Scanning and monitoring global marketing environment

Signature Assignment: Environmental Scan Paper 2

Environmental Scan
Organizations must first scan its internal and external environment before the organization can being developing strategy formulation; it is essential for the organization to identify possible external opportunities and threats and internal strengths and weaknesses within the environment. “Environmental scanning is the monitoring, evaluation, and dissemination of information from the external and internal environments to key people within the corporation” (Wheelen & Hunger, 2012, p. 98); environmental scans help organizations eliminate strategic surprise and secure the organization’s long-term health. Within an organization’s environment are several external and internal factors, organizations should conduct environmental scans to determine projection on the external and internal factors that could possibly impact the success of the organization. Environmental scans refer to the control and use of an organization’s information regarding patterns, trends, and external and internal relationships developed within the organization. An effective, thorough, and productive scan can assist management and key people within the organization in making decisions about the organization’s future path towards success.

The following paper will evaluate the external and internal environment and use of environmental scan conducted by Apple Inc. and Samsung Electronics. The paper will also analyze the competitive advantage of each company, evaluate strategies developed and used by each company to create value and gain competitive advantage, examine measurement guidelines utilized by each company to verify the company’s strategy formulation is effective, and evaluate the effectiveness of those developed measurement guidelines.

Apple Inc.

Apple Inc. is identified as the most successful technological company, not only in the world but in the history of companies. The value of the company’s worth is $1.25 trillion with a stock price of $728.35 billion. In February 2015, the company reportedly had revenue of $74.6 billion with $18 billion in profits for a single quarter. Apple is infamous for annihilating its competition and gaining competitive advantage. Being ranked on the Forbes list as twice as valuable as Microsoft, the world’s second most valuable brand, may give the impression that the company has always been a successful leader in technology, this is far from the truth. There was once a time when Apple Inc. was at it worse point and forty-five days from bankruptcy. Apple Inc. developed remarkable strategies, along with extensive transformation to become what is now considered the largest technology company in the world.

Apple Inc. is an international corporation which develops and produces consumer electronics, computer software, and commercial servers; the products of the corporation include: iPhone, iPad, iPod, and Macintosh computers. The internal environment creative, fast-paced, and dynamic; Apple developed an environment human resource is encouraged to be part of the corporation’s brand and image. The corporation prides itself creating a culture that promotes values which support the corporation’s image, produces customer expectations to new experiences through the corporation’s products, and develops an environment employee’s love and can be creative, innovative, and productive. The internal environmental scans display Apple’s intense ability for success. Apple maintains a low amount of debt to provide access to the corporation’s capital for other use. It is committed to R&D (Research & Development) based off the access it provides the corporation to the most recent technology, which allows the corporation maintain its position and competitive advantage. The brand image advocates quality and reliability, while its marketing strategy associates the use of key celebrities in advertisements to attract consumers induced set. The multi-divisional structure of Apple allows the corporation to keep functioning at the pace best suited for the corporation in place of stretching out top management.

Apple Inc. centers external environment on two strategies: alliance and internal growth. Apple has developed powerful, beneficial alliances with key corporations such as AT&T and Microsoft for the purpose of furthering computer growth within the company and assure accessibility to software which recognizable worldwide by consumers. The second strategy focuses on the concentration of internal growth implemented through development of new products for the market. Global expansion is also substantial to the company as considerable consumers become present in countries Apple has not yet been established and serve.