Check Out Our Apple's Ethical and CSR Policies Essay

Main purpose of existence business organizations is to make profits. Profits motivate

business organizations to improve their activities. However, business organizations do not
exist in complete isolation from the real world. Stakeholders of business organizations face
various problems. These problems affect the relationship that stakeholders have with the
organizations. Organizations should invest heavily in human capital as they determine the
productivity and ultimately the company's profitability. In addition, business organizations
should ensure that, in generating profits they engage in ethically right activities. Therefore, it
is critical for business organizations to have ethical and corporate social responsibility (CSR)
policies.
Ethics in business dictates that businesses should ensure that their activities are ethically
right. Business organizations should not use unscrupulous activities with the sole aim of
getting profits. Therefore, it is wrong for businesses to mistreat their employees or use child
labor in their activities. There are regulations that ensure that companies engage in ethical
activities. However, regulations do not cover all ethical aspects of business organizations.
Companies may comply with the regulation but engage in unethical activities. In addition, it
is ethically wrong for businesses to use deception to obtain their activities. Companies have
policies that outline how various stakeholders of the business should undertake their activities
to ensure that they are ethically right. In addition, companies should ensure that they invest a
proportion of their profits to the community. Companies should support various initiatives
that help improve the welfare of members of the community. Corporate social responsibility
encompasses these activities. Companies are under no obligation to engage in CSR activities.
However, failure to engage in various CSR activities may have serious repercussions on the
business. It may harm the reputation of the company making customers shy away from
buying products of the company. This is especially if the company is highly profitable as
Apple Computers. Apple has ethical and CSR policies that help ensure its suppliers and
distributors engage in acceptable activities. Apple’s supplier code of conduct ensures that
suppliers’ activities meet Apple’s expectations.
Apple Computers Inc.
Apple is one of the largest companies in the world. The company manufactures computers,
phones digital music devices, and various software applications. Some of the major products
of the company include the iPhone, iPad, iMac, and iPod. The major software applications of
the company are the iCloud, iOS, and iTunes (Morrissey, 2010). Apple has revolutionized
virtually every industry where it has it activities. The company helped revolutionize the
computer industry with the Mac. It made ownership of computers fashionable. Previously,
people viewed computers as technological devices for programmers and people who did not
have a social life. However, Apple helped change all this. Apple's Macs had unique design
making them attractive to the youth. The iPod helped revolutionize the music industry.
People could store hundreds of songs in a small device. In addition, iPods had high quality
sounds. Apple's iPhone helped revolutionize the phone industry. The iPhone incorporated a
phone, a music player, and a camera.
The iPad is the last device that the company unveiled. The iPad is a tablet computer that has
revolutionized personal computing. Steve Jobs, the former chief executive of the company
helped in launching all the above products. At a glance, Apple is a highly successful
company. Apple is the most valuable company in the world (Wilson, 2012). The success of
the company necessitates it to take measures to guard its reputation. The company has ethical
and CSR policies that help maintain the image of the company and ensure it continues to
have a competitive advantage over its main rivals.
Ethical Policies
Virtually, all multinationals outsource to Asia. Companies do not just outsource production of
various product, companies also source various services from Asia. The main factor that
makes companies prefer sourcing from these locations is the low cost of labour. In addition,
manufacturing plants have the capacity to produce high quality goods (Lu, 2007). High
quality goods and low cost of production make outsourcing to Asia one of the main strategies
that companies use to increase their competitive edge over their rivals.
Apple also sources from various Asian countries – mainly China. Manufacturing plants in
China produce a variety of products that range from screens, microchips, covers of various
electronic gadgets to batteries of Apple's electronic products (Wylie & Nicol, 2012).
However, Apple develops software application through which their electronic products run.
This helps in maintaining the secrecy of their products.
The major benefit of souring to Asia is a source of certain problems. As Asian manufacturing
plants strive to reduce their costs of production, they sometimes engage in unethical business
practices. Asian manufacturing plants are notorious for exploiting their employees.
Employees usually work for long hours for very little pay. In addition, Asian manufacturing
plants occasionally use child labour in their production plants (Hewison & Young, 2006).
Asian manufacturing plants undertake these measures to reduce their costs of production.
Business malpractices in Asian manufacturing plants necessitate organizations to use various
strategies to ensure that their suppliers do not engage in unethical business practices. Apple
has a supplier code of conduct that stipulate how suppliers, in various locations – not just
Asian countries – should undertake their activities with regard to labor and human rights,
ethics, health and safety, environment, and management systems (Collier & Evans, 2011).
The supplier code of conduct helps keep Apple's suppliers in check and ensure that they do
not engage unethical activities. Apple's supplier code of conduct draws from internationally
recognized standards.
Apple audits its suppliers regularly to ensure that they conform to the measures outlined in
the supplier code of conduct. Apple may make impromptu visits to the suppliers' premises to
audit whether they conform to the supplier code of conduct. The supplier code of conduct
stipulates that Apple may terminate the suppliers' conducts if they violate its conditions.
However, this is not mere rhetoric; Apple has terminated the contracts of various companies
that have violated the code of conduct. These measures ensure that suppliers adhere to the
code of conduct at all time or else risk termination of their contracts. However, Apple does
not terminate the supplier contracts immediately after the realization that the suppliers have
unethical activities. Apple gives suppliers certain durations of time to enable them comply
with the conditions (Ben & Bolton, 2011). It may put pressure on the company to undertake
changes or else risk terminations of its supply contract. The supplier code of conduct has
enabled various companies improve their activities to conform to Apple's standards.
Apple's also provides an annual supplier responsibility progress. This report outlines
measures that various suppliers have taken to conform to its standards (Respicio, Adam &
IOS press, 2010). The supplier responsibility report bases its findings from Apple's regular
auditing of the suppliers. The supplier responsibility report is available to members of the
public. Therefore, it helps in boosting the image and reputation of the company as it shows
that the company has a genuine commitment to ensuring businesses engage in responsible
practices.
However, measures taken by Apple to ensure that suppliers engage in responsible activities,
do not deter all suppliers from engaging in unethical activities. Apple regularly discovers that
its suppliers engage in unethical business activities. Some of Apple suppliers, such as
Foxconn – the largest Apple Chinese supplier – have been faced with various allegations of
engaging in unethical business activities (Bredeson, 2011). This necessitates Apple to take
measures to ensure that the suppliers engage in ethical activities. Discovery of suppliers who
engage in unethical business activities greatly damages Apple's reputation.
Apple also helps in enlightening employees of suppliers to reduce the probability of the
suppliers mistreating them. Apple enlightens the employees on Apple's code of conduct with
