In the 1970s, technologies like VCRs and personal computers were revolutionizing the industry. The co-founders, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, were attracted by this technological revolution and founded Apple Computers in 1976 (Abdelsamad et al., 2008). The combination of their charisma and intellect allowed them to design the Apple I computer. Today, Apple is one of the world's leading technology companies. However, internal factors such as Apple's unclear marketing plan, negligence in employees' work lives, and financial-legal issues have negatively affected their performance and tarnished their corporate reputation. Apple has been working to fix issues that were negatively impacting performance, and has had great success in recent years. However, Apple must learn to continuously monitor these areas to achieve long-term success and maintain a competitive advantage. Since Apple's inception, there have been three significant internal factors that have negatively impacted the company's performance. One of the factors that affected Apple's performance was their inability to stand out in their industry. In addition to the fact that Apple did not allow external computer manufacturers to use its Mac operating system, their products were easily imitable (Abdelsamad et al., 2008). The combination of these two factors has allowed their rivals, Windows and Intel, to dominate the personal computer (PC) market. It was necessary for the company to focus on a particular marketing mix to gain an advantage over competitors (Wheelen & Hunger, 2012). Another negative factor that negatively affected Apple's performance was the negative attention the company received when a union was formed in a Chinese factory which......middle of paper...... .ht mlKurtenbach, E. (2011, December 20). China investigates explosion at Apple supplier factory. USA Today Tech. Retrieved from http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/story/2011-12-20/apple-factory-explosion/52112678/1Noe, R.A., Hollenbeck, J.R., Gerhart, B., & Wright, P.M. ( 2007). Fundamentals of human resource management (2nd ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill/Irwin. Robertson, D. (2006, August 14). Apple is asking for more time to submit the application. Times - UK. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.Schoonmaker, D. (2005). The Apple Store opens here. Grand Rapids Business Journal, 23(26), B2. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.Vendor Responsibilities. (n.d.). Apple. Retrieved from http://www.apple.com/supplierresponsibility/. Wheelen, T. L., & Fame, J. D. (2012). Strategic management and corporate policy: Toward global sustainability (13th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.