Tuesday, January 28, 2020
Pmc Case Answers Essay Example for Free
Pmc Case Answers Essay 1) List the important facts in the case. SAS Pvt Ltd is a rapidly growing software firm in IT industry. Employee compensation package is one of the major factors which help SAS to maintain its employee loyalty. They facilitate activities like game, sports, yoga etc, which helps the employee to feel more relaxed in their workplace. Both mental and physical strength is necessary for deliver a better result. Activities offered by company helps the employee to balance both work life and family life together. Working hours of company is scheduled in such a way that to ensure the employee work life balance. Company following a relaxed culture which avoid stress and tension which is the major problem which is seen in majority IT companies. Enough leaves and medical facilities are providing by company without any salary cut which will help the company to make a secure feeling among employees. Job security is the major factor which all employees are looking for. Even though company is not providing stock options and higher salary, employees won’t feel any bad about it because of the loyalty they have towards the company. Layoff rate of company is maintained in a minimum level when compare to competitors and which helps them to save employee replacement-related costs and lost work time. Even though they are spending more for employee compensation they have a high rate of return from that. 2) Are progressive HR practices like those at SAS, a cause or a result of high profits? Yes. By doing progressive HR practices company can maintain a loyalty among employees which helps the organization for better performance. Work life balance helps the employee to maintain a healthy family life along with job and they feel more secure in their job. It helps the organization to reduce the rate of layoff which is the major loss for a company. Company can save employee replacement-related costs such as recruitment, interviews, moving costs for new hires and lost work time. Following are some of the major benefits: Job satisfaction: Employees would be happy with their jobs and would love to work for you if they get fair rewards in exchange of their services. Motivation: We all have different kinds of needs. Some value achievement more than money, they would associate themselves with firms. A compensation plan that hits workers’ needs is more likely to motivate them to act in the desired way. Low Absenteeism: If they enjoy the office environment and are happy with their benefits and get what they need and want. Low Turnover: Employees don’t want to work for any other company if you offer them fair rewards. Advantage to Your Employees: Peace of Mind: Offering of several types of insurances to your workers relieves them from certain fears. Your workers as a result now work with relaxed mind. Increases self-confidence: Every human being wants his/her efforts to get acknowledgment. Employees gain more and more confidence in them and in their abilities if they receive just rewards. As a result, their performance level shoots up. 3) What possible problems could the management at SAS face (from employees) due to the benefits offered? If employees are getting more benefits like employees getting in SAS there is a chance to have a tendency to give second priority to work. It is because of less strictness about the timing and more benefit without any deduction in salary. And it can lead to a mismatch in benefit and productivity. Because they have lot of benefits but there is no specific par in terms of productivity an employee should have. It may leads to mismatch. 4) If you are appointed as the HR manager at SAS, what changes would you recommend in the compensation structure? If I am appointed as an HR manager then I will modify the existing salary. Main modification should be on productivity and benefits. If an employee is working more productively then benefit given also will be high. It is better to implement some specific target to each employee to achieve and if he/she achieved the target within the specific time then rewards should be given. Rewards can be in both tangible and intangible. It will give motivation to employees to attain more and its leads to increase in productivity. I will ensure a better career growth so that employee feels more responsible and loyalty towards the firm. â€Å"Work more†¦. get more †â€â€this will be the strategy in terms of Benefits.