regard for how suppliers should treat their employees and on the local labour regulations. In
addition, Apple subjects suppliers to extensive training on how they avoid certain unethical
activities, through improvement of their management practices (Mirchindani, 2012). This
ensures that suppliers do not engage in unethical activities due to management
incompetence.
CSR Policies
Business organizations exist within the realm of the society. Therefore, they should not
isolate their activities from the welfare of the society. Society demands that business
organizations should give equal attention to financial performance, society, and environment.
Business organizations engage in CSR for various reasons. CSR helps improve the image of
the company. Consumers use CSR to evaluate the responsibility of various organizations. In
addition, CSR helps organizations hire and retail highly qualified employees. This is because
employees find pleasure working in their communities. This helps improve their morale and
productivity. Contrary to the notion that CSR is a substitute for profitability, CSR is actually
a means of attaining profitability. This is because CSR helps improve the company's image,
and productivity of the employees (Parker, 2005). Benefits of CSR spur Apple to be
extensively involved in CSR activities.
Sustainability is the main CSR activity that Apple engages in. Apple ensures that all company
and supplier activities are sustainable. Apple sustainability efforts ensure that the company
leads to very limited environmental pollution. Some of the measures that Apple takes to
ensure sustainability include increasing energy efficiency of the company and its products,
reducing the amount of toxic chemicals in its products and recycling.
Apple's products are some of the most energy efficient products in the market. The company
uses LCD screens in all its computers. This makes Apple's computers to be energy efficient
since LCD use less power than CRT screens. In fact, the company eliminated CRT screens
from its screens, to ensure that its computers are energy efficient. In addition, Apple's
products incorporate systems that ensure that they use minimal energy whether in operation
or in standby mode. Some of Apple's products such as the second generation Apple TV are
the most energy efficient products in the market (Kranzlmüller & Tjoa, 2011). Energy
efficiency of Apple's products makes them to be more popular among consumers than
products from other companies. Apple ensures that company operations are energy efficient.
This is by using energy efficient systems within the company premises. Apple is one of the
few companies that encourage their employees to carpool. The company gives employees
monthly rebates due to carpooling. In addition, Apple offers its employees free bus service to
reduce energy consumption of employees due to commuting to and from work.
Electronic devices contain various toxic chemicals that may harm people or the environment.
This necessitates companies that manufacture electronic products to ensure that levels of
toxic chemicals in their products are minimal – if it is impossible to eliminate them. Apple
ensures that its products have low levels of toxic chemicals. Apple was the first electronics
company to eliminate PVC, a toxic chemical – from its computers. In addition, Apple uses
only LCD screens in its computers. Therefore, the company's computers do not contain lead
and mercury, which are present in CRT screens. Packaging material also contributes to
environmental degradation as it may contain toxic chemicals (Stern & Ander, 2008). Apple
ensures that its products have minimal packaging. In so doing, Apple ensures that the
products have very little carbon footprint.
Electronic waste products constitute greatly to environmental degradation. This necessitates
companies to take measures that would reduce accumulation of electronic waste in the
environment. Recycling helps reduce the amount of electronic waste in the environment.
Apple undertakes recycling efforts to reduce environmental impact of its activities. The
company has recycling initiatives in most of the countries where it sells its products. Apple
manufactures it products in a way that makes them easily recyclable. However, Apple does
not just recycle its products; it also recycles electronic products from other companies
(Provost, 2010). In so doing, Apple helps reduce electronic waste in the environment.
Apple also ensures that its suppliers engage in sustainable activities. The supplier code of
conduct dictates that suppliers should ensure their activities; do not lead to environmental
degradation. The main factor that necessitates Apple to ensure the sustainability of the
suppliers’ operations is that external manufacturing plants produce a large proportion of
Apple’s products. Therefore, Apple’s sustainability efforts would be in vain if the suppliers
continue having unsustainable operations. Apple provides sustainability reports annually.
Sustainability reports show Apple’s and its suppliers’ sustainability efforts with regard to
recycling and facilities management (Kramer, 2012). Annual sustainability reports help in
improving the image of the company.
Apple has highly efficient ethical and CSR policies. The policies help in boosting the image
and reputation of the company. Apple’s ethical and CSR policies help the company maintain
a competitive edge over its rivals. Sustainability of its products is the major CSR activities
that help boost the image of the company. Supplier code of conduct helps in streamlining the
activities of suppliers to ensure that they are ethical and sustainable. Ethical and CSR policies
have tremendously helped improve Apple’s image and reputation.
Check Out Our Ethics: Concepts and Theories Essay
 Ethics are principles that dictate the choices made by an individual or the society at
large based on their perceived correctness in morals in existing situations. This cannot exist
without consideration of the level of fairness made in judgment in relation to both the group
and the individual. Therefore, the theory of justice propagated by John Rawls would suffice
to strengthen the definition and application of ethics. This theory was developed from the
previously defined Kantian moral philosophy (MacKinnon 2012). Both developments
emphasize the aspect of autonomy in individuals and groups, which is well evaluated through
the level of freedom in making concise choices for the welfare of the individual as well as of
the group. It is perceived that the choices made are based on equal rationale, which would
demand fairness and thought of others who have vested interests in the choice or
consideration made.
The only intention, act or thing that can be absolutely good and right is goodwill. This
is defined by Kant in trying to determine what moral worth is, by stating that only those acts
or intentions that are derived from a sense of duty or responsibility contain moral worth. This
is because duty holds one accountable for the outcomes realized, but emotions and sympathy
does not guarantee one that the resultant actions will be of good moral worth. This is because
good deeds can be subjected to bad application or can be misused by individuals (MacKinnon
2012). Good will always contains internal value more than the act itself. Therefore, a person
who wins over the absence of sympathy for others due to his personal sense of respect
towards his set and known obligation would prevail in moral worth as compared to one who
is driven by sympathy.
The theory of utilitarianism is important in determining ethics and moral law,
especially in situations addressing the masses or the general society. This theory emphasizes
the definition of the right thing to do, thus it states that whatever choice we make, full
consideration should be placed on creating or generating the utmost happiness for everyone
involved. This means that not everyone will get to their individual highest levels of
happiness, but each person in the group will get the best that will ensure others attain their
best too. This should, therefore, not be confused to mean that everyone will be fully satisfied,
but some level of equality is targeted in distributing the common happiness. This, therefore,
calls for a good understanding of all the outcomes and results of an action long before settling
on the best that would yield maximum happiness for everyone.
We cannot, however, determine moral philosophy if we do not have a means of
measurement. The categorical imperative aspect aims to analyze what motivates individual
into certain actions and forms the basis of Kant’s moral philosophy (MacKinnon 2012). Kant
