You are on page 1of 12

BACHELOR OF TEACHING (PRIMARY EDUCATION) WITH HONOURS

(BTPSE)

SEPTEMBER / 2017

MPU3223_V2

ENTREPRENEURSHIP

1.0 Introduction

The micro environment is a company, supplier, marketing channel (intermediary), market


subscriber, competitor, and public merged to create a company's delivery value system.
The micro environment illustrates the relationship between the company and the driving
forces that handle this relationship. The first is its organization's internal environment of
several departments and level management-like marketing influences management
decisions. The second component includes a marketing channel that works together to
create value: supplier and marketing intermediaries (physical distribution companies,
marketing agents, financial intermediaries). The third component consists of five types of

1
markets where organizations can sell customers, producers, governments, and
international markets. The fourth component consists of competitors facing the
organization. The fifth component comprises all public with real or potential interests or
effects on the organization's ability to achieve its goals: finance, media, government,
citizen action, and local, public, and internal public.

2.0 Description on the selected organization

Mobile phones have become a very important part our daily lives. It is very difficult to
image our live without a cell phones. There are so many cell phones available in
marketing . I choose an apples phones for organization for micro environment.
Apple Inc., formerly Apple Computer, Inc. is a United States multinational corporation
specializing in the design and manufacturing of consumer electronic products and related
software. Centered in Cupertino, California, Apple develops, sells, and supports a wide
range of personal computers and mobile media players, as well as additional computer
software and hardware. Annual sales of Apple worldwide in the fiscal year 2006 (ending
September 30) is US $ 19.3 billion.

Apple was founded by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak. Apple is now involved in the
creation of new technology concepts (such as iPhone, and Apple TV), as well as features
for Mac OS X "Leopard", its new operating system. The company also operates an online
store to sell hardware and software, other than the iTunes Store, its website that supplies
music, audio books, games, music videos, TV shows, and downloadable digital movies.
The company's most popular hardware products include Mac's personal computer lineage
and associated peripheral devices, iPod's media player lineup, and iPhone released in
mid-2007. In addition, Apple's most popular software products include the operating
system Mac OS and iLife software suite, which is an integrated creative software product
file for amateur readers. (Both Mac OS and iLife are supplied in conjunction with all Mac
sales). Furthermore, Apple is also a leading provider of professional audio and film
industry software products (as well as "prosumer"). Apple's professional and "prosumer"
applications are used mainly on Mac computers, including Final Cut Pro, Logic Audio,

2
Final Cut Studio, and related industry tools.The iPhone X was released alongside the 8
and 8 Plus, with its highlights being a near bezel-less design, an improved camera and a
new facial recognition system, named Face ID, but having no home button, and therefore,
no Touch ID.

3.0 Description on the general micro environment elements.

There are 6 general micro environment elements in apple phones organization .

1. Competitors:

The competitive environment consists of certain essentials things which each firm needs
to observe.. No company, howsoever huge it may be, enjoys monopoly. In the original
business world a company encounters various forms of competition. The most well-
known competition which a company’s product now faces is from differentiated products
of other companies. Graeme Drummond, John Ensor and Ruth Ashford (2008) stated that
there are five major elements in deciding about the intensity of competition in the
industry the stage of the industry life cycle, the relative size of competitors, the price
discounting and the difficulties in withdrawing from the industry.

2. Customers:

According to Peter. F. Drucker, “There is only one valid definition of business purpose,
that is to create a customer.” The business enterprises aim to earn profit through serving
the client request. It now thinks more in terms of profitable sale rather than more sales
volume for its purpose. Today marketing of a firm starts and also ends with the
customers. Now a days, a business firm to be successful, must discover customers for its
products. This is the reason the customers thus constitute the most important element in
the micro environment of business. Products sales depend mainly on the degree of
consumer satisfaction. In fact, this is a reason that gives more significance to customer

3
satisfaction surveys. Now every business firm set-up systems to regularly watch customer
attitude and customer satisfaction, because today it is universally accepted that the
satisfaction of customers is the base for company’s success. Normally the customers are
not in a same group, they are individuals, business enterprises, institutions and
government.