Monday, January 20, 2020
A Comparison of Aneas of Aeneid and Turnus of Iliad :: comparison compare contrast essays
A Comparison of Aneas of Aeneid and Turnus of Iliad       The subtlety in the differences between Aneas and Turnus, reflect the subtlety in the differences between the Aeneid and the Iliad. Although both characters are devout and noble,  Aneas does not possess the ardent passion of Turnus. Unlike Turnus, Aneas is able to place his beliefs in the fated establishment of Latium before his personal interests. Although Turnus is not a bad person, the gods favor Aneas in their schemes. The roles of Aneas and Turnus are reversed as the Aeneid progresses. The erasure of Aneas' free will accounts for his triumph and success.       Time and time again, Aneas' courage, loyalty, and will are tested in the Aeneid. Through seemingly endless journeys by sea, through love left to wither, and through war and death, Aneas exhibits his anchored principals and his unwavering character.             "Of arms I sing and the hero, destiny's exile...            Who in the grip of immortal powers was pounded            By land and sea to sate the implacable hatred            of Juno; who suffered bitterly in his battles            As he strove for the site of his city, and safe harboring            For his Gods in Latium" (Virgil 7).  As a slave to the gods and their plans, Aneas assimilates his mind and sacrifices his life to the establishment of Latium. As the greatest of all warriors, Aneas displays his superb strength and his leadership capabilities, by guiding the Trojans to victory over the latins and establishing Latium. The selflessness of Aneas and his devotion to the Gods, enables him to leap over and break through any obstacles that obstruct his destiny. Patterned after Homer's Hector, Virgil's Turnus is also a courageous and devout hero. As the most handsome of Rutilians, Turnus' nobility reflects his physical appearance; he is a god-fearing, libation-bearing soldier. Turnus was greatly admired and respected by his subjects: "by far the fairest (of Italian men) / Was Turnus, favored both in his noble forbears / And by the queen who advanced his claims with eager devotion" (Virgil 147).       Unlike Turnus, Aneas is able to place his beliefs in Rome before his own interests; that is the defining characteristic of Aneas' heroism. Leaving Dido, the beautiful and passionate Carthaginian Queen, was
Sunday, January 12, 2020
Beyond the Ordinary Bloody Hell Drama Essay
Beyond all human endeavors to attain their highest human potential; be it during grief, war, abundance, injustice, among others, is the rule that no matter what, â€Å" always do the right thing. †In this particular paper, I have chosen William Shakespeare’s work â€Å"Hamlet, Prince of Denmark†as well as Oscar Wilde’s â€Å"The Importance of Being Earnest†as the two main plays for my essay. I have a particular interest in these two plays by two different authors, because the two radiates social and moral themes, which I think is more interesting. â€Å"Hamlet†for example, conveys the message of revenge as evil and could result to unintended consequences. â€Å"The Importance of Being Earnest†posits an emphasis on the importance of being Earnest (since this was paramount during the Victorian era), which I would later on mention in my succeeding discussions. However, I have chosen the two plays because of its contrasting theme-satire vs. tragedy. I was particularly interested in the way the two plays (in different themes) could stir up moral-social values and messages. ‘Hamlet†is a story of oozing portrayal for vengeance (Shakespeare as cited in The Literature Network, 2000). Hamlet accidentally killed Polonius, after he thought that it was Claudius (the new King of Denmark). Look more: satire in the importance of being earnest essay He intended to avenge the death of his father on Claudius. However, after the accidental killing of Polonius, Ophelia (the daughter of the latter who loved Hamlet despite the hatred she felt for him) and Laertes (son of Polonius, brother of Ophelia), were especially furious on him and planned to kill him to avenge the death of their father. It was the latter who carried on the plan since Ophelia was prevented by her love for Hamlet. On the course of their pursuit for revenge, all Hamlet and Laertes gain was the unintended consequence of their actions. The first accidentally killed Polonius instead of the king, as cited by Shakespeare (n. d): Hamlet: â€Å"How now? A rat? [draws] â€Å"Dead for a ducat, dead†! Polonius: [Behind the Arras] â€Å"O, I am slain†! [Fall and Dies]. (Shakespeare p. 150) Laertes, on the other hand, instead of killing Hamlet, was killed by his own sword as mentioned by Shakespeare (n. d): Laertes Why, as a woodcock to mine own springe, Osric; I am justly kill’d with mine own treachery. (Shakespeare p. 246) The message however of the play conveys that, revenge is not always the right thing to do, no matter how badly you’ve been hurt by someone. This is conveyed in the play of Shakespeare (n. d), when Laertes spoke to Hamlet: It is here, Hamlet: Hamlet, thou art slain; No medicine in the world can do thee good; (Shakespeare p. 247) On the other hand â€Å"The Importance of Being Earnest†portrayed