Influence of Information on the Strategy of the Company

In the contemporary business, it is impossible to disregard the influence of information on the strategy of the company due its essential role in the competition as well as the various aspects that businesses face. Business challenges are predominantly information challenges, and if a firm can have all the significant information, then the challenges can be solved. Information plays various roles in the success of the company. Currently, information can no more be regarded as the basis of competitive advantage but rather a competitive inevitability. Information penetrates in every aspect of the business, information technology departments, and crosses data processing. Further, information potential can be achieved by ways of proper management as well as knowledge of cultural and organizational aspects (Sebastian, 2007). This essay, therefore, seeks to expound the effects of information on a company and how research could be essential to the growth of the enterprise.

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Well, the paper selects Apple Inc. And explore how it effectively uses information well as to answer several other questions. Briefly, Apple Inc. is a U.S. company that design as well as manufactures computer software, hardware, networking solutions, and some consumer electronic devices. The firm is well-known for their Mac OS X, the Macintosh line of laptops and desktops, highly loyal user-base, the iPod digital music player, iTunes music store, Xserve RAID storage items, and Xserve G5 server. The firm is headquartered in Cupertino, California. The co-founder and CEO are Steve Job and Steve Wozniak in 1976, and the firm vaunts 284 retail stores traversing ten different nations. Even in the recent years, the company continues to earn huge revenues, and that makes it very successful (Linden, 2009).

Equally, research is essential to Apple Company since this can help to address several issues of concern. Issues that may encompass marketing research, user-friendliness on the various products and retailing strategies that the company can employ are much useful from the research point of view. I trust that when the company conducts research on various issues or problems that the firm faces, then it shall help to comprehend and perhaps solve the existing as well as future problems that the company may face. A research study can address the issues of marketing challenges, user-friendliness on products, and retail matters. The company should always carry out and emphasize on various research on different questions that are deemed to be affected the performance of the business or even on the issues that can improve the productivity of a firm. Without research study as well as the sound knowledge on various matters that affect a business then it would be tough to change the performance of a company (Rooij, 2007). It would also infer that changes would not be implemented, and this may be very detrimental in the long run on the performance of the business.

The company is effectively using research studies to address some of the challenges that it faces. One indicator for this is the massive success that the company has attained in the technology industry as compared to its competitors. The company has been able to make better products that are very user-friendly thanks to research studies on the physical device itself as being appealing to users. Factors such size, form factor, weight, capabilities, and ease of use has been designed as a result of research studies. Second, research is also evidenced by the company when they decided to open their retail store to register more sales and end the problem that they had with distributors of the products. Research thus plays a fundamental role in solving problems that companies do face in their daily functioning.

Both secondary and primary research would be very useful to be a business. First, secondary research involves studies that are done on the secondary data to help analyze a given situation that the faces the company. The sources may include books, journal articles, and various statistics on the subject at hand. The company, therefore, would benefit from the secondary research in some ways. Intensive literature review on the journal articles, book, and magazines about a particular issue of concern can help the company to address any challenge it faces. On the other hand, primary research may entail studies that are from the field and other first-hand information on the situation. Things, such interviewing consumers and conducting survey questionnaires on a given issue that affect the company, would be very positive to obtain results and see the view as well as the perceptions of the consumers. The views obtained from primary research would then be used to improve the various challenges that grapple the business.

In the future, the company must invest heavily on research and development R&D, to help produce and assist in resolving the challenges that may face the company. This may include committing in the R&D as well as funding to design an extremely-crazy-high-end-slim-beautiful electronic device to function with untried platforms.

In conclusion, practical research and information are essential to the success of the company. Information and research impacts on every aspect of the business: production, distribution, marketing, operations management, finance, public policy, and industry dynamics.

