Human Resource Management

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 Table of Contents

Introduction......................................................................................................................................3

Business strategy.............................................................................................................................4

Critical analysis and evaluation of HR strategy..............................................................................6

Recommendations..........................................................................................................................12

Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................13

Reference List................................................................................................................................15

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Introduction

Human resources of a business are one of the most significant assets. A company operating in a

competitive environment needs to have skilled employees, along with the other non-human

resources. To operate a business effectively, a company needs to have efficient human resource

policies. Planning for HR strategies can be considered as imperative for a business organization.

The strategy for managing HR ensures that the process of operation for HR is effective. The

strategy for HR also decides the employee engagement and the reputation for the company. A

business needs to have an HR strategy that can be aligned with the goals of the business. The gap

of concurrence between both strategies can impact the performance of the business negatively.

Therefore, it is imperative to review the HR policy of a company concerning the business goals.

The current assignment has attempted to introspect into the human resource policies of Apple.

The company is one of the leading companies in the sector of manufacturing globally. The

current study has attempted to analyze the business strategy for Apple. Moreover, the assignment

has also attempted to discuss the strategy for managing humanresources by Apple. The current

assignment has also attempted to represent a critical analysis of the strategy of human resources

based on the objectives of employment which are equity, efficiency, and voice. The study has

further attempted to analyze the relevance of the business strategies undertaken by Apple

concerning the HR policies of the company. In the current study, the most appropriate HR

strategy of the company based on the requirement of the business strategy has also been

attempted to be explored. The study has also aimed at discussing the limitations of the HR policy

based on the performance of the business. Moreover, the study has also attempted to provide

recommendations for improving the HR policies for Apple.

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Business strategy

Apple is one of the most prominent companies in the industry of computer hardware and

software specifications. The business of the company is focused on incorporating new

technological revolutions for a better future with technology. The company started in 1976, and

it was considered as Apple Computer Inc 1977. The mission statement for Apple is to bring the

best user experience to its customers with the help of innovative software, hardware, and

services. In 2019 quarter 4, Apple was able to generate a revenue of $12.5 Billion (Apple, 2019).

The company was also able to generate the highest ever revenue for the fourth quarter. The

company was able to increase its revenue by 2% from the previous quarter (Apple, 2019). The

services of Apple, iPad, and wearables helped in achieving the high levels of revenue.

The board of directors of Apple has announced that Apple's common stock has a cash dividend

worth of $0.77 for each share (Apple, 2019). The company has been able to incorporate a

significant amount of revenue with the help of a wide range of products. Each year the company

launches new products and services in the market which experiences high demand. The

company launched the iPhone 11 as well as 11 Pro in the market, which helps in generating a

significant amount of profit. In the list of new products, the company has also introduced second-

generation Air Pods and new iPads. The most significant characteristic of the products of Apple

is that they are different from other products in the market. The features of the products are

different from regular products.

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 Figure 1:iPhone unit sales

(Source: Apple, 2019)

To have a prominent place in the market, the company introduces products with simplicity. The

products are secure, compatible and reliable. The products are easy to use with an intuitive and

useful interface. Apple products have been able to save 70% time in the operations related to

system-related processes (Apple, 2019). Therefore, it can be stated that Apple utilizes the

strategy of Differentiation. As per Gorondutse and Abdullah (2017), in the theory of

differentiation strategy, a company attempts to launch new products that are unique and can have

high demand. Therefore, Apple also applies this strategy to improve its business. The products of

Apple have a few unique aspects, such as their operating system iOS, their unique software. The

mobile phones of Apple have represented unique features for the first time in the market, such as

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dual camera and water resistance. The incorporation of differentiation strategy helps in

distinguishing a business from its competitors.

This strategy, in turn, also helps a business to achieve a unique image in the market. Apple has

captured most of the market in the industry of mobile devices in the UK. In 2019, Apple was

able to achieve a market share of 49.24% in the respective market (Statista, 2019). In this year,

iPhone XR has been the most popular cell phone model in the UK. Therefore, Apple has been

able to experience an impressive performance with the help of employing the differentiation

strategy in the competitive industry.

