Apple, Inc.

Complete this option of the Milestone if you have chosen to complete Option #1 of the final Portfolio Project. Option #1 of the Portfolio Project, due in Week 8 of the class, consists of a strategic audit of Apple, Inc. The purposes of this audit are to:
describe the company’s recent past and current operating context,
analyze the current operating context using strategic management tools, and
develop strategy recommendations to gain a competitive advantage.
This audit includes a SWOT analysis based on the frameworks presented in the class text. You will be using the various tools that you will be learning about in the class as components of the analysis. Your overall goal is to develop audit results that will enable the company to move forward while adding value for the organization’s stakeholders.
The audit checklist items are listed in an outline form in Figure 13-1 of your text. You will be completing the topics in this outline as you develop your Portfolio Project paper and will advance the Project in an iterative manner throughout the class.
With each milestone, you will incorporate instructor feedback from the previous assignment and then add new material. As you complete each step, you will need to perform research to gain more information about the company’s operations.
Appendix 13.A in the class text lists an excellent set of professional and academic resources that you can use for your research. Most of these sources can be accessed through the CSU Global Library or on the open internet using specific websites or Google Scholar. The majority of the government reports are available for free through the websites for each agency. Additional examples of the types of information that might be included in your paper are shown in Appendix 13.C of the class text.
The topic development throughout the class is shown below.
Milestone/Portfolio
Week Due
Topics
#1
2
Current Operating Context: Past corporate performance indexes, strategic posture
#2
4
Revised Current Operating Context, SWOT Analysis Part 1: Corporate governance, external environment opportunities and threats
#3
6
Revised SWOT Analysis Part 1, SWOT Analysis Part 2: Internal environment strengths and weaknesses
#4: Final Portfolio Paper
8
Revised SWOT Analysis Part 2, Alternatives and Recommendations
NOTE: We will not be including either Implementation or Evaluation and Control as part of this paper.
Milestone #2
This week, you will complete Milestone #2. This Milestone paper consists of two parts:
The current operating context from Week 2, revised based on instructor feedback, and
A new section about the company’s corporate governance and external environment threats and opportunities.
Your paper should include the following topics and use headings. These should also be reflected in the updated Appendix A in your paper:
Current Operating Context
Past corporate performance indexes
Strategic posture
Current mission
Current objectives
Current strategies
Current strategic policies
Corporate Governance
Board of Directors
Top Management
External Environment Opportunities and Threats
Natural Environment
Societal Environment
Task Environment (Industry Factors)
Appendix A: Strategic Audit Worksheet
As part of this week’s content, you will update Appendix A: Strategic Audit Worksheet by describing the details of each element and assigning a positive or negative rating. Please respond to the Corporate Governance and External Environment questions shown in Appendix 1.A, pp. 32-33 of your text to complete the content areas for this week’s assignment. You will perform research to find the answers to these questions. Respond to as many of these questions as possible so that you obtain a complete picture of company operations.
Your paper should:
Be 5 to 7 pages in length, not including the title and reference pages and the appendix.
Be formatted according to APA style. The CSU Global Writing Center offers resources on how to format your assignment (Links to an external site.) and cite sources (Links to an external site.) in APA style.
Include at least ten scholarly articles, peer-reviewed articles, or other professional sources listed in Appendix 13.A. The CSU Global Library is a good place to find these resources.
Include a title page, section headers, introduction, conclusion, reference page, and appendix.
Use headings to indicate the topic areas. Do not repeat the questions from Appendix 1.A.
Include your updated Appendix A using the appropriate rows for each week’s submission. For each week, you should complete the rows based on the topics covered, and the columns should include analysis with positive and negative factors as well as any summary comments you might want to make. You will develop the complete table as you move through the class.
Assign positive ratings to opportunities and negative ratings to threats.

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