Challenges in the Global Business Environment
Joseph D. Williams
Dr. Stephanie Dunston
Strayer University
BUS 475 Business and Society
16 August 2016
Changes that Apple has made to its Code of Conduct
Apple Incorporation, to advance its Code of Conducts and efficient operation, has made the decision to disclose the names and locations of supplier factories. In 2014, Apple Incorporation released the supplier’s responsibility report that was describing the standard responsibilities and the Companies approved projections regarding the labor practices. Amenability is one of critical aspect to consider in terms of company’s development, thus providing entree to elemental requirements is of importance to both the public and employee advocacy
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This is to ensure that every supply chain division is operating a fight-free zone and the operations are carried out in compliance to set policies and regulations. Apple Incorporation has been approved by eco-friendly organizations such as Greenpeace international as such committed company in adhering to environmental regulations. Apple Incorporation has received an outstanding accomplishment its overall management. Some of Apples accomplishments represents the picture that are, however, meaningless that how the company indicates. Nevertheless, the company’s public image has ominously improved due to its positive portrayal of its actions. For instance, the company has unconstrained report that shows that 95% of all weeks the employees work in the supply chain met the Apple’s regulation of 60 hours (excepting Chinese law that limits workweeks to 49h hours). However, this compliance report of is slightly higher than 35 percent figure that was released in 2011. It is importance to acknowledge that while degree of compliance may be overstated and maybe understated, the company is making fundamental progress. According to many of its verified reports, the averaged workweeks for the overall employees in the company’s supply chain are approximately 54 hours per week: 54 hours of repetitive, physical and hard labor (Andersen, 2011).
There is a proposed strategy by the Apple Company that is
How effectively do Canadian businesses and government engage together to promote a shared vision and agenda in the global business environment? Do Canadians strike an effective balance between private sector pursuit of global business and public sector support and enablement?
Apple Inc. commonly known as Apple has effectively managed to be a successful company in a very competitive consumer electronics industry by been innovative and differentiating the company’s products with similar products in the markets by offering high quality products and good customer service while the actual manufacturing of the products is outsourced to trusted third party suppliers. On a wider perspective, the company has set high standards that even the company itself has to be on its level best to maintain the standards that it has set. Over the last few years, the consumer electronics market has
In this report I am going to define the meaning of Globalisation and assess the impact of globalisation on the way the business operate.
Apple business environment is competitive and fast-paced. Apple suppliers must understand this dynamic and be agile and flexible in responding to changing business conditions. All over the world, people are building Apple products and Apple has a responsibility to make sure that each person is treated with dignity and respect. It’s a massive challenge where Apple work is never done, but each year they implement meaningful, lasting changes across their supply chain. Because of this around the globe, Apple employees are united in bringing equality, human rights, and respect for the environment to the deepest layers of their supply chain. Apple goes deep into their supply chain to enforce their social and environmental standards by empowering workers through education, demanding that suppliers treat workers fairly and ethically at all times, having safe and healthy facilities, and hold their products and processes to the highest
This case incident is about Apple going global. Apple went from having 100% of its production conducted in the United States to only having 10%. When this took place, it had quite a negative impact on the U.S. economy and the American people. The context of this paper would go into more details as I answer the questions.
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
In relation to Apple’s internal environment, the company encourages an innovative culture, involving staff creativity and open-mindedness to novel ideas. In addition, Apple stresses the use of environmentally friendly practices, and protection of employees’ safety and health at work (Schneider, 1995, p. 70). Apple’s external environment poses a challenge to the company in terms of emerging firms in the technology business line, competitors selling substitute products, charging lower prices that entice customers because of their affordability, in comparison to the high quality and pricing of similar items from Apple (Apple, 2012, p.1).
In the past electronics supply chains have not been as stringent as they should have been. Apple is in an association with other suppliers called Electronics Industry Citizenship Coalition (EICC), which ensures each company voluntarily works to improve the conditions members of staff are working in. The EICC audits and updates members in a timely manner. Apple is proactive and addresses problems before they begin by allowing workers to know their rights and according to Apple Inc. (2011) “through collaboration with suppliers, government agencies, NGOs, and other companies.” This will help ensure that Apple, and
Apple’s success can be attributed to Steve Jobs leadership skills. He made corporate culture an important part of its success. They employ highly skilled employees who strive to do things “the rights way” (Ferrell & Hartline, 2014). All these things are true only in the corporate sector of Apple. When it comes to the manufacturing process, Apple’s product components are manufactured in other countries and they have faced scrutiny for this process. Despite every effort to audit these factories to ensure compliance, they still do not comply and fail to meet Apple’s standards.
T2 (Tea Too) is a tea heaven, a tea-lovers’ heaven. It is a premium brand established in 1996 in Australia over 18 years ago and cherished internationally by all tea devotees. It has 60 stores throughout in Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and America. However, the first retail outlet is located in Brunswick Street, Fitzroy. Maryanne Shearer is the creative director of T2 - Australia’s leading tea retailer, with largest range of tea and tea wares in Australia. It offers the country’s largest range of premium, fragrant tea and tea wares from all around the globe. Tea devotees can spend hours at their taster table, trying all the different types of hot and cold teas they have come up with. It’s
In 2013 Apple included two separate specialized audits, a process safety assessment and environmental audits. Violations were broken down to identify excessive working hours, discriminatory practices, protection of juvenile workers, and if the facility had been notified previously to correct any of the same discrepancies. There is zero tolerance for underage labor. For hiring any person underage, the company requires that the supplier make financial reparations, get them back into school, finance their education, and provide income as if they were an employee. Once the individual is legal, there is a job offer made available to them. Apple’s environmental practices had also come under a microscope. There was a focus on conflict minerals like tantalum, gold, tungsten, and tin. For the first time in the company’s history, a list of the smelters and refiners used by Apple were released. Steps are being taken to be conflict free through the aid of third party auditors like the FLA. Apple’s Supplier Employee Education and Development (SEED) program provides free education to employees. There is also an 18 month program to train workers in health and safety matters, as well as environmental issues. The numbers of people participating in these types of programs are expected to increase every year (Moren, 2014). SEED and other programs like it are created to educate and empower workers. Provide them with
How effectively do Canadian businesses and government engage together to promote a shared vision and agenda in the global business environment?
Apple Inc. was founded in 1977. To date, this company has continually offered a wide range of products to meet the growing demands of customers all over the world. Apple not only produces and sells computer software and cellphones; they also distribute consumer electronic products around the globe. Increasing the value of shareholder and coming up with new inventive products is a constant process for Apple, and Apple continues to do so with their popularity around the world with about 301 store locations in 10 different countries. Aside from all of
In a global environment, the strategies that managers pursue have a significant effect on a business performance as compared to the competitors. Hill and Jones define strategy as a set of actions that a company’s managers put in place in order to increase performance of the company (2013). When the strategies lead to a superior performance of a company relative to its competitors, then the company is said to be at a competitive advantage. This is a case study of Federal Express, in the small package express delivery industry. It
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.