the story of two characters (Jack and Algernon) that had employ deception for their convenience; Jack using the name Ernest and Algernon having an imaginary friend named Bunburry. The two employed deception to attain their ends (for Jack to be engaged to Gwendolyn and Algernon used Bunburry as an excuse to leave the country). Later on, Algernon also made-up a story that he was Ernest, to propose to Cecily. It was found out later on in the story that smoke has its way of escaping; the deception did not last long, it was soon discovered by the girls including Lady Bracknell (Gwendolen’s mother) that Ernest was just an imaginary person whose name was used by two persons (The Importance of Being Earnest, 2000). To cover all these mistakes, the two men were told to do the right thing to redeem themselves from the wrath of their fiancees. The two plays had some common grounds. Firstly, both plays were guilty of committing the â€Å"law of unintended consequence†of their actions. Hamlet is a story about revenge, but people who seek revenge for the death of their loved ones (Hamlet and Laertes), were not prepared for the unintended consequence of their actions. As the tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark it says: â€Å"A villain killed my father†¦I his sole son, would do the same villain†¦Ã¢â‚¬ (Shakespeare as cited in etext. library, n. d). However, it was not anticipated by Hamlet that the man he killed was not the King. Clearly, Hamlet had mistaken Polonius as King Claudius. Moreover, when Laertes avenges the death of his father, he was killed by his own sword. The result of their plans was different since they were not familiar with the possible consequences of their actions, because experience wise, they’re not raised to slay somebody out of hatred and vengeance. As was mentioned previously, Jack and Algernon also did not expect the law of unintended consequences of their deception. It had evoked a lot of fantasies from the women, and led to conflict when both women assumed that they were both engaged to the same man named Ernest. One of the lines in The Importance of Being Ernest (2000) showed this conflict: Gwendolen. [Quite politely, rising. ] My darling Cecily, I think there must be some slight error. Mr. Ernest Worthing is engaged to me. The announcement will appear in the Morning Post on Saturday at the latest. Cecily. [Very politely, rising. ] I am afraid you must be under some misconception. Ernest proposed to me exactly ten minutes ago. [Shows diary. ] (p. 43) A â€Å"civilized war†in which flaring emotions were dealt not through aggression, but tensions over words and manners exist between Cecily and Gwendolen when they unmistakably thought that they were engaged to the same man named Earnest. The next comparative point for the play is the emphasis on doing the â€Å"right thing. †If King Claudius respected the life of the former King, Hamlet would not have thought of revenge, same as Polonius. However, they neglect to pay respect to the lives of these people, hence, one mistake leads to another. Vengeance could not be the right thing to do; since social laws are present (this is the function of law in every society-to ensure harmony and control towards equilibrium). The other play (†¦Being Earnest) was in fact clear about choosing the â€Å"right thing†to do. First, being morally right is the â€Å"right thing†to do. Take for example the line of Algernon after his conversation with Lane. The first stated that, what use the lower class would be if they don’t set good example; when they are in fact a class to have no sense of moral responsibility. Gwendolen believes that style, not sincerity is more important (The Importance of Being Earnest, 2000). This was depicted in the story when the Gwendolen and Cecily, instead of pouring out their hatred and contempt to each other, chose to have a â€Å"civilized war†because it is the â€Å"right†thing to do-impression management is more important than sincerity. Respect was also of significance in Hamlet. The play conveyed that whatever wrong a person has caused on you, it is still wrong for you to wish for his death, much more kill him. Killing someone had never been right, much more, seeking vengeance and putting the role of law on your own hands as what Hamlet and Laertes did. The third point of comparison for the two plays is their similarity in portraying conflict. Conflict usually occurs over the competition of highly valuable scarce resources. While Hamlet was a tragic play, it evoked conflicting interest between King Claudius and Hamlet’s father. Shakespeare (n. d) illustrated this scene through the following lines: Ghost: A serpent stung me; so the whole ear of Denmark Is by a forged process of my death Rankly abused: but know, thou noble youth, The serpent that did sting thy father’s life Now wears his crown (Shakespeare p. 14) The two were in conflict over the reign of the thrown in Denmark. It should be noted that conflict would either result to a positive or a negative consequence. Take for instance the case of King Claudius and Hamlet’s father; their conflicting interests enable King Claudius to kill his brother to take over to his thrown as the King of Denmark. On the other hand, The Importance of Being