Question

Case Study 1: Apple Merging Technology, Business, and Entertainment

Why are data, information, business intelligence, and knowledge important to Apple? Give an example of each type in relation to the iPad. (1 Mark)

Explain how Apple achieved business success through the use of information, information technology, and people. (1 Mark)

Evaluate how Apple can gain business intelligence through the implementation of a customer relationship management system. (1 Mark)

Case Study 1: Apple Merging Technology, Business, and Entertainment

This might sound hard to believe, but a bit more than a decade ago, Apple was on the brink of bankruptcy. Apple Computer Inc., now back from near oblivion, is blazing a trail through the digital world with innovation and creativity that has been missing from the company for the past 20 years. The unique feature of Apple’s competitive advantages   is that they come from customers and users, not Apple employees. That’s right; the company welcomes products created by consumers to sell to consumers, a trend new to business.

Capitalizing on the iPod

With millions of iPods in the hands of consumers, many people are finding ways to capitalize on the product. John Lin created a prototype of a remote control for the iPod and took his prototype to Macworld, where he found success. A few months later, Lin’s company had Apple’s blessing and a commitment for shelf space in its retail stores. “This is how Apple supports the iPod economy,” Lin said. In the iPod-dominated market, hundreds of companies have been inspired to develop more than 500 accessories—everything from rechargers for the car to $1,500 Fendi bags. Eric Tong, vice president at Belkin, a cable and peripheral manufacturer, believes that 75 percent of all iPod owners purchase at least one accessory—selling over 30 million accessories to date. With most of the products priced between $10 and $200, that puts the iPod economy well over $300 million and perhaps as high as $6 billion. Popular iPod accessories include:

■ Altec Lansing Technologies—iPod speakers and recharger dock ($150).

■ Belkin—TuneCast mobile FM transmitter ($40).

■ Etymotic Research—high-end earphones ($150).

■ Griffin Technology—iTrip FM transmitter ($35).

■ Kate Spade—Geneva faux-croc mini iPod holder ($55).

■ Apple—socks set in six colors: green, purple, blue, orange, pink, and gray ($29).

■ Apple—digital camera connector ($29).

Capitalizing on the iPhone

Looking at someone using an iPhone is an interesting experience because there is a good chance they are not making a phone call. They could be doing a number of things from playing a game to trading stocks, watching a TV show, or even conducting business with a mobile version of salesforce.com ’s customer-management software. In a brilliant strategic move, Apple let outsiders offer software for the iPhone and in less than six months, more than 10,000 applications had been created. In fact, more than 15,000 applications are available at its app store section of iTunes, and they have been downloaded a total of 500 million times. Now, many of the iPhone apps are available for the iPad. The iPhone and iPad app store market is getting so huge relative to other smartphone markets that some developers argue there is little point adapting applications for Google’s Android or any other iPhone competitor. According to Jeff Holden, CEO of Pelago Inc., when he created his social networking company he fully intended to follow the conventional wisdom for how to build a sizable, fast-growing software company: Get your programs on as many platforms and devices as possible. But when he crunched the numbers he came to an interesting business conclusion: The 13 million iPhone owners had already downloaded more applications than the 1.1 billion other cell phone owners! To entrepreneurs, developing a program for the iPhone automatically provides a significantly larger market—almost 94 times larger than its competitors. “Why would I ever build for anything but the iPhone?” Holden asked

Capitalizing on the iPad

Apple’s latest release, the iPad, is a lightweight, portable, tablet computer, similar to the iPhone, that allows customers to download applications, check email, and play music all at the touch of a button. Both the iPhone and the iPad can multitask, allowing customers to read a web page while downloading email in the background over wireless networks. The arrival of the iPad brought a simultaneous expansion of the network of accessories. Because the iPad was designed with an exposed screen and without a camera, separate keyboard, memory card slots, or expansion ports, one might say it was specifically built for accessories. Many owners will modify it in some way, whether for mere decoration or hard-core protection. A few of the new accessories include:

■ iPad Clear Armor screen protector—$35.

