A Case Analysis Of Apple Inc Business Essay

A Case Analysis Of Apple Inc Business Essay The purpose of this paper is to explain the definition of Strategic Management and why it is critical to the success of an organization in meeting its goals and mission. The paper will include a brief analysis of the situation and pending decision problem, as presented in the case and in relevance to the answer. In addition, the major issues will be surrounding the organization or individuals involved with the organization. Included will be alternate courses of action to address the issues identified. Next, will be the decision or recommendation for action, with the appropriate supporting arguments if any. Statement of the Problem(s): Thousands of people were laid off at Apple, Inc. It does not look like Apple, Inc. spent much time working on its management and marketing strategies from the beginning. It was not until better marketers such as Jobs and Sculley came into the picture, before the company started to expand to better markets with acquisitions and joint ventures. The problem was not changing their strategy sooner. The jobs are what contribute to a companys effectiveness (Mello, 2011, p. 115) and if they kept their employees it might have contributed to earlier success. It is human capital that helps companies to strive. For Apple, Inc. to lay off employees to help their financial statement for stakeholders may have been part of the cause of the problem (Yoffie Slind, 2008). Their mission statement should have answered the question about what is strategic management, and why is it critical to the success of an organization in meeting its goals and mission statement? Summary of the Facts: According to research done by Yoffie and Slind, (2008) Apple, Inc. started out with a great product line to reach the computer market. Then they advanced to the iPod, iTunes and the 3G network in order to advance their technology into the competitive marketplace. They became the industry leader under Wozniak with the new Macintosh. However, their technology was slow. They did not beat their competitors during this stage. Sculley added desktop publishing, which focused on the educational market which sold at top price. Because Sculley was good at marketing he was able to hit the market with the personal assistants gadgets. The smartest move Apple made was to form a joint venture with its competitor. Products dropped and IBM and Apple parted but they were just starting to learn the joint venture game. When Steve Jobs came on board the company went through reorganization and many people lost their jobs. Microsoft invested one hundred and fifty million dollars just after Microsoft Office was formed. Then iMac went out to three hundred million and Apples image was back on track again. Their marketing strategy was to differentiate themselves from other competitors. Apple, Inc. had great designs under Steve Jobs with Microsofts cooperation. However, Acer and Dell were catching up with the new Intel processors and Windows 7 emerged. Apples smartest move was the iPod with music. However, Amazon was the companys newest threat. The end result was the iPhone reaching the smartphone market. They reached all heights by finally changing their game, by reaching seventy percent of the U.S. market. In addition, the iPhone 3G reached twenty-two markets (Yoffie Slind, 2008, p. 22). Definition: The elements of a strategy consist of arenas so the company knows where the main operations will be and core technologies used (Mello, 2011, p. 131). The next step in setting up the companys strategy is the vehicle they will use to achieve their goals? Third, is differentiation on how they can beat their competitors in the high-tech world? Fourth, is the staging management strategy of what products they plan on using? Lastly, is the companys economics in deciding how much to charge or to decide if their product is hard to market. In addition, there are different stages of technological change. The fast growth stage is when the product starts with a concept and then has fast innovation. The Wild, Wild West stage is also fast innovation but for smaller companies taking risks. The consolidators are in the steady evolution stage that are in the mature life cycle and use economies of scale. Lastly in the creative destruction stage there is new knowledge and competencies and the company se eks other industries to joint venture (Mello, 2011, p. 145). Analysis: Apple, Inc. started out as a concept driver when they reached new market showing fast growth in the beginning. Then, they came up with new knowledge and competencies as concept learners. They were also pioneers in the industry showing fast innovation. They reached a mature life cycle with economies of scale when they had to widen their product lines. Apple, Inc. went through all the stages of technological change. However, in the fast growth stage they were not prepared for what lay