defines an imperative as any activity or perception that makes an action to be considered as
necessary. An example can be: for one to stop feeling hungry, they must eat food. Therefore,
the eating is justified by hunger and it can be universally considered to logically satisfy the
situation. A categorical imperative, therefore, holds the essence of being the only alternative
available, and therefore, whichever way it is perceived or whoever is concerned, it would
settle for the same alternative.
In conclusion, ethics cannot be considered as such if we do not take into consideration
the natural law aspect. This is evaluated or defined by how human beings reason to set a clear
decision path and also the nature of human beings. By acknowledging human beings to be
social creatures, we, therefore, have to understand that anything considered ethical must not
interfere with the good interaction and relationship in a given society. Thus, ethics is not only
what makes one feel just and right, but what they consider to be just and right in the eyes of
the society as well.
Essay: The good and the bad Apple
Apple has an opportunity to use its industry domination to revolutionise hi tech supply chains
for good
On the face of it, Apple’s world could not be rosier – it’s a highly successful and widely
admired corporation. Rising from the rubble of a floundering and disintegrating company in
1997, Apple has reached the pinnacle of success in 15 short years. With a market
capitalisation of more than $500bn, it is among the most valuable and profitable companies in
the world.
Apple’s remarkable success lies in the company’s ability to create truly innovative products
with vast customer appeal. The foundation of this success is rooted in the company’s ability
to flout the conventional wisdom of the consumer electronics industry that has an emphasis
on low cost, me-too products, and continuously shortened product life. Instead, Apple has
opted for constant product innovation, resulting in fanatic consumer loyalty.
Historically, very large and highly profitable corporations have not necessarily been the most
admired. In part, this lack of respect arises from a perception that a high level of profitability
invariably results from a company’s ability to exploit market imperfections through
oligopolistic power and anti-competitive behaviour, and thus take unfair advantage of other
stakeholders and the public.
The bad Apple
Apple, which enjoys tremendous customer loyalty, is also confronted with public criticism
for poor treatment of workers – in terms of working conditions, excessive working hours and
low wages – in factories where its products are manufactured in China.
What is most disconcerting is the fact that these practices are in apparent violation of not only
local and national laws but also Apple’s own voluntary code of conduct.
The failure of Apple’s code to yield improved results comes despite years of monitoring of
factories where Apple’s own audits show persistent non-compliance and repeated promises of
improved performance.
What makes such a company so unable or unwilling to remedy the situation, which from its
own account violates its standards of conduct? Why does the company treat its customers and
workers by two different standards?
When it comes to customers, Apple is a bold innovator that leads the industry into new
directions and forces others to follow. However, when it comes to the management of its
supply chain, and treatment of workers, it hides behind the constraints of prevailing industry
practices.
On the surface, Apple appears to have a conflicting persona in its business operations as they
pertain to the company’s treatment of (a) its customers, and (b) workers employed in the
factories that manufacture its products. Apple’s two conflicting persona are not the result of
extenuating circumstances or different sets of market factors beyond its control. Instead, they
both emanate from the same business philosophy – adroit exploitation of market power for
the sole benefit of the company and its investors. This model does not consider “what is fair”
but only what is competitively achievable in higher prices for products sold and lower costs
for products made.
Labour practices
Concerns about widespread exploitation of workers, and unsafe and unhealthy working
conditions, have been around from the early days of China’s efforts to encourage companies
to set up manufacturing operations that would provide employment to large numbers of low
skilled workers.
These workers were hungry for work, any work, even if it barely provided subsistence level
wages. Furthermore, these workers were young, often under the age of 18 and sometimes as
low as 15 years. They were also, for the most part, women (or girls). Stories about
mistreatment of workers in terms of wages and unsafe working conditions have been
widespread over 15 years.
Notwithstanding continuous complaints and findings of abuses, neither the local
manufacturers nor the foreign buyers were willing to insist on substantial changes in working
conditions and wages. There was a fear that it would lower their foreign buyers’ profit
margins because the increased costs could not be passed on to consumers. It was also
understood that since most of the foreign companies faced similar challenges, their customers
did not have an effective alternative.
Thus both sides resorted to a ritual dance of complaints, audits, and promises to reform,
superficial follow-up, and repeat of the process when the next cycle of complaints hit the
media. Both the foreign buyers and local manufacturers realised that media attention always
subsided when the events lost their news value and with declining media attention, civil
society organisations also lost the leverage in terms of public pressure.
It should therefore be no surprise that changes in wages and working conditions in China
have come about only when certain cities and provinces raised minimum wages and imposed
higher safety standards with a view to encouraging low-wage industries to move out and to
make room for higher-paid sectors. The poorly regarded industries, on their part, responded
by moving to the country’s interior where wages remain low and the factories are protected
from the preening eyes of pro-worker groups.
Foreign buyers have also moved their buying activities to other countries in Asia where
wages remain low and where there are fewer regulations.
Apple and Foxconn
Until about 1995, hi-tech companies operating in China remained below the radar with regard
to their labour practices. Initially, these companies were concentrated in Shanghai and
somewhat removed from the hotbed of labour issues in the coastal areas. This situation,
however, changed once these factories expanded to Shenzhen and other coastal areas. The
tech-oriented companies also created enormous scale in highly integrated production
facilities, often employing more than 50,000 workers on a single site.
Foxconn and its China-based subsidiaries are owned and controlled by the Taiwan-based Hon
Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd. Foxconn is primarily an original equipment manufacturer
(OEM), and is a joint-design, joint-development, manufacturing, assembly and after-sales
services partner for most major consumer electronics companies in the world. It was founded
in 1974 by Terry Guo to integrate manufacturing of electronic products at lowest total cost. It
is now a Fortune 500 company.
Foxconn is the largest and most technically sophisticated manufacturer of consumer
electronics. In addition to Apple, its clients include Dell, HP, Sony, Intel and Microsoft. The
company is the single largest exporter of products from China.
An important element of Foxconn’s success is its secrecy. Factories operate under high
security to protect new products and production processes from competitors’ gaze. Entry to
Foxconn’s plants and other facilities is almost impossible without specific permission of the
plant management and authorisation from the foreign buyers.
Apple’s problems in China
Most of Apple’s worker-related problems have been focused on Foxconn and its subsidiaries.
Apple’s China operations first caught international media attention in June 2006 with a story
in the UK’s Mail on Sundaynewspaper. This was followed by similar stories in other leading
international media, and a steady stream has continued to this day.
News reports over the past few years have described instances of Foxconn employees
committing suicide. Other incidents include an explosion at the Chengdu plant, which killed
three workers and injured 15, and allegations of bribery, falsified records, underage workers,
