Apple: Sunscreen Claims, Risk Management and Consumer Confidence

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Table of Contents

Boosting Sales
Brand Image
Company Culture
Talent Management and Value Creation
Conclusion
References

Apple has become one of the most influential companies in the world recently. It is capable of developing and changing both the hardware and the software of billions of users worldwide. Moreover, the corporation headquartered in California does not seem to be enthusiastic about sharing much information on new updates, new initiatives, and policies. Having gained an enormous loyal client base, the company sometimes seems to have no motivation to share information on the multiple changes it has implemented. The current approach has already led to severe issues featuring lawsuits, fines, and extensive media coverage of the investigations. There is a wide range of alternative strategies that the company could have applied or still have the chance to utilize in the future.

Boosting Sales

Numerous Apple fans around the globe were shocked to hear Apple admit that it had intentionally slowed down previous iPhone models. The company claimed that the original intention was to preserve aging battery life. At the same time, the general audience did not seem to believe that it could be worth all the diminished productivity, let alone frequent power shutoffs. According to Uyeno (2020), for both technology and manufacturing, customer focus and respect is most positively associated with performance. Therefore, even if the company claims to enhance its old devices’ performance instead of boosting the sales figures of new models, it should notify its customers about all the problems that may occur.

The company should have avoided such practices in the first place, encouraging customers to show interest in preserving battery life. Customers do not generally expect a software update to influence the performance of software. In the middle of the crisis, when millions of people proved that their devices began to demonstrate diminished performance, Apple should have acted immediately, claiming that a new software update will address the issue. After the crisis, Apple should highlight the importance of saving battery life and provide customers with all the tools that can extend it.

Brand Image

Apple’s client base is famously loyal, meaning that most clients do not hesitate to install a new software update once it is launched. Undermined trust in product efficacy puts at risk consumer confidence in both product and manufacturer (Diffey, 2020). Therefore, this single episode, already dubbed Batterygate, may cost Apple large sales numbers. The company should have done more to improve the situation once it was fined for allegedly slowing down smartphones. Apple could have provided an opportunity to install the previous versions of OS. Moreover, the company should from now on notify its customers of all the major issues that have been addressed in every new OS update it realizes.

Company Culture

Strong company culture has long been considered instrumental for excellent performance. Moreover, Millennial employees, who often prioritize company values and an ability to make a social impact, now make up a large percentage of the workforce. According to Theresia et al. (2018), organizational culture is also the behavioral principles and expectations influencing the interaction and cooperation between individuals, groups, and teams in the process of carrying out organizational goals. Therefore, the recent scandal that was extensively covered by all media types will undoubtedly undermine previous efforts to build a strong company culture with a unique set of values.

Talent Management and Value Creation

Acquiring new talents may become a challenging undertaking for a tech giant that has just been accused of using unethical methods to boost its sales. Whysall et al. (2019) claim that the speed of technological change brought about by Industry 4.0 leads to a need to consider new and more effective approaches to talent development. Therefore, a tech company should be careful when making claims that can rapidly transform its culture. Young programmers who are only joining the job market are the ones who will create value for the company’s stakeholders. Therefore, Apple should clearly state that it regrets the outcomes of its previous policies that led to Batterygate. Thus, not only potential clients but also future high-performing employees will not lose the much-needed trust in the company.

In order to minimize the additional risks that emerged as a result of Batterygate, Apple should focus on the availability of information for its customers. The company is generally expected to provide extensive coverage of all technological advances and intentions that stand behind them. The data should be available from the company’s website and in the devices’ settings. Moreover, users should be granted an opportunity to switch off all the features and options that may undermine smartphones’ performance. Apple, alongside other tech giants, has already undermined its clients’ trust in a way. Therefore, the best way to regain it would be by developing a completely honest and transparent communication approach.

The general audience’s opinion can significantly alter the way Apple is run. The legal structure provides a degree of representative democracy to the corporate form, with investors voting on proposals and controlling the efficiency of managers (Halbert & Ingulli, 2018). Therefore, stakeholders may realize all the importance of company culture and brand image for the company’s success. Thus, they can start influencing the decision-making process more often by pointing to all the issues that are rooted in Batterygate.

Conclusion

In the 21^st century, the largest tech giants should not utilize the 20^th-century methods that often centered around short-term goals. Top management in such companies should feel secure enough about their positions and salaries in order to employ a holistic approach to developing sufficient strategies. It is crucial for top managers of such enterprises to realize the importance of brand image and company values, as they have become the essential factors that modern customers always consider.

References

Diffey, B. (2020). Sunscreen claims, risk management and consumer confidence.International Journal of Cosmetic Science, 42(1), 1–4. Web.

Halbert, T., & Ingulli. E. (2018). Law and ethics in the business environment (9th ed.). Cengage Learning.

Theresia, L., Lahuddin, A. H., Ranti, G., & Bangun, R. (2018, September). The influence of culture, job satisfaction and motivation on the performance lecturer/employees. Proceedings of the 8^th International Conference on Industrial Engineering and Operations Management (pp. 2541-2552). IEOM Society International.

Uyeno, L. (2020). An empirical analysis of company culture: Using Glassdoor data to measure the impact of culture and employee satisfaction on performance (Publication No. 2293) [Senior Thesis, Claremont McKenna College]. Scholarship@Claremont.

Whysall, Z., Owtram, M., & Brittain, S. (2019). The new talent management challenges of Industry 4.0. Journal of Management Development, 38(2), 118–129. Web.

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