Student ID: 1014955

Module Name: MNGT 7902

Assignment Title: Mid Term

Effective Number of Words Used: 2000 (Excluding Tables, Bibliography and Appendix) I confirm that I have read the University regulations on plagiarism, and that this assignment is my own work.

For this midterm you will critically analyze an organization (profit or nonprofit). Do NOT select any organization that we have discussed in class, such as Fiji Water or RKC. NOTE: YOU WILL USE THIS SAME ORGANIZATION AS THE BASIS OF YOUR FINAL PROJECT AS WELL, SO CHOOSE CAREFULLY. For each question, provide specific details and support your arguments with research. Your word limit for the entire exam is 2000 words, so do not waste words on marketing definitions or theories. I. Introduction (10 points): Briefly describe your organization in one or two sentences, and its 3BL policies and results (approximately 500 words). II. Stakeholders Analysis (40 points): Critically analyze the stakeholders (approximately 1000 words). Customer Analysis: List the organization's target segments or customers, and describe ONE in detail. Include BOTH quantitative details (size, financial data, etc.) and qualitative details (needs, habits, etc.). Competitor Analysis: List the organization's competitors, and describe ONE in detail, including their strengths and weaknesses. (Do not analyze opportunities and threats this is NOT a SWOT.) Company Analysis: List the organization's key internal stakeholders, and describe ONE in detail, including how they might influence the organization's marketing. Community Analysis: List the organization's significant external stakeholders, and describe ONE in detail, including how they might influence the organization's marketing.

III. Brand + Positioning Analysis (40 points): This consists of 2 parts (approximately 500 words combined). a) Critically analyze the organizations brand in terms of 1. Appearance 2. Personality 3. And reputation. b) Draw a positioning map with the organization, at least 2 customer segments, and at least 2 competitors. IV. Reference Notes + Bibliography (10 points): a) Include reference notes in the body of the document. Support all of your assertions! b) List all of your sources again in the bibliography. Be sure to use the Harvard format for websites, which includes all the website info, not just the address. Points will be deducted for improper formatting. IMPORTANT NOTES The midterm accounts for 30% of your final grade. Remember: your limit is 2000 words for the entire exam. Your reference notes and bibliography will not count toward your word total. Make sure your paper is anonymous. Do not put your name anywhere in the document. Upload your completed midterm as a .doc (not pdf) through the RKC system. Do NOT email it to your professor or post it to the forum. Due to unpredictable Internet service, upload your paper a few days before the deadline. Turn in your paper on time. Meeting deadlines is critical in business, and late papers will be substantially penalized. Clarity is important. We do not expect perfect English, but please proofread your work to eliminate confusing passages and major errors. Students often accidentally skip entire sections, which causes them to lose many points. Do not plagiarize. Plagiarism has been described in the RKC forum, and in the Expectations & Guidelines of this course. Use quotation marks where needed, and all of your sources must be referenced, even if you take just one word or number from them.

Introduction
Apple Inc. is an American company founded by Steve Jobs and Steve Vozniak that designs and manufactures computer hardware, software, in addition to consumer electronics (iPads, iPhones, iPods) and resells third-party digital content (iTunes and App Stores). Its Triple Bottom Line applies as follow: People: Apple is an Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action Employer (Apple Inc., 2012b); it even is committed to diversity by being an Equal Opportunities employers as well as provide to job applicants with physical or mental disabilities through a special reasonable accommodation plan ( Apple Inc., 2012a). Planet: In the past Apple has been accused of not being environmentally friendly. In A Greener Apple, Steve Jobs (2010) explained that Apples mistake was that in their communications. Apple usually tends to focus on current accomplishments. Jobs did admit that Apple had neglected sharing with its Stakeholders the information on how Apple was working to become greener. Jobs then provided in detail the plan for removing toxic chemicals from products as well as further details on the ongoing recycling program started in 1994. Profit: in August 2012 Apple became the most valuable company in History (Benzinga, 2012). With the company continuously innovating, and being ahead of competitors with products like the iPad; Apple has had financial success. In addition, by keeping the product lines simple and straightforward the company is able to cut the spending on all materials and costs. The product lines integration between the hardware and software; and with the integration of all the products together with a service like to iCloud provides users with a unified experience, which keeps them within the Apple family. It is a very smart way to keep customers locked in and coming back.

