Strategic Planning and Implementation

STRATEGIC PLANNING AND IMPLEMENTATION INTRODUCTION For the purpose of this story I endure selected M/s. orchard apple tree Inc as an presidential term. M/s. apple Inc argon considered to be one of the some competitive fundamental laws in the earth who operate in a rattling warm environs of engineering science and computers, where the developings argon so rapid and fast that the management atomic number 18 evaluate to revisit their strategies and implementation plans on a continuous basis to snag competitive and maintain that technological edge in the grocery store identify. The human race of computers and electronic gadgets is so fast paced that in the altogetherer technologies be put ined in a fast pace.The top level management is expected to under comport regular feedback from the mart and in kindred manner s bottomland the environment for the needs and plan their strategies accordingly. Hence, I move over selected M/s. apple Inc for carrying out the w atch on strategic homework and implementation. The study would focus mainly on the outline adopted by M/s. apple for the dip of their much famed computer stance mack in the year 1984. The other major(ip) reason for selecting this organisation in specific is that this organisation has go about multiple threats to its survival and faced numerous competitions but the organisation survived and grew in adversity.This shows the planning and resources utilise by the management team to grow this organisation and their strategic resolve gage be seen from the amplyer up. All this illustrate that this would be the perfect organisation to study the scope and the depth of strategic planning and the intricate implementation plans undertaken by this organisation for achieving this extraordinary turnaround and improving the confidence of the stakeholders and also the customers with their advanced intersection points.The comp some(prenominal)(prenominal) got incorporated on 03rd Jan 19 77 in the state of California in United States of America. 1 Major Stakeholders The major stakeholders in the union are listed at a lower place 1. Steve Jobs, Chief Executive Officer 2. Timothy D Cook, Chief operating(a)(a) Officer 3. bastard Oppenheimer, Chief Financial Officer 4. Philip W Schiller, senior(a) guilt President 5. Mark Papermaster, elder frailness President 6. Jonathan Ive, of age(p) Vice President 7. Bertrand Serlet, precedential Vice President 8. Ron Johnson, Senior Vice PresidentSteve Jobs The charismatic CEO of orchard apple tree Inc, was born on 24-Feb-1955, he is also the co-founder of orchard apple tree Inc, who was one of the founding members of orchard apple tree Inc, is one of the major stakeholders in the organisation. 2 Timothy D Cook Cook is the Chief run Officer he is one of the important stakeholders from the viewpoint of management as he heads completely the operations and sales of Apple Inc. He is also the head of Apples Macintosh di peck. 3 Peter Oppenheimer Mr. Peter Oppenheimer is the Senior Vice President and also the Chief Financial Officer.In this position he heads the treasury, investor relations, tax, in fashion modelation systems, internal audit and facilities functions. With such responsibilities his respond is authoritative for undertaking any management planning or strategic initiatives. 4 Philip W Schiller Mr. Philip W Schiller is the Senior Vice President of worldwide Product Marketing. He is part of the Apples Executive Team and is also trustworthy for the harvest-feast commercialiseing. In this single-valued function he becomes a key doer for any management and strategic initiatives. 5 Mark Papermaster Mr. Mark Papermaster is once again other Senior Vice President who handles the key portfolio of new result development in this role he plays a key role on the market placeing strategy with his valuable inputs. 6 Jonathan Ive Mr. Jonathan Ive in his role as the Senior Vice President of Industri al Design plays a key role in the market of new technologies with his innovative designs. As such most of the Apples growths designs are considered to be of infrequent art pieces. 7Bertrand Serlet Mr. Bertrand Serlet is the Senior Vice President of Software Engineering in his role as the developer of software for all the systems engulfed by Apple Inc. He is regarded as a major stakeholder in the management. 8 Ron Johnson Mr. Ron Johnson as the Senior Vice President of Retail has a major stake in any marketing strategy plans that are being developed and planned for implementation. His inputs and consent are important for implementing any strategic decisions in the organisation. 9All the in a higher place mentioned people are the major decision makers in the organisation and they form the first line of stakeholders for implementing the strategy and providing guidance to the organisation. Hence, it would be imperative that they be considered as major stakeholders from the point of strategy and implementation of marketing philosophies. The above mentioned people collectively or at times individually take decisions on the mixture and type of strategy to be implemented to regard maximisation of profits to the stakeholders of the organisation who are the general shareholders and other firms.Hence, the contract for any decision and implementation would be required from this peer concourse before going ahead with any management decision on strategy. We will review a scenario of the how the management of Apple Computers effectively implemented the put in strategy and placement of IPOD in front of the customer which is considered to contact the gap in the market between the net-books and multimedia phones. In this present upon the strategy adopted by the think tank of the management is commendable we will now have a glimpse of the introduction strategy adopted by M/s.Apple Inc. Management scheme look into The entire management strategy is based on the deve lopment of new technologies as M/s. Apple Inc are renowned to be market drawers in innovation. The launch of every new product is eagerly awaited by the general public. And M/s. Apple has capitalised on this reward and create a buzz in the market before any launch of the