Apple Portfolio

Introduction

Apple, Inc. was selected to do a portfolio on due to the fact that this company has been identified as the wealthiest company in the world.  Apple, Inc. is known world wide and is sold all around the world.  They are definitely not known as the cheapest company, but one with quality products that it stands behind.

Foundations of Global Business

        Apple operates in 18 different countries currently.  Of the 18 we will discuss United States, Japan, and France.  All three of these countries are part of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank, and the World Trade Organization (WTO).

        Based on how long they have been a part and are a part of these three organizations, these countries actively follow the guidelines laid out by all three institutions.  The IMF has surveillance setup to ensure that the members are actively following the guidelines that were laid out.  All three of the countries were part of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT).  The GATT was long before the WTO ever existed.  The World Bank is trying to end poverty and increase income in the bottom 40 percent of every company (World Bank Group, 2015).

        Based on  their long standing memberships and that they are in good standing, it is safe to say that for the most part these countries do have a functioning judiciary system.  Japan seems to be the most private of the three countries when it comes to a political standpoint.  In fact, Japan is probably one of the least globalized countries of the three.  They don’t have a lot of inflow or outflow of people from their countries.  Japan has really dwindled down when it comes to everything globalization really.  They have their borders blocked and highly regulated.  They are in a vicious circle, because of all the borders they have (Japans Globalization, 2011).  France seems to also not be much of a fan when it comes to globalization.  In the past, France has been more vocal about it, but in today’s society they are much quieter.  That doesn’t mean that they are against it though (Meunier, n.d.).

        France, Japan, and the United States may try to practice globalization in different policies.  Looking from the outside in you might think that they are very globalized.  Taking a closer look into them you will see the majority of these countries are not globalized.  The United States is big on governance, property rights, and competitive markets.  France is huge in the competitive market and in fact is the second largest trading company in Western Europe after Germany (Doing Business in France, n.d.).  Japan is huge into trading as well.  Japan’s biggest trades come from the automobile industry.

        Apple is a big producer of goods.  They are most notably famous for their products around the iPhone, iPad, and computers.  They are really trying to break into the technology market in more than one way.  There have been recent talks about developing a car at Apple.  They also sell their products globally and they export their goods all over the world.  Many of the parts are made in China and then exported to other areas of the world.

        Apple has had huge tariff taxes that can cause for a barrier to slow the progress of getting their goods out.  There is talk currently about getting the tariff prices slashed down considerably with China, which would be a big win for Apple and other technology companies.