Saturday, February 11, 2012

Step 8 - TOWS Matrix (Apple)

Weaknesses – Threats

WT (Min-Min) Action Plans

Strategy

W1T1-- Optimize R&D investments to be able to compete with international computer manufacturers

CL

W1T2-- Start moving toward more mainstream computer products that are lower in price while having a reasonable profit margin

CL

W1T3-- Move more aggressively in online sales sector to reduce inventory costs and hence lower the overall cost of products

CL

W1T4-- Utilize the synergistic effect of joint ventures with or acquisitions of related businesses to obtain economies of scale

JV

W1T5-- Adoption of recycling practices to enjoy lower-cost raw materials while meeting the environmental regulations

CL

W2T1-- Continue to reduce software restrictions to allow programs to run on other hardware platforms to gain more global market share in software industry

PD

W2T2-- Relax company policies of selling exclusively bundled hardware and software to ride the wave of computer commoditization

PD

W2T3-- Introduce a more flexible and agile management team to move more closely to JIT supply chain

Ret

W2T4-- Persuade CEO to enjoy the perspectives of a more visionary team of consultants not to miss future synergistic opportunities

JV

W2T5-- Make the software products more afloat to enjoy more revenues from software licensing to balance out the cost incurred from new environmental regulations

PD

W3T1-- Facilitate independent offerings of hardware and software to achieve more global market share

MD

W3T2-- Continue to make the software design more generic to better commoditize the software products

PD

W3T3-- Continue to make hardware design more generic to reduce the need to maintain special inventories

PD

W3T4-- Continue to make the software design more generic to be better able to enjoy the synergistic effects of possible mergers/acquisitions

PD

W3T5-- Introduce free upgrade services for both hardware and software to reduce the environmental effects of early product disposal

PD

W4T1-- Initiate the development of a management team and reduce company’s dependence on Jobs to be better responsive to the rapid changes of IT industry

BI

W4T2-- Initiate the development of a management team to reduce the effect of Job’s being biased in decision making to better respond to the emergence of generic PCs

BI

W4T3-- Further empower the BoD to reengineer the supply chain and move towards JIT

BI

W4T4-- Consideration of partnership opportunities by BoD to bring new talents to the management team, while gaining more financial strength

JV

W4T5-- Further empower the BoD in the evaluation of new product ideas to kick start more environmentally friendly designs

PD

W5T1-- Try to maintain a stable ratio of R&D investment over revenues to guarantee the future competitiveness of the company

Ret

W5T2-- Attribute a special part of R&D budget to recycling technologies

PD

W5T3-- Assign R&D budget for the reengineering of supply chain

PD

W5T4-- Utilize joint R&D initiatives to develop new lines of products enjoying the synergistic effects while optimizing R&D costs

JV

W5T5-- Assign special R&D budget to develop green products that do not incur as much recycling and recollection/logistics costs

PD

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