- Explain Apple’s success over the last decade. Think about which industries it has disrupted and how. Also take a look at Apple’s main competitors.
- Is Apple’s success attributable to industry effects or firm effects, or a combination of both? Explain.
- Apply the three-step process for developing a good strategy outline above (diagnose the competitive challenge, derive a guiding policy, and implement a set of coherent actions) to Apple’s situation today. Which recommendation would you have for Apple to outperform its competitors in the future?
- Why do you think it is so hard not only to gain but also to sustain a competitive advantage?