Critical analysis and evaluation of HR strategy

In the HR strategy of Apple, people are the most important aspects of the business. The HR

policy of Apple has largely focused on inclusivity and equity for managing human resources.

The current HR strategy undertaken by Apple has focused on promoting diversity and inclusivity

in the workplace. The most important objectives of the HR policies such as equity, efficiency

and voice are also considered and evaluated for the employees of Apple. The aspect of equity of

employment can be described as the fundamental concept, which suggests that the effort put by

employees is returned to them. A major aim of this concept is focused on creating a balance

between the effort of the employee and the return paid back to the employee (Armstrong and

Taylor, 2020). The contribution of an employee to an organization can be overlooked, which can

create an imbalance in the perceived equity of the company. In Apple, the aspect of equity is

attempted to be maintained in the management of the human resources of the organization. In the

process of recruitment, the aspect of equity can be seen In the UK, all the recruitments are done

based on the policy of Anti-bribery.

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 Figure 2: Women at Apple

(Source: Apple, 2020)

Apple also conducts the recruitment process based on the policy of preventing discrimination

which ensures that Apple cannot discriminate employees while recruiting (Government of the

United Kingdom, 2020). Therefore, in the procedure for recruitment, no employees experience

any kind of discrimination, and all the aspirants experience an equal opportunity. The aspect of

equity is not only applicable to the process of recruitment, but it is also important after

recruitment. There is no gender bias in the company, as around 38% of Apple's workforce are

women (Apple, 2020). In the procedure of recruitment in Apple, inclusivity is also seen in the

case of cultures. In the new hire population of Apple, more than 24% are from the

underrepresented minorities (Apple, 2020). The diversity in the working culture is high as 23%

Asians, 9% Black and 14% of Hispanic employees are working in Apple (Apple, 2020). On the

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other hand, the objective of efficiency is also significantly important in the procedure for

recruiting the employees.

The objective of efficiency can be considered as the ability to produce products or services with

the least amount of waste and unnecessary efforts. The main focus of the objective of efficiency

is to emphasize on resources as well as speed for achieving the organizational goals

(Nechanskaet al. 2020). In the operation of Apple for recruiting the employees, the aspect of

efficiency is substantially important. In Europe, 1.76 million jobs have been created by Apple in

the last years (Apple, 2020). To have the most effective return from the employees. Apple has

recruited people from all the fields. In the UK, there has been an increase of 28% in the jobs of

the app economy from 2018 to 2020 (Apple, 2020). The various ways of creating jobs in the

company such as jobs in retail, manufacturing, technical services, transformation and

information services have recruited a significant number of employees in the UK.

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 Figure 3: Employment offered by Apple in Europe

(Source: Apple, 2020)

In 2019, Apple invested around 11 million in 2019. Furthermore, after the creation of app stores

in 2008, Europe based developers in Apple have earned around 21 million globally (Apple,

2020). Therefore, the efficiency of the organization has also been supported by the Human

resource policy of Apple. On the other hand, another significant objective of employment is the

voice. As per Armstrong and Taylor (2020), employee voice can be described as the aspect by

which people in an organization communicate with the employer to express their views about the

matters that impact them at work. Therefore, to offer an interactive workplace, it is important to

focus on the voice of employees. In the operations of Apple, employee voice is also important. In

Apple, there is a significant effective employee and employer relationship. On the list of Forbes,

Apple has secured the rank of 4 in the list of World's Best Employers (Forbes, 2020). Apple is

the leading technology organization in many countries, has attempted to maintain a good

relationship with their operations.

The most significant strategy of Apple is the strategy of power-sharing in which employees and

the employers are free to express the viewpoint (Nechanska et al. 2020). The employees are

divided into small teams such as the IT team, business development team and information team.

