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Ethical practices in apple
Ethical practices in apple
principles of human rights
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Apple is a company facing a lot of ethical dilemmas. Since it is such a large and rapidly growing company, they face a lot of scrutiny from the media. Apple also faces a lot of pressure to be competitive in the technology market. As a result of this, companies tend to cut costs in as many ways as possible, some of which aren’t always ethical. One of the most typical ways businesses cut costs is by lowering production costs, which entails outsourcing for cheap labor. However, in order for labor to be made cheaper many sacrifices have to be made, which tend to be forced upon the workers by lowering wages, making working conditions unfavorable, and often by employing child labor.
One of Apple’s major ethical issues is the problem of labor. This is a very important problem in today’s world because businesses have a tendency to ignore basic human rights in their never ending competition to make as much money as possible. Outsourcing, using child labor, and overworking employees are all major ethical and legal violations committed all the time by many high profile companies, and often unjustly ignored as it is unfair to the people forced to work in such terrible conditions.
Foxconn, one of Apple’s major manufacturer’s, recently had a breakout of suicides amongst their workers because the working conditions were so awful. Workers are often forced to work continuous shifts through meal times and work up to 100 hours overtime in a single month, even though the legal limit is a mere 36. And to make it even worse, Foxconn now makes their employees sign a contract saying that if an employee commits suicide as a result of the horrendous conditions, the family is not even allowed to sue them. Instead of cutting ties with Foxconn upon recei...
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Lee, A. (2011, May 6). Inside Foxconn's Factory: Report Exposes Conditions At Apple Manufacturer. Breaking News and Opinion on The Huffington Post. Retrieved November 7, 2011, from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/06/foxconn-factory-conditions_n_858619.html
Moon, B. (n.d.). Sony and Apple Spat Over App Store E-Books May Hit Kindle. Welcome to Portable Electronics at About.com. Retrieved November 7, 2011, from http://portables.about.com/od/ebookreasers/a/Sony-App-Rejection.htm
Viswanathan, Â. (2011, November 2). Apple App Store - developer license agreement. Welcome to Mobile Devices: Resources on Mobile Applications, Mobile Apps Development, App Store News and Mobile Operator Updates. Retrieved November 7, 2011, from http://mobiledevices.about.com/od/mobileappbasics/a/Why-Apple-Revised-Their-Developer-License-Agreement.htm
"Apple products made with child labor – internal report.”http://rt.com/. Autonomous Nonprofit Organization “TV-Novosti”, 26 Jan 2013. Web. 7 Apr 2014. .
Apple is dedicated to above average standards of social and environmental responsibility and ethical conduct. It is also necessary that Apple’s suppliers handle workers with dignity and respect, provide safe working conditions, act fairly and ethically, and use environmentally responsible practices wherever they make products or perform services for Apple. Apple requires employees to function and adhere within the principles of the Apple Code, Credo and comply with all pertinent laws and regulations. Apple goes above and beyond—instead of just being compliant with the law they also make it a point to draw upon internationally recognized standards to advance social
Social responsibility is largely impacting today’s businesses, so this would lead one to believe that ethical issues in the supply chain of companies are no longer prevalent. This, however, is not the case. Even within the last five years, there are still social responsibility issues being reported. One recent example involves Patagonia, the outdoor, clothing and gear store and their supplier, VT Garment. In June of 2015, it was disclosed that Patagonia’s suppliers were involved in “erogenous employment practices, such as debt bondage” about three years ago (O’Connor, July 2015). The Taiwanese mills that supply the textile fabric to the sewing factories for Patagonia are being operated through forced labor. Debt bondage occurs when “brokers charge workers high fees to arrange for their work and promise an inflated salary, but once they start working, workers are paid even less and loan interest piles on” (“Factory Synopsis”). The workers are trapped in these mills attempting to pay off a debt that will never be reduced.
Apple recently admitted that they were doing business with several suppliers that have been using child labor. Apple’s 2013 Supplier Responsibility report exposed that there were over 100 cases of children employed by several of their technology suppliers during 2012. One of the suppliers, Foxconn, is a Taiwanese company that assembles iPad and iPhone products. While is based out of Taiwan, many of its operations are in China. The company was hiring interns who were as young as 14 and were well under China’s legal working age .China’s labor law requires a person to be at least 16 years of age to be working. Foxconn has also had several employees commit suicide due to the horrible working conditions and long working hours there.