3. Suppliers:

Regarding the suppliers, the organisation can think of profiting the required material or
labour according to its manufacturing programme This equation is based on the industry
conditions and the extent to which each of them is dependent on the other.” According to
Michael Porter, “the relationship between suppliers and the firm epitomizes a power
equation between them. This condition depends on the industry conditions and the extent
to which each of them is reliant on the other.”

4. Public

Literally word ‘public’ refers to people in general. Based on Philip Kotler, “A public is
any group that has an actual or potential interest in or impact on a company’s ability to
achieve its objectives.” The environmentalists, consumer protection groups, , media
people and nearby individuals are a portion of the outstanding cases of publics. The
organization has a duty to fulfill the people at large along with competitors and the
consumers. It is an exercise which has a larger impact on the well-being of the
organization for tomorrow s stay and growth. Create goodwill among public, help to get a
favourable response for a organization. Kotler in this regard has viewed that.
“organization must put their primary energy into effectively managing their relationships
with their clients, distributors and suppliers. Their overall success will be affected by how
other publics in the society view their activity organization would be wise to spend time
monitoring all their public understanding their needs and opinions and dealing with then
constructively.” In the modern business public have assumed important role and their
essence in the micro environment of business.

4
5. Marketing Intermediaries

Market intermediaries are either individuals or business houses who go to the guide of the
organization in advancing, offering and appropriating the products to a definitive buyers
They are Middlemen (wholesalers, retailers and agents), distributing agencies, market
service agencies and financial institutions. Most of the companies find, it is too difficult
to reach the consumers. In such a cases the agents and distribution firms help to achieve
the product to the consumer. Any type of intermediary the company must take into
dynamic consideration, the following aspects. Based on Woody, T. 2012, The
organization has also to constantly review the performance of both middlemen and others
helping its efforts periodically. On the off chance that important, it may take recourse to
replacement of those who no longer perform at the expected level. Middlemen appear to
help overcome the discrepancies in quantities place, time, assortment and possession that
would otherwise exist in a given condition. It is beneficial and also efficient to work
through the established Marketing channels instead of creating one and thus going for
experiments. The manufacturer has to decide the most cost-effective technique of
intermediaries to reach the product to consumer that will help to increase the profit.

6. Workers and Their Union:

As per the production function theory, the labour gets more significance. He is also one
of the pillars of the organization. The organised labours is very secured their position
compare to unorganised workers So, the workers now prefer to join labour unions which
perpetually depend collective bargaining and thereby makes them less vulnerable to
employer’s exploitation. Trade Unions are a major component of a modern business.
Trade Union of workers is an organisation formed by workers to protect their interests,
enhance their working conditions . All Trade Unions have objectives or goals to
accomplish which are contained in their constitution, and each has its own methodology o
reach those goals Trade Unions are now considered a sub-system, which seeks to serve
the specific sub-group’ s interest (i.e. workers’) and also considers itself a part of the
organisation. From the perspective of the organization, industrial relation is more
important to improve the organization, otherwise conflict between workers and
management leads to Sick Unit.

5
.
4.0 Identification and discussion on element (s) of micro environment that affect the
selected organisation.

Competitors is one of micro environment that affect the apple organization. For example,
in the Sumsung Galaxy,Vivo Oppo , Blackberry keyone competition from other
companies like Sumsung , Sony and others. This type of competition is called brand
competition. It is found in all durable product markets. The consumer wants to purchase
Sumsung , the next question in his mind is with camera with 1125 pixel, video recording
and battery last long. This type is otherwise known as ‘Product form competition’.
Sumsung is of the opinion that the best way for a company to grasp the full range of its
competition is to take the viewpoint of a buyer. What does a buyer thinks about that
which eventually leads to purchasing something? So, tracing of the consumer mind set
will help to retain the market share for all the firms.

