Multinational Corporation (Mnc) or Multinational Enterprise (Mne)

A  multinational corporation  (MNC) or  multinational enterprise  (MNE)[1]  is a  corporation  enterprise that manages  production  or deliversservices  in more than one country. It can also be referred to as an  international corporation. The  International Labour Organization  (ILO) has defined[citation needed]  an MNC as a corporation that has its management headquarters in one country, known as the  home country, and operates in several other countries, known as  host countries. Some multinational corporations are very big, with budgets that exceed some nations'  gross domestic products  (GDPs). Multinational corporations can have a powerful influence in local economies, and even the  world economy, and play an important role in  international relations  and  globalization. Apple Inc. formerly  Apple Computer, Inc. is an American  multinational corporation  that designs and sells  consumer electronics,  computer software, and  personal computers. The company's best-known hardware products are the  Macintosh  line of computers, the  iPod, the  iPhone  and the  iPad. Its software includes the  Mac OS X  operating system; the  iTunes  media browser; the  iLife  suite of multimedia and creativity software; the iWork  suite of productivity software;  Aperture, a professional photography package;  Final Cut Studio, a suite of professional audio and film-industry software products;  Logic Studio, a suite of music production tools; the  Safari  web browser; and  iOS, a mobile operating system. As of July 2011, Apple has 357  retail stores  in ten countries, and an  online store. It has been the  largest publicly traded company in the world by market capitalization,[7][8]  swapping spots with  ExxonMobil, and the largest technology company in the world by revenue and profit. [9]  As of September 24, 2011, the company had 60,400 permanent full-time employees and 2,900 temporary full-time employees worldwide; its worldwide annual sales totalled $65. 23 billion, growing to $108. 249 billion in 2011. Fortune  magazine named Apple the most admired company in the United States in 2008, and in the world from 2008 to 2011. 10][11][12][13]  However, the company has received  widespread criticism  for its contractors' labor, and for its environmental and business practices. [14][15] Established on April 1, 1976 in  Cupertino, California, and incorporated January 3, 1977,[16]  the company was named Apple Computer, Inc. for its first 30 years. The word â€Å"Computer† was removed from its name on January 9, 2007,[17]  as its traditional focus on personal computers shifted towards  consumer electronics. [18] 1976–1980: The early years Apple was established on April 1, 1976 by  Steve Jobs,  Steve Wozniak, and  Ronald Wayne,[1]  to sell the  Apple I  personal computer kit. They were hand-built by Wozniak[19][20]  and first shown to the public at the  Homebrew Computer Club. [21]  The Apple I was sold as a  motherboard  (with  CPU,RAM, and basic textual-video chips)—less than what is today considered a complete personal computer. [22]  The Apple I went on sale in July 1976 and was market-priced at $666. 66 Apple was incorporated January 3, 1977[16]  without Wayne, who sold his share of the company back to Jobs and Wozniak for $800. Multi-millionaire  Mike Markkula  provided essential business expertise and funding of $250,000 during the incorporation of Apple. [ By the end of the 1970s, Apple had a staff of computer designers and a production line. The company introduced the ill-fated  Apple III  in May 1980 in an attempt to compete with  IBM  and  Microsoft  in the business and corporate computing market. [35] Jobs and several Apple employees including  Jef Raskin  visited  Xerox PARC  in December 1979 to see the  Xerox Alto. Xerox granted Apple engineers three days of access to the PARC facilities in return for the option to buy 100,000 shares (800,000 split-adjusted shares) of Apple at the pre-IPO price of $10 a share. [36]  Jobs was immediately convinced that all future computers would use a graphical user interface (GUI), and development of a GUI began for the  Apple Lisa. [37] When Apple went public, it generated more capital than any IPO since  Ford Motor Company  in 1956 and instantly created more millionaires (about 300) than any company in history. In 1984, Apple next launched the Macintosh. Its debut was announced by the now famous $1. 5 milliontelevision commercial â€Å"1984†. It was directed by  Ridley Scott, aired during the third quarter of  Super Bowl XVIIIon January 22, 1984,[39]  and is now considered a watershed event for Apple's success[40]  and a â€Å"masterpiece†. [41][42] In 1985 a power struggle developed between Jobs and CEO  John Sculley, who had been hired two years earlier. [45]  The Apple board of directors instructed Sculley to â€Å"contain† Jobs and limit his ability to launch expensive forays into untested products. Jobs resigned from Apple and founded  NeXT Inc. the same year. [46] 1986–1993: Rise and fall Having learned several painful lessons after introducing the bulky  Macintosh Portable  in 1989, Apple introduced the  PowerBook  in 1991. The Macintosh Portable was designed to be just as powerful as a desktop Macintosh, but weighed 7. 