In a recent audit of 229 factories in Asia, Apple found out that many of these workers in these factories and the management that helps run them do not follow the rules and regulations regarding Apple’s standards. These findings included, “62% of suppliers violated Apple’s working standards of 60 hours a week, 32% were not compliant with hazardous-substance management practices, 35% failed to meet Apple’s
Across the globe, an estimated 168 million children from developing countries employed in sweatshops.(Rogue) Sweatshops have become an integral part of U.S business corporations in the modern age. These corporations use the cheap labor of overseas factories to generate massive profit margins in the states, while taking advantage of those in poverty elsewhere. Many large athletic clothing corporations, namely Nike, Adidas, and the Jordan brand, have come under fire for outsourcing a majority of their work overseas. The most common criticism has come from the horrendous conditions and barely any pay. This topic struck home with me not just because it is involved with my field of study in business management, but also because of how it affects me as a consumer of such products. My ethical question is “should businesses be forced to maintain certain standards for overseas workers?”. By examining the standards a business should maintain, the ethical dilemma of profit versus
Not only is the pay and work hours bad, the jobs are dangerous too. One man lost two of his fingers in a machine and after being taken to the hospital, his boss furious for having to pay for the bill, is expected to go back to work in excruciating pain to pay off the medical bill (Lee-Potter 2007). In a Chinese sweatshop in Italy a fire broke out and killed 7 people. Because of all the dust and fabric on the floor, the fire spread quickly trapping workers inside due to iron bars on windows to keep them in (Aloisi 2013). The reason for those 7 workers to still be at the factory is that they were sleeping in “cardboard cubicles” (Aloisi 2013). Most workers cannot afford to have homes outside of the factories and sleep where they work. When factories are shut down, its inhabitants are
As mentioned above, Apple Inc. is one of the well-managed companies in the world, and this is one of the pillars of its success in the market. The company’s core business is designing, manufacturing, and marketing mobile communication as well as media gadgets, in addition to supplying related software, and networking solutions. It is known for producing very unique and high-differentiated products such as the iPhone, iPod, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, and many more. The company has a culture of valuing its employees, because the management believes that the company is where it is today because of these employees. The employees are accorded...
Few people second guess Apple or their products, their image is well-maintained and the products are widely owned by people of all kinds. However, the process of making these much beloved iPhones and iPads is widely overshadowed by the company’s rate of constant innovation. In a series of articles by The New York Times, journalists attempt to unmask the controversial use of overseas manufacturers indicate a true crisis; a labor-power problem which abuses foreign workers as well as harming mid-wage jobs of consumers in the U.S. Many different lenses can be used to further analyze the structures, relationships and interactions that characterize this phenomena. Figures such as C. Wright Mills, Karl Marx and Fredrick Engels, Pierre Bourdieu, Immanuel Wallerstein and Leslie Sklair.
For the purpose of achieving this, it has set out strict policies and procedures that ensures that all the companies that it has business with should provide the safest working conditions for its workers, should treat the workers products which are fairly and that they are supposed to use the environmentally responsible manufacturing processes, as long as it is an area where Apple products are being made (O 'Grady, 2008). The organization’s mission is to produce very high quality goods, at significantly low
Computers and technology makes it easier for entrepreneurs to enter this market. Not only are major tech companies competing against one another, but they are also competing against little programmers that know how to code. In our time you will never know with certainty when a small group of engineers or computer scientists are going to create, “next big thing”. Apple has been able to have a competitive advantage over its competitor by creating the highest quality products and services. Some of Apple’s current competitors are Microsoft, Google, and Facebook, and a few other tech companies as well. Most people strongly people Apple is one of the stronger company its industry, but then again some other people have biased views. Financially, they are the strongest company in the world. Also people are always willing to pay a premium for their products because of their durability, quality, and prior experiences with Apple products. Apple is always on the look at for new innovative ideas and concept that are being produced by self-motivated entrepreneurs. They are always looking to hire bright minds and let them develop within the company. A lot of entrepreneurs, programmers and engineers do not have a problem working for Apple because of their well-established perks. Apple offers its employees of the best benefits in the world. They also fairly compensate their employees that work in the front-end store as
The central facts for Foxconn involved protest by 150 of the 32,000 employees at its campus in the city of Wuhan in China and suicides by 18...
It is expected for such a company to feel obligated to deliver upon the American dream. The publicity of such comments does not only affect a company’s reputation but also financial performance. Apple have a role in ensuring that America as a nation grows, itself having been molded by the country’s economic muscle and enabling environment for business. The point in this is that, although the company is obliged to make better products, America is one of her best markets and it has an obligation to its market.
Having poor working conditions impacts the society in such a way that workers are depressed and do not work in peace. Apple should look for ways in which their suppliers can offer working conditions that are humane. If the current suppliers do not improve their working conditions, then Apple should consider looking for other suppliers since the working conditions of their workers should be of most priority (Apple Inc. 2016). Moreover, having good working conditions will attract more qualified personnel into the company, thus increasing the quality of their products. However, the main problem in Apple making sure that their suppliers offer better working conditions is that Apple has no legal liability in any operation that happens in China factories since their ownership is by separate manufacturers. It, therefore, gives Apple the dilemma of choosing between what is correct morally and what is correct legally. It also represents situations that are unfortunate since an action of being socially responsible is not what is best for the running of the business as using cheap labour to minimise cost has led to Apple to achieve margins that are spectacular and profits on its products (Dhaliwal 2011, 59-100). Apple should keep in mind that the aim of business is not always based on making profits since long-term goals are
...orking environments for their factory employees. Even with international groups and organizations keeping a constant watch on companies who outsource work to impoverished countries, there is often little that can be done to control these companies. Lack of local enforcement and overlooked international law makes it easy for money-hungry companies to get away with morally wrong behavior. By bringing attention to these types of situations and not supporting companies who do not treat their workers fairly, executives will be hit where it hurts them the most, their pockets. When their profits decrease, they will be forced to look for alternatives to manufacture their products.