Earnest posits a deeper conflict between classes. In the way upper classes looked at marriage, wealth and the importance of superficial personalities to retain their pleasant status. Despite any wrong done, upper classes have their ways of doing the â€Å"right†thing, which they themselves have imposed. Lady Bracknell touches on the issue when she states, that: â€Å"pleasant or not, an engagement should be given to a girl through a surprise†(The Importance of Being Earnest, 2000: p. 43). Upper class has a standard way of looking at marriage-in fact they looked at it as a business transaction. Hence, marriage for the upper class is a way of showing social position, character and â€Å"taste†for marriage. This was however seen in the words of Gwendolen when she said sugar is being out of fashion and cake is not in best houses where it used to be seen (The Importance of Being Earnest, 2000). Cecily put sugar and cake on Gwendolen’s plate as otherwise requested by the latter. The two girls were actually insulting each other, but chose to do it in a more subtle and superficial way; that nobody could hint they were relatively furious with each other. Always doing the right thing is the best way to deal with hatred, happiness, and conflict, and extreme emotions. I have proved this right when Hamlet chose to revenge the death of his father instead of trusting the law of society to punish King Claudius. His revenge leads one way to another when other person was being killed, living the latter’s family in grief and the son to be also planning for revenge. On the other hand, I had also proved that doing the right thing is the best way to settle misunderstandings and feud. In Being Earnest, deception was used at first, and it was soon found out that it could create great complication; not only, people doing the deception gets into trouble but also the people in whom they had applied their deception as in the case of Gwendolen, Cecily and Lady Bracknell. Also, doing the right thing could be the best way to avoid negative consequences of conflict (e. g following the rule of transition to the throne in the case of Hamlet). Above all things, the two plays were great, since, errors were recognized and even if the right thing to do was not done immediately, the characters came into their senses and recognized that what they have done might be corrected. With the right attitude towards things as well as with the values that guide human character, one might not go wrong if s/he just lived with these and chose to always do what is â€Å"right†for everybody. â€Å"Hamlet†is indeed a great play, depicting many facets of the test of character amid hatred and betrayal. In the Importance of being Earnest, it was personal volition to use deception, but in the end, the choice to be â€Å"right†for the sake of harmony prevailed. References Hamlet. (2004). TeachWithMovies. com, Retrieved, January 20, 2008, from http://www. teachwithmovies. org/samples/hamlet. html The Importance of Being Earnest. (2000). CliffsNotes. com. Retrieved, January 20, 2008, from http://www. cliffsnotes. com/WileyCDA/LitNote/The-Importance-of-Being-Earnest. id-29,pageNum-31. html (IMPORTANT)
Saturday, January 4, 2020
Apple Inc. - Managing a Global Supply Chain - Free Essay Example
Sample details Pages: 9 Words: 2625 Downloads: 4 Date added: 2019/08/16 Category Business Essay Level High school Tags: Apple Inc Essay Did you like this example? Executive Summary An analyst for a money management company based in Toronto, BXE Capital (BXE), was studying Apple Inc. as one of the companys main investments. Apple had a market capitalization of nearly USD 500 billion and sales of USD 171 billion in 2013. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Apple Inc. Managing a Global Supply Chain" essay for you Create order According to the research company, Gartner Group, it had the best supply chain in the world, ranking ahead of firms such as Amazon, Zara and Walmart. As a part of the analysis, a full review of the supply chain of Apple Inc.s is required to look for insight into the future performance of the company for deciding whether the analyst company should continue to hold the shares of Apple Inc. Introduction Apple Inc. was established by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne in 1976. In the summer of 1976, Ronald Wayne had left the company, but Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak launched the first of many trendsetting products to be developed and released, Apple 1 Computer. While under John Sculleys leadership, Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak left Apple in 1985. However, Steve Jobs returned in 1997 and became CEO, taking control of Apple Inc. and bringing the company back from near bankruptcy to profitability by 1998. Under the legendary leadership of the late Steve Jobs, the Apple Inc. brand was successfully rebuilt and become one of the most innovative companies in the world today and has a large loyal customer base. Just after Steve Jobs returned, Tim Cook (a world-renowned supply chain expert) joined Apple Inc. in 1998, who helped transform Apple Inc.s messy operations into a global supply chain success and credited with streamlining Apples supply chain, helping create the most