Exploring Kohl and Hofstede Values Based on the Apple Company Essay

Introduction

Apple is a company that sells computers, tablets, iPads, and iPhones all over the world. The company is known for making new products by improvising the existing software and hardware components. Its products include iPhone, iPhone, iPad, and Apple computers. One reason for its success is strategic planning where the company creates and maintains fit between its objectives and available resources to meet the demands of customers in the evolving market opportunities. This accomplishment is aligned with the company's vision, and mission, which is to motivates employees to contribute to and support innovation for a competitive advantage (Jurevicius, 2016). The company's mission is to bring the best-individualized experience to consumers across the globe through innovation of its software and hardware components.

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13 values by Robert Kohl

Personal Control over the Environment / Responsibility

Kohl described Americans as people who do not believe in the power of fate and that they perceive fateful people as being backwards and naive (Samovar, Porter & McDaniel, 2013). Apple adapts this value by being control of its main technology. For example, the company practically develops products that add value to customers such as the MacBook technology which was done by machining all the parts of the computer from one piece of aluminium (Jurevicius, 2016). Using this strategy has enabled the company to attain precision that was previously impossible.

Change Seen as Natural and Positive

Americans perceive that change is good because it leads to development, improvement, and progress (Samovar, Porter & McDaniel, 2013). Apple does not stick to traditional cultures but instead has a mission to keep changing to respond to the evolving market conditions and align organizational structure with these changes (Jurevicius, 2016). It is committed to change the face of the earth by making products from a single technology by focusing on developing uncomplicated products.

Time and Its Control

Most Americans value time; they plan it, spend it, and do not waste it (Samovar, Porter & McDaniel, 2013). To them, time is something that should not be lost but gained and are concerned with getting things done on time. The mission and vision of the company is to achieve long-term and short-term goals in a targeted timeframe (Jurevicius, 2016). The company is always in control of primary technologies that are behind the products they make and targets markets where it makes positive contributions.Equality / Fairness

The United States cherishes equality and believes that everyone should be treated as equal and should have access to equal job opportunities (Samovar, Porter & McDaniel, 2013). America is against insulting individuals by subjecting them to indignity or treating them as lesser beings. However, this is a disadvantage to Apple because it makes products that are expensive to attract a high status (Jurevicius, 2016). Apple products are mostly perceived as belonging to the rich class suggesting it distinguishes itself from poor people. Individualism / Independence

Americans view themselves as individualistic, and they resist representing joined groups. Individualism leads to privacy, and they choose this lifestyle as the most desirable (Samovar, Porter & McDaniel, 2013). Apple believes in rejecting numerous projects so that it can concentrate on only a few technologies that are of utmost value to it (Jurevicius, 2016).They believe deeply in collaborating and exchanging ideas among the company groups, and not working as a team with other companies that are in the same industry.

Self-Help Initiative

Americans only appreciate what they accomplish as individuals and do not give credit if a person is born into a rich family. In other words, they are self-confident (Samovar, Porter & McDaniel, 2013). Apple does not settle for anything that is less than valuable, and staffs are willing to accept their mistakes where they are wrong (Jurevicius, 2016). They believe that those values are strongly embedded in the company to achieve a point of excellence in its operations.Competition

Americans always try to show themselves off in any individual and system, and this value is shown by the fact that America is a free market system in all business sectors (Samovar, Porter & McDaniel, 2013). Forbes has listed Apple as a company with the most valuable products in the world, and its brand is valued at US$145.3 billion. This makes it's the most reputable and recognized organization in the world (Jurevicius, 2016). Apple is the leading competitor in the smartphone market with great advertising that cannot be achieved by its rivals. Future Orientation

Americans believe that the future will bring new culture and improvements; consequently, they cease concentrating on the past. Even their present go unnoticed because they are hopeful for a better future (Samovar, Porter & McDaniel, 2013). The company cares for the future because it started Clean Water Program to prevent wastewater from causing pollution to the environment (Jurevicius, 2016). Also, it also promotes recycling of water and prevents past mistakes of environmental pollution which might attract lawsuits.

Action / Work Orientation

Americans share the "do something" attitude where any action is seen as superior to inaction. The strength of Apple is in the United States; it has a reputation for delivering products using many distribution channels (Samovar, Porter & McDaniel, 2013). For example, the company has online and retail stores (Jurevicius, 2016). Few of its competitors neither have many such stores nor an extensive network for product distribution and sales in the United States.Informality

Americans are more informal than Europeans, and they encourage their employees to call them by their first names (Samovar, Porter & McDaniel, 2013). Apple is more of a formal than an informal business since it only manufactures products that suit its application. Some users say that Apple is not 'user-friendly.'

