Introduction

Company background

The journey of Apple started in the year 1976 as Apple Computer Company; later it was named Apple Inc. Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Robert Wayne established the company and still it is performing effectively to meet the requirements of the customers from all over the world. It mainly deals with the electronic products, online services and computer software. Apple has a wide portfolio of products that include iPhone, iPod, and their desktops and laptops. The services they provide are premium in class, and they are developing the system to meet the growing demand of the customers.

Objectives

Apple mainly focuses on the demands of the customers to meet the requirements as soon as possible to have a proper competitive advantage. The mission of the company is to motivate the employees to support them to make them contribute in the innovation competition running in the market. The company is focused on developing groundbreaking products that can provide them with the competitive advantage they need in the market. Strengthening the research and development part of the organisation is the most important and effective thing for them to meet the objective and the company is focusing on it (Investor.apple.com, 2018). Apart from this Apple is trying to dictate the entire segment. For this purpose, they have to analyse the market condition and demands. The vision is analysing the market properly and placing the brand to a place where the other companies from corresponding ground cannot reach.

Current Business Performance

The company is one of the most proficient computer software developers and counted among the most successful business organisations in the recent years. The company gives detailed information about the business quarterly every year. In the recent disclosure of company statement, it is found that the company has gained revenue of $53.3 billion, which is 17% more than the previous year’s amount. Apart from that, the international sales accounted around 60%, which signifies a sound grip in the particular domain on the overseas market. The current CEO of the company stated that the company has a net profit of $11 billion and cash flow of $14.5 billion (Apple Newsroom, 2018). Apple has a good development in the overseas market, and these factors are sufficient proofs that the company is growing at an exponential rate. The company directors decided to provide a cash dividend of $0.73 per share, and it is a big commitment for any normal performing company.

From the above data, it can be stated that the company has the potential to make a profit from the market. The support from the people is also good, and they majorly need to focus on the facts that are related to customer retention. In this process, they are going to get more revenues from the market in the upcoming years. The current context of the economic standards of the company is admirable, and this growth is suffocative for the other competitive organisations dealing in the same section.

Body of discussion

HR strategies

There are different HR strategies, which can be considered the most legitimate ones for meeting the needs. The human resource management needs to be working properly to have a better return from the company investments in the people who are newly recruited. There are some human resource practices, which are effective in order to meet the criteria of the market. Implementing them to the system, one service-providing organisation is going to get a better service related reviews from the people. Developing the HR strategies needs an understanding of the environment and helps in taking relevant approach methodologies to meet the objectives of the organisation (Bryant and Allen, 2013).

Depending upon the situation, one organisation has to take approach policies, which can surely make proper development in the subsequent situations. Different approach procedures can be taken into consideration, and some of them are universal or best practice approach, strategic HRM practices approach, contingency approach and configuration approach (Kishore et al., 2013). In different studies, it is mentioned that the Universal approach strategy is the best option for any organisation.

The universal approach to HR strategies is one of the most appropriate things for any organisation. The universal approach helps in making a proper evaluation of the segments and in return, the HR department gets an idea of approach with the help of which the service-providing organisation make compulsory rectification to the systems. The approach process helps in many organisations, and that is why it is the most appropriate option to consider. Apple Inc. is one of those companies, which think about the employees, and tries to take the leading role in the market. The innovative work culture of Apple needs a proper and flexible approach from the management’s end. Adhering and adopting the facts, related to universal HR approach is going to make it easier for the management to take relevant steps for improving the ongoing policies and protocols. The company is known for the best work culture in the industry, and to maintain it they have to make rectification if it is necessary (Lashley, 2012).

Figure. 1: Theoretical Model

The company is a bit secretive in nature, and they do not disclose proper data oriented to the HR practices that are still running in the system. According to different employees, who work for Apple Inc. the company pays well, but the company is going to take all the energy of an employee working in their system (Kishore et al., 2013). Taking reviews from the people who are working in different segments has presented some tantalising data. To improve the performance, Apple makes people work in a highly pressured medium. Some have pessimistic viewpoints against company CEO Tim Cook also. Therefore, improvement is needed in the work culture. Improving the production and quality is not the ultimate aspect on which a company should focus.

Employee development

Employee development is one of the prime needs of an organisation to make prolific contribution throughout the functional period. People who are working in an organisation must have the thirst to learn from the company projects. Apart from that, the employees must be a perfection seeker to observe the need for development. The possibility of performing better rises when people start to improve the functionality with proper skills. The organisation has to be responsive towards the needs of the employees, and they have to take relevant steps to improve the performance of them. In this context, the service providing authority, especially the HR department has to address proper training needs to the people (Hameed and Waheed, 2011). The HR department makes a list of the necessary techniques, which the employees have to learn and in accordance with that, they provide training to the people. Therefore, it is necessary for the HR management to analyse the deficiencies of the workforce to find the needed requirements. Just going for any venture is not going to work properly, until there is a specified necessity.

