Global competitive advantage – creating and sustaining: the case of Apple Inc.全球竞争优势——创造和维持：以苹果公司为例。
The purpose of this essay is to discuss theoretical ideas behind creating and sustaining global competitive advantage; then applying these in an analysis of Apple Inc. Using the star analysis, I will examine how the company achieves global competitive advantage by means of efficiency, flexibility and learning.
Apple Inc. is an American multinational corporation, founded in April 1976, headquartered in Cupertino, California, US (Apple.com, 2014). The company designs, manufactures and retails consumer electronics, online services, personal computers and software. Apple is also thelargest publicly traded corporation in the world by market capitalization, second-largest information technology companyby revenue and theworld’s third-largest mobile phone maker (Forbes.com, 2013).
苹果公司是一家美国跨国公司，成立于1976年4月，总部位于美国加利福尼亚州库比蒂诺。该公司设计、制造和零售消费电子产品、在线服务、个人电脑和软件。苹果也是世界上市值最大的上市公司，收入第二大的信息技术公司和世界第三大手机制造商。
Globalisation plays a major role in achieving global competitive advantage. The merge of distinct and historically separate national markets into one global market place poses many advantages as well as disadvantages for companies operating world-wide (Hill, 2005).
全球化在实现全球竞争优势方面发挥着重要作用。将不同的、历史上分离的国家市场合并为一个全球市场，这对在全球经营的公司来说既有很多好处，也有很多缺点。
Home country 母国
Apple states that it differs from other companies within the same sector as it was set up to create value by “seeking innovations and creating an organization that can implement them” (Steve Jobs, 2000). The company is thought to have a very powerful management and corporate culture, which promotes innovation in everything they do, “from their products to marketing and delivery”; which is key in differentiating their brand from the competition (The Harvard Review, 2011).
苹果表示，它与同一行业内的其他公司不同，因为它的成立是为了通过“寻求创新并创建一个能够实施创新的组织”来创造价值。该公司被认为拥有非常强大的管理和企业文化，“从产品到营销和交付”，在他们所做的每件事上都能促进创新；这是将他们的品牌与竞争对手区分开来的关键。
Porter’s (1980) value chain helps businesses examine additional competitive capabilities hidden in primary and support activities. For the purpose of this assignment, I will concentrate on exploring primary activities that predominately apply to how Apple creates value and thus gains competitive advantage.
Porter的价值链帮助企业检查隐藏在主要和支持活动中的额外竞争能力。为了完成这项任务，我将专注于探索主要适用于苹果如何创造价值从而获得竞争优势的主要活动。
Research and development is one of the primary activities, where Apple creates value. The company designs and develops products which are rich in design and user experience. Throughout the years, Apple has created a brand culture, attracting customers who identify with the brands values: innovativeness, simplicity, and coolness (Forbes, 2012).This core competence alone gives the company a distinguished brand image in the market, and a competitive advantage, which succeeds even in the face of multiple competitors (Apple.com, 2014).
研发是苹果创造价值的主要活动之一。该公司设计和开发的产品具有丰富的设计和用户体验。多年来，苹果创造了一种品牌文化，吸引了认同品牌价值观的客户：创新、简洁和冷静。仅凭这一核心能力，公司就在市场上拥有卓越的品牌形象和竞争优势，即使面对多个竞争对手，也能取得成功。
Marketing and sales is a very important sector for a company competing within the fast-developing technology sector. Perceived scarcity of Apple’s products makes them seen as luxury goods therefore more desirable and in demand (Forbes, 2011). Apple is also seen as the master of preserving confidentiality during the product development phase. On the other hand, the company is also named the “master of the teaser marketing campaign” (Telegraph, 2013). Each time a new product is due to be launched, leakages feed the media and internet creating speculations months prior to the actual launch. This creates a free marketing momentum prior to paid marketing campaign.
对于一家在快速发展的技术行业中竞争的公司来说，营销和销售是一个非常重要的部门。苹果产品的稀缺性使其被视为奢侈品，因此更受欢迎和需求。苹果也被视为在产品开发阶段保护机密的大师。另一方面，该公司也被评为“挑逗性营销活动的大师”。
