Apple Stakeholders and Oxfam Stakeholders Influence

Assignment Brief: Add a further section to your article that provides an in depth explanation covering the points of view of the different apple stakeholders and provide a clear link between these points of view and the aims of the two organisations. For each stakeholder you have identified, explain how much influence they have on the aims and objectives of the two organisations. Assignment Brief: Evaluate the influence different stakeholders of apple exert in one organisation.

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Customers are a key stakeholder in any company, but for Apple in particular they play a big role on the aims and objectives on the business. Apple customers expect an efficient help and support service should any of range their products go wrong, Apple now offer a wide of support if you are having problems. On the Apple website they have a service which gives a number of different ways to contact apple if you are having problems.

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This helps Apple to research what are the most common problems in their products and it helps them to see more ways they can improve through customer feedback. This shows that customers are very important to Apple’s company or any company. This also shows how important the customers are as stakeholders. The reason being is that failure to deliver this service would have an adverse effect on the business and they would likely lose customers. An example of Customers impact in Apple is that when the iPhone was originally released it experienced a lot of different problems from battery life, to signal issues. The customers told Apple about these problems which heavily pressured Apple into getting the problems refused.

In contrast Oxfam customers do not get a wide range of support if they have a problem with a product however, Oxfam sell to their customers in stores all around the UK and internationally. You can also buy Oxfam products online. Oxfam are always trying to expand the amount of products they sell to customers, this is because it has been successful over the last few years.

Oxfam made 79.6 million pounds on sales from donated goods. This shows that Oxfam’s customers and donors are also essential to the success of the organisation.

Apples shareholders also have a big effect on how the business is run, also on the aims and objectives of the company. Because shareholders are the ones investing their money into the business they need clarification on the businesses goals and objectives before investing. Shareholders also own a percentage of the business meaning they have some say in what the business does.

Oxfam is run by trustees; these are also key apple stakeholders in Oxfam. Oxfam’s trustees are ultimately responsible in law for the charity, its assets and its activities. They have a huge amount of interest in the company this is because they are held responsible if anything goes wrong with the business. Because the trustees run the company it is important for them to maintain interest in the company. If the company isn’t hitting targets, or failing to deliver its message it would be the trustees who would act accordingly. Trustees are similar to a board of directors where they basically oversee the company actions and business strategies. Trustees are the people who are in charge of the Oxfam they also have a clear link. Apple’s board of directors is like trustees at Oxfam.

They are a group of people who help to run the business. Typical duties of boards of directors include can often include governing the organization, they often do this by establishing policies and objectives. The also select, appoint and review the performance of the chief executive. The board of directors are also ensuring the availability of adequate financial resources. Because of the responsibilities of the board of directors I would say that they are an extremely influential stakeholder as they have a lot of control within the business. They also as a group make all of the decisions. Oxfam have paid employees and they have people who volunteers both are a huge part of how the business is operated and run; this is mainly because people who work for Oxfam believe in the mission statement that the company has put in place. If for example this was to change, and the volunteers and employees no longer agreed with mission statements, they would be less likely to volunteer meaning Oxfam would have less money to fund their cause, because they would have to employ more staff. They voluntarily help to run and operate the business, this is very helpful to Oxfam because it means they can save money, and invest in other areas of the business. The employees at Oxfam have a huge influence on the business because they give up their personal time because they believe in social justice. Apple’s employees have a huge influence on the company they want to be provided with livelihood and want security and rewards, because of this Apple may put a reward system in place based on the sales. They will set a team a particular sales target or goal if they meet this they will be given a bonus, this helps the company by increasing profit through more sales. Apple have many different suppliers I feel that suppliers do not hold a huge influence on a company as big as apple because Apple could always change their suppliers if they wanted to. The suppliers in my opinion are not huge stakeholders because Apple wouldn’t see as important as say customers.

The reason being if Apple have an issue with their current suppliers they could change and find a new supplier who makes the the same products. Oxfam also have suppliers, they are extremely important to oxfam because they are a charity they need to find the cheapest way to get products to them at low cost in order to fund their cause. Oxfam have over 3000 different suppliers. Oxfam need to use branding in order to get more suppliers, they try to get consumers and local communities to donate top quality for the goods. This makes them extremely important to Oxfam's cause. Apple don’t really rely on local communities for money or for investment, although Apple need to be careful that they don’t upset local communities as sometimes they can hold a lot of power as stakeholders. For example if Apple were to open a new branch in a quiet community, some members of the local community could object to Apple opening a store in that particular area. This is why local communities are still an important stakeholder in Apples business. Unlike Apple, Oxfam rely heavily on local communities, they are usually massive stakeholders in charity businesses, local communities usually help local charities, by giving them donation as well and investments. Local communities influence charities like oxfam because Oxfams mission statement shows what it stands for it states “The purpose of Oxfam is to help create lasting solutions to the injustice of poverty. We are part of a global movement for change, one that empowers people to create a future that is secure, just, and free from poverty.”