For employees, it is necessary to have a desire of improving the condition. Depending upon the desire for improvement, the service providers are going to select the employees who are capable of having the extra pressure of the higher departments (Kuvaas and Dysvik, 2010). Therefore, improving the current condition is depending on the analysis of the management and the desire of the employees. In a collaborative venture like this, the organisation is going to have a better outcome with minimum effort.

In accordance with different studies, it is found that the work culture is full of pressure, but it is mature than other organisations. Many people are working in the collaborative environment, and according to the organisational report, it is seen that the management is supporting the development of the employees by providing them perquisites and other factors, which are necessary for proper development (Apple. Inc., 2018). The employees are selected from the best of the best in the market, and therefore it is obvious that the efficiency will be at the paramount. A new person can learn more from them, and it is one of the best parts of the system. The diversified working system is the most important thing that Apple has. The HR management is letting people work in an environment where they can have better support from the colleagues. Diversified culture and supportive environment make it easier for the employees to express what they feel about the system and the HR management is listening to them to have a better modification policy. The management encourages the employees by providing them training in accordance with their needs. One of the most important things is the salary; it motivates people more than anything else does. The salary of the people is excellent, and the employees are quite satisfied with the amount they get. Apart from that, the HR department assesses and monitor the progress of an employee precisely (Kuvaas and Dysvik, 2010). Depending upon the performance, they provide a prospect to the efficient employees, which is excellent from their career perspective.

Therefore, it can be stated that the service of the employees depends on different aspects. Efficiency evolves when an employee gets proper support from the people who are in the higher management. In Apple Inc., people are supportive and that is why the growth rate is good compared to other companies.

Employee relations and grievance handling

The employees are willing to make a positive impact on the development of the organisation, but for that, the organisation has to make sure that they are giving the needed opportunities and positive feedback to the employees. Handling the employees and getting work done easily from them is often hectic but for that, the management has to have the precise methodology with the help of which they can make a proper impact on the system. Giving rewards and opportunity is not the only thing on which the management has to focus; there are other factors also. In this context, the service-providing organisation has to give grievance related support to the employees too (Walker and Hamilton, 2011). Grievance related support is one of the most effective things one organisation can consider. Proper grievance solving gives motivation to the employees, and the market reputation of the organisation extends to a prolific state.

It is often seen that a grievance become bigger than anticipated and harmed the organisational culture. The Apple Inc. has to make sure that they are taking the comments on a serious note and taking an approach to solve it. The organisation has to rethink the policies if any new issue occurs for them. In many contexts, it is observed that the organisations which have not considered the comments on a serious note have faced issues related to organisational culture malfunctioning. Therefore, for an organisation it is highly necessary to make sure that, they have considered the aspects, which can harm the functionality of the company.

In the case of Apple, the chances of getting a huge impact related to employee grievance are low. The management takes good care of the employees by providing them with the support they are asking for a long time. The collaborative demand is a necessity for the work culture, and the HR department is aware of it. They try to make proper kind of amendments, which can console the employees and improve the production rate, which has been hampered due to the unwanted issues. Most of the cases it is seen that the employees who work in the lowermost level of the organisation face the challenges. The issue in the production unit may be a fatal thing for any organisation, and in this regard, the service providers have to make sure that they are taking relevant approaches whenever it is necessary. In the past, it is seen that the employees have faced different types of issues, which resulted in a revolt and harmed the production of the organisations (Leat, 2012). To avoid such circumstances, Apple Inc. takes precise steps that are related to the mitigation of the complaints in the beginning section. The employees are given certain tasks with which they are familiar. This reduces the possibility of having any confusion while performing the task. Ultimately, the possibility of having any perplexity diminishes and the task is done efficiently by the employee. The learning process is seamless in Apple. Any person can learn anything from the corresponding department where he works. A diversified learning culture without any limitations makes the people efficient in the workplace. This helps in developing the standard of the work, and ultimately the management and the employees stay in a harmonious relationship.

Training

Training is a process with the help of which one organisation makes the employees capable of handling the pressures that are oriented to the work, which they are going to pursue in the coming days. Apart from that, training makes one employee efficient to perform in the competitive environment. Adhering the needs of training one organisation can make proper development in their employee performance. The need of training may change depending upon the necessity of the organisation and employee condition, which is why a proper evaluation process is necessary for identifying the needs of the employees and introducing the required measures for development (Dubey and Jalal, 2012).