ahead, so they had to come up with different strategies to have the competitive advantage. Every stage requires development of their employees and more financing resources (Mello, 2011). Recommendations: According to (Mello, 2011), Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM) and the Resource-Based View (RBV) organizations need to hire employees that are motivated and have a highly trained skills to help the company have a competitive advantage (p. 119). Core competencies are shared throughout the organization collaboratively. This knowledge connects strategy and SHRM (p. 125). The systems need to comprise of human, social and organization capital, and it is through this creation and integration working together that the company can remain a success. This should have been done in the very beginning in their formation of strategy planning and origination of their mission statement. Moreover, recommendations for the company in the future is to make it part of their strategic management goal to do a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis year. A SWOT analysis should have been done in the beginning of their strategic mission, so they would have known the threats that lay ahead. This is normally done with their marketing management department. If all of the departments were integrated to work together interchangeably using core competencies, they would have foreseen what lay ahead. Whenever a company has fast growth such as in Apple, Inc.s fast growth stage, the company takes the risk of competitors striving to take over the marketplace with better high technological products (Mello, 2011). Consequently, their strategic management mission and goals should have included a plan for when there was overkill in the marketplace. Apple, Inc. would make a smart move to find ways to have employee retention and to beat the competition with continuous new innovative products. It is by keeping employees and training them they can come up with new ideas and sustain their growth in the future. They can stay ahead of the competition by having some low-cost items such as music downloads and higher cost for their other products. Apple, Inc. should use some of their new revenue towards research and development to design new innovations for tomorrows customers (Mello, 2011, p. 152). According to Zhouying Ying (2011), strategic management problems in the past with organizations were because they lacked integration. Apple, Inc. should have used sustainable and long-term development in their strategy for tracking, management and feedback otherwise long-term goals are harder to achieve (p. 49). Apple, Inc. failed to pay attention to its economy and financial resources needed in the beginning. However, they did sustain growth in the later stages of the company. Now they need to sustain their growth through continuous integration and coordination (p. 50). The goals need to consist with development for the long-term and to focus on the external environment. Strategic goals need to be achieved from the bottom up and the top down (p. 53) in their vision. Apple, Inc. needs to continue to inspire and motivate their new employees by giving them a support system to reach their vision and goals that are achievable. Conclusion The case analysis consisted of a statement of the problem showing a brief analysis of the situation and decision problem. The analysis included the major issues surrounding the organization and individuals involved. The alternate courses of action were identified in the recommendations, which showed strategies needed to sustain growth and development in a high-tech environment. The main strategy is to maintain and inspire their employees to continue with growth in this fast-pace environment.

Plantation and Oral Tradition in Margaret Walker’s Jubilee Essay

Margaret Walker’s novel Jubilee focuses on the life of a slave girl by the name of Vyry who gains her freedom at the end of the Civil War and sets out with her children, Minna and Jim, and husband, Innis Brown, to make a new life for their family in the Reconstruction Period. Walker’s awareness of the southern plantation tradition is made clear throughout Jubilee in the way that she debunks the negative tropes placed on the shoulders of African Americans by the nostalgic white writers of the South; Walker also incorporates her knowledge of black oral tradition by way of small snippets of text on every page which marks the start of a new chapter in the text. The first section of Jubilee covers the antebellum years, before the Civil War ripped the southern United States apart. Traditionally, a plantation narrative is narrated from the perspective of a slave, frequently portrayed as â€Å"happier and better off under slavery than they would be if they were free† and established the stereotypical â€Å"happy darky† (Campbell). â€Å"The happy-go-lucky darky images of the antebellum South could be contrasted favorably to the images of impoverished, potentially dangerous blacks of post-Reconstruction.