■ iPad Antique book case cover—$40.

■ iPad wireless keyboard—$99.

■ iPad overcoat sleeve—$35.

■ iPad Joule luxury stand—$130.

Apple has consistently outperformed its key rivals through the development of its MP3 player, the iPod, and continues to make its products smaller and less expensive, while providing complementary features such as games and applications. For the iPhone, Apple developed a unique application called Siri, a voice-activation system that is capable of recognizing voice commands. Siri can perform all kinds of functions from dialing a contact and creating an email to location services such as “Find my Phone,” ensuring lost phones are found quickly.

Apple’s latest offering is a new service called the iCloud. The iCloud has the ability to collect all

of the content, including videos, photos, songs, books, etc., from customer devices such as iPods,

iPads, and iPhones in one secure location in “the cloud.” Apple customers no longer have to worry about backing up their applications or data because everything is automatically uploaded and stored in the iCloud when using an Apple device. In a fast-paced, technology-driven sector, with competitors quickly following suit, Apple is constantly pressured to develop new products and product extensions. Luckily Apple stays ahead of the pack by focusing on the following key competitive advantages:

■ Customer focus: Apple is driven by customer satisfaction and ensures customers are deeply

involved in product development and application development.

■ Resources and capabilities: Apple continues to invest heavily in research and development to take advantage of new technologies, improved facilities, and cloud infrastructures.

■ Strategic vision: Apple has a clear alignment of its vision, mission, and business leadership and goals.

■ Branding: Apple is the leader in brand loyalty as it has achieved cult status with its authentic

product image.

■ Quality focus: Apple has an outstanding commitment to quality.24

Answer 1

Answer is as follows :

1) Why are data, information, business intelligence, and knowledge important to Apple? Give an example of each type in relation to the iPad

Through the strategic use of data, information, business intelligence and knowledge, Apple is able to track the use of it products and programs to see if they are being accepted andused by many consumers, or don’t attract attention and fail. Another reason that data andinformation are very important to Apple is that having the ability to show outside accessory andapp companies the usage of Apple products in comparison to others. When Apple can providestatistics that show tablet users download more apps on the iPad than other tablets, the creationof accessories for the iPad is more attractive to potential companies. This in turn can result in alarger accessory selection available for the iPad as opposed to other similar tablet devices.

2) Explain how Apple achieved business success through the use of information, information technology, and people

Apple achieved business success through the use of information from all areas operations to create a competitive advantage to their products. Converting data information into meaningful information could make a product from simply to whole. Sharing common information, enable an organization to be more effective and efficient. Steve Jobs had a lot with Apple's success. He was a perfectionist and wanted every product to be perfect. Every department relies in each other and work together to produce the best.

Information technology enable managers to be more competent in the business function and the organization departments to be more effective. Information technology can control the use of computers and computers software. Jobs, wants to control the primary technology in everything he does. He was obsessed with control, he wants i-Pod playing songs encoded by Apple only, but it will limited the i-Pod markets. Then he came with the idea landing with a Windows compatible and that made i-Pods sales when up. Apple's designs are distinctive and their devices rely more in standard technologies. His decision to change was fundamental to the exceptional success that Apple has over the past ten years. Giving a little control, Jobs found more power.

Apple provides the best customer service to all Apple users. Apple employees are smart and supportive, experts to connect customers and their to help integrate into their lives. Organizations are more interested to their customers satisfaction now than before. Apple knows that an organization without customers is unable to succeed. Apple use information from customers comments and suggestions about their products to develop new products and devices. This is important for customers to remain loyal and to continuing using them.

3) Evaluate how Apple can gain business intelligence through the implementation of a customer relationship management system

Apple will know their demand better and they will be able to project company output with that information. They will have insight to the customer's expectations of the product and the company will be able to integrate processes with other ideas and possibilities to insure that they provide the customer with what is expected.

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