In the UK, Apple has been able to have 22000 employees (Apple, 2020). The communicative

relationship between the employees and the employer of Apple has helped the company to create

more jobs in the UK. The employees can share their opinions about their performance and other

work-related factors in the present in the work environment. Since 2000, in Europe, Apple has

experienced a 15 times increase in employment with the help of effective HR policies (Apple,

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2020). Therefore, the HR policies of Apple have been effective based on the objectives of

employment.

The business strategy of Apple is substantially focused on the theory of differentiation strategy.

On the other hand, the most significant policy of HR practices in the UK is attracting the best

talents in the workforce and retaining them. The HR policy of Apple has also a substantial

emphasis on promoting inclusiveness and diversity. In the UK, in the retail sector, Apple has

provided 80,000 jobs and in manufacturing and 17,700 jobs in facilities management. The

diversity in the workforce contributes to the development of best ideas as the best talents having

different experiences, talents, skills, and knowledge are able to come under one roof. The

company has provided a significant amount of job opportunities to a large number of people. The

differentiation strategy is majorly focused on producing differentiated and unique products in the

market. Therefore, the varied and diverse workforce of the company helps in achieving the goals

of the company substantially. The camera technology of iPhones is unique and is not found in

any other companies. In Apple, more than 800 specialists and engineers collaborate solely for

improving the camera technologies (Apple, 2020). The products manufactured in Apple are

created focusing on their impact on the people, customers and the planet as well.

A significant focus for the business strategy of Apple is to recruit the high performing talents in

the workforce. A talented and efficient workforce can help in creating improved and unique

products for business. In the case of Apple, the strategy of inclusivity, along with emphasizing

talents, has significantly helped to achieve the differentiation strategy of the company. The

employees are provided with health and wellness benefits at every level which helps in the

success of the company. While working at Apple, employees can reimburse their education and

they also get special pricing on Apple products. In the fourth quarter of 2019, Apple was able to

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increase its revenue by 2% from the 2018 fourth quarter (Apple, 2019). Therefore, the distinctive

HR policies of Apple have helped in increasing revenue. The company has also been able to

launch new products such as the iPhone 11 pro in the market.

The HR policies for Apple has helped the organization to accomplish the business strategies.

However, the HR policies of Apple can be improved with several other measures. Shelton

(2016)stated that in an HR policy, it is substantially important to have a policy related to non-

harassment as well as non-discrimination. However, Apple's HR policies lack these kinds of

policies in the workplace. Moreover, DeNisi and Murphy (2017) also stated that the

classification of the employees is substantially significant. The employees need to be classified

based on their working hours and designation such as part-time, full time, exempt and non-

exempt. In these areas, the HR practices of Apple can be improved.

The HR policy of Apple can be considered as following the theory of human relations in human

resource. The main focus of the business operations of Apple is creating unique products in the

market with achieving a high market share in the respective market. To achieve this goal, it is

significantly important to focus on the aspect of human relationships in the company as the

employees can help in creating unique products for the company. As per Shelton (2016), there is

the significant importance of the human relations theory of HRM. The theory suggests that

people working in a company can be helped by the supportive environment in the company. The

supportive behaviour of the workplace also enhances growth as well as the development of the

company.

The major focus of Apple's strategy is focused on continuous innovation. Therefore, the work

environment needs to be represented in such a way that innovation can take place. The

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coordination of the business strategy and the HR strategy needs to be there for business (Sender

et al. 2017). To help the employees working in the company, Apple has attempted to create a

diverse team to promote extraordinary work (Apple, 2020). The aspect of diversity and

inclusivity also contributes to the effectiveness of the HR policy. However, in the HR policy of

Apple, there are some significant gaps. The policy of HR in Apple lacks an initiative of

performance appraisal. DeNisi and Murphy (2017) stated that in a fast-growing industry such as

manufacturing and technological services, providing appraisals to the employees is substantially

important. In these industries, there needs to be the presence of performance appraisal as changes

happen quickly. The reason behind this gap in the HR policies of Apple can be the issue of poor

planning and ineffective HR management. The absence of employee appraisal can have a

significant impact on the performance of the employees. The performance of the employees can

be affected by the lack of these practices.

