Business Model Assessment #2
Goal: Conduct/construct an experiential evaluation/assessment of the business model of your organization (or one with which you are closely familiar) using the business model canvas and related text.
Introduction: Managers who want to improve the effectiveness of their business model and organization, as well as to increase their own ability to manage, use diagnostics/assessments to determine the reality of business effectiveness in comparison to what they originally envisioned. Good feedback contributes to the development of plans to improve business/organizational effectiveness and management performance.
Instructions: Students will write a 2500-3000 word (about 10 pages in the main body) properly formatted APA paper (including a title page and references page, but no abstract) that evaluates/assesses the overall effectiveness of the business model used by your organization. This is the third of three assignments that draws from your association with your organization. The previous two “canvas” assignments flow into this one. Identify one or more of the building blocks from the business model canvas where modification should be recommended. Be careful to avoid bias in determining the issue/problem identified by using the canvas. Do not merely critique, but contribute to your organization’s overall success. This paper should be the culmination of the overall work you have done with the business model canvas so that all the pieces go together.
Your final paper should include:
• Your business model canvas – Post-It notes discussion/observations (week 2)—summarize this area, but provide the initial canvas.
• Identification of theoretical/behavioral trends that you observe in the business model and organization (week 5)—summarize this, do not merely cut and paste.
• Discussion of appropriate theory, metaphors, and frames with which to describe your business model in operation, as well as to identify areas needing improvement and how to get there.
• Use of the Osterwalder/Pigneur text to evaluate and diagnose your organization’s business model, as well as an integration of the course materials into your writing and consideration.
• Recommendations for improvements identified using the canvas, theories, and assessment tools used in this course. What are the expected outcomes.
• Use eight scholarly sources besides our textbook (especially case studies) to undergird your assertions from peer-reviewed literature.
• Thoroughly familiarize yourself with the assignment specs and ask questions if you are unsure of expectations.
The paper must have at least eight additional scholarly sources in addition to the course textbook. No abstract is necessary, but a title page and references page should be included. Write your paper in third person, even though you are writing about an organization that you are familiar with. To do this, write from the perspective of a scholar who observes and researches about the case. Therefore, first person should be avoided.
Upload your paper (.doc) in the assignment section for grading. Follow the Submissions Guidelines as listed in the Syllabus: The various assignments for this course should be submitted as Word.doc attachments in the Assignment section of our virtual classroom. Do not use macros or automatic referencing in your papers for this course. The auto features usually cause unforeseen problems in format. Plus, part of the evaluation of this paper involves your ability to write using the essentials of the APA style format. Each file OF YOUR WORK should be named in the following manner: Last name–truncated Week Number-Assignment name (abbreviated if necessary)
Business Model Canvas
Name:
Institution:
Introduction
It is the goal of every manager to it that, their organization is operating that the most efficient rates at all the levels of the firm. This means that the staffs at the various levels understand the business goals and using the resources accorded to them and their innovative abilities to bring out the best results despite the turbulence in the markets. Responses to the turbulences are well managed and the opportunities that come with them taken into consideration (Research and markets: Apple, inc. - strategies, financial outlook and competitive benchmark analysis ,2012). For managers at apple Inc., they have been hard at work to make sure that the company is heading in the right direction and fending-off competition at every turn (Muehlhausen, 2011). At the moment it one of the leading companies in the information technology industry, majoring in personal computers, tablets, television sets, mobile smartphones and an online platform where users can access support and subscription services among others.The underlying aspect in the business model, being innovative designs with high quality assurance.
Over time the company has adopted a unique marketing strategy, market positioning supply chain management and pricing strategies among others. It is possible to evaluate the company’s business model using the business model developing canvas(Visiongain: "apple inc has made its name in providing consumer electronics and demonstrating brand strength and recognisability among a variety of computer products.",saysvisiongain report, 2009). This paper establishes the various aspect of the evaluation of the same, relative to how effective it has been and areas that require modification to fit in with the best practices. The information technology sector is constantly changing and the business model should also change with the demands placed on the company from the market (Euchner&Ganguly, 2014).
Evaluation of the business model by Apple Inc.
Key partners
For any business to thrive in any given industry, the first most crucial aspect that the managers have to consider is the key partners in the business. These are the business partners that the firm is going to be in constant contact with. Whenever there are changes in the strategies to be used in any sector of the business operations, in most cases the key partners have to be involved for the model to go through. One of the key partners that manager at Apple have to interact with are the manufacturers. Like most of the players in the industry, Apple also gets some of the parts that it uses in the devices and the content from other manufacturers. The information technology is dominated by key players in the manufacturing realm that concentrate on certain hardware and software parts. For example, there are companies that concentrate on making screens, microprocessors batteries and aspects such as these. For Apple outsourcing some of the parts from other manufactures mean that they can manage the costs of production for their devices and guarantee quality of their product at the same time. Overtime the company has relied in other manufacturers’ ability to produce quality products. However, it is also crucial to note that the company does not overdo the aspect of outsources, to make sure that they still have control on quality. As such a good majority of the parts are made by apple such as the processors and the Glasson theiPhones and iPads, while the rest of the parts are made largely in Asian countries (Apple's iPod 'nano' sets the stage for 'nanocasting' - A business model for podcasting, 2005).