powerful supply chain in the world. Apple Inc. is one of the world leaders in innovation today, product design and development, marketing and branding, software ecosystems, products and services. It sells products through its retail stores, online stores, direct sales force, third-party cellular network carriers, wholesalers, and retailers. It also sells digital content and apps through the iTunes Store. Apple Inc. has evolved into the Most Valuable Brand in the world today. The Differences set Apple Inc. Apart From its Competitors There are several main aspects set Apple Inc. apart from its competitors (see as below): AppleCompetitors Adopting Air-Freight as a more efficient methodAdopting cheaper transportation methods such as Sea-Freight Adopting Intermediate Warehouse at Fedex and UPS for reducing customers waiting time. N/A Keeping the close relationship with global suppliers. Strictly treating suppliers, and attempting to reduce their price Maintaining Just-in-Time supply chain. Focusing on cost and selecting the lowest price suppliers. Apple Inc.s Key Advantages in Manages its Supply Chain Operations Real-time coordination of supply chain Comparing to the life-cycle of traditional product which spans over four to five years, iPhone as an innovative product, Apple Inc.s management team kept the lifecycle closer to only one year on average. For supporting the short product development cycle, Apple Inc. adopts a Just-in-time supply chain to coordinate with the production on a real-time basis. Controlling internally the entire supply chain For developing new products, many stakeholders are involved in the processes of development. Apple Inc. typically handles much of the engineering works involved in getting a product made in large numbers by partnering with contract manufacturers. Engineers often spend weeks at facilities in Asia to make sure the equipment and spare parts are properly operating. With data sharing, Apple Inc.s procurement team also keep closely controlling its upstream suppliers. Unlike other competitors simply outsource the manufacturing to the third-party service providers, Apple Inc. would rather internally control its entire supply chain. The close relationship with suppliers Apple Inc. closely works and builds a close relationship with the contract manufacturers. Its designers closely work with suppliers for helping translate prototypes into mass-produced devices. Furthermore, Apple Inc. continually shares its demand forecasting information to suppliers starting from 150 days in advance of the product launch for allowing adjustment in production schedules and meet the sudden spikes in orders. A well-known example is that within 96 hours, Foxconn produced over 10,000 iPhones a day because of the Apples redesign of screens at the last minute. Highly integration with centralized Research Development Technology firms commonly separate the Research Development department and separate the profit and loss accountability for each product segment. However, Apple Inc. highly integrated the Research Development department as well as the profit and loss accountability to the entire company. All people within the company are responsible for the products success. Pre-purchased capacity Many competitors used the same components as the key parts from a single supplier, so it is common for the components to be out of stock during overwhelming demand. Apple Inc. then starts to pre-purchase suppliers production capacity for ensuring a steady supply of the key parts from suppliers. Moreover, the pre-purchase strategy also adapts to the logistics arrangement. Apple Inc. found that it is costly for the backlog of orders and hence they start adopting air-freight for transportation while other competitors rely exclusively on shipments by sea-freight. Apple Inc.s pre-purchased is available holiday air-freight for ensuring delivery available during holiday sales rush. This also adds the benefit of shutting out rivals. Global operation Apple Inc. divides its products production in different countries. Some processes of production require labor-intensive operation with complex quality control processes. Other countries can provide resources that the U.S is limited. An estimation from Apple Inc. for manufacturing iPhone reviewed which China took fifteen days to find qualified industrial engineers while in the U.S may take as long as nine months. Lightly investing on fixed cost According to Apple Inc.s financial report, asset and inventorys return is high. This has resulted from the lightly fixed cost investment strategy. As low fixed cost need to spread over a high volume, the manufacturing cost of Apple Inc. account larger portion on variable cost. Apple Inc. strategically emphasizes on variable cost which only goes up when sales volume increase. Apple Inc. uses third-parties logistics services and outsources its production for achieving light assets investment. Forward Integration Despite adopting retail partners to distribute its products, Apple Inc. also operates its own stores in high-traffic location as well as the online stores. Over 70% of products and services are sold directly to businesses and consumers by Apple Inc. itself. The limited products configuration Apple Inc.s