Planning and Operational Processes of Apple Company Essay

Planning and Operational Processes of Apple Company - Essay Example Yet, as we look forward to a happy ending, earnings taper off and it appears as though the saga may be over after all. However, a feeling of quiet confidence gradually takes over the observer, as both Apple Computers and Jobs negotiate through each downturn with aplomb. Must a company’s journey through time be so turbulent? This document tries to draw lessons from the Apple experience and to suggest stable ways for commercial firms to manage their planning and operational processes. There are two overreaching factors that seem to have influenced strategic change at Apple Computers. The first is the frenetic pace of technological change. No other industrial sector has witnessed the continuous and rapid improvements in processor speeds, storage capacity, transmission options and software development. This has been a source of strength and an opportunity for the entrepreneurial culture of Apple Computers, but it has proved to be a handful for people such as Sculley who laboured so hard to bring a semblance of order and discipline to the highly individualistic style of functioning to which die-hard company employees have become accustomed. A second factor which has affected strategy in this company has been the tumultuous and disorderly change of guard at the top. There is no precedent for such a striking founder to leave his creation while remaining in the business. Even more unusual has been the return of Jobs as a mere consultant to the company which he once owned. These moves, and indeed the manner of Sculley’s departure has posed special challenges for the company. Systematic and regular environmental scanning seems to be a lacuna in the planning process at Apple Computers. Every enterprise needs a deep understanding of the values that its products and services delivered in an environment of global competitiveness (Ohmae, 1991, 61-74). The success of Jobs to see the opportunity in the graphic user interface which Xerox apparently missed, did not repeat itself when the company invested resources in Newton.