MGT 429 – ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR
INSTRUCTIONS
You are required to analyse the below case by using the case template provided on the ‘Course Materials’ tab on Blackboard; and respond to the case questions. Insight and critical analysis are expected. The assignment is based on ‘real life’ situations and provides knowledge of circumstances that you may encounter as a manager in an organization.
The APA (7th ed.) format is a must for this assignment! The assignment must be double spaced, typed in font – Times New Roman and Font size – 12 with one- inch margins. Total pages – 3 pages maximum. References must include three (3) peer-reviewed journal articles.
Apple Goes Global
Learning Objectives: Define organizational behavior (OB); Identify the major behavioral science disciplines that contribute to OB; Identify mangers’ challenges and opportunities in applying OB concepts. It was not long ago that products from Apple, perhaps the most recognizable name in electronics manufacturing around the world, were made entirely in America. This is not so anymore. Now, almost all of the approximately 70 million iPhones, 30 million iPads, and 59 million other Apple products sold yearly are manufactured overseas. This change represents more than 20,000 jobs directly lost by U.S. workers, not to mention more than 700,000 other jobs and business given to foreign companies in Asia, Europe, and elsewhere. The loss is not temporary. As the late Steven P. Jobs, Apple’s iconic co-founder, told President Obama, “Those jobs aren’t coming back.”At first glance, the transfer of jobs from one workforce to another would seem to hinge on a difference in wages, but Apple shows this is an oversimplification. In fact, paying U.S. wages would add only $65 to each iPhone’s expense, while Apple’s profits average hundreds of dollars per phone. Rather, and of more concern, Apple’s leaders believe the intrinsic characteristics of the labor force available to them in China—which they identify as flexibility, diligence, and industrial skills—are superior to those of the U.S. labor force. Apple executives tell stories of shorter lead times and faster manufacturing processes in China that are becoming the stuff of company legend. “The speed and flexibility is breathtaking,” one executive said. “There’s no American plant that can match that.” Another said, “We shouldn’t be criticized for using Chinese workers. The U.S. has stopped producing people with the skills we need.”
Because Apple is one of the most imitated companies in the world, this perception of an overseas advantage might suggest that the U.S. workforce needs to be better led, better trained, more effectively managed, and more motivated to be proactive and flexible. If U.S. and Western European workers are less motivated and less adaptable, it is hard to imagine that does not spell trouble for the future of the American workforce. Perhaps, though, Apple’s switch from “100% Made in the U.S.A.” to “10% Made in the U.S.A.” represents the natural growth pattern of a company going global. At this point, the iPhone is largely designed in the United States (where Apple has 43,000 employees), parts are made in South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Japan, Europe and elsewhere, and products are assembled in China. The future of at least 247 suppliers worldwide depends on Apple’s approximately $30.1 billion in orders per quarter. And we cannot forget that Apple posted $16.1 billion in revenue from the first quarter of 2014, perhaps in part because its manufacturing in China builds support for the brand there. As makers of some of the most cutting-edge, revered products in the electronics marketplace, perhaps Apple serves not as a failure of one country to hold onto a company completely, but as one of the best examples of global ingenuity.
Use these Sources to get further information to answer case questions
Sources: B. X. Chen, “IPhone Sales in China Bolster Apple Earnings,” The New York Times (January27, 2015), http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/28/technology/apple-quarterly-earnings.html?_r=0; C. Duhigg and K. Bradsher, “How U.S. Lost Out on iPhone Work,”
The New York Times, January 22, 2013, A1, A22–A23; H. Gao, “How the Apple Confrontation Divides China,” The Atlantic (April 8, 2013), www.theatlantic.com/ china/archive/2013/04/how-the-apple-confrontation-divides-china/274764/; and A. Satariano, “Apple Slowdown Threatens $30 Billion Global
Supplier Web,” Bloomberg, www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-04-18/apple-slowdown-threatens-30-billion-global-supplierwebtech.html.
Grading criteria / Rubrics
– Research and analysis (40 pts.)
– Critical & creative thinking skills (30 pts.)
– Case study document format (10 pts.)
– APA format (font size 12 points, Times new roman, double spaced, 1” margins, reference list, title page,
running head) (10 pts.)
– Language, grammar, mechanics (no spelling errors, grammatically correct, no word contractions such as can’t and won’t, write in complete sentences, good sentence structure) (10 pts.)
Questions
1.1. Minor Problems
1.2. Possible future problems
1.3. Major Problem(s)
Minor problem(s) refers to symptomatic problems while the major problem(s) refers to the principal problem(s) or the cause of the symptomatic problems. For example, it is not meaningful to assert that low sales volume is the major problem in a case study, since low sales volume is only symptomatic of an underlying major problem, such as poor compensation plan, poor supervision of sales force, etc.
2.1. Apparent causes and your justification
2.2. Underlying issues
2.3. Assumptions made (where necessary and why)
3.1. Options available
3.2. Advantages and disadvantages of each alternative
4.1. Recommended action
4.2. Justification
4.3. Positive and negative effects
5.1. Step by step procedure of how to implement the recommended action.
Here you need to draw up a statement of what must be done to carry out the recommendation, what personnel must be assigned to do it, when it must be carried out and how much it will cost to do it. In case study analysis, students should ensure that their recommended action/implementation procedure is persuasive and practical. The proposed solution and implementation must be convincing and relate to the problems identified.
6.1. Other relevant comments
6.2. Conclusion
7a. What are the potential political implications for country relationships?
8a. Do you think it is good or harmful to the company that its executives have voiced these opinions?
9a. What would you recommend?