Case Study, Apple Inc. in 2012: Crafting & Executing Strategy

Case Study

Directions

Read the Case Study, Apple Inc. in 2012 (Case #14) in Part Two of yourtextbook (Thompson; Peteraf, Gamble, Strickland, Crafting & ExecutingStrategy, The Quest for Competitive Advantage 19e).  Complete a writtenCase Analysis of this company by using the required Case Study Format asdescribed in your text on page CA1 through CA11.

From the instructor:

Cases Analysis

I wanted to clarify expectations for the case analyses in this course.Please read the following carefully as, moving forward, I will direct questionsregarding case analyses to this post.

1. You must thoroughly address ALL of the required “criteria”listed in the attached case study scoring guides. For every case analysis yousubmit, I carefully check to be sure that each one of these areas has beenthoroughly addressed. Miss a required criterion and you miss points. Period.These criteria must include:

a) The historical perspective is described.

b) The current situation is described includingits strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.

c) The central issues are described.

d) The alternatives and solution are described andevaluated.

e) An implementation plan is developed.

2. A good way to ensure a better score on your case analyses is to includeheadings for each of the required criteria listed in the attached casestudy scoring guides. Also, carefully review the attached Primer on Case Study Analysis.

3. You may either write your case in outline format or in narrative (writtenpaper) format. However, again, ALL of the required criterialisted in the attached case study scoring guides must be thoroughly addressed.As a general rule, you should plan to write at least 3-5 pages for each case(single-spaced if using outline format; double-spaced if using a narrativeformat).

4. I do not require APA format for case analyses. However, I DO require thatyou cite references using whatever method you are comfortable with.

5. The most common oversight I see in case analysis is that many students doa good job recapping the case. However, their alternative solutions andimplementation plan are either severely lacking in depth or they simply skipthe alternative solutions and implementation plan altogether.

6. There are usually no “right” answers for case analyses. What we look foris the quality and depth of your logical analysis.