AboutMike Dodds Expertise I can help you find answers to general questions about international business and provide guidance on more specific ones.
Experience 22 years of international business. I've been involved in joint ventures in Japan and China, WOFEs in Mexico and China, and export sales to Asia.
Question Hi!
I am currently doing a research paper on "Firm Strategy". I'm supposed to consider the international strategy being employed by a particular organisation (I choose to do Apple's Inc.) and explain how they approach the strategy and its' effectiveness. Though the answer is clear that Apple is using the 'Global Strategy' and a standardized product, I am having a hard time finding reliable, back-up sources as to how and where they started out, why did they decide to take the global approach v.s Multi-Domestic Strategy, etc. Could you guide me in the right direction as to where to look? Thank you.
Answer Hi,
I'd like to help you out, but honestly I don't follow Apple much so I'd have to pretty much dig in and research the topic like you're doing. A couple of thoughts for you though.
Apple took the Global Strategy nearly from Day One. They've been immensely popular world wide. Today they continue that strategy because:
1) They're infra structure is well entrenched globally
2) Global strategy is the only thing that will keep a huge corporation of Apple's size in business.
3) PCs are mature products in domestic markets and the only true growth opportunities are developing nations. They need to develop significant improvements and features just to retain current market share in domestic markets.
4) The PC, Phone, MP3 player industries are bloated with manufacturers. If Apple does not attack foreign markets then their foreign competition will have a "safe" base in which to attack Apples domestic market from. You seen this back in the 1980s with Japanese car companies. Western car companies did not try or could not get a percentage of the Japanese car market. Consequently, the Japanese companies could safely depend on their market share in Japan, while they aggressively went after foreign markets.
5) Apple is not trying to be "all things, to all people", they have a limited product base that is founded on cutting edge "cool" technology. A Global Strategy works well for this situation, engineering, design and manufacturing is controlled by one source. The company like Mc Donalds has a global image to protect. If they went with the Multi-Domestic Strategy, they would have excess overhead & management and they would loose control of the company image, products and marketing, not to mention intellectual property.
I know that doesn't answer your question directly, but I hope it gives you some fresh thoughts to help you find the direction you need for your paper.
