Product Life Cycle Management: Apple

introduction stage
The first stage is called birth. There is a lot of work
at this stage, the future of the company is
uncertain, and business processes can change
almost every day.

During this period, management is based on the

leader's charisma and persuasion. This is enough
when the organization is small and everyone
knows each other personally. Like at the dawn of
Apple, where Jobs' friends and acquaintances
became the first workers.
If a company overcomes the difficulties of the first
phase, certainty and stable processes appear in it,
it begins to grow.
Growth
The task of this stage is to actively conquer the
chosen niche. The time has come to change: new
employees and working methods are needed. The
time comes when you need to hire managers and
delegate authority to them.

How did this happen at Apple? After the success of

the Apple I, Jobs and Wozniak refined the
computer and created the Apple II, which was a
huge hit. The company received its first serious
contracts. With them came investments, began to
expand production, build offices and
representative offices. The number of employees
has grown, including the invitation of professional
managers to the company.

As a company grows, its structure becomes more

complex. It is very important at this stage to
describe business processes - to establish who
performs each action for whom and in what time
frame. This is the only way to maintain quality
when production grows and many new customers
appear.
Maturity A company in its maturity is one of the key players
in the chosen niche. Sales are growing, although
not as dynamically as during the growth period.
The market share either continues to grow slightly
or fluctuates within established limits. The
company invests most of its money in the products
that sell the best.

For Apple at maturity, the Apple II became the

main product. It became the first personal
computer to be produced by the millions. Since
then, it has sold about 5 million Apple IIs. The
company spent about 70% of the funds on it.
Decline The company is losing market share. The mistakes
made at the previous stage begin to take their toll.
Sales fall, customers leave. The company, trying to
cope with problems, pours budgets into failed
projects. Successful products are siphoned off the
last juices while competitors come up with better
solutions.

This is what started to happen to Apple after Jobs

left. This is not to say that his dismissal was the
only reason, after all, it is a systemic problem,
which led to many mistakes.
Death or rebirth
Apple gradually moved to a tipping point. It took
over the company NeXT in time, which Jobs
created after being fired. So he went back and
quickly became CEO. At that time, the company
had nothing left until its death.

Jobs first discontinued most of the products and

focused on core products. He also replaced a
significant part of the management, removing
those who opposed the change. The search and
development of new products began. Not without
luck. Microsoft got into trouble with antitrust laws
and gave Apple $ 200 million to keep it from
shutting down.

As a result, the company managed to avoid

collapse. First, it released several successful iMac
series, and then revolutionized again, first with the
iPod - "1000 songs in your pocket", and then with
the release of the iPhone and iPad. And in 2018 it
became worth $ 1 trillion.
Product Life Cycle Management: General Motors

introduction stage Formation of "GM" begins in 1897, when the

entrepreneur R. Olds built his first car, which he
named "Oldsmobile". Selling several of these cars,
Olds built in Detroit - the future automobile capital
of the United States - the first plant in America,
whose specialization was exclusively cars. In
Detroit, one after another automobile factories
open - first David Buick, and then Henry Leyland,
the founder of Cadillac. And in 1907 the Pontiac
Motor Division company was created. All these
companies merged in 1909 and formed "GM" In
1919, another well-known Detroit automobile
company, Chevrolet Motor, joined GM.
Growth The stage of development of the organization
begins in the 20s. It was then that GM overtook
Ford, the leader of the auto industry of that
period, in terms of production volume, and
became the leading American automobile
manufacturer. All five car brands of Buick,
Chevrolet, Pontiac, Oldsmobile and Cadillac are
firmly established in the American market.

It was during this period that GM developed the

characteristics of an organization at this stage of
its life cycle: medium size, numerous shareholders,
a more heterogeneous and competitive
environment.
Maturity The maturity stage of the company came in the
50s. In 1954, GM's share of the global automobile
market was 54%. About 3% of US GDP at the time
came from this company. Since that time, the
company's strategy was no longer aimed at
growth, but at maintaining leadership positions,
the emphasis was on adaptation, and the
contribution to society was assessed.

And although, since the mid-70s, American car

manufacturers, and primarily GM, began to lose
their leading positions, this was due to external
factors, and does not indicate a transition to the
aging phase of the organization.
Decline From 2005 to 2008, the company regularly
suffered losses. In the third quarter of 2007, a
record loss in the entire history of the company
was recorded, amounting to $ 38.6 billion. The
reason for the unprecedented loss was the one-
time write-off of intangible tax assets on
operations in the USA, Canada and Germany over
 the past three years.

The amount of losses of this company in 2008

reached 88 billion dollars. The September 2008
financial crisis dealt the final blow to GM.
Death or rebirth Bankruptcy of the company found it at a stage of
maturity. Thus, as noted above, the empirical
sequence of stages changed, and instead of the
expected stage of old age, the stage of
disappearance / revival suddenly began, which
may not be the last stage in the life of the
organization.
It must be said that the phase - revival /
disappearance in the life cycle of the company has
a very important place. The emerging “fork” either
gives the firm the opportunity to develop in the
future, or leads to the dying of the economic
organization.