Stakeholders
Customer Analysis
When looking at the cost of purchasing any Apple product, one realizes quickly that the target market for Apple are consumers that are not sensitive to price (Arvidson, 2011), we are talking then about the purchasing power or the middle and upper class broadly. In his article, Asay (2010) goes beyond the industrys obvious and states, Apple doesnt target markets. It targets people. He then adds, It focuses on users. And Apple lets them decide how and where theyll use its products. However, we must not forget all the professionals in media and design that have been using Apple computers and software for years before the revitalization of the brand when Steve Jobs came back after his exile. With the emergence of high-end products such as iPhone and iPad, and when looking at Appendix 1, we can see that did Apple consumer base is young between the ages of 18 to 34. When Apple introduced the iPad they pioneered and developed a brand-new market. A US study (Crossley, 2001) has shown that about 55% of tablet owners are male and that nearly 30% of them are aged 25 to 34. To support, what was said in the above paragraphs the study also shows that 45.9% of the users were from household earning at least $100,000 per year. Into 2012 Business Insider (2012) completed a survey about how people actually use their iPad, here are some of the results:

Chart 1: What do you do with your iPad?

Chart 2: Evolution of Behavior

In addition, Zuse (2012) shares results based on a Rosetta survey stating: According to a Rosetta Survey from a few months ago, tablet users who let their iPads out of the house are using them at work 34% of the time, on the go 45% of the time, and in hotels, coffee shops and other places 38% of the time. When theyre using their tablets at home, 81% of respondents seems to use a tablet in the living room, 68% use one in the bedroom, 41% report usage in the home office, and a small 24% of usage happens in the bathroom. For two years they dominated the market and the early attempts to challenge the iPad by HP and RIMM failed. The iPad has been slowly losing market share, as consumers have been moving towards Android. The slowdown is not unexpected and the market share of the iPad still remains around 68 to 70% of the market. Last quarter 14 million iPads were sold as reported by CBS News (2012). However, with the recent introduction of the iPad mini, Apple is clearly targeting the competitions tablets like the Kindle Fire and Android tablets that are much cheaper. On Amazon, a Kindle Fire retails at a value of $299 whereas the iPad mini is priced at $499.

Competitor Analysis
From a Technological standpoint the main competitors for Apple Inc. are: Microsoft Google Dell Nokia In the Operating Systems Market, Mac OSX competes against: Windows Linux For tablets and smartphones the competition for iOS is: Googles Android OS Windows mobile Blackberry OS As hardware and software are symbiotic to each other in Apple devices, the decision here was to compare to competition by OS rather than the hardware, since Microsoft and Google license their software to a large number of hardware companies such as Dell, Nokia, and Amazon etc. Windows holds 80% of the market share, and has been the dominant for years. Created by Paul Allen and Bill Gates, Microsoft is mostly recognized for its two main software widely used on PCs everywhere: Windows and Office. Microsoft also introduced in the market some PC accessories as well as the game console: Xbox, however consumers think of Microsoft they think of it as a software company. Whereas Apple, from the start has always integrated hardware and software. Strengths: The largest software company in the world Very strong brand name and brand recognition Consistent financial performance Success of the Xbox Dominant presence in Corporations Offices based in the US and around the world.

Weaknesses: Windows product range too complex and too varied No new major lines of products or software has been developed recently Windows updates take 2 to 3 years to be completed and deployed to the public Windows mobile has been a disappointment

May still be perceived as a monopoly Failure of Windows Vista Software is overpriced Piracy issues Small Shift to Open Source software

Company Analysis
The key Internal Stakeholders at Apple lies within its management (Apple Inc., 2012e). After the passing of Steve Jobs, the public has become very familiar with Tim Cook the new CEO, while not forgetting usual faces such as Jonathan Ive, Phil Schiller and Scott Forstall. In the recent years the media and the public have become very used to seeing those faces introducing the latest products as well as the new updates to the Apple product line. Though he is no longer with us, in his book Insanely Simple author Ken Segall (2012, 87) described Steve Jobs dedicated immense contribution to the Apple marketing message. Steve Jobs obsession th with simplicity created some of the most influential marketing campaigns of the 20 century. The Think Different campaign being one of them. Throughout the book Segall points out the difficulty of keeping things Simple and not allow complexity to get a foothold into the products or the marketing campaigns. Tim Cook does have very difficult shoes to fill after Steve Jobs. However by looking at the most recent iPhone advertisements as posted on Ken Segalls blog (2012), it does seem that Steves legacy is going to continue on and the company and its key personnel will follow in his footsteps and respect his vision and legacy still.

