Innovation and Technology Management - Assignment Example

 Innovation and technology management Apple is arguably the world’s largest manufacturer of smart phones among other technological products. The company prides itself in the production of high quality products that meet the demands of a diverse target market. Just as any other corporate organization, Apple has a visionary mission statement that portrays both the values and the future of the company. The company’s mission statement explains the values of the company, which include the production of low cost, high quality and easy to use products. Through such values, the company seeks to increase the size of its market share. The mission statements and objectives portray the company’s target market. The company for example appreciates the production of high quality products; this motivates the company to carry out exhaustive research with the view of improving the quality, usability and reliability of its products. Cost is an equally important feature of a product that influences its market share. Apple recognizes the importance of the cost of its products since it influences the marketability of its products (Maney 67). The company therefore aspires to continue producing low cost products. Apple targets a specific market, which comprises of the middle class and corporate organizations. Just as any other market group, Apple’s market considers the price of the products among other features of the marketing mix in order to improve the profitability and longevity of its products. The company infuses both the quality and the cost of its products thereby presetting its products as both high quality yet low cost. Such is an effective marketing strategy that introduces and positions the products appropriately in the market. Apple prides itself in the production of diverse technological products including smart phones, laptops, tablets and music players among many others. The diversity of the company’s products is its marketing strategy through which it seeks to increase its target market thus increasing its profitability. Each of the above products targets a unique market niche thereby increasing the target market. Additionally, diversity helps minimize the marketing costs while minimizing the risk that each of the products present to the company. Products and company’s reputation is an essential marketing tool that every company strives to improve. Apple has an effective organizational and operational culture that upholds the unique values espoused in the company’s mission statement and objectives. Each of the different products enjoys a positive reputation, which primarily arose from the high quality of the company’s smart phones. As a marketing strategy, diversifying the company’s products enhances its profitability by ensuring that a flop in one product does not cripple the company’s productivity since the other products are likely to enjoy profitability in their respective markets. This way, the profits from one product insures the company from the loss of another. Besides this understanding, the company employs effective marketing strategies for its numerous products and brands with the view of providing its customers with the desired satisfaction. This way, just as stated in the company’s mission statement, the company ensures to satisfy the customer demands a feature that increases the company’s profitability. Diversity for example ensures that the company’s product targets different target markets. The rich and the middle class an even the society’s poor all want communication devices. Apple diversifies its products ensuring that each products retails at a unique price thereby ensuring that the products befit different sections of the market. International trends in the market Apple products are an international brands enjoying positive reputation throughout the world. This implies that the company must compete effectively against other international and local brands in the different markets throughout the world. As a company that prides itself in the manufacture of technological products, Apple must develop appropriate products that meet the demands from the market. The trending technological features in the society thus influence the nature of the products that the company manufactures. As a market leader, Apple influences the social and technological change in the market thus influencing the nature of the demand for its products. The nature and quality of the products influences a product’s marketability, Apple strives to develop high quality products with the company often improving specific features of its products with the view of increasing the marketability of the products. An analysis of both the company and the industry portrays different trends and developments that influence the profitability of the company. Marketing for example is a fundamental function of the management that influences the profitability of the company. Marketing as a marketing function mandated with the determination, anticipation and satisfaction of the customer demand influences operations of the company in order to safeguard the profitability of the company. Marketing trends influence the profitability of a company and Apple adopts trending marketing features that safeguard the company’s market share. The use of the internet has introduced the concept of electronic marketing; Apple employs different e marketing techniques with the view of sustaining if not increasing the current market share of the company. Among the prevailing marketing trends, include the use of social media. Apple has numerous social media accounts such as Facebook and twitter both of which the company uses to interact with its customers. Social media provides an efficient platform used for numerous marketing functions including market research and advertising among many other functions. The interactivity in the internet provides the marketers with effective opportunity to interact with their customers. Through such interactions, the company sells its products often advertising and maintaining its market niche. Additionally, the company collects views from the customers thereby influencing the production of their products. This implies that the social media enhance market research and analysis a fundamental marketing feature that influences the profitability of the company. As a company that manufactures technological products, Apple prides itself in the use of trending technologies in manufacturing and marketing its products. Outsourcing for labor is a key marketing feature that influences the profitability of the company by lowering the cost of doing business. Apple has a manufacturing plant in China and Mexico among other countries with lower costs of both labor and power. Through outsourcing, the company ensures that it manufactures its products at lower costs