One of the key aspects that stand out about the Apple ecosystem is the refinement of the app store. The company has highly invested in app development making sure that they stand out from the competition. Relative to the other key players in the market, Apple produces apps that are thoroughly refined, whereby the apps that are used on the iPad and those that are meant for the iPhones are different in design. This means that, the apps from the iPhones are not simply up-scaled to be used on the iPad which has a relatively larger screen. This is an aspect that has left most of the competition especially android developers, lacking in quality. Developers are constantly encouraged to join the developer program where they can create quality apps for either of Apple’s Operating system. However, the operating systems used on the company’s products can only run on Apple’s hardware. This limits the number of people that can be used their products. At the same time it also limits the developers as they have to target their apps on a single monopolized company (Euchner&Ganguly, 2014). Companies like Microsoft and Google have the ability to reach out to many users and even other companies in the industry. This would explain why windows and android are a huge competition to the company’s model. For one to have Mac OS, they have to own a MacPC and iOS only runs on iPhones and iPads, which is limiting for user that would want to try out the softwares on other devices (Apple's iPod 'nano' sets the stage for 'nanocasting' - A business model for podcasting, 2005).
To make sure that all the mobile devices have reliable connectivity on the cellular networks, the company uses the leading cellular network carriers especially around the USA to offer its products. This is crucial as it ensure that the devices are working properly as designated by the manufacturer specifications. It is also likely that the company will become its own carrier in the future a move that would the company stuck high in the industry. Ideally, this will be another move to make sure that the company operates a closed circuit of all its products and services. This will also mean that most of the carriers will face stiff competition, thereby eliminating one of the key partners. For Apple, this is a move that will help the manager direct offer their clients what they want, as they can easily assess the network needs of the customers based on the services and products that they are selling in the market.
One of the corner stones of the information technology industry that Apple has embraced in its business model is media content consumption. As the internet takes up most of the functions of communication and entertainment aspects, Apple manager have over time made sure that the company is well in the right place to take advantage. By partnering with media content producers such as music producers, television networks, movies and games, Apple forms subscription ecosystem where its user can enjoy media consumptions with ease, through platforms such as iTunes (Mallin&Finkle, 2011).
Key activities
Apple has some three main activities which are then tied down by quality control. These activities include manufacturing, software development and innovative designs. These are the basic elements that form the crucial activities of its business model, which put the company in a very competitive position within in the industry. By ensuring that the bulk of hardware parts are made by the company manufacturing wing, the company can easily control the quality of the end products. Where the parts are outsourced, quality control is used to make sure that they meet the industry standard and more so the standards set out by the company. All the products made by the company come with quality designs that also embrace usability and innovativeness. These are key components of the company business model that makes the company stand out, even with such stiff competition in the industry.
With reference to software, there are two sides to the activity. While the quality of the softwares outstanding, they can only be used on the company’shardware. This is limiting to both the users and the developers, while creating a barrier for the PCs and other portable devices manufacturers. As such, the operating systems may be powerful, they have only been tested on the company’s hardware and this is not a reliable test.Operating systems such as Windows and android are usable on virtually all devices, making them some of the best in the market, as they are not limiting and are reliableregardless of the PC or smartphone that one is using, other than Apple’s (Euchner&Ganguly, 2014).This is a facet of the company’s business model that is limiting to its growth and the productivity of its users. It also creates an unhealthy business environment as there are barriers to growth relative to the monopoly created by the patents.
Key resources
According to the company’s business model it relies on the three main resources to drive it business agendas and goals. These include the human resources, physical and the intellectual ones. These are the edge with which it brings out the innovative aspects of the company. It is impressionable that the company relies on the intellectual aspect of the talent pool that the company holds. This is basic driver of the innovative designs and products at the firm. In reference to the competition in the industry, this is a sustainable strategy, as any company that works in this industry would have to employ talented staffs to drive the goals of the firms (Telco2research.com, 2015).At the same time the human resources are crucial to the development and implementation of the business goals.These aspects make the business model future-proof as changes in the information technology industry can only responded to with the right human, physical and intellectual resources.
Values propositions
Like most companies Apple has proposed some major values that drive its business goals within the market.These are basically the elements that easily resonate with the customers. It is the values that the company has chosen that haveenabled it to keep the customers ...