product which helps them to introduce the new product in the market with minimum amount of risk. Traditionally it can be observed that Ms/ Apple Inc launches the new products in home market (i. e. United States of America) as the customers over there are considered to be of low uncertainty escape gardening as per Hofstedes framework on assessing culture. This helps M/s. Apple to test their new inventions in the market as the customers are more than(prenominal) inclined towards buying and testing new products. Once, the markets accept this product then it is launched on globose basis when the new product has already created a cult status in the home market. This kind of strategy has been followed by M/s. Appl e in most of their launches and has proven to be preferably successful.From the above it can be seen that M/s. Apple Inc has always strived on creating world class products with stylish design and the corresponding are launched in low uncertainty avoidance cultures where the general acceptance levels are high and once they are successful in those markets they then are replicated in other markets. Which in turn ensures the success of the product launch on a global scale, now we will empathize the situation of the launch of the Ipod, which everyone were sceptical at the time of the launch of this product. Marketing Strategy M/s.Apple Inc created a new product which was supposed revolutionary in design and the characteristics were very innovative at that time. M/s. Apple Inc encase the IPOD with such an enviable design that the competitors were left lurching. At that time the market was seen heavily bent upon to cut costs and make the mp3 player prompt and better. Apple came up wi th this ultra modern design and had positioned the product in the line of designer segment and there by created a contrary marketing strategy altogether for this product and created new ways of interacting with the media with the launch of this device.The IPOD was conveniently programmed to function salutary and fast the Macintosh systems that ensured that the sale of Macintosh also would be taken care off when the IPOD is launched in the market. This kind of strategy ensured the success of M/s. Apple Inc as an organisation all together. The market was studied for relevant trends in the music industry and confiscate tie-ups with the music bands and market players knotty in music industry would be required to ensure accessibility of the music through the iTunes software which was to be installed in the computer for synchronising with the iPod.Apart from that as most of the computers are running on windows operating system a compatible mutant of iTunes which would work in windows environment would need to be developed to ensure that the product knock overes the target customers and can be marketed to all the segments of the customers irrespective of the computers that the customers are using. However, the differentiating factor of iTunes compatible with windows was that the upload and synchronising was not so rich as with any other Apple Macintosh product.This would create a demand for other related products from the Macintosh stable. The other part of the launch strategy was that the product alone would not succeed unless proper acquit is derived from all on tap(predicate) channels. These include likes of music companies, internet groups, bundled packages, customised playlists, and it also created a cult status for the product by maintaining the exterior of the product consistently which can be seen in different products which attained a homogeneous nature like the Beetle (Volkswagen) and Mini (Cooper) etc. As we have seen the strategy let us now go ahead and actualize the organisations business objectives, culture, ethics and how they are related to this contingent scenario. Apples Business Objectives, Culture, Ethics The objectives and the measurements adopted by the confederation are as follows. The companys main objective is well elucidated in its guardianship and vision statements itself which imbibe that the company would like to be the leading innovator of the century.Accordingly in-line with this objective the company has embarked on a challenging sphere where in it has developed newer and customer friendly brands and launched them in the market place at regular intervals. Which has placed Apple Inc in a different sphere altogether. The culture in the organisation is pass ended and encourages lot of innovation that was one of the reason why the company is at the edge of technological advances and innovates a lot of new products which are launched on regular basis in the global market place.A brief description of th e ethics would wee a comprehensive look of the organisation and also provide appropriate guidance in this regard. Hence, I would like to explain the ethics followed by M/s. Apple Inc, like defining and implementing a program on greener environment and also providing an excerpt for the general public to air their innovations and suggestions the company can be seen is very keen and receptive to ideas and innovations which in turn helps the organisation tap the effectiveness and grow their businesses. Vision, Mission, Objectives and MeasuresThe mission statement of M/s. Apple Inc as per their website is Apple ignited the personal computer revolution in the 1970s with the Apple II and reinvented the personal computer in the 1980s with the Macintosh. Today, Apple continues to lead the industry in innovation with its award-winning computers, OS X operating system and iLife and professional applications. Apple is also spearheading the digital media revolution with its iPod man-portable music and video players and iTunes online store, and has entered the mobile phone market with its revolutionary iPhoneThe vision of the M/s. Apple Inc is Man is the creator of change in this world. As such he should be above systems and structures, and not subordinate to them. As can be seen from the above that M/s. Apple Inc is deeply involved in the creation of world class products and deploy them in the global market place and also create a carry on culture based on independence rather than dependence on the systems, which would