Innovative Capabilities Of Apple Samples †MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about the Innovative Capabilities Of Apple. Answer: Introduction Apple is a multinational organization of American origin which was established in the year 1976 by Steve Jobs, Ronald Wayne and Steve Wozniak. The headquarters of the company is located on Cupertino, California. The market capitalisation of Apple has crossed the industrial giants and its greatest competitors in the market. The major reason behind this high market capitalisation is the financial strength and the brand value of the company. The return of Steve Jobs to the organization had taken place at the time when Apple was going through a tough phase in the market. The organization has been considered as the leading integrator and designer of computer software and hardware. Apple had changed the market of music, computer, retail and mobile phones with the help of its innovative stores and sleek products. Reasons behind market capitalisation of Apple The unique business model of the organization had helped them in creating a different customer base for Apple. The launch of iPad tablet had accelerated the growth of the revenues of Apple. The market capitalisation of the company had increased with the increase in their reputation and brand equity (Thomke Feinberg, 2012). The success of Apple is the result of the combination of their strategic moves and the innovative methods used in their business model. The enthusiasm of the employees within the firm matched the needs and desires of the customers. Apple always had its focus on the core business area where they required innovation. The organization had to face immense competition in the new market areas where they entered. The risk taking abilities of Apple and going against the conventional logic of business have helped them to experiment outside the core market (Marion, Meyer Barczak, 2015). The strategy of Apple includes and encourages innovation in the products that they offer to the consumers. The company has the atmosphere where the engineers are motivated and pushed to increase the innovation in their products. The interactive quality of the products and giving importance to the small details has helped the organization in providing the best products to the customers (Khan, Alam Alam, 2015). Innovation approach taken by Apple The major innovation approach that has been used by Apple for the purpose of understanding the customers is related to the design thinking. The design of the computers was formulated after understanding the needs of the customers. The engineers of Apple then came up with designs which would be able to achieve the target and fulfil the needs of the consumers. The organization had implemented innovation and creativity and innovation in the design of the products. The smallest details were taken care by the engineers of Apple and these details had later proved to be quite useful for creating the competitive advantage of Apple in the industry. The appearance and design of the Apple products are therefore a result of the intense importance that has been provided to details in the products (Johnson Whitehead, 2016). The other organizations of the industry have paid attention towards the increase of features in the products and Apple on the other hand has given importance to the details li ke packaging of the products. The innovation strategies that were taken by Apple were soon followed by the other organizations in the same market. The organization has integrated the experience of the customers within the design of the products and development related processes. This has enabled Apple in manufacturing products which are suitable for the needs of the consumers (Yun, Won Park, 2016). Role of the employees of Apple in its success The employees of Apple play an important role in the innovation related capabilities of the organization. The employee engagement policies implemented by the organization are the major drivers of innovation in Apple. The employees of the organization enjoy high amount of perks and they are also provided with discounts on the various products of Apple. This helps the company developing an army of brand ambassadors for Apple. The organization encourages teamwork and collaboration which helps in the development of innovative ideas. The creativity of the employees also increases due to the collaboration with their team members. The offices of Apple have communal open spaces which encourage the employees to interact with each other. The team activities and events that the employees attend have a positive impact on the morale of the employees (Lusch Nambisan, 2015). The recognition provided by themanagement to the employees of Apple is another way to increase motivation and engagement. Th e organization encourages development of the employees by providing them with training. These opportunities provided to the employees can help in increasing their engagement levels on a long-term basis. The inspiration has been provided by the owner of the company has been major source of innovation. Steve Jobs used to motivate the employees on a personal level so that their performance can be improved and innovative ideas can be generated. The employees who are a part of the retail stores of Apple also make them feel valued. The employees feel that they are major part of the organizational processes. The employees and the managers of the retail stores work in a collaborative manner and maintain a positive corporate culture. The positive culture of the organization has therefore encouraged the innovative nature of the employees (Dolata, 2017). Role of Steve Jobs in the success of Apple Steve Jobs has been the major part of the entire journey of Apple from the time of its inception. The organization has been impacted by the innovative policies designed by the founder Steve Jobs. The company has been influenced by the concept of design sense from the early days of its operations. Steve Jobs has been characterised a dictatorial leader and his vision for the organization has led to huge demand from the employees. The ideas of Steve Jobs related to the launch of products which are of high quality and are launched on time. The promise of the company of providing the best possible service is an important part of their promise with the customers. Steve Jobs was not only a part of the vision of Apple, he was similarly involved in the decision-making related to the strategy, the design of the products. The launch of products of Apple were also quite extravagant in nature as they were brought in the market on a periodic basis (Yin, Davis Muzyrya, 2014). The organization was also known for maintaining high levels of secrecy about their products before they were launched in the market, which further increased the hype among the customers. Steve Jobs has taken the organization to the topmost level in the market from a position where it was declining to an all new level. The products of the organization have also shown huge amounts of change from the previous years. Steve Jobs launched iMac in the year 2001 and transformed the image of the organization in a positive manner. The organization did not look back after this and constantly introduced highly innovative products in the market. This made Apple the most innovative organization which was able to transform the entire smartphone market in the year 2007. The next big launch from the organization was iPad which was again able to capture the tablet market. Conclusion The constant evolving nature of Apple is a major part of the vision of Steve Jobs and the innovative culture that was developed by him in the organization. The vision of Steve Jobs was to innovate their products in such a way so that it can increase the quality of human life and create a unique position in the industry. Apple has evolved in a positive way from the time of its inception which is a result of the innovative vision of the ex-CEO of the organization (Kim, Kim Foss, 2016). References Dolata, U. (2017).Apple, Amazon, Google, Facebook, Microsoft: Market concentration-competition-innovation strategies(No. 2017-01). Stuttgarter Beitrge zur Organisations-und Innovationsforschung, SOI Discussion Paper. Johnson, D. K., Whitehead, M. (2016). The Technological Core of Apple: Using Artificial Neural Networks and Econometrics to Value Apples Patents. InRDManagement Conference, From Science to Society: Innovation and Value Creation. Khan, U. A., Alam, M. N., Alam, S. (2015). A critical analysis of internal and external environment of Apple Inc.International Journal of Economics, Commerce and Management,3(6), 955-961. Kim, B., Kim, E., Foss, N. J. (2016). Balancing absorptive capacity and inbound open innovation for sustained innovative performance: An attention-based view.European Management Journal,34(1), 80-90. Lusch, R. F., Nambisan, S. (2015). Service innovation: A service-dominant logic perspective.MIS quarterly,39(1). Marion, T. J., Meyer, M. H., Barczak, G. (2015). The influence of digital design and IT on modular product architecture.Journal of Product Innovation Management,32(1), 98-110. Thomke, S. H., Feinberg, B. (2012).Design thinking and innovation at Apple. Harvard Business School Publishing. Yin, P. L., Davis, J. P., Muzyrya, Y. (2014). Entrepreneurial innovation: Killer apps in the iPhone ecosystem.American Economic Review,104(5), 255-59. Yun, J. J., Won, D., Park, K. (2016). Dynamics from open innovation to evolutionary change.Journal of Open Innovation: Technology, Market, and Complexity,2(1), 7.