products are famous for its limited configuration. It restricted the design and configurations of its products, and iOS is designed with less customization setting to provide a more user-friendly experience. With the limited number of configurations, Apple Inc. can streamline the process of the supply chain. Effective reverse logistics function Apple Inc. developed an effective reverse logistic function for enhancing customers post-purchase experience. Consumers are allowed to input the defects online and the system would automatically retrieve purchase information by the serial number. Apple Inc. provides responsive service for product return by sending pre-addressed, pre-stamped box sent through express parcel service to collect the defective product. Apple Inc.s reverse logistic function greatly improved customer satisfaction, lowered the number of calls to its technical support service and eliminate the likelihood of customer error when processing a return. Intense customer education Apple Inc. operates self-own retail outlets not only capture more sales but relies heavily on its retail stores for providing customer education. Apple Inc. gives product training and educates customers on their product usage. 12.Emphasizing brand management Apple Inc. business model focuses on innovation and new product development. With various marketing strategies and customer education, Apple Inc. advertises the lifestyle it created other than the actual functionality of its products. This helps to create a strong brand loyalty. The Challenges Apple Inc. Faces in the Future the Implications for it Supply Chain Developing the overwhelming new products In recent years, Apple Inc. is having a difficult time to develop overwhelming new products. It has been putting a lot of effort to improve and integrate its existing products such as iPhones, Mac Books, iPads, Apple Watches etc. Apple Inc. has been innovating its products and fittings for every version, but the market has the higher expectation than simply a slight improvement on the internal configuration of its products. The consumers or users are expecting technological breakthrough new major products. Apart from this, the sales growth is slowing down, and the declining rate is high until the next model has been ready. This indicates that the consumers or users have gradually lost interests in Apple Inc.s product. The implication for Apple Inc.s Supply Chain The products of Apple Inc. have been known for making by assembling numerous components produced by a lot of different suppliers. Developing new products implicates a large sum of new components are required in its production which makes Apple Inc.s supply chain network more extensive and its management more complex. Apple Inc. also needs to invest more in its research and development and reverse logistics system. Therefore, Apple Inc. can do better in product management and address the new or latent demand for their consumers by reviewing the old returned products. Apart from this, Apple Inc. can introduce the new customized products or new features also for existing products which give the market a new surprise. Keeping sustainable relationships with existing or new suppliers Apple Inc. will be facing a challenge in keeping sustainable relationships with existing or new suppliers. Apple Inc. secures its components supply for meeting the high demand in the market by buying a large volume of components from its suppliers with a huge amount of pre-payment. The largely committed manufacturing capacity which occupied a large part of the businesses of its suppliers. This leads suppliers to receive orders from other customers with difficulty. Therefore, suppliers have been dependent on Apple Inc. for earning profits. Suppliers also have high pressure to get components done with Just-In-Time manufacturing in prepayment. Realizing slim profit gain from Apple Inc. orders with the above disadvantages, Apple Inc.s existing or potential suppliers tend to change their attitudes and some even consider declining Apple Inc. orders for maintaining their independence. The case also mentioned a key part manufac turing refused huge prepayment from Apple Inc. for providing largely committed manufacturing capacity. The implication for Apple Inc.s Supply Chain As some suppliers stop renewing the contract with Apple Inc. because of all the cooperation shortcoming and hardship. Therefore, Apple Inc. has to spend extra money on searching and scanning for new suitable suppliers. The potential suppliers might also hang back when realizing the drawbacks to receive orders from Apple Inc., which decreases Apple Inc.s choices on choosing suppliers. Therefore, Apple Inc. might need to offer a higher pre-payment or new payment methods for suppliers in producing unique components for its products. This might lead to higher production cost and affect the supply chains total profitability. Maintaining the reputation Apple Inc. has been accused of co-operating with sweatshops in its upstream supply chain because of its just-in-time manufacturing and sudden orders or change requirements, the assembler or manufacturer serve Apple Inc. might require their workers to work overtime for meeting the needs of Apple Inc. The case mentioned