modify the humans to be more resurgent and independent and have need over the systems they deploy in their homes / organisations.As we have understood the organisations vision, mission and objectives now we will move forward and discuss the strategy deployed by M/s. Apple for the launch of IPOD which would create an sense and how it could have been differentiated. Launch Timelines The original IPOD was launched way back in twenty-third October 20011 1, however it can be seen that the growth of the iPod sales did not shoot down the expected numbers at the beginning as the market was not conducive to this kind of product. It would have been perfect if the launch was positioned when the elated stand like availability of broadband network and other items are in place. It can be seen that the sales of iPod started to gain momentum only subsequently M/s. Apple Inc ensured the compatibility of its iTunes software with the windows operating system and also the availability of the broadband networks that the product took on and the sales improved dramatically. Hence, it is inevitable that the markets are understood and a suitable and conducive environment created before launch of a new and advanced product in the global market place. Dissemination ProcessAt the launch of the iPod the market was not provided with the mighty information and the features were not available for everyone to understand and then use the same. Hence, in the beginning years of the iPod it was not successful as it is now. This can again be attributed to the lack of clear and systematic information flow from the organisation. This can be best avoided by ensuring that the process and infrastructure are available and compatible for the usage of the product before launching any product to ensure that the product sustains its expected sales targets.Apple failed to create to environment before the launch. It took such a long time for the iPod sales to reach astronomical levels which it has now reached. At any launch of new product it is to be ensured that suitable and possible information on the product are widely available and the same is marketed using different channels of marketing to gain the marketing advantage. This kind of strategy was deployed by M/s. Apple in the later part of the iPod life cycle which ensured that the product sustained the S curve and continued its growth momentum.It can also be seen that M/s. Apple Inc then embark ed on a detailed mission of pooling in different vendors and suppliers for developing relevant content for the product which ensured that new and updated information is flowing from different channels and new ideas were used to build and sustain the product. And the information and the content were gathered from different cultures and different geographic locations thereby ensuring market penetration to different markets. Monitoring and Evaluation StrategyThe monitoring and evaluation strategy deployed by M/s. Apple Inc was a constant business intelligence thereby they understood the flaws in their initial strategy which ensured that the iPod was compatible with only Macintosh machines. As the same was transposed by ensuring its compatibility and other similar nature of tweaks in the strategy are to be undertaken and ensured that the feedback received from the market place is constantly analysed to ensure that the product is sustained with new and improved versions of the product.A s can be seen from the developments undertaken by the organisation to ensure that the product stays in the limelight by possible action different channels of sales and distribution and also opening of different channels of supply concatenation, in this case the supply chain would be the availability of music online in the iTunes store for which constant tie-ups with different bands and music companies would be required to ensure that the product is usable and the same can be purchased by the customers online without any hassle.By this way more and more customers can be retained and new customers attracted which would ensure the sustainability of the product in the long run. Apart from that the technology would need to be relooked on constant terms and a eye on the market place and competitors development would ensure that the product is successful. With regards to the evaluation strategy, the best way to understand whether the strategy deployed is successful or not in this regard would be to see the growth in sales and the amount of sales at the iTunes store which would definitely provide the right information whether the strategy deployed is successful.References 1. Apple Investor Relations Investor FAQ, FAQ, getable at http//phx. corporate-ir. net/phoenix. zhtml? c=107357&p=irol-faq Accessed on 11-02-2010 2. Telegraph, Steve Jobs, Apples iGod Profile Available at http//www. telegraph. co. uk/technology/apple/4242660/Steve-Jobs-Apples-iGod-Profile. html Accessed on 15-01-2010 3. Apple crowd Information, Timothy D Cook, Available at http//www. apple. com/pr/bios/cook. html Accessed on 11-02-2010 4. Apple Press Information, Peter Oppenheimer, Available at http//www. apple. om/pr/bios/oppenheimer. html Accessed on 11-02-2010 5. Apple Press Information, Philip W Schiller, Available at http//www. apple. com/pr/bios/schiller. html Accessed on 11-02-2010 6. Apple Press Information, Mark Papermaster, Available at http//www. apple. com/pr/bios/papermaster. html Ac cessed on 11-02-2010 7. Apple Press Information, Jonathan Ive, Available at http//www. apple. com/pr/bios/ive. html Accessed on 11-02-2010 8. Apple Press Information, Bertrand Serlet, Available at http//www. apple. com/pr/bios/serlet. html Accessed on 11-02-2010 9. Apple Press Information, Ron Johnson, Available at http//www. apple. com/pr/bios/ronjohnson. html Accessed on 11-02-2010 10. The Poverty of Management Control Philosophy Geert Hofstede The Academy of Management Review, Vol. 3, no(prenominal) 3 (Jul. , 1978), pp. 450-461 (article consists of 12 pages) Published byAcademy of Management shelter URL http//www. jstor. org/stable/257536 11. Apple Press Information, Apple presents iPod Available at http//www. apple. com/pr/library/2001/oct/23ipod. html Accessed on 15-02-2010