and adverse health effects of exposure to harmful chemicals – all of which were identified in
Apple’s own audits.
It should be emphasized that accusations against Apple’s operations have been similar to
those made against other foreign buyers of consumer electronics in China. And they have
echoed the findings over the previous decade and more in the clothing, shoes and toy
industries in China and other low-wage countries, such as Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand and
the Philippines.
But to put this proviso another way, the hi-tech foreign buyers did not distinguish themselves
in terms of better treatment of workers. Instead, they eagerly followed the practices
developed by their predecessors in the low-tech, low-wage industries, only with the added
problem of exposing workers to toxic materials.
Apple’s response pattern to the mistreatment of workers is also the mirror image of its
industry peers. Every complaint has been followed by Apple sending a team of auditors to
China, who would find all the obvious violations, which had already been known to Apple
from earlier visits.
Typically, the company would then promise corrective action including training of the China
partner in human resource management. The entire process is slow and deliberate and its
intensity fades in direct proportion to a decline in media attention – until the next phase,
when the entire cycle is repeated.
For many years, Apple – like its competitors – was adamant about not disclosing the names
of its China partners. However, with the recurrence of complaints and media attention, Apple
and some other hi-tech companies have decided to disclose the names of these companies. In
many cases, the information had already been made public by news organisations, labour
groups and consumer watchdog NGOs.
In late 2011, Apple announced with great fanfare that it had joined the Fair Labor Association
(FLA) and asked it to conduct an independent and comprehensive audit of the Foxconn
facilities with the promise that it would make public the FLA’s findings and also take
appropriate action (See ** below).
The FLA has been criticised by civil society organisations dealing with worker-related issues
in Asia and Latin America. The FLA’s board is dominated by industry representatives who
exercise strong influence on what plants are to be audited, the scope of individual audits,
public disclosure of findings, and verification of corrective action. In the early years of its
formation, the FLA would not public provide details of its audit findings, and would limit
disclosure to short statements on its website that the factories had passed their audits.
Improving working conditions
Why should Apple not use its superior earning prowess to challenge prevailing industry
practices and assume leadership in creating in fairer wages and a better work environment for
its overseas workers? One possible answer is that Apple has no competitive pressures to do
so – why should it voluntarily help workers to gain fairer wages and humane working
conditions when its competitors have not chosen to do so?
Apple faces five types of external pressures in the marketplace that could influence its
strategies and operational policies. These are: customer loyalty, industry best practices,
expectations of major shareholders and the investment community, civil society organisations
or NGOs, and government pressure and regulatory oversight.
It is clear that despite extensive negative news coverage, Apple has suffered no loss in
demand for its products. Apple enjoys broad customer loyalty even in China where customers
have better knowledge of workers’ issues.
Apple does not have to fear its competitors because they all use factories with similar labour
practices. In fact its rivals are likely to be afraid of Apple since its power and wealth means it
could take the initiative in changing industry practices, which other companies would be
pressured to emulate.
In the past, institutional investors, notably public employee pension funds, have been
aggressive in filing proxy resolutions requiring companies toward greater transparency of
their activities in China and other low-wage countries and to initiate measures to improve
conditions. However, in the case of Apple these voices have been especially muted.
NGOs have also been reluctant to mount a rigorous and meaningful effort to seek a response
from Apple. For example, at Apple’s recent annual shareholder meeting, institutional and
socially active investors gained changes in Apple’s board election procedures, but none
raised any questions about the labour situation in China.
Corrective action options
There are no quick fixes to create a sustainable improvement in the treatment of workers and
workplace safety as covered under the Chinese employment law and Apple’s own voluntary
code of conduct.
Tackling excessive hours in the manufacturing processes would entail additional costs. A
reduction from the current 68 hours per week to 48 hours would entail increasing the labour
force by about a third to maintain the current rate of output. To accommodate these workers,
the factory would need to build extra dormitories and related infrastructure. The capital
investment could be substantial but would not add to production capacity, or manufacturing
efficiency, and thus would be reflected in higher production costs.
Workers, in general, do not like lower overtime hours because it effectively cuts their
income. Factory owners love to keep regular wages as low as possible so as to incentivise
workers towards overtime. From the factory owner’s viewpoint, the real cost is the average
wage per hour, and the distinction between regular and overtime wage rates is played
tactically to make workers put in longer hours.
Health and safety is a similar issue. Improving factory conditions, such as better air filtration,
better work stations, and provision of safety equipment, would require additional factory
space that is “non-productive”. It would increase operating costs without commensurate
increase in the number of units produced per worker, per hour or per machine.
For these changes to be effective, Apple and other foreign multinationals must have
agreement with major factory owners. This would require voluntary but rigorously monitored
and transparent actions, to minimise the problem of free riders on both sides.
From Apple’s point of view, handling the issues of workers’ wages and working conditions
has been an unnecessary distraction. In the absence of strong and persistent disapproval from
Apple’s three main constituencies – customers, stockholders, and regulators – why should
Apple do more than it is statutorily required?
One important element in this equation is the evolving nature of Apple’s corporate culture
and in particular the character of its new leadership. Chief executive Tim Cook was the
architect of Apple’s supply chain and claims to have “ground level” understanding of the
working conditions in the Chinese factories. He can play a pivotal role in moulding Apple’s
corporate culture.
Apple could blaze the trail and thereby solidify its reputation not only as a corporate
innovator but also a leading socially responsible corporate citizen. The company might once
again astonish the world by showing a new approach to building better bridges between
private profit and public good.
The 21st century has brought the remarkable ascendancy of large corporations, most notably
large multinational corporations. The emerging global economic order has once again
brought capitalism and its principal actor, the multinational corporation, to the apex of social
institutions. But the corporation cannot confine its role to maximizing profits for its
shareholders to the exclusion of every other consideration. As a dominant institution in
society, it must assume its rightful place and contribute to a broader public agenda.
The justification of private enterprise and competitive markets does not rest solely on the
profitability of its leading protagonists, but ultimately on the impact of their activities on the
well-being of all stakeholders and society at large. Otherwise, they lose their social licence to
pursue their business activities. Corporate participation in social policy is not a luxury but a
necessity. And this participation must not be construed in the narrow terms of enhancing
corporate profits, but in broader terms of creating a healthier and wealthier society.
Dr Prakash Sethi is university distinguished professor and fellow at the Weissman Center for
International Business, Baruch College, the City University of New York. Research
assistance by Ajinkya Khedekar.