Community Analysis
The general external stakeholders for Apple Inc. include: Shareholders Lenders Employees Outsourced Manufacturers and their employees External Apps and Software Developers (App Store) Customers Various Suppliers Music Industry (iTunes) TV and Movie Industry (ITunes) One of the most notorious Apple Manufacturer is Foxconn; one of Chinas largest employer with 1.2 million workers as well as provider 40% of the world electronics for Apple as well as other giant names. Foxconn came under scrutiny a few times for the very poor conditions for the employees. Just recently the workforce has gone on strike over the very poor working conditions especially related to the production of iPhone 5. The employees were put under pressure for the production of the new iPhones as well as for being forbidden to take a public holiday in order not to affect production. Barboza (2012) reports that Apple and the Hon Hai Group of Taiwan, have been working together to improve conditions for the employees, offer them good salaries as well as good working standards. The Foxconn scandals impact Apple negatively, although Foxconn is a provider for other big brands, Apple seems to be the one that always takes the heat. Adams (2012) explains how Apple sent a team to China led at the time by Tim Cook and recruited non-profit Fair Labor Association to audit the current working conditions. However, despites Apples Suppliers Responsibility charter (Apple Inc., 2012f) where it says that it is committed to the highest standards of social responsibility ac ross our worldwide supply chain there are still problems. This negativity may not directly impact sales, but it does bring up negative press as well as question the effectiveness of the charter and Apples true commitment to these issues.

As Steve Jobs took responsibility and explained the Green future of Apple (as mentioned previously), it may be imperative to produce something similar about outsourced workers and make it part of the Apple core values and branding.

Brand and Positioning Analysis

The Apple brand is a leader amongst several competitive markets including general consumer electronic goods and computing. The Logo: Apple has gone through 3 physical logo incarnations. Edible Apple (2009) depicts the original one that lasted a year called the Newton Crest.

Logo 1: The Newton Crest Secondly, came the Rainbow Apple logo, which lasted for 22 years, until 1998.

Logo 2: The Rainbow Apple Until it was tossed and replaced by the most recent monochrome one.

Logo 3: Monochrome Apple For the two most known incarnations, the logo represents the name of the company. When one looks at the apple logo, there is no possible room for confusion as to what it represents. It is simple and understated even in its multicolor incarnation and quite simply straight to the point. It is a perfect mirror image for Jobs quest for simplicity. This visual identity is very strong and easily recognizable. The Personality: By looking at the advertisements and the customer analysis done above, it is clear that the brand strategy focuses on humanity and emotions. The proof is in the simplicity of the products and their ease to use. Just by looking at the product line on the website or any Apple Store, the brands personality shines through as innovative, cool, stylish/trendy, easy and friendly. Appendix A, showed us the personality profile of Mac users and they match very closely to the brand personality. The branding strategy and its personality has clearly been successful in the recent years, as Apple has been steadily increasing its customer base. The Reputation: Jonathan Morris (2012) shares that Apple came in first place with a Reputation Quotient (RQ) of 85.62, dethroning last years leader, Google. This result is based on the 2012 Harris Poll Reputation Quotient: The 2012 Harris Poll Reputation Quotient, a survey that measures corporate reputation for brands and companies in the United States, asks the general public each year to assess 60 of the most visible companies in the country. The survey measures six different factors that reflect corporate and brand reputation. Those factors are: Social Responsibility, Emotional Appeal, Financial Performance, Products & Services, Vision & Leadership, and Workplace Environment. In 2011, Apple was top in four out of the six categories. The Harris survey doesnt just measure the publics perception of a brand, but also measures how eagerly individuals would recommend the brand or how likely they would be to invest.

Positioning Map for the Tablet market shown in Map 1. Positioning Map for the Operating System shown in Map 2.

Map 1: Tablet Market

Map 2: Operating System usability.

Bibliography
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Zuse. (2012). What do people really use their Tablets for?. [ONLINE] Available at: http://zuseapp.com/tablet-usage/. [Last Accessed 29 October 2012].

Appendix A: Mac vs. PC user