Directness / Openness / Honesty

Americans use direct ways of informing others of bad news because doing the opposite is considered dishonest and insincere or untrustworthy (Samovar, Porter & McDaniel, 2013). Apple's software, hardware, and service provider, and retailer departments all fall into one management to foster transparency (Jurevicius 2016). Apple also controls all the entire supply chain by itself.

Practicality / Efficiency

Americans like to be realistic, practical, efficient, and pragmatic. Apple manufactures products that are only compatible with its operating system (Jurevicius 2016). The iOS of Apple is quite different from that of Windows and Android, which means that the difference in hardware and software of Apple can adversely affect it particularly for users that download applications they download from 'Google Play Store.'

Materialism / Acquisitiveness

Americans are materialistic and believe that their material objects are a product of hard work and serious intent (Samovar, Porter & McDaniel, 2013). Apple expresses materialism in its elegant designs. All Apple products use the same operating interface to allow flexibility of users in accessing the company's applications across all range of products it manufactures (Jurevicius, 2016). Consequently, the company has become a symbol of innovation and elegance in design.

Hofstede's Six Dimensions

Power Distance Index (PDI)

This index expresses the degree to which the society agrees that power is unevenly distributed. Apple has high responsiveness to PDI because it is results oriented (Cullen & Parboteeah, 2013). Workers are responsible for their mistakes which they have to correct and produce results and are answerable to top managers that operate on a hierarchical chain of command.

Individualism versus Collectivism (IDV)

Individualism defines people that prefer to work independently while collectivism refers to communities that work as a team (Cullen & Parboteeah, 2013). Apple scores high on individualism index since it maintains a linear integration has enabled the company to make seamless and straightforward designs into many of its products which have placed it on top of other competitors.

Masculinity versus Femininity (MAS)

A masculine society emphasizes assertiveness and material rewards for success while feminism stands for support for the weak and equality of life (Cullen & Parboteeah, 2013). However, Apple scores high on masculinity index since it employs a vertical integration type of management where Apple manages four separate businesses at once to promote performance.

Uncertainty Avoidance Index (UAI)

This index deals with the degree to which the society accepts uncertainties about the future (Cullen & Parboteeah, 2013). Apple Company has a high index for uncertainty avoidance because it relies on incompatible software interface that faces competition from rivals.

Long-Term as opposed to Short-term Commitment

This value describes societies that deal with the past to solve difficulties of the present and future (Cullen & Parboteeah, 2013). The first strategic plan of Apple is a product portfolio analysis that helps the company to determine where it will reallocate its resources (Jurevicius, 2016). As a result, this has ensured maximum profitability of the company in both short and long-term periods.

Indulgence versus Restraint (IND)

This describes a society that provides satisfaction to the human drive to enjoy having fun. Apple cares for the environment and people by establishing Clean Water Program to prevent harming people by polluting the water drainage systems.

Cultural Challenges of Apple

The company adapts a vertical integrated organizational culture where the decision is made by top managers. Consequently, this has put the company at the risk of changes in smartphone markets. Apple has been targeting wealthier consumers in markets that are already saturated (Jurevicius, 2016). Although the company wants to take advantage of the emerging economies to expand its smartphone market, it may face serious challenges in the future due to rival companies that are advancing strategies by adopting a diversified organizational structure. For example, Samsung is its main competitor, and it is transforming the smartphone industry because it gives contracts to numerous manufacturers and designers when developing a new product. The company does not encourage cultural diversity in its workforce to promote product differentiation for different target markets. For instance, most of Apple's total sales come from indirect and direct distribution channels such as third-party cellular carriers in India. However, India forms the largest third-party cellular market for Apple which is 74 percent (Jurevicius, 2016). Consequently, this puts the company vulnerable to the risk of market fluctuations.

Apple Company uses the same technology for its devices which are incompatible with the common mobile phone devices that are currently available in the market. Notably, it works in the past and the present mistakes to make better products. For this reasons, Apple score high on individualism index as opposed to collectivism. The company also manufactures products that have a snob appeal, which means that the company has narrow market segmentation. Using Hofstede's and Kohl values, they demonstrate that the company restricts diversity in ideas and produces products only for a small market segment.

References

Cullen, J. B., & Parboteeah, K. P. (2013). Multinational management. Belmont: Cengage Learning.

Jurevicius, O. (2016). Apple SWOT analysis. Strategic management Insight, Retrieved from: https://www.strategicmanagementinsight.com/swot-analyses/apple-swot-...