Secondly , Customer also of micro environment that affect the apple organization From
the company’s point of view it is always better to have customer from various groups and
legions for that easily sustains demand for the company’s product. customers in term of
availability, quality of applications and the quantity of applications in iOS, Android and
Window Phones. The second diagram illustrates the percentage of customers who said
“very satisfied” with their current smartphone. Based apple info on As can be seen,
iPhone is the leading smartphone brand in the general value of apps offered to customers
(more than 9.0 points) while the most competitive advantages of Samsung are availability
of paid apps and free apps with 8.8 and 8.9 points respectively. Next, the general
satisfaction of iPhone was dominated with 75%. Finally, the customer’s general
satisfaction of both Nokia and Samsung are relatively appreciated with the almost same
proportions of 54% an 51% given by clients. Apple has offered relative high prices
compared with smartphones with similar features. Some people debate that the price is
not justified. From the anti-capitalism viewpoint, iPh-one is considered as luxuries.
Besides, Apple did not deliver a cheaper phone. According to investor and analysts,

6
Apple should pay more attention to cheaper smartphone market. Due to that reason, “In
Q4 2013, according to research firm IDC, Google's Android mobile operating system had
a 78% share of all users globally. Apple's iOS had just 18%. Now, IDC predicts that in
2014 Android will claim 80.2% of users and only 14.8% will be on Apple's iOS sys-
tem.”(Edwards, 2014)

Another than that, Suppliers aslo affect the apple organization. Suppliers are either
individuals or business houses. They consolidated together; provide resources that are
needed by the company. Now the company necessarily should go for developing
specifications, looking for potential suppliers distinguishing and analyzing the suppliers
and thereafter choose those suppliers who offer best mix of quality, delivery reliability,
credit, warranties and obviously low cost. The development in the supplier’s environment
has substantially affects on the operations of the company. In recent trends companies can
lower their supply cost and increase their product quality. In addition, the company has
established relationships with suppliers to help Apple rapidly scale processes to customer
demand for existing and new products.

This lack of change might be explained by a former executive involved in Apple’s


supplier responsibility group: ”Noncompliance is tolerated, as long as the suppliers
promise to try harder next time.”For the suppliers, following Apple’s supplier’s code
obviously means higher expenses. Based on Gough, N., & Chen, B. 2014, Since the code
isn’t enforced strongly, there’s no incentive for suppliers to change their ways except
maybe for the sake of morality. Oftentimes in business, that’s hardly a strong enough
incentive. ”The only way you make money working for Apple is figuring out how to do
things more efficiently or cheaper,” states an executive at one company that helped bring
the iPad to market. ”And then they’ll come back the next year, and force a 10 % price

7
cut.” This only perpetuates the working conditions as companies replace expensive
chemicals with cheaper and more toxic alternatives, and force employees to work faster
and longer. Working conditions aren't the main basic issues with Apple's production
network framework. For Americans, the reality, of the considerable number of individuals
expected to architect, fabricate, and amass Apple's items, scarcely any of them work for
the United States since they are altogether outsourced to the less expensive Asian
production lines like Foxconn. For the U.S., that is 700,000 employments that could
mitigate its activity emergencies and high joblessness levels .

Recommendations to improve management of the micro environment in the selected


organisation.

There are afew elements should improve in apples organisations.

1. WELFARE AND SAFETY OF WORKERS

For an organization, workers are an important element. Apple needs to be concerned


about and care about the welfare of their employees. There are cases that negatively
impact Apple 's image in terms of employee welfare, which may undermine the
motivation of employees to work well and efficiently. Worker welfare should be
emphasized by making detailed studies to identify potential adverse effects on Apple
employees at chip manufacturing plants. Then take security measures to ensure
employees are not exposed to bad risks. In addition, Apple needs to ensure that the
manufacturing plant has a comfortable environment because in the same case, the
court alleges that the factory's ventilation system is bad, as well as too many night
shifts made by employees. From here we also think that workers should be given
adequate rest and leave. Apple needs to see their employees as people who need
enough rest and quality time with their families. Compensation should be given in
reasonable amounts and promptly done, in the event of an accident while performing
the duty. This is because money compensation can ease the burden of family
members and workers themselves. At the same time, other workers will see this
immediate action as an act of caring for the welfare of their workers.Generally,

8
people love to be appreciated. A thoughtful suggestion if valued will produce good
results between humans. Apple needs to make session hearings and suggestions for
improvement of work quality as well as problems faced by employees.Additionally,
Apple needs to provide free counseling services to their employees. There are
workers who have the stress of life as a result of mixed family problems with co-
workers conflicts and with superior or subordinates. So, at least they have good
listeners, and are able to assist them in solving or giving them the spirit to solve the
problem of the brand in a good way.