that workers had to continuously work twelve hours or Foxconns workers had been required to wake up at midnight for work. The implication for Apple Inc.s Supply Chain These ethical issues make Apple Inc.s reputation as it does not have strict monitoring on their partners for producing products. The workers might strike for fighting better benefits and compensations by long-term exploitation. This will lead to production disruption and affect Apple Incs just-in-time manufacturing with a tight schedule. This might increase both cost and the lead time for products. Staying as the market leader in the aggressive competition In recent years, the smartphone industry has rapidly been developing, many competitors catch with innovation at a fast speed (such as Huawei, Samsung, etc.). It is important for Apple Inc. to keep its first-mover advantage and keep putting efforts in innovating. Those who use Android phones have dramatically increased. According to the report presented by IDC in November 2016, the market share of Android phones has occupied nearly 85%, but the iOS phone has only occupied nearly 15%. As consumers have easily shifted to other brands under the market with aggressive competition, therefore, Apple Inc. has to put more efforts to keep its position as the market leader. The implication for Apple Inc.s Supply Chain Apple Inc. has to invest heavily in research and development of its products in its supply chain and places a good balance on stock and production for dealing with the impacts brought by the greater demand fluctuation on i ts JIT system. Apart from this, Apple Inc. also needs to consider the market segmentation that it not only produces high-end products but also low-end products in order to meet the customers needs. PeriodiOSAndroidWindows PhoneOthers 2016 Q115.40%83.40%0.80%0.40% 2016 Q211.70%87.60%0.40%0.30% 2016 Q312.50%86.80%0.30%0.40% 2016 Q418.20%81.40%0.20%0.20% 2017 Q114.70%85.00%0.10%0.10% Source: IDC, May 2017 5.Minimizing the cost of production Although Apple Inc. has performed well on cost-controlling for its production, it still has a higher cost of production when comparing to its competitors (such as Huawei, Samsung, etc.). As the market for the smartphone has been mature, smartphone producers not only compete on innovation but cost as well. Apart from these, the cost of production and selling price of iPhones has generally been higher than competitors, therefore, squeezing cost will be a big challenge for Apple Inc. The implication for Apples Supply Chain When there is a need for cutting cost, it implicates that there is a need to cut procurement cost and streamline processes. Therefore, it is necessary for Apple Inc. to improve its supply chain organization to minimize cost. For further reducing the cost of ordering and transportation, it is necessary for Apple Inc. to regularly review its procurement strategies and transportation model. Conclusions Recommendations As Jessica Grant, I would suggest the companys vice-president Philip Duchene that Apple Inc. could adjust the shareholding depends on certain factors which could be Apple Inc.s niche product offerings with a huge market share and its stron g brand name due to the increased investment. For the factors of decreasing investment, they could be the uncertain development of new key products, unstable relationship with its manufacturer and fluctuating costs. In the strong brand name, Apple Inc. keeps offering consumers the superior quality of buying experience in retail stores. The experienced talents in stores can provide quality services and knowledge to consumers. Furthermore, Apple Inc.s services after selling can increase customers loyalty. For the China market, Apple Inc.s products increased by the demographic demand. Apple Inc. can save the costs of production and achieve better profits by locating the factories in China. Although there is uncertainty for developing new product lines, Apple Inc is the market leader in terms of research and development. Therefore, it is worth for BXE to invest more in Apple Inc. For BXE to decrease concerns of shareholding, Apple Inc.s intention to capture a wider target market segment. Apple Inc. respectively introduced iPhone 5C and iPhone SE in 2013 and 2016. These lower prices products attracted more customers who have a limited budget. Although Apple Inc. does not have distinct competitive adv antages in the economic smartphone market when comparing with Xiaom, some magazines or reports in the market about smartphones show that the ratings of iPhone SE were mostly similar or worse than Xiaomis Redmi Note 3. Thus, BXE might need to consider about it when adjusting the portfolio in investment. Bibliography Apple Inc.: Managing A Global Supply Chain (2017), Published by Ivey, 9B13D005. Nigel Slack, Alistair Brandon-Jones, Robert Johnston (2011), Essentials of Operations Management, 1st Edition, Pearson Education Limited. https://www.apple.com/hk/ https://gadgets.ndtv.com/apple-iphone-se-3393-vs-xiaomi-redmi-note-3-3119 https://www.zdnet.com/article/three-huge-challenges-facing-apple-in-2016/ https://www.idc.com/promo/smartphone-market-share/os https://beebom.com/smartphones-market-analysis/
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)