5 kilograms (17  lb) with a 12-hour battery life. The same year, Apple introduced  System 7, a major upgrade to the operating system, which added color to the interface and introduced new networking capabilities. It remained the architectural basis for  Mac OS  until 2001. During this time Apple experimented with a number of other failed consumer targeted products including  digital cameras,  portable CD audio players,  speakers,  video consoles, and  TV appliances. Enormous resources were also invested in the problem-plagued  Newton divisionbased on John Sculley's unrealistic market forecasts. [citation needed]  Ultimately, all of this proved too-little-too-late for Apple as their market share and stock prices continued to slide. [citation needed] 1994–1997: Attempts at reinvention In 1996, Michael Spindler was replaced by  Gil Amelio  as CEO. Gil Amelio made many changes at Apple, including extensive layoffs. [54]  After multiple failed attempts to improve Mac OS, first with the  Taligent  project, then later with  Copland  and  Gershwin, Amelio chose to purchase  NeXT  and its  NeXTSTEP  operating system, bringing Steve Jobs back to Apple as an advisor. [55]  On July 9, 1997, Gil Amelio was ousted by the board of directors after overseeing a three-year record-low stock price and crippling financial losses. Jobs became the interim CEO and began restructuring the company's product line. 1998–2005: Return to profitability On August 15, 1998, Apple introduced a new all-in-one computer reminiscent of the  Macintosh 128K: the  iMac. The iMac design team was led by  Jonathan Ive, who would later design the  iPod  and the  iPhone. [59][60]  The iMac featured modern technology and a unique design, and sold almost 800,000 units in its first five months. [61] On May 19, 2001, Apple opened the first official  Apple Retail Stores  in Virginia and California. 69]Later on July 9 they bought Spruce Technologies, a  DVD authoring  company. On October 23 of the same year, Apple announced the  iPod  portable  digital audio player, and started selling it on November 10. The product was phenomenally successful  Ã¢â‚¬â€ over 100 million units were sold within six years. [70][71 2007–2011: iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad Delivering his keynote speech at the  Macworl d Expo  on January 9, 2007, Jobs announced that Apple Computer, Inc. would from that point on be known as Apple Inc. because computers were no longer the main focus of the company, which had shifted its emphasis to mobile electronic devices. The event also saw the announcement of the  iPhone  and the  Apple TV. [83]  The following day, Apple shares hit $97. 80, an all-time high at that point. In May, Apple's share price passed the $100 mark. [84] In October 2010, Apple shares hit an all-time high, eclipsing $300. [98]  Additionally, on October 20, Apple updated their  MacBook Air  laptop,iLife  suite of applications, and unveiled  Mac OS X Lion, the latest installment in  their Mac OS X operating system. 99]  On January 6, 2011, the company opened their  Mac App Store, a digital software distribution platform, similar to the existing iOS App Store. [100]  Apple was featured in the documentary  Something Ventured  which premiered in 2011. 2011–p resent: Post–Steve Jobs era On January 17, 2011, Jobs announced in an internal Apple memo that he would take another medical leave of absence, for an indefinite period, to allow him to focus on his health. Chief operating officer  Tim Cook  took up Jobs' day-to-day operations at Apple, although Jobs would still remain â€Å"involved in major strategic decisions for the company. [101]  Apple became the most valuable consumer-facing brand in the world. [102] On October 4, 2011, Apple announced the  iPhone 4S, which includes an improved camera with 1080p video recording, a dual core A5 chip capable of 7 times faster graphics than the A4, an â€Å"intelligent software assistant† named  Siri, and cloud-sourced data with  iCloud. [110][111]One day later, on October 5, 2011, Apple announced that Jobs had died, marking the end of an era for Apple Inc. [ —————————————— ——- Culture Corporate Apple was one of several highly successful companies founded in the 1970s that bucked the traditional notions of what a  corporate cultureshould look like in organizational hierarchy (flat versus tall, casual versus formal attire, etc. ). Other highly successful firms with similar cultural aspects from the same period include  Southwest Airlines  and  Microsoft. Originally, the company stood in opposition to staid competitors like  IBM  by default, thanks to the influence of its founders; Steve Jobs often walked around the office barefoot even after Apple was a  Fortune 500  company. By the time of the  Ã¢â‚¬Å"1984† TV ad, this trait had become a key way the company attempted to differentiate itself from its competitors. [142] Users Apple's brand's loyalty is considered unusual for any product. At one time,  Apple evangelists  were actively engaged by the company, but this was after the phenomenon was already firmly established. Apple evangelist  Guy Kawasaki  has called the brand fanaticism â€Å"something that was stumbled upon†. [154]  Apple has, however, supported the continuing existence of a network of  Mac User Groups  in most major and many minor centers of population where Mac computers are available. Mac users would meet at the European  Apple Expo  and the San Francisco  Macworld Conference & Expo  trade shows where Apple traditionally introduced new products each year to the industry and public until Apple pulled out of both events. While the conferences continue, Apple does not have official representation there. Mac developers, in turn, continue to gather at the annual AppleWorldwide Developers Conference. ————————————————- Corporate affairs During the Mac's early history Apple generally refused to adopt prevailing industry standards for hardware, instead creating their own. [161]This trend was largely reversed in the late 1990s beginning with Apple's adoption of the  PCI  bus in the  7500/8500/9500  Power Macs. Apple has since adopted  USB,  AGP,  HyperTransport,  Wi-Fi, and other industry standards in its computers and was in some cases a leader in the adoption of standards such as USB. [162]  FireWire  is an Apple-originated standard that has seen widespread industry adoption after it was standardized as  IEEE 1394. [163] Headquarters Apple Inc. s world corporate headquarters are located in the middle of  Silicon Valley, at 1-6  Infinite Loop,  Cupertino, California. This Apple campus has six buildings that total 850,000 square feet (79,000 m2) and was built in 1993 by Sobrato Development Cos. [167] ———————————â₠¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€- Finance In its fiscal year ending in September 2011, Apple Inc. hit new heights financially with $108 billion in revenues increased significantly from $65 billion in 2010 and nearly $82 billion available in cash reserve, but the market share decreased to 15 percent from 16. 6 percent. [219]