2. GOOD SERVICE FROM THE EMERGENCY

Next, employers need to provide good service to their employees. Good words
should be used to their workers. Respect workers under their supervision. In addition,
employers should always give encouragement and positive words to their employees
in order to give them a boost. Employers also need to work with employees who have
personal problems by reducing their working pressure. Unhealthy workers should be
given adequate rest. I feel that employers need to make complaints and suggestions,
so that they can know the content of the heart, the problems experienced and the
possible suggestions to improve productivity and provide a comfortable environment
for employees

3.GOOD CUSTOMER SERVICE

Apple as a giant organization with a variety of companies, of course, has a distinctive


customer service way, however, I want to give my thoughts to help if they are smart.
Apple has to make an official channel for any complaints and suggestions. Next, they
should collect emails and numbers for their customers, to be informed about the latest
products that are out or expected to come out. With this, customers will always get the

9
latest news on the latest technology to be released. At the same time, attractive design
quizzes can also be held up to collect information and feedback from customers.
Customer's valuable suggestions need to be appreciated. Even though the proposals
given, unlucky, should also be rewarded for their willingness to give their views. Good,
positive and efficient customer service is an attraction to customers. Apple Organization
should less the pricing of phone, so that everyone can use and get benefit

5.0 Summary
Apple is the successful company with a strong brand name and has many competitors
within same industry. Apple micro environment was analysed by using SWOT and.
SWOT analysis focused ostrength, weaknesses, opportunities and threats which explained
Apple's strength give it a strong hold against its competitors, weakness and threats would
overcome by research and development, opportunities will bring more strength to
organisation. Value chain analysed Apple business system which is valuable but they to
consider it to cut the prices of its product. Apple micro environment was analysed using
five forces the external factors are uncontrollable factors that Apple do not have any
controlled over them but it cannot resist them but change with them effectively to
maintain its growth and profitability. Although iPhone is considered at luxury class, the
skimming pricing strategy helps iPhone more affordable. Besides, the elements of
iPhones success in smartphone market are the creativity and innovation.

ATTACHMENT

REFERENCES

1. Apple Inc. Form 10-K, 2014.


2. Apple Info.
3. Barboza, D. (2011, September 1). Apple Cited as Adding to Pollution in China.
The New York Times.
4. Dockalikova, I., & Klozikova, J. (2014, November). MCDM Methods in Practice:
Determining the Significance of PESTEL Analysis Criteria. In European

10
Conference on Management, Leadership & Governance (p. 418). Academic
Conferences International Limited.
5. Drummond, G., Ensor, J. & Ashford, R. 2008. Strategic marketing: Planning and
Control. 3rd edition. Routledged.
6. Gough, N., & Chen, B. (2014, September 4). Groups Accuse Apple Supplier in
China of Labor Violations. The New York Times.

7. http://www.hanwha.com/en/news_and_media/business_highlights/introduction-
to-petrochemicals-of-hanwha-innovative-yet-sustainable-solutions-for-businesses-
and-the-next-generation.html?amc=cmpid_A02_B02_C02_D02_F01
8. https://econjournals.wordpress.com/2012/05/23/untitled/

9. https://www.ukessays.com/essays/marketing/internal-and-external-market-
environment-of-apple-marketing-essay.php

10. Jackson, E. (2013, February 26). The 5 Big Problems Facing Apple – None Of
Which Is Too Much Cash. Forbes.
11. Murphey, M., & Gause, R. (1974). UCF Research Guides. Business Research–
Industry Analysis. PESTLE Analysis. Business Horizons, 17(5), 27-38.
12. Tsukayama, H. (2012, January 13). Apple report reveals labor, environmental
violations. The Washington Post.
13. Tsukayama, H. (2014, September 4). Report claims dangerous conditions, labor
violations at another Apple plant. The Washington Post.
14. Woody, T. (2012, February 23). How Apple Went From Environmental Laggard
To Leader. Forbes.
15. Yuksel, I. (2012). Developing a multi-criteria decision making model for PESTEL

analysis. In

11
12

You might also like