uRead Chapter Twelve, then on page 383, read the opening case about “Apple and T
ID: 432441 • Letter: U
Question
uRead Chapter Twelve, then on page 383, read the opening case about “Apple and Tim Cook…”, then answer the following questions. Each question is worth 25 points. Please read and follow the Final Exam instructions carefully.
u1. How have innovations helped Apple win in the marketplace?
u2. What roles should a CEO play in a MNE? Identify and explain at least four roles. One must be Setting Strategic Goals.
u3. How does MNEs top management teams behaviors affect the firm’s performance and its abilities to innovate?
u4. What are the four items you learned in this class that have increased your understanding of MNEs? Why?
Explanation / Answer
Answer 1
Apple has won market place under leadership of Tim Cook & Steve Jobs through innovation most of new products were developed & introduced in market under Job’s leadership. Steve Jobs has always focused on developing high quality products desirable in market through innovation & made Apple successful. When Cook has taken over role, he tried to follow culture developed by Jobs & delegated responsibilities related to product design & development as he was not an expert in those fields. Cook’s strategy has entailed a major acquisition of an audio company and developing enterprise solutions for corporate IT units. Apple has also formed alliance with IBM to develop enterprise applications mainly for new & larger versions of iPad.The innovations developed by Cook include Apple watch for which demand exceeded the supply & Apple had to increase the production. Apple is also planning to enter television market. As per Cook, Apple will develop future products to change way people work & these innovative strategies always help Apple to over perform its competitors in the market.
Answer
The CEO stands for Chief Executive Officer. This is an important highest-ranking executive manager in MNE. The responsibility is overall success of MNE & looking after entire organization. The role CEO has responsibility for overall success & livelihood of entire organization. CEO has ultimate authority for making final decisions for a company. Corporate culture is set by the CEO & overall mission and the core values are determined. Basic plan of creating, planning, implementing, and integrating the strategic direction of organization is arranged by the CEO. There is focus given to working on maintaining contestant awareness for internal & external landscape of competitive field. There is focus given to opportunities for expansion, customers, markets, new industry developments & standards. The role is to focus on essential decisions based on needs goals & values of the company.
The CEO usually reports to the Directors. The responsibilities include effectively setting and dissecting the profit and loss statements. The organization vision, mission are analyzed and the strategy is implemented and developed effectively. The success of the organization is evaluated effectively and the awareness is maintained along with the opportunities
Answer 3
There are basically two types of top management teams- a homogenous team & a heterogeneous team. A homogenous top management team comprises leaders & key managers with similar educational background & experience. A heterogeneous top management team is one in which team members have diverse skill sets & experience.
Behavior of heterogeneous team is more focused towards giving a holistic & successful strategy for company, as team members will be able to come up with effective strategy based on their diverse experience. Homogenous team will be able to think in only 1 direction; hence their strategy will not be very effective for overall performance of company.
But a heterogeneous team will be difficult to operate in sync because there is high probability of ego & personality clashes. Company’s culture & its strategic goals will serve as a binding force to keep diverse minds in a heterogeneous team together, focused towards attaining common goal of the company’s performance & innovation.
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