Unit III Essay

In the view of Celsi, Samouel, Page (2015), Qualitative research is a type of study method where the researcher assumes an active role especially by interacting with the study participants she or he wishes to research. According to Ritchie and Lewis (2003), qualitative research is that kind of study that generates verbal summaries of the study findings, and there is no statistical analysis or summaries. Qualitative research produces flow diagrams as well as narrative descriptions of processes or events. Scrutinizes of behavior in the qualitative research encompass discussions regarding the individuals experience as well as feel happenings in their lives (Ritchie, 2003), and may be a better ways of formulating theories and hypotheses of what takes place in organizational settings. The investigator is frequently interested in responding to the why questions and not just swayed by the quantitative responses. Moreover, qualitative research tools in the decision-making business. This essay thus seeks to discuss the effectiveness of qualitative research as well as how it can be applied in business to gather relevant data.

Some specific qualitative tools and methods that can be used in the field business include, ethnography, observation, interview, and focused group discussions. These research tools can be used to help gather data within businesses.Observation is a kind of research method whereby the investigator observes those taking part in the study particularly for the purpose of comprehending their culture as well as behaviors. By this study plan, the investigator is not anticipated to consult the employees during the process of conducting the research since such may disrupt the regular duty of the workforce. But rather, the investigator may employ tools such as audiotapes, videotapes, and cameras to enhance the process of observation, as well as a transcript, is consequently prepared to intellectualize pertinent personnel issues. Those kinds of transcripts are qualitative since they are expressed in the non-numerical ways. Therefore, this method of research can be used to gather data to help solve any challenges that the company faces.

Ethnography refers to study method that uses qualitative as well as field observation techniques to assess the behavior to explore some aspects of the group that is of interest. In the view of Fraser and Cynthia (2013), ethnography is like science and an art of describing a culture or a group that may encompass an organization, team, workgroup. The culture may include organizational culture. Gathering data using ethnography may include evaluation of a company culture by observing as well as recording the behaviors for a given period. This method is very efficient in the business field to gather data that may be used to solve various problems that company faces.

On the other hand, the interview can be illustrated as the favored digging tool for gathering data in the businesses. In the organization settings, it just needs verbal accounts to get information that may be useful to solve the problems of the study. Well, interviews may be unstructured, structured, and semi-structured, though, in many instances, they are usually integrated to enhance better data collection. In the qualitative research, interviews are very dynamic and flexible, and thus very effective as a tool for gathering data (Celsi, 2015). The interview mostly focuses on a face-face encounter between the participant and the investigator that are directed toward comprehending their perspective and experience on the exact words. The interview is typically premeditated as a discussion between equals instead of a formal question-and-response conversation.

Finally, there is the focused group discussion that is frequently regarded as a kind of comprehensive group interview. It encompasses discussions among a small sect of people approximately nine who have commonly recognizable attributes and responds to what groups have said. This method is very efficient as well to gather data that are can be very instrumental to the business of solving the challenges.

Well, the above-mentioned qualitative methods are highly effective in the decision-making process to make business solve their challenges. In a greater extent, the methods help to answer critical qualitative research questions. For in instance, in organization or business, qualitative research methods can be used to respond to various issues. How consumers select between different products or even suppliers, what motivates them. How design, branding, and packaging impacts customers and in which manner? How product prices influences decision making among customers. These entire questions are fundamental and, therefore, efficient use of the other qualitative research tools can help gather data to fix the problems that the company faces. In essence, qualitative research methods are all about getting individuals to magnify their responses to get more insight on a particular matter that the company is interested. It is all about receiving underneath individuals answers to establish what is motivating their decisions. Further, in businesses, there is the necessity to be familiar with decision making process. Companies depend on information as well as tools or techniques to make them successful.

Finally, in my view, the future of qualitative research in business as well as on the general research platform is ravishing. There is the paradigm change that is occurring in business, political, and social decision- making which is now placing fresh demands on research. Qualitative research tools are now extensively used in internationally and local market and therefore, it has become a fundamental aspect that should not be avoided.