Corporate Responsibility and Marketing Strategies of Apple Inc Assignment - 3

Corporate Responsibility and Marketing Strategies of Apple Inc - Assignment Example The researcher states that in this era of globalization and international trade where rapid technological progression and cutthroat competition has become immensely important, priority has been exceedingly shifted towards corporate social responsibilities so that the companies can align their production and distribution process with social and environmental norms. The mastermind behind Apple Inc. was Steve Jobs who had founded the company in 1976. The company is famous for its iPod media player, iPad tablets; Mac line of personal computers, iPhone etc. iCloud, iTunes, App Stores etc. online services and iWork creativity, iTunes media browser etc. services has helped the company to achieve the leading position in the market. In terms of revenue, Apple is the second largest Information Technology Company only after Samsung and in the mobile phone manufacturing segment, it is third largest. According to the reports on 2014, Apple is having 437 retail stores in more than 15 countries wor ldwide and appoints more than 72,800 permanent employees. Strong research and development, innovation and customer orientation of Apple Inc. have resulted from the high degree of brand loyalty for the company which has aided to achieve world’s Most Valuable Brand Award in 2014. Clearly, practices of corporate social responsibility of such huge brand as Apple Inc. must be exemplary for all other corporations operating in the multinational platform. Apple Inc. is well known for its ethical and corporate responsibilities which the company has continued practicing since its inception and improved over time. Apple’s ethical practices are reflected in the code of conduct followed by all its employees irrespective of situations.

Why Should Companies Based in the United States Outsource Parts of Research Paper

Why Should Companies Based in the United States Outsource Parts of their Business to Off-Shore Locations - Research Paper Example The nation’s international presence has not only facilitated the process of outsourcing for the companies in USA but also made them successful in the global market. There has been extensive debate on whether outsourcing is desirable or not and whether people are affected by it. There have been different views on it from people. The project explores the advantages that the US firms enjoy through outsourcing of activities. The advantages would be discussed in terms of the economic benefits brought about in the company in the long run. Economic Benefits to the Company and the U.S. economy in the long term The US organizations are generally seen to outsource activities to countries like India and China and have attained considerable success in capitalizing in these markets. India is considered to have extensive technical expertise, which is one of the factors why the size of the outsourcing sector is huge in the country. This helps the US firms to exploit the core competencies of the developing nations and use them in the company’s advantage. In addition to this among the outsourced countries, India also has a large pool of talent which has a strong command on the English language. This is accompanied with a strong base of technically skilled expertise (Whitfield & VanHorssen, 2008, p.2). Among the other key players in the field of outsourcing is Brazil, which provides a highly advanced technological infrastructure. Another option before the US companies is Russia which provides a huge pool of labor which is educated in the field of science. Their labor is also known for their strong delivery and process methodology. The nation is one of the most competent in the area of research and development. It has immense support of the government to develop its software skills and expertise (Whitfield & VanHorssen, 2008, p.2). Extensive research was conducted which indicates that both the industrialized and developing nations in the world could reap the gains f rom outsourcing of services. This would essentially mean efficiency gains from the point of view of the industrial nations via the opportunity of developing skills and expertise in areas in which they have competencies. According to the report presented by McKinsey Global Institute (2003), for every US $1, worth of outsourcing, USA gains $1.12 and the outsourced country gains $0.33 approximately. This fact shows the degree of gains that organizations can enjoy through the process of outsourcing. Most multinational companies have started outsourcing their service activities on a regular basis. This is done based on the ground that in case they do not outsource their services while their competitors continued to do so, they would lose the local and global markets to their foreign rivals. This is because it is felt that if they don’t outsource while their competitors continue to do so aggressively, they would be losing on the local and global market to the foreign rivals. This w ould be likely to result in low and stagnant profits which would result in low creation of investment and capital in technologies. The advantage of saving costs from outsourcing accounts for the most important value source for the organizations in US (Rajan & Srivastava, 2007, p.40). Global outsourcing is particularly effective in attaining advantages for developing nations of the world. There has been opening up of new employment opportunities, exports and growth of numerous of tradable services activities. Looking at a more dynamic picture, increase in the level of income by trade would simultaneously bring about creation of favorable feedback effects from the other

International Business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words - 1

