Macro-Environmental Forces Impacting Environment of the Apple Company - Case Study Example

Iphone7 By Name Course Instructor Institution Location Date Part A Macro Environment Analysis Apple Company The external factors in the Apple macro environment show the value that the company can get on the various strategic options to be exploited by the company according to a research by Forster et al (2016 pg. 23). Apple company has been realizing success in its ventures as a result of the keen scanning of the macro environment in order to realize competitive advantage on its products such as iPhone 7 as argued by Rantanen (2016 pg. 26). In the Australian context, the company leading role in the market can be attributed to macro-environmental scanning through the PESTEL analysis. This paper will analyze the macro environment forces impacting the company's environment. The political environment. The most crucial political external factors in the Apple market environment provide performance opportunities to the company as articulated by Grant (2016 pg. 28). The political environment in Australia affecting the company's operations includes, improved free trade policies by the government and stable politics experienced in Australia. According to Grant (2016 pg. 34), Australia has over time created more free trade policies which have boosted the opportunity for the company to distribute more of its products to various markets in the country. The policies on free trade according to Grant (2016 pg. 32) have opened the boundaries to accommodate for the free flow of Apple products such as the iPhone7 to the local market. Furthermore, the stability of the political landscape in Australia has boosted the company's operations. According to Jain et al (2016 pg. 40), the political stability has ensured communal peaceful co-existence and a stable market environment. The country experiences peace and unity among the different communities which have encouraged the company to explore the local market. This has resulted in minimal political issues affecting the business and therefore an advantage for the company to improve its performance in the Australian local market. Economic factors In Australia, according to Schmiedel et al (2016 pg. 36), most of the economic factors have presented an opportunity to the company. The economic aspects of external environment analysis explore the industry condition that impacts the company. In the case of apple, Schmiedel et al (2016 pg. 16) argue that economic external conditions that have impacted on its performance include the rapid growth of Australian economy and the stable economic conditions in the country. According to Castro (2016 pg. 35), the economic stability in Australia creates opportunities for the company to expand its businesses. This has encouraged apple to introduce varied products to the market as a result of its improved product line. The rapid growth rate, for instance, the economic growth rates of Australia has been an opportunity for the company to increase the revenues through sales in the local market. The company has to, therefore, ensure effective and speedy investment in such high growth economy because the competitors such Samsung can exploit the economy and become a market leader and acquire a competitive advantage over apple company as argued by Castro (2016 pg. 40). To tap the potential in the local market apple has ensured quality products and a range of new inventions such as the iPhone 7. Social factors. The company's business is subject to effects of the social factors. This includes the changing social influences on the consumer behaviours and expectations. According to Castro (2016 pg. 44), the most crucial social factors experienced in the company's macro environment includes the rising use of social media in Australia and the changing needs of the mobile accessories. The trend of the popularity of Apple products such as iPhone is an opportunity for the company. The pattern gives the company an advantage to continue to supply easy to use electronic gadgets to the local market in Australia as shown by Jain et al (2016 pg. 40). The company has taken a step to exploit this opportunity through its products which include iPhone, iPad and apple watch. The firm has ensured the people's changing accessories needs are met by its quality products which have resulted to value change on the use of mobile accessories among the customers. It is therefore implied that many locals in Australia are comfortable purchasing iPhone7 as compared to other products by the competing firms. More so the company gets an advantage in the rising use of social media in Australia as argued by Castro (2016 pg. 55). The move has increased the demand for quality devices such as iPhone and other digital devices by Apple such as Apple watch. It is, therefore, evident that the iPhone7 can be initiated in the Australian market with high-profit margins realisation. Technological factors The current technologies and the change in technology affect the business conditions. For the case of apple company in Australian, the analysis indicates that technological external factors provide opportunities and competitive advantage to the company. The technological factors in the apples external environment include cloud computing patterns, technological integration and the growing apps market in Australia. In Australia, cloud computing has become popular both among individuals and the organizations. According to Schmiedel et al (2016 pg. 24), The company can take the trend to its advantage and offer cloud friendly gadgets and apps such as iPhone 7 to the Australian market. The local market in Australia has a high affinity for devices that can be connected to each other and therefore it is crucial for the company to continue with the strategic provision of integrated devices such as phones. The company has to tap the changing market app store and grow its app store to continue tapping the highest market share and customer base as agreed by Forster et al (2016 pg. 43). Other competing companies such LG and Samsung have improved the scope of their app store and to remain relevant and competitive in the market it's key for the company to change its app store. Environmental factors The environmental factors that affect the company include the business sustainability trend, product energy efficiency trend and the labour rights. The company is already tackling the opportunity to preserve its business sustainability through recycling programs and other related programs. In addition, the company has sourced for improved technological solutions that aids in the improvement of energy efficiencies for apple products. The programs have been implemented through the provision of improved batteries, processors and heat emitting components as shown by Rantanen (2016 