† (Warren, 119).Walker fractures this trope by incorporating her ancestors’ harsh treatment on a real plantation. The plantation tradition has the enslaved narrator holding the plantation in high esteem, as if it were a golden utopia, when in reality slaves face inevitable punishment and death; they are neither happy nor enjoying the treatment delivered to them by their masters. Walker shows this through the story arc of Lucy, one of Master John’s slaves and friend of Vyry. Lucy tries to escape, but is caught and branded with an â€Å"R† on her face for â€Å"runaway.† Determined to take her freedom into her own hands, she learns to cover her mark with makeup, â€Å"a mixture of yellow ochre, red clay, and charcoal, until it had blended into her skin† (Walker, 127). Lucy runs away again, and is successful in reaching the free North. Even when slaves do stay on the plantation and follow orders, they are still vulnerable to abuse from their overseers. Plantation tradition usually upholds the Master’s orders in a place of highest priority, another trope that Walker breaks in Jubilee. Shortly after Lucy ran away the second time, Master John had â€Å"plainly told [Uncle Plato and Uncle Esau] and Mr. Grimes that they were not to go into the fields anymore† (Walker, 132) because they  were too old for that kind of hard labor. Grimes, the overseer, went against Master John’s decision again and ordered them both back out into the fields. â€Å"In less than an hour in the blazing sun the two old men had collapsed in the fields, overcome by the heat and unaccustomed exertion† (Walker, 133). Uncle Plato and Uncle Esau took refuge in an abandoned slave cabin that was burned down while the two men were sleeping. â€Å"There was a big mix-up over whether [Grimes] actually ordered his guards to burn that particular house or another† (Walker, 134), but Master John and the rest of the slaves did not believe that it was an accident. After these usurpations and his wife Salina’s casual brushing-off of Master John’s claim to authority on the plantation, Caline observes that â€Å"his say-so don’t amount to nothing† (Walker, 136). Margaret Walker’s use of the black oral tradition crops up throughout Jubilee in the way she incorporates spirituals, sayings, prayers, and hymns into the beginning page of each chapter. One of the main purposes of oral tradition is to pass down the history of the race, since there were no written history books for their culture. â€Å"The oral tradition of the African societies and the necessity for oral traditions as a result of the slave system has helped the Black culture survive† (Staggers). History books talk of slaves singing spirituals and hymns in the fields as a way to boost morale, and it was common practice, even enforced by law, for slaveholders to not grant their slaves an education, resulting in a slave’s inability to read and write. Walker uses snippets from such songs or texts to foreshadow the theme or struggle of their respective chapters. When Brother Zeke first speaks of God sending them a Moses, that chapter’s quote is â€Å"When Israel was in Egypt’s land / let my people go / Oppress’d so hard they could not stand / let my people go† (Walker, 18). Walker would also write Aunt Sally singing when she was working in the kitchens of the Big House. â€Å"When Aunt Sally was deeply troubled, she opened her mouth and raised a real wailing song over he r cooking† (Walker, 71). If slaves ever spoke out against their masters, they would face extremely harsh punishment and perhaps even death. Most of the people in the Big House would not recognize the singing as Aunt Sally expressing her discontent, but rather see it as just making noise. The oral tradition offers a freedom of expression that is disregarded and seldom if ever over-analyzed by the white oppressors they were singing out against. Through these songs and prayers igniting each new chapter of the rise and  fall of the Confederacy through Vyry’s eyes, and the destruction of the tropes distorting the harsh reality of slavery throughout the entirety of Jubilee, Margaret Walker creates an accurate and emotional story that proves her knowledge of the literary traditions surrounding the truth of her ancestors that southern writer after writer in the Reconstruction Period had strived to suppress. Works Cited 1. Campbell, Donna M. â€Å"The Plantation Tradition in Local Color Fiction. â€Å"Literary Movements. Dept. of English, Washington State University. 07/04/2013. Web. 09/03/2013. 2. Staggers, Gail. â€Å"Talkin’ Loud: Black Oral Tradition.† Yale-New Haven Teachers’ Institute. Web. 09/04/2013. 3. Walker, Margaret. â€Å"Jubilee.† New York: Houghton Mifflin Company. 1966. Print. 4. Warren, Kenneth W. â€Å"Black and White Strangers: Race and American Literary Realism.† Black Literature and Culture. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 1995. Print.

