sales in general are in a freefall (Apple, 2013).

Strengths in structures and ethics would include a basic standard operating procedure and best practices in getting a new product out, building and maintaining a brand and retaining a loyal consumer fan-base. Downsides include pressing out products before they are truly ready due to stock market and consumer market pressures and perhaps being over-zealous legally towards the activities of competitors. There is a difference between being aggressive and at the bleeding edge of the market and being a bully. If Apple gets to that point, they're going to learn the same lesson Microsoft did not all that long ago when the European Union and the United States both came down fairly hard on them for anti-competitive practices. Winning the business battle is important but using certain tactics and habits can get a company the attention of some powerful government entities that sometimes have the right to depose executives, break up companies and exert fines/taxes/regulation on businesses that get on their bad side…just ask AIG (Bouys, 2013).

Finally, the changes that should be implemented from an IC standpoint are as follows. First, Apple needs to back off a smidge on competitors like Samsung because being a bully will rub off wrongly on consumers once it reaches a certain point. Android is taking up more and more of the market and Blackberry and Apple both are feeling the squeeze from this. Blackberry is ostensibly on the verge of being merged or acquired with another firm and Apple will start on that arc themselves if they are not careful (Apple, 2013).