** Fair Labour Association, Apple and Foxconn

The Fair Labour Association has now released a report into working conditions at Foxconn
factories supplying Apple. The FLA found more than 50 breaches of its own code and/or
Chinese labour laws in health and safety issues, matters of worker integration and
communication, and wages and working hours.
The average hours worked per week at Foxconn’s factories was found to exceed Chinese
legal limits, including periods where workers were required to work more than seven days in
a row. A major health and safety issue regarding excess levels of aluminium dust was
identified – something implicated in previous factory explosions – though Foxconn’s
procedures were found to be improving.
Other major concerns highlighted by the report included worker alienation from health and
safety management procedures, and unfair allocation of overtime payments and other
benefits.
Foxconn has publicly pledged to work on making improvements, in remediation plans agreed
with and approved by the FLA. Apple also stated its approval and support of the report’s
findings.
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Apple Inc’s Ethical Challenge
Apple Inc is a multinational corporation whose headquarters are in United States. The
company develops, designs, sells computer software, consumer electronics and personal
computers. Apple Inc initiated its operation in 1976. In terms of revenues, it is the second
largest company in the information technology field. The company had been singled out as
the most admired in United States in 2008 (Gilzean, 2012). The company’s leadership had
contributed immensely to this realization. However, this has not lived to be the case due to
various ethical challenges that have marred the company.
Apple Inc has a large number of stakeholders based on its scope. Some of the stakeholders
are involved directly with the company while others are involved indirectly. They include
shareholders, employees, software developers, manufacturers, suppliers, customers and
lenders among others. Shareholders are involved in investing their resources so to meet the
company’s financial objectives. Their resources are involved in all operations starting from
acquisition of raw materials up to the consumer supply chain. Lenders tend to boost the
company’s financial prospects during the periods of recession or when urgent funds are
required in the organization. Suppliers help in making sure that all the necessary raw
materials are availed for manufacturing purposes. Employees on the other hand play a
fundamental role in ensuring that all the operations are executed in the best way possible.
This makes it necessary for the organization to cater for their needs. They are indispensable
in the organization more so based on their experience (Christopher, 2012). Customers are the
end users of the products and services being offered by the company. They are the ultimate
reason as to why Apple Inc is in operation. They are key determinants on whether the
company is going to make a profit or a loss.
The company’s mission statement is commitment to enhancing personal computing
experience to educators, consumers, creative professional students around the globe using its
innovative software, hardware and internet offerings. Apple’s vision statement is somewhat
complex and not clear to many people including some employees. It states that “man is the
creator of change in this world. As such he should be above systems and structures and not
subordinate to them”
Apple Inc has had several ethical challenges in the past. Among them, are the ones created by
their manufacturers (Foxconn). Foxconn is a manufacturing company based in china. They
are involved in manufacturing electronic products for a variety of leading companies like
Samsung. Apple Inc had some reasons that prompted the company to outsource its
manufacturing activities. This includes the competitive nature of the Information Technology
industry. In light of the competition, Apple had the desire of increasing its profitability
prospects. Shifting production activities in china would have made this come true. Production
in china would have minimized the cost since the materials found there and the labor is quite
cheap. There was also the need of meeting the high demand of the company’s products.
Consumer needs would have been satisfied by outsourcing the production process hence
giving the company ample time to concentrate on other issues.
In 2010, Apple-foxconn was accused of using child labor and providing poor working
conditions. This scenario was quite evident in Foxconn while comparing the wing that was
involved in manufacturing Apple products, and other products that the company was
involved in. Employees in the company were subjected to hazardous working environment
based on the nature of raw material that was being used in the organization. There was no
protective clothing provided to these employees. It was the duty of the company to take care
of their well being, but this notion did not materialize. In addition to the working
environment not being conducive, the wages paid to employees were very minimal. It was
evident while comparing what employees in United States were earning and what the
employees in this plant got. There are tendencies of wage differentials existing, but this one
was excessive. Employees were subjected to a 66-hour week. This was illegal according to
the law which had outlined a provision of 44 working hours at the maximum. Breaching the
law comes with certain consequences. However, this did not prevail since almost all the
employees working in this plant were not unionized. There was no one to air their grievances
(Christopher, 2012). NGOs were among the parties that took the issue with intent, but their
influence was not immense. In order for Foxconn to meet deadlines, employees also had to
work overtime without any additional pay. Such instances mounted the pressure upon
employees working in this plant. During this period, a number of suicide cases were reported
from the plant. Many people believed that the pressure resulting from the working
environment was the ultimate reason for these suicide cases.
Foxconn was also utilizing child labor since it was cheap. This makes it favorable to an
organization of this nature. The act was criticized by a variety of NGOs, and several law suits
emanated from this action. Beauchamp (2011) asserts that Foxconn were involved in such
activities due to the terms offered by Apple Inc. Apple Company was said to be offering low
pricing to the manufacturer despite its high profit margins. Some reports claimed that the
unfavorable pricing prompted Foxconn to adopt child labor in order to reduce costs so as to
make significant profits.
This issue came to be an ethical challenge to Apple Inc. On one side, the company was able
to increase its profits due to the outsourcing process. However, it was detrimental since it
deteriorated the organization’s image. The company was operating at the level of enhancing
social responsibility towards all its stakeholders. Treating the employees in a manner that
they were being treated went against the company’s policies and was not acceptable. This
resulted to an ethical dilemma.
Apple had to step in and try to solve the problem. The company’s management hired Fair
Labor Association to conduct an inquiry into the problem. Their ultimate responsibility was
to conduct an audit regarding the working conditions in this manufacturing plant. This body
