Organizational Structure and Apple

Apple Inc.'s Social Performance

Apple is one of the most successful software and hardware companies in the world right now. It's range of products such as the iPhone, iPod, iTunes, iPad and laptops are popular the world over. The company is headquartered in Cupertino, CA and was founded by Stephen Wozniak and Steven Jobs. This report analyzes Apple Inc.'s social performance.

Description of Apple Inc.

Nature

Apple is primarily a hardware company (Apple.com, 2014). While the company produces some software, the bulk of its operations revolves around hardware. Apple is committed to offering its users and customers the best and most intuitive user experience by designing innovative services, software and hardware (Apple.com, 2014). Apple's business strategy takes advantage of the unique position it enjoys of being able to both design and create hardware, operating systems and software to give its users and customers solutions and products that are far superior to those of competitors and that integrate with one another seamlessly.

2.2 Structure

The organizational structure at Apple is one of the reasons the company has enjoyed such high levels of innovation. An organizational structure that promotes exchange of ideas and progress allows for the conception, presentation and execution of innovative ideas and this leads to exponential business growth over time (Meyer, 2015). The tremendous innovative strides the company took in the past decade is attributed to the leadership and vision of Steve Jobs. Jobs put in place an organizational structure that encouraged innovation. Tim Cook who is the current CEO has made very few changes to the original structure given the current market and industry conditions to allow the company to operate optimally.

3 Products of Apple Inc.

Apple manufactures a range of products including tablets, televisions, phones and software. The products are:

• iPhone

• Mac, including MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, Mac Pro and iMac.

• iPod

• iPad

• Apple Watch

• Apple TV

• iTunes

• Range of software for the hardware and services it offers

4 External Environment of Apple Inc.

4.1 Social Factors

Social factors affect Apple just as much as they affect any company. Apple has taken great effort in understanding consumer expectations and behavior so as to deliver products that users want and need (Adamkasi, 2015). The macro environment consists of sociocultural factors that shape the conversation and preferences of the consumers Apple targets. As society adopts mobile communication and personal computing at scale, Apple is fast increasing its capabilities to develop high-tech solutions that meet the expectations of such a connected and demanding marketplace (Adamkasi, 2015).

4.2 Technological Factors

The evolving technological developments determine the technological trends in the industry and demands that players in the industry adopt them failing which competitors that are more agile will overtake them. Apple has been very good at taking advantage of the technological innovations that arise in the technological environment and also using them as a base to develop even superior solutions. The increasing use of web and mobile applications as well as the growth in cloud computing have shaped the company's strategy in the last decade. Users now want products that integrate easily with one another and Apple has been one of the drivers of the connectivity movement (Adamkasi, 2015). While factors in the external environment definitely shape Apple's policy, the company enjoys a unique position where it can also shape the conversation in the market place as it adopts, builds or abandons various features of technology (obsolete ones).

5 Stakeholders Impact on Apple Inc.'s Financial Performance

Stakeholders consist of the people who have an interest, share, or investment in an industry, business or organization (Thomson, 2015). Given the range of market segments Apple serves and the huge volume of market share the company enjoys, Apple has to listen to varied sets of stakeholders. These people include suppliers, distributors, investors, customers, employees, regulators and concerned government authorities all over the world. Apple has done its best to always take the views of its stakeholders during policy making and also when executing various corporate social responsibility initiatives (Thomson, 2015).

Ways in which stakeholders affect Apple Inc. are as below.

Customers always expect efficient and effective products at a good price (Thomson, 2015). The employees want to work in a friendly environment and be compensated fairly for their production (Thomson, 2015). Apple strives to avail these conditions to its employees as employees form one of the most important facets of the organization that directly determine productivity and capabilities. Besides the in-house employees, outsiders like distributors and suppliers also have an interest in the company. Apple has to ensure that they enjoy good compensation for their services (Thomson, 2015).

Apple also has to take care of its investors. Investors want their wealth maximized and to get reasonable returns on their investments. Apple has excelled in appeasing its investors as it is currently the most valuable company in the world by market capitalization.

6.0 Controversy Related to Apple Inc.