Assignment:
Case Assignment
Apple and Samsung are often mentioned together, as they are both world leading producers of smartphones. However, they are much different companies in a variety of ways. Carefully review the background readings concerning diversification and vertical integration. Then do some extensive research on Samsung and Apple concerning their diversification and vertical integration strategy.
When you have finished your research, write a four to five page paper answering the following questions. Make sure to cite both the required background readings as well as articles on Samsung and Apple:
1. To what extent does Apple engage in related diversification? To what extent do they engage in unrelated diversification?
2. To what extent does Samsung engage in related diversification? To what extent do they engage in unrelated diversification?
3. To what extent does Apple engage in backward (upstream) vertical integration? To what extent do they engage in forward (downstream) vertical integration?
4. To what extent does Samsung engage in backward (upstream) vertical integration? To what extent do they engage in forward (downstream) vertical integration?
5. Overall what major differences or similarities do you find between Samsung and Apple's diversification and vertical integration strategies?
Required Reading
To start off this module, take a look at the following video for a relatively comprehensive overview of several concepts from this module. This video is a little longer than previous videos you've watched for this class, but covers very useful information such as vertical and horizontal integration strategies as well as conglomerate (diversification) strategy:
Holden, P. (2011). Business integration - vertical, horizontal and conglomerate. St. Lawrence College.
Now delve a little deeper into this subject with the following chapter that will reinforce what you've learned in the video plus some important additional concepts such as transaction costs:
Stengel, D. (2012). Economics of Organization. Managerial Economics Principles. Flat World Education
Now read the following chapter for more detail on the concepts of vertical integration and horizontal integration. Also covered in this chapter is diversification strategy, also known as conglomerate strategy. Pay attention to the discussion of related versus unrelated diversification:
Ketchon, D. & Short, J. (2012). Selecting corporate-level strategies. Strategic Management: Evaluation and Execution. Flat World Education.