used employees’ survey in order to get the actual picture of how things are. The results
gathered from this survey were analyzed quantitatively. According to the report, the working
conditions were not up to the desired standard. Employees were working longer hours than it
was stipulated by the law. Usage of child labor was also evidenced in the plant (Beauchamp,
2011).
Apple’s leadership came up with variety of ways that were aimed at eliminating this
challenge. Its persistence would have damaged the company’s image among the consumers
and other key stakeholders like lenders and shareholders. To begin with, Apple ordered the
retrenchment of all under-age employees from the Foxconn plant. A panel was set aside to
oversee this process. There were thorough check-ups on employees that remained and others
that were being employed as replacements. Valid documents that could verify one’s age were
made mandatory upon requesting any employment positions. This was regardless of the
nature of job being executed. This was designed to discourage utilization of child labor in the
plant. If this task was done thoroughly, it is not known to the general public. This is because
current reports indicate that such instances still exist (Gilzean, 2012).
The company also took a step further in trying to enhance social responsibility towards
employees. Among the strategies used was reducing the number of working hours to the set
standard. Going beyond the set limit would be viewed as breach of the law whereby Foxconn
would be liable to lawsuits. Working overtime was subject to employees’ choice. No
employee would be required to work overtime if he or she was not willing. This came along
with a 20% increase in wages for all workers regardless of the occupation in the
manufacturing plant (Beauchamp, 2011). This coming from the company was like a bribe
directed to employees. There is always a tendency for employees to forget the wrongs done
before if the future prospects are promising and favorable. It would boost employees’
motivation hence increase productivity without requiring them to work longer hours. Apple
also made an agreement with Foxconn for them to increase the number of employees
involved with the production process. Increasing the number was aimed at reducing the
amount of pressure subjected towards employees. However, this was difficult for Apple to
implement since they did not employ these people directly. The working environment was
also changed in a way since employees were afforded the chance leaving the production site
from now and then. This did not happen before hence it would come as a great relief to them.
Another action that was taken is installation of suicide nets along the plant’s premises. This
could reduce suicide cases that emanated from jumping from roof tops. Employees were also
subjected to signing contracts that deterred them from committing suicide. Anyone that
committed suicide, his or her family would not be compensated. The company’s argument
was that employees cared about their families and would not want to leave them in agony.
Apple’s leadership did not manage this challenge effectively. Most of these solutions were
short-term hence the challenge could occur again. They did not bother to go to the root cause
of the problems. Gilzean (2012) asserts that current reports indicate that this challenge has
come back to haunt Apple Inc. Issues that were seen previously have seemed to surface. It
might even become worse since these actions are being reported in other manufacturing
plants that Apple Inc partners with.
Apple’s leadership team ought to have done better in dealing with this ethical challenge. This
is because leadership is a critical skill which creates a reality that engulfs the vision of the
future. A leadership team in any organization needs to devise strategies that will last in both
long-term and short-term (Henderson & Florence, 2009). Solutions put forward by Apple’s
leadership could only survive the short-term period and fail to work in the long-run. Among
the things that the leadership would have done to deal with this challenge, is employing a
transformational style of leadership. Through the transformational leadership style, apple
would have changed ways in which it deals with Foxconn and other manufacturing plants.
This would have been achieved by devising contracts to be signed between the company and
the manufacturing plants. On these contracts, Apple should have specified the nature of
environment that it wants the employees working on its products to be subjected to. This
would mean that the company is trying to extend its corporate social responsibility aspects to
all employees working on their products irrespective of their geographical location. If
Foxconn or any other manufacturing plant breaches these terms, there are consequences to
follow. The consequences might include heavy fines or termination of the working contract.
In the current global economy, the competition is very high. There is no company out there
that wants to lose its consumers since it would be giving its competitors a competitive
advantage. Such occurrences would force Foxconn to play alongside the stipulated rules.
Apple also had the opportunity of employing the charismatic leadership style to help solve
the problem. This type of leadership style focuses on leaders having a radical vision by
providing solutions to impossible problems and having a willingness to take risks (Henderson
& Florence, 2009). The risk that Apple Inc would have taken is ending its business
partnership with Foxconn. This is because the two entities seemed to have different
approaches on how they conducted their business. To Apple Inc, corporate social
responsibility was vital for the organization’s operations. This was not a similar case with
Foxconn. For them, profits maximization was the ultimate goal regardless of how it was
going to be achieved. Occurrence of such a situation meant that the two organizations did not
have any ethical ties between them. By Apple Inc taking the risk of ending this partnership, it
would have sent a huge message to other manufacturing plants that it works with. None of
them would want to indulge in similar behavior as Foxconn due to the consequences
involved. This would be a long-term solution to the problem.
During the time when this issue had taken the headlines, there were reports that Foxconn
offered this poor conditions due to the amount of money that Apple was willing to pay for
their services. It was their way of maximizing on the available resources. If this was the case,
then Apple Inc should have applied the principled leadership style. This means leading while
one is being guided by values such as honesty, caring and integrity. To show its integrity,
Apple should offer Foxconn better pricing for their services. This would be also a way of
showing that they care for the manufacturing plant. Foxcon would take a similar step and
reciprocate this towards its employees. If this was the case, this ethical issue would have been
a thing of the past. Sometimes it is true to say that you always get what you pay for.
In conclusion, Apple Inc’s status of being the most admired company in United States has not
lived to be the case due to various ethical challenges that have marred the company. The
partnership with Foxconn has resulted in ethical challenges towards the company.
Approaches that the leadership has used to solve the challenge have not been quite effective.
This is because they focus more on short-term other than long-term sustenance.

