- Critically Analyze Apple Computer (Apple Inc,), present new product lines (since 2012), and recent events to include competitors and any lessons learned for Enterprise Information Managers in a detailed report that includes a result filled executive summary.
- Research for evidence, how Apple Inc, uses each of the following business activities::"business intelligence", "enterprise resource planning (ERP)", "customer relationship management (CRM)", "data mining", and "intelligent systems", and assesses the results in the report
- Tips/requirements: Knowledge of information systems must be illustrated throughout the analysis, use current sources. References in APA format are required, (U.S references only). Grad level writing
The iPhone's Supply Chain Summarized
"Apple engineers in Cupertino, California conceived and designed the iPhone. This is the only phase of the production process that takes place entirely in the United States. It involves product design, software development, product management, marketing, and other high-value functions. At this stage, labor costs are not the main consideration. Rather, the important elements are creativity and ingenuity.
The iPhone's electronic parts - sophisticated, but not as innovative as its design - are made mostly in Singapore and Taiwan. Only a few components are made in the United States. The last phase of production is the most labor-intensive: workers assemble the hardware and prepare it for shipping. This part, where the key factor is labor costs, takes place on the outskirts of Shenzhen, China. The facility is one of the largest in the world, and its sheer size is extraordinary: with 400,000 workers, dormitories, stores, and even cinemas, it is more like a city within a city than a factory. If you buy an iPhone online, it is shipped to you directly from Shenzhen. Incredibly, when it reaches the American consumer, only one American worker has touched the final product: the UPS delivery guy."
Enrico Moretti, The New Geography of Jobs (New York: Mariner Books, 2013).