Tricky Masculine Nouns in German

German is a pretty rule-heavy language but as with any rules, there are always exceptions. In this article, well dive into masculine nouns that have irregular endings. Masculine Nouns Ending in e Most German nouns ending in -e are feminine. But there are some very common e-ending masculine nouns — sometimes referred to as weak nouns. Many of them derived from adjectives. Here are a few common examples: der alte: old mander beamte: civil servantder deutsche: male Germander Franzose: Frenchmander fremde: strangerder gatte: male spouseder kollege: colleagueder kunde: customerder junge: boyder riese: giantder verwandte: relative Almost all such masculine nouns ending in -e (der Kà ¤se being a rare exception) add an -n ending in the genitive and plural. They also add an -n ending in any case other than the nominative — for example, the accusative, dative, and genitive cases (den/dem kollegen, des kollegen). But there are a few more variations on this ending theme. Some Masculine Nouns Add ens in the Genitive Another small group of German masculine nouns ending in -e requires an unusual ending in the genitive case. While most German masculine nouns add -s or -es in the genitive, these nouns add -ens instead. This group includes​: der  name/des namens: of the nameder glaube/des glaubens: of the beliefder buchstabe/des buchstabens: of the letter, referring to the alphabetder friede/des friedens: of the  peaceder funke/des funkens: of the sparkder same/des samens: of the seedder wille/des willens: of the  will Masculine Nouns Referring to Animals, People, Titles, or Professions This group of common masculine nouns includes some that end in -e (der là ¶we, lion), but there are also other typical endings: -ant (der kommandant), -ent (der prà ¤sident), -r (der bà ¤r), -t (der architekt). As you can see, these German nouns often resemble the same word in English, French, or other languages. For nouns in this group, you need to add an -en ending in any case other than the nominative: Er sprach mit dem Prà ¤sidenten. (dative) Nouns That Add -n, -en   Some nouns add an n, en, or another ending in any case other than the nominative.   (AKK.) Kennst du den Franzosen? Do you know the Frenchman? (DAT.) Was hat sie  dem  Jungen  gegeben? What did she give the boy? (GEN.) Das ist der Name des Herrn. Thats the gentlemans name. Other Irregular German Masculine Nouns Endings shown are for (1) the genitive/accusative/dative and (2) the plural. der alte:  old man (-n, -n)der architekt:  architect (-en, -en)der automat: vending machine (-en, -en)der bà ¤r  bear: (-en, -en) Often  des bà ¤rs  in informal genitive usage.der bauer:  farmer, peasant; yokel (-n, -n)der beamte:  civil servant (-n, -n)der bote:  messenger (-n, -n)der bursche:  boy, lad; fellow, guy (-n, -n)der Deutsche:  male German (-n, -n)der einheimische:  native, local (-n, -n)der erwachsene:  adult (-n, -n)der Franzose: Frenchman (-n, -n)der fremde:  stranger (-n, -n)der fà ¼rst:  prince (-en, -en)der  gatte:  male spouse (-n, -n)der gefangene:  prisoner (-n, -n)der gelehrte:  scholar (-n, -n)der graf:  count (-en, -en)der heilige:  saint (-n, -n)der held:  hero (-en, -en)der herr:  gentleman, lord (-n, -en)der hirt:  herdsman (-en, -en)der kamerad:  comrade (-en, -en)der  kollege:  colleague (-n, -n)der kommandant:  commander (-en, -en)der kunde:  customer (-n, -n)der là ¶we:  lion; Leo (astrol.) ( -n, -n)der mensch:  person, human being (-en, -en)der nachbar:  neighbor (-n, -n) Often the -n ending is only used in the genitive singular.der junge:  boy (-n, -n)der kà ¤se:  cheese (-s, -)  The plural is usually  kà ¤sesorten.der planet:  planet (-en, -en)der prà ¤sident:  president (-en, -en)der prinz:  prince (-en, -en)der riese: giant (-n, -n)der soldat:  soldier (-en, -en)der tor:  fool, idiot (-en, -en)der verwandte:  relative (-n, -n) A final comment about these special masculine nouns. In common, everyday German (casual versus more formal register), the genitive -en or -n endings are sometimes replaced by an -es or -s. In some cases, the accusative or dative endings are also dropped.

