Apple Inc. Analyzing Company Fundamentals

Identify three major countries with which your chosen company operates. Preferably, the three countries are on different continents.

Apple operates in many countries but mainly in the US, UK, and Canada. They are located in Europe and the continent of North America (Annual Report 2009, 2009).

Are these three countries members of the IMF, the World Bank, and WTO?

These countries are members of WTO for many years already as well as of the World Bank and IMF (Members and Observers, 2015; Member Countries, 2015; IMF Members, 2015).

Do you believe that these three countries actively follow the guidelines of these three major international institutions?

I think that the mentioned countries act according to the guidelines of IMF, WTO, and the World Bank because they are members of these institutions from the previous century. Moreover, the quotas and voting power that are seen on the official IMF site prove their involvement. If these countries failed to follow the guidelines, they would not be members of the institutions any more.

Compare the institutional structure of these three countries to determine if they promote globalization, i.e., (a) are their political institutions transparent and (b) do they have a functioning judiciary system?

The US has transparent political institutions, and its judiciary system establishes justice in the country. The country promotes globalization; it has even implemented a global democratic reform some years ago (Joint Performance Summary, 2007). Great Britain has an experience of globalization, and it is related to economic expansion. Still, many institutions left non-global, which means that the country is less open towards globalization (Martell, 2008). Moreover, it has a functioning judiciary system and the courts solve civil and other cases. Canada, in its turn, is closer to the US. It follows Transparency International and promotes globalization. Except for that, it is one of the best-governed countries (Ignatieff, 2013).

Do you believe that the three countries under consideration practice policies that promote globalization? For example, what are those countries policies toward (a) governance, (b) competitive markets, (c) property rights, and (d) corruption?

I think that the US, UK, and Canada utilize practice policies that promote globalization. From the sources that were previously referred to, I got to know that these countries implement lots of changes to support the idea of globalization. They influenced the government, promoted steps to avoid corruption, and emphasize democracy. Property rights exist for a long time already and are supported by the law. The organizations are implementing their best practices to expand globally and remain competitive.

Determine whether your company is a producer of goods or services. What are the major products and/ or services provided by your company? Are those outputs sold only domestically or are they also exported?

Apple Inc. focuses on the production of personal computers, mobile communication devices, and portable digital music and video players and sell a variety of related software, services, peripherals, and networking solutions (Annual Report 2009, 2009, para. 4). These items are sold worldwide, so they can be seen in domestic and foreign markets.

Do these products and services face tariff or non-tariff barriers in the target export markets? What are the tariff rates or non-tariff barriers imposed on these items?

As the company has many stores and produces its devices in lots of places, its products avoid tariff barriers.

Identify regional trading blocs with which your chosen company operates as well as the benefits that your company gains because it is part of those trading blocs.

The company operates on a geographic basis and its trading bloc consists of the Americas, Europe, Japan, and Retail segment (Apple Stores). Such peculiarities allow the company to keep the majority of its income in its native country so that it would not be extremely influenced by the situations in other countries. Still, location in Japan provides it with cheap labor, and Europe promotes expansion.

Would your company be better off under a system of multilateral trade liberalization like the WTO, or with bilateral or regional trading blocs?

I believe that Apple is already a well-known company that is appreciated worldwide so it can perform better under the WTO and other systems like it. In this way, the company would have an opportunity to enter a bigger market and avoid many trade barriers. It would also be supported by various experts so that there would be fewer disputes.

If you were visiting a foreign country to negotiate a transaction on behalf of this company, what cultural knowledge would you need to gain before the visit? How and from where would you get the information?

I would need to know the peculiarities of formal communication that are accepted in this country as well as their main values and beliefs. Such information can be gained during communication with people who live there (online, for example) or by surfing the Internet (read articles, books, and peoples comments).