Business Ethics: Apple, Inc. Essay

2. Laws must be static and unyielding in order to provide stability for a society.

There are two stakeholders in this situation and they are: the companies Apple and Foxconn as well as the Chinese government. Apple has obligations to their employees both domestic and global. They need to be mindful that a corporation is only as good as its products as well as, its image. They need to be mindful that since its headquarters are in the United States, it should do all that it can to maintain a positive image. It is also important to make sure that the products they sell are quality products while keeping the price as low as possible. Foxconn has a stake in its people and the products they export. The unfair and inhumane working conditions forced the government to step in. Foxconn also needs to be mindful of the issues presented previously for Apple (the difference they are headquartered in China). The fact that labor violations were taking place, China’s government had an obligations to its people. They need to protect their citizens from hazardous work conditions and hold Foxconn accountable for their actions.

Apple is one of the most valuable brands in the world. The company has strong brand loyalty, impressive revenue growth and superior innovations in technology. There are many aspects of the company that contribute to Apples success. One of the most important aspects is the company’s ethical decision making. Apple has a strong ethical code of conduct that represents the company as being ethical in all decisions being made. Despite Apples positive representation, the company has been faced with many ethical issues. Apple has been involved in many litigations ranging from a domain name dispute and patent infringement, to the use of refurbished products in their repairs. These unethical acts are risky for the company and can affect the company in negative ways. Another aspect that can affect the company is their competitiveness in the technology industry. This industry has many competitors that Apple has to compete with. However, Apple has been overly aggressive in protecting their property rights.

This factory collapsed and killed over 1,000 workers (Abrams, Rachel). In addition US companies use child labor that never would be ok in the domestic market. GAP has been accused of using 8 year old workers and Apple 15 year olds (Lamarque,Hannah). Other companies work minors over 19 hours per day (Lamarque,Hannah ). Can you imagine the backlash if a US company tried these practices? Overall, if they guarantee these rights in their home markets, they should treat their employees and customers abroad with equal human rights protection.

Apple is one of the giant companies in the United States and it is expected to take a firm stand on its commitment to ethical and social responsibilities. The company is committed to taking social and environmental responsibilities and conducting its business ethically. Apple suppliers ensure social and ethical responsibilities through different approaches. First, it provides safe and humanistic working condition for all the workers in the organization. To ensure this there are the set code for the

Big companies such as Apple Inc. focuses on ethical principles. They have a code of conduct that applies to their four main principles. Also, they have guidelines and codes of conduct that applies to all of their operations even their overseas operations. Even though Apple has different guidelines for their company and manufacturers to follow, doesn’t mean that they’re always going to be followed to the letter. Because of that many different issue has arose and occurred in America as well as in other countries that were associated with Apple Inc.

Apple believes there is a correct way to making the product and then there are the right people who make the product. Apple has more than 1.6 million employees that work for them around the world. The company has very high standards and want all of the workers to be able to keep those standards high. They also say that the workers have human rights and they want everyone to be treated fairly and paid fairly no matter what the race and or gender of the person is. It is also important for them to make sure that their employees are prepared for success no matter if it is with them or someone else to see them succeed. Everyone is the Apple company is treated like family. Apple makes sure its employees are happy and love working where they

When going into the Environmental factors of the company Apple, they are many things that affect the business. First is the Political factor. The correlation between apple and the political factor is money. The company Apple is one of a number of American technology business that has gained an ample amount of money throughout the years . In 2015 the business as a whole had $34.7 billion. This is create calls for higher corporate taxes in the United States, where income inequality has become a common political issue. Another thing is that Apple is rely on the low cost manufacturing from China. Social and political issues with China could disrupt manufacturing or increase manufacturing costs. Previously There has been calls to restrict Chinese imports in the United States in an effort to boost American manufacturing. Which means if any altercations between the United States and China can cause the cost of finding alternatives to

Apple is well known for its quality products such as iPhone, iPads and Laptops. Foxconn has been exploiting the labor in china by paying them less wages, and asking them to work in hazardous conditions ranging from health and safety violations to the use of underage workers (Nystedt, 2011). Unfortunately, Foxconn had a grim history of suicides at its factories in 2010, it made 18 workers throw themselves from the tops of the company's buildings, with 14 deaths and faced with strongly criticism from the public. After solving both physically and mentally for the victims' families, parallel with impaling HRM of company, the scandal of Apple was gradually

Apple Inc. is a company that has grown from three guys in a garage to a multinational globally active electronics corporation. Because of strict laws Apple has been proactive regarding its “Supplier Responsibility.” The company has installed a “comprehensive Supplier Code of Conduct, which outlines our expectations for the companies we do business with,” Apple (2011). According to Apple Inc. “The Supplier Code of Conduct requires our suppliers to ensure safe working conditions, treat their workers with dignity and respect, and establish and maintain environmentally responsible manufacturing processes.”

Foxconn is a company in China that is notorious for using slave labor to make electronic devices we use every day. The company is known for abundant labor violations and cruelties that turned many heads in different countries in the world. The unusual violations included ridiculous amounts of long hours, shorting pay people are owed, and restricted and conditions that many would equate to prison. There were numerous American companies under the microscope to improve conditions after being caught profiting off the slave labor from people “employed” at the facility. One of these companies was Apple. Foxconn is also notoriously known for manufacturing many other electronics, for other major companies.

Apple is committed to maintaining the highest standards, for both environmental responsibility and ethical conducts. They follow strict

Another large ethical problem that the vast majority of outsourcing companies have is the low salaries for employees. Most employees are migrant workers and aren’t eligible for in house health care or education benefits. To most workers, the current wage seems very high because they are migrants, but in reality they can’t afford to pay for health care or a future education. Even the mid level factory workers can’t afford to buy a single iPhone that they spend 12 hour days putting thousands of chips in, on the assembly line.

Apple also sources from various Asian countries – mainly China. The major benefit of souring to Asia is a source of certain problems. As Asian manufacturing plants make every effort to reduce their costs of production, they sometimes appoint in unethical practices in business. Asian manufacturing plants are flagrant for exploiting their workers. Workers usually work for long hours but are paid very less. Apple makes use of its main market position (buying power) to obtain these services at the lowest possible price when it comes to workers' working conditions and wages, therefore keeping the major share of the profit for itself and giving the lowest probable share to the employees. In the past half-decade 17 workers have killed themselves because they worked so hard yet got paid so little that it became hard for them to support their families. Apple's uncommunicativeness was deeply criticized in May, when as a minimum of 62 workers fell sick after breathing in n-hexane which is used at a Wintek electronics factory in Suzhou to clean touch screens. In order to improve their flaws, Apple should build a more environmentally friendly effort, should look after the safety measures carefully, should increase the workers wage rate and should have a better relationship with their

Despite its global recognition and status, Apple Inc. has come under scrutiny in recent years. Criticism concerning Apple’s unethical labour conditions (causing both physical and emotional distress to employees) on a considerable number of occasions has led to this. Unethical labour conditions has not been an isolated incident, rather a disapprovingly common occurrence for such a well-regarded global brand.