Case Name :      Apple Inc.: Managing a Global Supply Chain

Authors :           Fraser P. Johnson, Ken Mark

Source :             Ivey Publishing

Case ID :            W14161

Discipline :        Strategy

Case Length :    21 pages

Solution Sample availability : YES

Plagiarism : NO (100% Original work)

An analyst for a money management firm is studying Apple Inc. as one of the firm’s key investments. In 2013, Apple had a market capitalization of nearly US$500 billion and sales of US$171 billion. According to the research firm, Gartner Group, it had the world’s best supply chain, ranking ahead of companies such as Walmart, Amazon and Inditex (Zara). As part of the analysis, a full review of Apple’s supply chain is required to look for insight into the future performance of the company in order to decide whether or not the analyst’s firm should continue to hold Apple shares.