This mission statement is showing that oxfam aims to help local communities in other countries who are currently in suffering and poverty. These communities in other countries have a huge influence on Oxfam as a company, because Oxfams business purpose is built around these communities. Neither Apple or Oxfam have really benefit from trade unions, although considered a stakeholder in other businesses. In this case they aren’t a stakeholder in either of the companies. Governments have a huge influence on businesses, they are big stakeholders in Apple, because they are interested in how much profit a business is making. This is because, the success of the business will either have a good or a bad effect on the economy. The Government want businesses such as apple to have high turnover and a large amount of net profit. Governments could have an effect on the way a business operates, whom it trades with and where it does it’s trading. This is because the Government can always change laws and the government may base these changes on the way the economy is performing in that current time. The Government are also interested in companies figures because the money a company earns the less tax the government will get from that company. In a charity the government have a different influence on the business, for example Oxfam are currently working with the nigerian government to ensure that they’re goods that they are shipping over there are being distributed correctly. Due to the fact that Oxfam are a non-profit organisation and listed as a charity they can be exempt from certain taxes, for example VAT. This means the government would less concerned if that business is doing well or not because the government would not be making a lot of money from that charity. However international governments will affect the aims and objectives of Oxfam because if a country suffers from a natural disaster or something of similar nature. They would more than likely be looking for aid, Oxfam would be one of the charities who may be there to help. This in turn could have an effect on their current aims and objectives, forcing them into change.

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All stakeholders have the ability to influence a change in the aims and objectives of a particular company. Some stakeholders, will have more of an influence than others, in this section of the essay I will be evaluating the influence the different stakeholders have for the company Apple. Apple have a very large customer base in their stores their retail stores alone serves more than 1 million customers daily with across 407 different locations across 13 countries. I believe that this makes Apple customers one of the most influential stakeholders in their business. Apple are constantly changing and coming up with new diverse products to consistently please their customers base. Further evidence shows that Apple’s customers are extremely important, when the Iphone was first released it came with a lot of issues, including signal loss meaning some people couldn’t even call out on the phone. After several complaints from customers about this Apple quickly made a fix and brought out a case for the iphone which would help to fix the issue.

This shows that the customers of Apple have a lot of influence onto what products they want to see. This could increase the amount of customers apple not only gain but also retain which is ultimately is part of the aims and objectives of the business. I think the customers are the most important stakeholder in any business, ask yourself why do businesses exist? When you need a product or service you would go to a business who offers that service or product. Businesses only really exist for the customer, without the customer there is no business. In a massive company like Apple the customers are very demanding and expectant, this means Apple constant have to up their standard when coming up with new products, customer service and product stability as well upping their standard to compete with their local competitors. I think this shows further evidence that the customers of Apple are the most influential stakeholders. Shareholders are also important stakeholders, Apple has many shareholders and each shareholder has a say in the direction of the business. Shareholders are the one of the ways which Apple gains income, coming from investments. In order to keep these coming in, Apple need to make sure that their shareholders are happy and don’t have too many issues in the running of the business. In february 2012 CEO of apple Tim Cook declared that shareholders would have more of a say in picking board members.

This was after shareholders of Apple threatened to not renew their investment. This is evidence of the shareholders being an important and influential stakeholder for Apple. The employees hold some influence in the running of a business in apples but no as much as the customers or shareholders, one of the reasons being is that the employees don’t offer as much income as other stakeholders such as customers or shareholders. However Apple like to try and make sure that their employees are happy because it helps them to create a brand image which would be a happy, innovative and safe working place. I think that the employees can influence the aims and objectives of the business, however if Apple are not happy with some of the employees they have they can always hire new people. This is because people like working for a company a reputable company like apple. This is why I feel that employees although important might be considered disposable in some companies especially apple in this case. The influence the government have on Apple can be positive or negative depening on the reason for talking to the business.

The government can affect businesses in a number of ways one of the main reasons is that the government would like Apple to be successful because they make more money the more successful a business is. Also the government could make apple lose customers if they for example were to decrease the national minimum wage a lot of people would have less money for luxury products such as Iphone and Apple products. I think the government have to be considered important and influential stakeholders because they hold a lot of power and can change things very quickly which may affect the way Apple or any business operates. The board of directors in apple are also influential stakeholders In a business. The board of directors are appointed by the shareholders and are supposed to be in control of the business. The board of directors exert many of their own branding and product development ideas which ultimately is influencing the business to head into a particular direction. Although Owners have a big say in how the aims of the business are decided, other groups also have an influence over decision making. For example, the directors who manage the day-to-day affairs of a company may decide to make higher sales a top priority rather than profits. This makes makes them important stakeholders in a business as what the say will ultimately affect the business direction. The suppliers of Apple exert a huge amount of influence on the business and in my opinion are one of the most important stakeholders especially in Apple’s case.

This is because suppliers can decide whether to raise prices on orders which could obviously affect a firm's profits, also a supplier's reliability could affect production. If the suppliers are not reliable Apple may not get the top quality products in which they need for their brand to stay at the top of market. Also if orders do not arrive on time finished goods may not be ready for shipping to customers. The Suppliers can also change credit terms which may have cash flow issues for a company. For example Apple’s suppliers could decide that they no longer want to allow discounts for bulk orders or loyal customers. This could affect Apple’s profits because it would mean they would have to find a new supplier which could cost more than the previous one. I think on that basis you can say that suppliers are hold a large amount of influence on the operation of Apple.

Local communities are considered stakeholders although in Apple’s case I don’t think they hold that much of an influence mainly because they cannot really change the businesses direction. For example Local communities could influence Apple by petitioning against building or planning permissions for new developments. If this happened then Apple could in the worst case scenario build a new building elsewhere as it is unlikely that everyone is going to be against Apples cause. This is why in this case I don’t feel that Local Communities are an important stakeholder in Apple’s business. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.bjapple.com/about/job-creation/ (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.oxfam.org/en/about/what/purpose-and-beliefs (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.slashgear.com/apple-retail-stores-serve-1-million-customers-daily-407-locaions-worldwide-10285704/ (n.d). Retrieved from http://sacom.hk/open-letter-to-apple%E2%80%99s-shareholders-influence-apple-with-your-shares/ (n.d) Retrieved from http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-24/apple-ceo-cook-signals-new-era-in-heeding-shareholder-concerns.html

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