International Business - Essay Example In the year 1995, Amazon.com launched its first online shopping site, while eBay did their web portal in 1996 (Palmer Kimberly, 2007). 1-1 The development of online shopping In this 21st century, the use of the Internet (World Wide Web) has been through a very dramatic growth of ensuring efficiency, proper connectivity, security, usability and cost effectiveness. These achievements have been realized by getting many of its benefits especially for commercial companies’ positions as was the case in 1993. The World Wide Web was initially developed to be used as a commercial tool, by the British scientist Tim Berners-Lee (Berners-Lee, 2000). Instead of using the Internet solely as a technological tool, it quickly became an effective channel used for the commercial outlet purposes by business vendors and customers who are world wide. By late 2000, the total number of immense internet users had risen to more than 450 million because of its conveniences (Nua, 2012). According to esti mates done by Nua (2012), there were already more than 30 million hosted websites as reported by the various server organizations by 2012 (Web update, www.nua.ie/surveys). The estimated number of users have since its invention increased, signifying that online purchasing and transactions have been on the rise as well (Joines, Scherer & Scheufele, 2003). Online transactions such as purchasing of both goods and services have been cited by many of the web prototypes’ users as advantageous over the traditional techniques that were initially used since web portal applications do not commit consumers to shop at any specific times or specific locations .This advantage of web application has created a quantum leap from the traditional ways of shopping. According to (Joines et al. 2003), online shopping is classified as the most convenient method for customers since all commercial websites provide online visitors with advantages of easily browsing through the available goods and servi ces, and effectively purchasing any of their products and or services at any time by just a click of the button. Equally important, online customers are provided with chat and call applications where they are able to discuss their needs with their product providers and get immediate responses at very low or no costs at all. Additionally, customers have been able to benefit profoundly by using the online transaction methods because of the products’ or services’ reduced prices. Online shoppers are therefore able to shop from any vendor who is offering the desired goods/ services around the world at very low prices. Besides purchasing, no transit charges are appended to small items (Oppenheim et al., 2006). Searching through the internet for products/ services and finding more information about them before doing purchases is always very important to avoid false buying/ purchases. Unlike for the traditional method of

Political Factors Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Political Factors - Essay Example Political situations and Events Different countries face different political situations and events. This can be exemplified when a multinational company with diverse interests and subsidiaries in foreign countries gets to face the wrath of war or political unrests in the host countries. For instance, oil companies that had investments in Iraq were profoundly affected by the America-led invasion that started in 2003. This also led to the imposition of a trade ban on Iraq that subsequently affected unconstructively the multinational oil companies operating in Iraq (Arnove, 2002). Wars and impending political conflicts affect business in that the purchasing power of consumers is compromised due to dwindling financial base. Wars and politically instigated conflicts bring about hardships to the people affected, affect the environment and more so disrupt the social fabrics in a society (Arnove, 2002). This chain eventually prejudices the purchasing power of the affected population as well as contributing to decrease in business profits. Conflicts also affect the stock market that translates to decrease in value of businesses listed in the stock market. Government Arrangement The type of government in a country also determines success or failure of businesses. A democratic country ruled by a compelling government is capable of facilitating an excellent business environment necessary for business growth and subsequent development. Democratic governments facilitate the existence of free market systems that enable businesses to flourish and grow. In democratic countries, business people are given opportunities to air their proposals and grievances to the established government agencies and therefore, formulation and implementation of policies is based on wide consultations (Le Billon, 2003). Alternatively, in a dictatorial/autocratic country, there is a likelihood of business failure due to diminutive policies and harsh treatment from corrupt senior government officials serving in the dictatorial regimes. These regimes are also known to cause anxiety and uncertainty and this is detrimental to growth and prosperity of businesses. Changes in National and International Law Businesses that operate in more than one country like multinational companies feel the heat emanating from constant change to national as well as international legislations that touch on trade and business. The issue of minimum wage laws in most countries has brought about changes in the business world as regards who is to be employed and what the employees are to earn. This is evident in the UK where the minimum wage decrees have been introduced and implemented. Other laws touch on employees’ insurances, maximum hours an employee should work each day, and also employees’ health and safety conditions. Trade tariffs and their subsequent legislations have also been reviewed and changed once in a while, sometimes benefiting business entities and in some instances, affecti ng the businesses in question. The largely influenced World Trade Organization has been accused repeatedly of favoring the developed countries at the expense of the Less Developed countries. Politically speaking, the organization applies diverse legislations and rules for dissimilar countries. It has been reported that when the Less Developed countries export their products to the Developed markets, they encounter tariff restrictions that are sometimes four times higher than that faced by rich countries exporting to the Less Developed