References
Beauchamp, T. (2011). Ethics Behind Apple and Foxconn Relationship. Green Economy,
13(6), 12-34.
Christopher, E. (2012). International management: explorations across cultures. London:
Kogan Page.
Gilzean, L. (2012). Foxconn and Apple Fail to Fulfill Promises. Chinese Labor Force, 11(9),
17- 28.
Henderson, S., & Florence, S. (2009). Leadership Tasks and Functions. Corporate
Social Responsibility, 2(1), 91.
https://sites.google.com/a/email.vccs.edu/bus100mlmuseappleinc/home/apple-inc-code-of-
conduct

Apples Ethics And Supplier Code Of Conduct

Apple, Inc. is an American multinational corporation that designs and markets

consumer electronics, computer software, and personal computers. Apple surpassed
the software giant Microsoft, in May 2010 and secured the reputation of the largest
and one of the most valuable companies of the era. The company operates 301 retail
stores scattered across ten different countries as per August 2010. It’s traditionally
well known for its Mackintosh line of personal computers. As years passed by, Apple
has gained a significance amount of reputation in the global market by the
introductions of products such as iPad, iPhone and the latest introduced iPad. The
following throws light on Apple’s supplier responsibility program, its code of ethics
and also the controversy it was recently involved with electronic leader, Foxconn.

Company Perspectives
Apple Inc. is devoted to creating the finest music and personal computing experience
for every single one of its users, from students to educators, business professionals
to government officials and other consumers by means of ground-breaking
hardware, software, internet offerings, peripherals, and services.

Apple’s business approach powers its distinctive ability, through the design and
progression of its personal operating system, hardware, and countless technologies
and software applications, to provide its customers with the latest creations and
simple solutions through outstanding innovative industrial design.

Company History
Before being able to produce some of the finest computer products we have
nowadays, Apple went through countless processes and hurdles. Apple was
established in 1976 by two college dropouts, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak. Also
part of the team was Ronald Wayne, who was older and had personal assets of his
own. Wayne’s uncertainty of the company worried him about the risk of investing his
assets, and resulted with him selling his share back to Wozniak and Jobs for $800.
That same share of the company would be worth over 3 billion dollars today
(Linzmayer, 2011).

The main objective of starting the company was to sell their first invention, The Apple
I, which took place on January 3rd, 1977. It was successful for use at the time as it
only included the most important parts: a straightforward motherboard plus CPU,
RAM and very simple textual-video chips. Only a few months later, The Apple II was
released during April, 1977. By the end of 1978, the United States saw Apple to be
one of the fastest-emerging companies having its products available through 100
dealers. Apple’s development continued to grow with more and more developments
and by December 1980, the company went public. Within only minutes, 4.6 million
shares were sold at $22 each (Linzmayer, 2011).

The company was formerly recognized as Apple Computer Inc., for the first 30 years,
but later removed ‘computer’ from its name to reflect its expansion into consumer
electronics and wanted a better portrayal as a lifestyle powerhouse rather than just
personal computers. It continued to produce some of its popular products today
including the Macintosh line of computers, iPod, iPhone and the iPad. Apple’s
attitude towards comprehensive artistic design as well as its unique advertising
operations is just a few of many reasons why the company has created a distinctive
reputation in today’s computer industry (Linzmayer, 2011)

Products
Apple’s super stylish and exclusive product line has allowed it to create a distinct
name for itself. Some of the popular Apple products include:

iMac

It is the vibrant and stylish all-in-one Macintosh desktop computer that offers a
variety of features including a very rich desktop experience. The first model of the
iMac that was released was the G3, and the latest iMac released towards the end of
2009. The new iMac comes with a smooth, professional look that redefined Apple’s
known all in one model.

iPod Touch

The main turning point for Apple’s iPod line was the iPod Touch. It has been a
massive success and customers are loyal to this brand as the company continues to
update the device with the latest features. iPod Touch 3G is the latest of the model.

iPhone

The entire smart phone industry was revolutionized on June 29, 2007 when the
iPhone was released. It was labeled by many to be the year’s best invention. Since the
launch of the iPhone 4, 3 million units have been sold. Within the first weekend, 1.7
million were sold.

iPad

The product causing a lot of today’s buzz is the iPad. 300000 units for sold on day
one. It would be classified somewhat between a phone and a laptop. Users no longer
have to choose between toys or tool as the iPad has all the technologies and features
for both work and fun.