Recommendations

Apple can be suggested with a few recommendations which can help in improving the

performance of the employees in future. The recommendations can be such as,

Including employee performance appraisal

Apple can be suggested to include employee appraisal for the employees of the company. DeNisi

and Murphy (2017) stated that performance appraisal can help in improving the performance of

an employee along with helping the business to be successful. Apple needs to incorporate

programs for performance appraisals as it ensures that employees can engage in self-

development. The employees are a, so motivated with the help of the appraisals. In Apple,

employees put a significant amount of effort into the business. Therefore, their efforts need to be

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judged and rewarded based on a few parameters. The individual performances of an employee

can be enhanced with the appraisal. The compensation system for the appraisal needs to be based

on merit. The process of providing appraisal also ensures that the employees can directly

approach the employer.

Providing security for employment

Apple also needs to incorporate the strategy of employment security for the employees. Sender

et al. (2017) stated the lack of employment security impacts the performance of an employee

negatively. Therefore, it is imperative to provide employment security to Apple’s employees.

Most of the employees working at Apple are trained and talented. The lack of job security can

reduce the engagement of these employees in their respective operations. Providing security to

the employees of a company can ensure that the company also archives a great reputation.

Employees while working in Apple, should not be worried about losing their job continuously.

The innovation activities taking place in Apple can be adversely affected by the lack of job

security. Employees provided with a significant amount of job security can reduce the employee

turnover rate for the company. Secure employees attempt to serve the employers most

effectively, therefore, job security needs to be increased for the employees of Apple.

Conclusion

It can be concluded from the present study that HRM policies of a company can be regarded as

substantially important for any business organizations. In the current study, Apple has been

considered as the business organization for assessing their business policies. The company has

been able to improve the performance of the business with the help of effective HRM policy.

The assignment has stated that Apple is one of the most important technology-related companies

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in the world. The most significant aspect of the HR policy of Apple is the efforts for inclusion

and diversity. The study has conducted an analysis of the HR policies of Apple based on the

objectives of employment such as efficiency, equity and voice. In the study, it has been explored

that the company has been able to fulfil all the objectives effectively. The study has stated that

the important aspects of the HR policies of Apple have been impactful on the business strategy

of the company.

The differentiation strategy undertaken by Apple has been largely supported by the various

elements of the policy of human resources. The study has also stated that to enhance the business

performance of Apple at an optimum level, the HR theory of human relations can be applied.

The theory of human relations has been expected to increase the growth of the organization,

along with increasing the engagement and motivation of employees. The study has also explored

that in the HR strategy of Apple, there is a lack of a program for the appraisal for the employees.

Moreover, the study has also suggested increasing the motivation of the employees, a program

for providing appraisal to the employees can be considered. Increasing job security has also been

suggested for the employees.

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Armstrong, M. and Taylor, S., 2020. Armstrong's handbook of human resource management

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DeNisi, A.S. and Murphy, K.R., 2017. Performance appraisal and performance management:

100 years of progress?. Journal of Applied Psychology, 102(3), p.421.

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Gorondutse, A.H. and Abdullah, H.H., 2017. Influence of differentiation strategy on

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Retail Management Research, 11(4), pp.150-161.

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Government of United Kingdom (2020). Discrimination during recruitment.Available

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Nechanska, E., Hughes, E. and Dundon, T., 2020. Towards an integration of employee voice and

silence. Human Resource Management Review, 30(1).

Sender, A., Arnold, A. and Staffelbach, B., 2017. Job security as a threatened resource: reactions

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Shelton, G., 2016. Appraising Travelbee’s Human-to-Human Relationship Model. Journal of the

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[Accessed on 14/04/2020]

Statista (2019). Market share of leading mobile device vendors in the United Kingdom (UK)

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