Apple Case Study

-Steve Jobs (the founder of Apple) passed away on Oct 5, 2011. His successor is Tim Cook and his teams.
Steve is the God in Apple and everybody ha to respect his management principle - "STEVE JOBS SAID
APPLE'S SUCCESS CAME THE DISCIPLINE OF REFUSING TO INVEST IN 1000 GREAT PROJECTS
TO INSURE THAT THE COMPANY STAYED FOCUSED ON THE GOOD PROJECTS." -
-Hints: Apple adopts Miles and Snow - Prospector (Business Strategy)
-STEVE 'S MAJOR PRINCIPLE - EXTENDING COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE INTO NEW DOMAINS.
Q.1 Assess Apple's strategy for Project 1 - Apple Watch. What were the Pros ? Cons ? Will it be the next
home run ?
Model Answers: 5 Pros - 1 Mark for each, totally: 5 Marks; 4 Cons - 1 Mark for each, totally: 4 Marks and
Yes or No for the next home run - 1 mark
Therefore: Total Marks in Q. 1 = 10 Marks
Q. 2 If the Apple Watch is NOT a home run project, should Apple focus their attention on Apple TV ? Is this
a better option for Apple (Hints: Read Steve's Principle again before you make any decision) Or is it a
distraction ?
Model Answers: 1 Mark is allocated to " Should Apple focus their attention on Apple TV" - Yes or No, totally:
1 Mark. 5 Marks are allocated to Good choice for Apple to go into Apple TV and we have 5 points to
support. 1 point for each explanation. 4 Marks are allocated to Distraction and there are 4 points on
Distraction, each point carries 1 Mark. Totally: 4 Marks.
Therefore: Total Marks in Q.2 = 10 Marks
Q. 3 - The most important question and it is totally: 25 Marks. Pay more attention to answer as it is tricky.
Q.3a - Should Apple make a Big bet on cars? - I need you to tell me the opportunities - 5 Opportunities in
my model answers - 1 Mark for each opportunity and therefore, totally: 5 Marks.
Q.3b What are the challenges ? - 5 challenges in my model answers - 1 Mark for each challenge and
therefore, totally: 5 Marks.
Q. 3c - Or should Apple focus on getting CarPlay, their User Interface (UI) into all cars - into ALL cars (Go to
B2B Market) - you need to write an essay to support this argument - Totally: 7.5 Marks
Q. 3d - Should they become a hardware company or focus on being a software/platform (iOS) company
(Also Go to Business to Business(B2B) Market) - you need to write an essay to support this argument -