pg. 22). More so the labor rights trend has affected the global business arena especially on the employment policies by the Australian government, this move has forced the company to improve the customer perception of its products through the improvement of supply chain employment practices as discussed by Castro (2016 pg. 45). The company has also undertaken advertisement programs on its products to communicate to the local market on the quality attached to its accessories. The varied adverts on iPhone, watches, and laptops have been conducted on local televisions in Australia which has tremendously boosted the company's product perception by customers. Legal factors The legal external factors in Apples local environment have been a source of threats to the company. The legal factor aspects are concerned with the effects of laws or legislations on the business. The Australian government has enacted the privacy law in relation to the digital technology use. This has imposed more regulations on the apple company which has resulted in a challenge in developing products that transmit private information. However, this legislation can act as an opportunity for the company to improve its product features which protect privacy. The government has enacted strict telecommunication rules as discussed by Forster et al (2016 pg. 32) which pose a threat because of their limiting factors on the usability of apple products. Basing on the change of legal requirements in Australian local market, the company has emphasized on privacy protection and compliance to regulations in all its products to maintain the company's market leadership in Australia. Reference List Castro, R.B., 2016. Apple Inc.–A Marketing Success Story. Foster, L., Grim, C., Haltiwanger, J. and Wolf, Z., 2016. Productivity, Regulation, and Allocation: Macro, Industry-and Firm-Level Evidence Firm-Level Dispersion in Productivity: is the Devil in the Details? The American Economic Review, 106(5), pp.95-98. Grant, R.M., 2016. Contemporary strategy analysis: Text and cases edition. John Wiley & Sons. Jain, T., Aguilera, R.V. and Jamali, D., 2016. Corporate stakeholder orientation in an emerging country context: A longitudinal cross-industry analysis. Journal of Business Ethics, pp.1-19. Mason, S.G. and Zhu, P., 2017. Regional Industry Analysis: An Approach for Economies Large and Smaller. Economic Development Quarterly. Rantanen, J.T., 2016. Reducing the Impact of Demand Fluctuations Through Supply Chain Collaboration in the Retail Grocery Sector (Available on Internet) (Master's thesis, Svenska handelshögskolan). Schmiedel, T., Müller, O., Debortoli, S. and vom Brocke, J., 2016, June. Identifying and quantifying cultural factors that matter to the IT workforce: An approach based on automated content analysis. In 24th European Conference on Information Systems(ECIS), Istanbul, Turkey. Part E Communication campaign Print media advertisement The company uses print media in communicating its products to the customers. According to Badhuri & Forgarty (2016 pg. 19), print media advertisement is a form of media advertisement that uses physically printed media such as newspapers and magazines. It can also employ the use of digital media such as banner ads and mobile advertising to reach the target audience. The company uses newspapers to serve its target audience with information concerning iphone7. The newspapers include local, regional or national which according to Madni et al (2016 pg. 10) are published based on duration i.e. the daily, evening, weekly or the Sunday editions. The newspapers are an example of print media which targets different readerships with the content mix often covering on sports, entertainment, business, fashion and politics with a blend of the local, regional or world news. The use of newspaper as a print media market advertisement for iphone7 depends on the space that the advertising company buys which ranges from the small classified size with ads only to displays that feature photographs, illustrations, and graphics up to a full page or double spread page (Madni et al 2016 pg. 12). The company can also use magazines to advertise for its products such as iphone7. The use of magazines offers an extensive choice of frequency and readership. The use of consumer magazines implies that the company's advert covers a wide range of information to be consumed by the potential customers. The magazine covers wide aspects such as the company's financial reports on profit realized on iphone7 to mere product advertisement such as new product market breakthrough. The advantages of using print media are that magazines are popular among consumers and are often read in particular time periods in a month. Putting an advertisement in a monthly magazine capture the attention of the readers and hence the ease of conveying the message to customers. Example of print media advertisement on iphone7 iPhone 7 Plus Review: Is It Good for Business? Company: Business News Weekly Date: 22 March 2017 Business news weekly best describes iPhone 7 plus as an effective mobile platform that integrated work, daily life and lifestyle. Arguably, this communication medium seeks to evaluate iPone 7’s capability with respect work; where it captures consumers with its appealing word choices, “The iPhone 7 Plus is the best iPhone for work yet…. superlong battery life, “(Nuckles, 2017) In addition, clear headlines have been used where the readers can be able to clear centre on what they are specifically searching for (Image 1). At some point the author draws the reader’s attention by referring to a previous iPhone product, to enhance an understanding of what the iPhone 7 presents. The image content attracts the reader, where it showcases divergent features such as its design and applications as well suited in meeting the consumer’s demand. A number of visual features such as flashy images and up-close detailing its engineered model (Refer to Appendix: Image 2). Pictures have been used extensively in the media to better bring an up-close picture of the product to the consumers. Specific colors are attuned to specific traits, for example, the author has crafted a colorful pictorial design to enhance the clarity of iPhone7 (Appendix: Image 4). Reference List Bhaduri, S.N. and Fogarty, D., 2016. Optimizing the Media Mix—Evaluating the Impact of Advertisement Expenditures of Different Media. In Advanced Business Analytics (pp. 47-56). Springer Singapore. Madni, A.R., Hamid, N.A. and Mohd, S., 2016. Influence of Controversial Advertisement on Consumer Behavior. Journal of Commerce (22206043), 8. Nuckles, Brett, 2017 iPhone 7 Plus Review: Is It Good for Business? Business News Weekly Retrieved from: http://www.businessnewsdaily.com/9286-iphone-7-business.html Appendix Sources: Business News Weekly Image 1 Image 2 Image 4 Read More