before selling them in its established markets in the United States and the United Kingdom among other markets strewn all over the world. This way, it becomes possible for the company to produce low cost products, one of its key values espoused in the company’s mission statement. Among the trending features of smart phones as portrayed by both the company and its key competitors is the introduction of android operating system. The unique operating system offers uses a seamless platform that supports diverse applications. Apple thus uses a unique operating system that offers the users of the product a degree of uniqueness a key feature that helps position the quality of the product. Additionally, the company has a dedicated apps store that ensures that its customers enjoy the same diversity as the customers of other companies but with an increased quality. Additionally, Samsung, one of the leading competitors in the smart phones markets introduced a unique product series coupled with a gear that strives to improve the efficiency of the products. The new trend has diverse influence on the market. To maintain its market share, Apple strives to maintain the quality and diversity of its products. Despite the changes and improvements by its competitors in the market, Apple strives to maintain the uniqueness of its products often promising its customers greater satisfaction arising from the high quality and efficiency of its products. Preparation for the future using the human and technological capital Just as the title suggest, humans are among the most fundamental resources in any commercial organizations. While most organizations employ technologies in production, humans operate; the machines thus implement the operational policies. This implies that human management is fundamental in sustaining the profitability of a company. Apple as any market leader strives to employ appropriate human resource management techniques in order to sustain the profitability of the company. Human resource management for example requires effective understanding of the employees in the company thereby employing appropriate theories in managing the employees. Growing into the future requires effective management that Apple infuses in the organizational culture. As envisioned in the company’s mission and objectives, Apple strives to increase its market share by increasing the infiltration of its products in the market. This requires an increased production coupled with effective human resource management and market research in order ensure that the company manufactures appropriate products that meet the market demand. Among the key human resource management functions that the company must safeguard in order to ensure growth of the company include employee motivation. Motivation refers to the process of influencing the mindset of employees thus ensuring that the steer the profitability of the company. The company must therefore employ appropriate employee motivation techniques including the creation of an appropriate working environment. The working environment motivates employees by sustaining the trends of production in the organization. Apple must create a competitive working environment, one that challenges the employees to sustain the creativity and innovation of the company. Additionally, Apple must safeguard the remuneration of its employees. Salary is a fundamental feature that motivates employees. The company must therefore remunerate its employees appropriately in a manner that appreciates their contribution in production. Another equally important human resource development feature is the provision of on job trainings. This helps equip employees with appropriate production techniques, provision of on job training is an effective technique that will enhance the company’s production in the future. Through such trainings, the employees equip themselves with appropriate technical skills thus pioneering technological change in the company. Theory Y and theory X provides managers with effective understanding of their employees’ attitudes thus influencing the formation of appropriate administrative policies in an organization. Theory X posits that employees are inherently lazy and requires dedicated supervision in order to safeguard the productivity. Theory Y on the other postulates that employees love work and will therefore work effectively with minimal supervision. The two theories provide managers with an unparalleled view of their employees thus influencing the use of appropriate management techniques in order to improve the productivity of the company. Improving the quality of the employee through on job trainings ensures that the employees love their job thus safeguarding the profitability of the company even as it grows into the future. Technology is yet another fundamental management feature that every company must consider as it develops and grows into the future. Apple, as a company that prides in the manufacture of high quality technological devices must ensure that it streamlines its products to the prevailing technological features in the society. The fact that Apple is a market leader priding itself in manufacture of high quality technological devices requires that the company must pioneer technological changes in the industry. Besides adopting trending technologies, Apple must invest in technology by motivating its employees to carry out expansive researches on new ways of developing its products. This way, the company develops a pool of technological resources that will ensure that the company pioneer technological trends in the society. This way, the company influences the market by creating unique products. Importance of innovation Innovation refers to a feature of production in company that motivates the production of unique and diverse products. Innovation results from numerous trials of different ideas. Innovation is an important tool of marketing that helps position products uniquely in the market thus ensuring that they enjoy a large market share. A company must therefore encourage its employees to portray creativity in order to enhance the innovation desired in any company. Innovation incorporates the creation of unique products that will meet particular market demands thus expanding the company’s market share. Additionally, innovation refers to the use of smart and efficient ways of marketing products in order to improve the productivity of the company. This implies that innovation affects every feature and department in the organization. Apple must employ appropriate techniques both in the production and in marketing in order to steer the company to growth. In order to achieve the desired productivity through increased innovation, the company must employ appropriate management techniques key among which is the employment of skilled and experienced personnel. As discussed