The features of technical analysis - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 4 Words: 1080 Downloads: 1 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Economics Essay Type Analytical essay Did you like this example? Explain the key features of technical analysis, including the strategies and techniques used in technical analysis. Discuss the features of fundamental analysis, critically evaluate fundamental analysis versus technical analysis. Introduction The following paper will critically evaluate the differences between technical and fundamental analysis. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "The features of technical analysis" essay for you Create order Even though both technical and fundamental analyses are tools used to make investment decisions there is sharp differences in the two approaches. Technical analysis is in sharp contrast to efficient market hypothesis (EMH), which contends that past performance has no influence on future performance market values. Fundamental analysis involves making investment decisions based on the examination of the economy, an industry, and company variables that lead to an estimate of value for an investment, which is then compared to the prevailing market price of the investment. Technical analysis involves the examination of past market data, such as prices and the volume of trading, which leads to an estimate of future price trends and therefore an investment decision. In the case of fundamental analysis economic data is used, whilst in technical analysis using data from the market itself is considered as good because the market the underlying assumption for technical analysis is that the m arket is its own best predictor. Therefore technical analyses attempts to provide answers to questions relating to what securities should an investor buy or sell? And when should these investments be made? Thus technical analysis involves the study of a stock’s trading patterns through the use of charts, trend lines, support and resistance levels and many other mathematical analysis tools, in order to predict future movements in a stock’s price, and to help identify trading opportunities. For instance if the technical analyst observed a rising trend channel they would hold the stocks as long as the stock price stayed in the rising channel. Whilst if the market was trading in a flat pattern, the technical analyst would sell, most would hold to see if the stock experiences a period of consolidation and then breaks out of the flat trend channel. The following diagram will clarify the point: Typical Stock Market Cycle The techniques used to conduct technical an alysis are sub-divided into four main sections based on attitudes of the technical analysts, namely Contrary opinion signals Smart Money Popular technical indicators Price and volume technique, including the Dow theory. In the case of contrary opinion rules, the technical analysts trade against the crowd using contrary opinion signals. Thus, the analysts try to determine when the majority of investors are either strongly bullish or bearish and then trade in the opposite direction. The measures used are to determine the percentage of speculators in stock index futures that are bullish; other measures include a general belief that if a large proportion of investment advisory services have a bearish attitude; this signals the approach of a market trough and the onset of a bull market. In the case of the second approach of following the smart money, technical analysts have crated a set of indicators that they expect to indicate the behaviour of smart, sophisticated investors and create rules to follow them. The confidence index is a ratio of Barron’s average yield on top 10-grade corporate bonds to the yield on the Dow Jones average of 40 bonds. Similarly The T-Bill and Eurodollar yield spre ad is an alternative measure of investor attitude or confidence on a global basis. It is believed that at times of international crisis, this spread widens as money flows to the T-Bills, which causes a decline in this ratio, stock trends indicate that trough follows shortly thereafter. Amongst the other popular market environment indicators is to measure the breadth of the market, which indicates the number of issues that increase on a daily basis. Diffusion index shows the daily total stocks advancing plus one-half the number unchanged, divided by the total number of issues traded. The market is considered to be oversold when the diffusion gets down to 40-44. Looking at the 200-day moving average of prices has also been fairly popular indicator to understand the general investor sentiment. Hence, when less than 20%of the stocks are selling above their 200-day moving average, the market is considered to be oversold, which is bullish and means investors should expect a positive co rrection. Finally, stock price and volume techniques highlight that prices moves in trends that persist, and they seek to predict future price trends. Charles Dow postulated three types of price movements over time: Major trends like tides in the ocean. Intermediate trends that resemble waves. Short-run movements that are like ripples. Followers of the Dow theory hope to detect the direction of the major price trend recognising the intermediate movements may occasionally move in the opposite direction. They recognise that a major market advance does not go straight up, rather includes small price declines as some investors decide to take profits. CONCLUSION From the preceding paragraphs it can be concluded that while technical analysis looks at stock price trends and refutes the Efficient Market hypothesis, fundamental analysis tends to analyse company information like cash flow, balance sheets etc. However, the common point is that both sets of tools are used to pick stocks. It must be highlighted that to ensure the right choice is made both sets of tools must be used at tandem to derive the best result. There are no conclusive results to suggest that fundamental analysis has generated better results than technical analysis and vice versa. Thus, it can be summarised that for day trading and other forms of short term trading technical analysis would be a better option while for longer term investment fundamental analysis tools would be more useful. Thus depending on the nature and time span of the investment either technical or fundamental analytical tools can be used to make the right investment decision. Bibliography Edwards, Robert D., and Magee, John, Technical Analysis of Stock Trends, (2001), St Lucie Press. Fischer, R. and Fischer, J., The New Fibonacci Trader: Tools and Strategies for Trading Success, (2001), John Wiley and Sons Inc Murphy, John J., Technical Analysis of Futures Markets, (1986), New York Institute of Finance. Pring, Martin J., Technical Analysis Explained: The Successful Investors Guide to Spotting Investment Trends and Turning Points, (2002) McGraw-Hill Education Reilly, Frank. K, and Brown, Keith C., Investment Analysis and Portfolio Management, 6th edition, (2000), The Dryden Press. Schwager, Jack D., A Complete Guide to Futures Markets: Fundamental Analysis, Technical Analysis, Trading, Spreads and Options, (1984), John Wiley and Sons Inc www.ft.com www.economist.com