Apple Ethical Company Case Study

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Ethics are “A set of rules or principles” (Robbins et al. 2016 p93) that govern the right and wrong behaviour of organisations. Apple Inc was founded in 1976 in California by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne and has grown from the founders having a shop in Jobs’ parents garage (Staff, 2017) to be the world’s most valuable brand in 2017 worth $170bn (Forbes.com, 2017). This essay will consider the factors that support and argue against the notion that Apple is an ethical company and based on these arguments will make a judgement as to whether Apple is an ethical organisation. Based on my research, I have gathered information that argues that Apple is not an ethical company. Following the suicides of 14 people at one of Apple’s manufacturers Foxconn, in 2010 (BBC News, 2014), it highlighted poor working conditions that included overcrowded …show more content…

In Apple’s 2017 Supplier Responsibility Report they stated that 705 audits were conducted and there was an increase in working hours compliance to 98% (Apple UK, 2017). This may address the issue mentioned above regarding the Pegatron factory, but does not confirm a corporate policy to rectify unethical treatment of employees. In Apple’s 2017 Environmental Responsibility Report they highlighted their commitment to removing toxins such as mercury from their products to ensure employee and environmental welfare as well as aiming to have 100% of Apple’s facilities powered by renewable resources, which is currently at 96% (Apple UK, 2017). Apple may be an ethical company, but it is how they acted to rectify unethical issues identified by the media and social groups that becomes the ethical baseline for consumers. Following the 2010 Foxconn suicides, Apple created a set of standards identifying how factory employees should be treated (BBC News, 2014) and terminated relationships with 18 suppliers who repeatedly violated these

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