earlier, the human resources are among the most essential assets in any commercial organization. The company must therefore employ professionals who understand the features of both production and marketing. Experienced professionals portray the desired understanding of their roles and therefore can introduce new and innovative ways of doing business. Besides hiring the experienced professionals, the company must also provide the employees with adequate on job training in order to provide the employees with adequate professional human resource that will develop both effective products and ways of doing business in the market. Critique of the innovative action Apple has adopted unique innovative features of both production and marketing in order to safeguard its profitability. The company for example develops high quality products a feature that requires innovation and improvement of the numerous features of the product. The company manufactures unique commuters and smart phones using unique operating systems that help minimize virus attack, as is the case in other conventional operating systems. The company thus has innovative employees who uphold the company values in order to improve the company’s market share. The company’s products have unique shapes among other pertinent features of the products. This way, the company positions its products strategically in the market with the view of ensuring that its products remain unique in the market. Besides the shape and the unique operating systems the company uses in its mobile devices, the company uses other innovative marketing features that ensures that the company enjoy the market share it currently does including diversification. As explained earlier, diversity ensures that the company targets a wider market thus cushioning its products from incurring loses. Additionally, the company uses technological ways of marketing its products. With an efficient website coupled with other numerous social media accounts, the company carries out dedicated advertising and marketing of its products thus enhancing the market reach of the products. As an international brand, the company’s products require a global reach. The company thus collaborates with numerous other local service providers in order to enhance the distribution of its products throughout the world. The company advertises its products through different media including televisions, radio and the internet among many other media that provide the company with effective platform to enlighten the public. TIM techniques Apple employs numerous technology and innovation management techniques in order to enhance the company’s profitability. Key among such is benchmarking a technique that refers to process of comparing the features of the company to other industry leaders. As an industry leader, Apple compares its products with those manufactured by other companies producing the similar products (Maurer 32). The fact that the company manufactures numerous products implies that the company compares its products against many other manufacturers who manufacture similar products. Among the features, the company compares through the benchmarks are both the quality and the costs of the products the company manufactures. Apple compares its products with those manufactured by such leading companies as HTC and Samsung both of which enjoy international presence and manufacture of similar products. As a manufacture of numerous other electronics, the company compares each brand with similar products targeting the same target market thus influencing cost and the price of the products since the two are fundamental features of products that influence their profitability. Apple covers the two features in its mission and objectives thereby portraying the importance of the two. The company also employs a technology management technique known as kaizen, which is a Japanese phrase referring to improvement. This implies that a company must often change its products by introducing better brands. Apple exhibits this through its introduction of a series of smart phones with each series presenting improvements to the previous series. This portrays the company’s dedication to innovation. Additionally, kaizen portrays that a company listens to the complaints from the market thus addressing such in successive products. Improving the quality of the products is a portrayal of increased innovation in the process of manufacture as the company strives to better its previous products. Apple for example ensures an improvement with every product launch. This applies to the numerous products the company manufactures including smart phones, computers and music players all of which often have better processor speeds and enlarged memory spaces among many other pertinent features of the products. Structure, executive summary & presentation In retrospect, innovation and technology are fundamental features that every commercial organization must consider and mange effectively. Technology influences the productivity of a company, the fact that technology changes depending on the prevailing knowledge in the society often influence the consumption of products thus influencing the operations of the company. This implies that every commercial organization must streamline its operations to the prevailing technological features in the society in order to ensure increased profitability. Apple, a global smart phones manufacturer portrays understanding of the role of technology and innovation management thus adopting appropriate management structures that appreciate the role of the two in sustaining the company’s profitability. The company sustains increased training of its employees a feature that positions the employees strategically in the market. as fundamental assets in the company, Apple improves the quality of its human resource by offering the employees increased on job training besides according them a room to test and try their innovations. This way, they develop unique products that perform better thus cushioning the company’s profitability. Employee motivation is an essential human resource management feature that sustains the use of innovation and technology in marketing. Apple manufactures technological products, this implies that besides the use of technology and innovation in marketing, the company sells its creativity and innovation. Such a unique structure requires the company to carry out extensive market research in order to develop new and innovative products that will attract the market thus sustaining the company’s profitability. Work cited Maney, Kevin. Trade-Off: Why Some Things Catch On, and Others Don't. New York: Crown Business, 2010. Print. Maurer, Robert. The Spirit of Kaizen: Creating Lasting Excellence One Small Step at a Time (1 ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill, 2012. Print. Read More