About the Company

The case study is based on the operating processes of Apple and the ways by which the organization has been able to maintain its growth in an effective manner. The organization was founded in the year 1976 and was thereby considered to be the largest integrator and designer of the computer software and hardware based products. The continuous changes which have been made in the products and services offered by the company over the years of its operations have been discussed in the case study (Brown & Wyatt, 2010). The understanding which the organization and the management was able to show based on the usage of computing devices by people has been analysed in the case study in detail.

The report will be based on the analysis of the usage of innovative processes by Apple to manage the customers. The role which has been played by the people of Apple in ensuring the success of the company will be discussed in the report. The contribution provided by the CEO of Apple in its success in the market can also be considered to be an important part of the analysis.

Apple is a multinational technology based organization which has its origin in the United States. The headquarter of Apple is located in Cupertino, California. The organization mainly offers products based on consumer electronics, online services and computer software. The hardware based products of the company include, iPhone, iPad, Mac and iPod. The founders of Apple are Steve Wozniak, Ronald Wayne and Steve Wozniak. The organization has its operations all over the world and has a huge customer and employee base (Apple.com, 2018).

As discussed by Liedtka (2015), the most important parts of the unique strategy implemented by Apple are based on some important factors which include, design thinking, CEO as the chief innovator, rational courage of conducting the business experiments and the development of strategies and its execution. The innovation process of the company was thereby based on the strategies which have been developed by Apple. The development of iPod was based on the love for music within the firm. The product had been successful in catering to the needs of a large group of customers.

The design team which had been operating in the development of Mac computers were also highly passionate about the innovation levels of the product. The organization and the management thereby aimed at developing emotional connection with the customers with the help of their products. The strategy based on developing connection with the customers was thereby based on the innovation levels of the products. The fashion levels of the products were also able to affect the levels of interaction which the consumers had with the organization that was further helpful for the customer development based strategy of Apple (Brown & Wyatt, 2010).

According to Brown and Wyatt (2010), Apple has provided high levels of importance to the experience which is provided to the customers. Customer experience has thereby been made an important part of the development and design based process of the company. Apple also focussed on the proper development of user interface which was helpful for the company in order to interact with the customers.

Ways by which Innovation and Strategy Work Together in Apple

The interactive levels of the software of Apple was an innovative approach which was implemented by Apple in order to enhance the customer satisfaction levels. The development of the products of Apple were based on the desires and needs of the consumers. The development of the operating system of Apple named OSX was also based on the changing needs of consumers. The beauty of products of Apple was also considered by the company in order to develop the emotional connection (Butler & Roberto, 2018).

According to Brown and Wyatt (2010), the people or employees of Apple have been able to contribute to the innovativeness of the company. The employees or the developers had to keep in mind that the major goal was to design the computers in such a manner so that the products can be loved by the customers. The interactive levels of the products were also based on the commitment levels of the employees. The employees have provided importance to the smallest details of the products which are offered to the consumers.

The customers have been provided with the highest level of importance in this case and the services provided by employees have provided Apple with a unique position in the technology based industry. The appearance of the products has been designed by Apple in such a manner which can serve as a fashion accessory for the customers. The look and appearance of the products of Apple are a result for the attention which is provided by Apple to details (Kumar, 2017). The developers have also created an interface in order to increase the levels of interaction with the products of the company. The different factors of the operations of Apple are related to product development, execution and innovation levels. The excellence of the execution based of strategies in the company has been made possible by the innovative employees of Apple (Liedtka, Salzman & Azer, 2017).

According to Brown and Wyatt (2010), the CEO of Apple Steve Jobs has played a key role in the development of the company and creation of its position in the industry as well. The vision based on innovation and design was developed by Steve Jobs which also led to the name of the company “Apple”. Apple and its operations have always been related effectively with the CEO and founder Steve Jobs.

The vision of design sense has been shared by the CEO with all the employees in the company. The temperament and dictatorial nature of the CEO was related to the vision which has been developed by Steve Jobs. The CEO had always demanded high levels of excellence from the employees in order to achieve the objectives. The relationship of Apple with the customers is also based on the products which have been developed by the company (Reinecke, 2016).

Innovation has always been an important part of the vision and strategy which has been developed by Steve Jobs. The management team of Apple is able to maintain the levels of innovation with the proper implementation of the innovative processes in the operations. Steve Jobs has tried to maintain high levels of secrecy in different organizational operations and providing the products to the customers as well (Liedtka, Salzman & Azer, 2017).

The CEO had taken a bold of starting the retail operations of Apple in the year 2001 with the help of the first store of the company. The services which are offered to the customers in retail stores have been a part of the vision which has been developed by Steve Jobs. The adaptation and learning based environment in Apple has been developed under the leadership of Steve Jobs (Butler & Roberto, 2018).

Conclusion 

The report can be concluded by stating that the innovation and learning based activities have been able to play a key role in the operations of Apple. The CEO of the company has played a key role in the success of Apple in the technology industry. The success of Apple is further based on the contribution provided by the people or employees.

References 

Apple.com (2018). Apple. [online] Apple. Available at: https://www.apple.com/ [Accessed 25 Oct. 2018].

Brown, T., & Wyatt, J. (2010). Design thinking for social innovation. Development Outreach, 12(1), 29-43.

Butler, A. G., & Roberto, M. A. (2018). When Cognition Interferes with Innovation: Overcoming Cognitive Obstacles to Design Thinking: Design thinking can fail when cognitive obstacles interfere; appropriate cognitive countermeasures can help disarm the traps. Research-Technology Management, 61(4), 45-51.

Callahan, E. (2018, July). Cross-Cultural Empathy: Learning About Diverse Users in Design Thinking Process. In International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction (pp. 236-240). Springer, Cham.

Kumar, N. M. (2017). DESIGN THINKING FOR INNOVATION: HOW CREATIVITY CAN SOLVE OUR BIGGEST PROBLEMS. In Allied Academies International Conference. Academy of Management Information and Decision Sciences. Proceedings (Vol. 21, No. 1, p. 21). Jordan Whitney Enterprises, Inc.

Liedtka, J. (2015). Perspective: Linking design thinking with innovation outcomes through cognitive bias reduction. Journal of Product Innovation Management, 32(6), 925-938.

Liedtka, J. (2018, July). Innovation, Strategy, and Design: Design Thinking as a Dynamic Capability. In Academy of Management Proceedings (Vol. 2018, No. 1, p. 13004). Briarcliff Manor, NY 10510: Academy of Management.

Liedtka, J., Salzman, R., & Azer, D. (2017). Design thinking for the greater good: Innovation in the social sector. Columbia University Press.

Reinecke, S. (2016). What is it that Design Thinking and Marketing Management can learn from each other?. In Design Thinking for Innovation (pp. 151-162). Springer, Cham.

Sniukas, M., Lee, P., & Morasky, M. (2016). The Art of Opportunity: How to build growth and ventures through strategic innovation and visual thinking. John Wiley & Sons.