Apples ethics:
Controversies exist whenever a firm becomes big. We cannot really judge the actions
of a firm as it’s just not one person who is in control. A firm consists of ethical and
unethical employees. One of the most famous ethical dilemma’s faced by apple was
the Foxconn case. We would be looking at what apple has done to fix it in the next
segment while right now we would be looking at some of the ethical and unethical
practices at apple. Apple has raised its ethical standards due to a lot of pressures by
outside parties. Apple was not considered ethical due to the issues that arose in
china. However there were ethical standards that applied to people working at apple
as it didn’t flourish and become a billion dollar company just like that (Hyatt, 2010)

Ethical codes of conduct are the basis of a company a company cannot exist without
it as there would be no direction, motivation or discipline. Apple has separate ethical
standards for employees at different rankings due to the fact that every position
requires something different and each has specific criteria. Apple targets reasons that
lead to unethical behavior and works on them so that they don’t arise in the
company. The code focuses on: Conflicts of interest, confidentiality, proper use and
protection of the company’s records and assets, insider trading, fair dealing, and
reporting of illegal and unethical behavior .All the points are self explanatory. One of
the main things that are encouraged at apple is feedback. Supervisors are expected
to help workers understand and require them to provide feedback as it not only
helps the supervisor understand the areas at which the workers lacks comprehending
but also encourages and in turn motivates them (ILO, 2008). While the responsibility
of officials like the president, chief executive officer and senior financial officers is to
make sure that the company runs in accordance to the legal requirements and also
to make sure that each violation is dealt with in an appropriate manner so as to make
sure that the mistake is not made again (ILO, 2008).

Apple is constantly changing so its policies get updated. It applied a policy called
ranking and rating in which the sales metrics of the employees were hung up so that
everyone could see. Even though the salary of the employees was not commission
based it helped senior officials, as they could now see which workers weren’t selling
much (Spence, 2010). The officials then tried looking for the root cause of the
problem and provided training to those workers. This was one approach by apple to
motivate but obviously some critics did think that it is not very effective. But the idea
of trying and coming up with ways to make this better should be admirable (Hyatt,
2011)

Apple’s supplier code of conduct: “Apple is holding

suppliers accountable”
The reputation of apple has been drastically bruised due to its suppliers. Foxconn is
one of the major supplier of apples products and the management practice there
was put into the spotlight when workers started committing suicide. Steve Jobs was
put a lot of pressure due to this as the public demanded an answer. He responded to
this by the formation of a detailed supplier code of conduct. It covered expectations
in these areas: management systems, labour and human rights, impact on the
environment, ethics, health and safety (Hyatt, 2011).
Management systems: Workers are required to be trained and well informed. It
should be made sure that they provide feedback. Third party audits to eliminate
chances of fraud and also to implement new and improved policies. A corrective
action process in which mistakes are corrected and the process is then again
followed up (Hyatt, 2011). Documentation and records are required to be checked by
the management regularly and company policies are to be applied to the suppliers
(Spence, 2010).

Labor and human rights: Suppliers should make sure that they do not discriminate
labor on the basis of things like sexual orientation or race. They should not hire
underage workers, provide benefits and incentives, protect juvenile workers, be fair in
treatment and do not require them to work for long periods as this is the main cause
of strain and demotivation. Works should also not be required to pay large sums of
money to employment agencies and wages should be sufficient.

Impact on the environment: Suppliers are required to take permits when dealing with
something that requires permission from the government. They should also dispose
of their air, water and solid waste in such a manner that it doesn’t harm the
environment. And make sure that they do not dispose of toxic or hazardous
substances (Hyatt, 2011).

Health and safety: Workers should not be required to do things would be looked at
as a health or safety risk for them. They should be given proper food as well as living
space. There should also be worker health and safety committees on the premises
(ILO, 2011)

Ethics: Important documentation should be protected and there should be a degree

of conditionality between the company and the supplier so they can easily disclose
information to one another. Complaints should be taken into account and action
should be taken immediately.

Foxconn International Holdings Ltd.

Foxconn International Holdings Ltd. is a multinational subsidiary of Hon Hai Precision
Co Ltd., a Taiwanese company that is the world’s largest maker of electronic
components (The Circuit Assembly Top 50 EMS Companies, 2009). According to the
2010 Fortune Global 500 Companies, Foxconn secured the 112th rank overall earning
a profit of 2,291.7 and revenue of 59323.9 million dollars (Fortune Global 500, 2010).
The company’s primary focus was on providing vertically integrated manufacturing
services for the handset industry. Foxconn’s employee count reaches more than half
a million in China alone (Eyck, 2010).

The founder of the company is Terry Gou, a billionaire, and has made Foxconn the
world’s largest manufacturer of printed circuit boards spreading all over Asia, Europe
and America. The majority of the company’s sales to Asian customers is attributed to
the People’s Republic of China. The operational activities of the company are
primarily located in China, then the United States, Mexico and other countries
(Buetow, 2010).

Foxconn Controversies
Foxconn in the recent past has been involved in manufacturing in large quantities
products for Apple viz., the iPod, iPad and the iPhone. Being one of the most
renowned companies in the world, Foxconn has been involved in controversies
mainly on how to manage employees (Jones, 2010). These initiated with the set-up of
the Apple factory in Shenzhen, China. Apple was all over the news around the first
week of Feb ’10 not only for its sensational launch of the iPad, but also because of
the high number of worker suicide in its Foxconn factory.

Amidst all this, 12 Foxconn workers have already ended their lives this year, by
jumping of the multi-story dormitories they live in or from the building during the
very short duration of rest which they were given (Eyck, 2010). This crisis has urged
the company to install safety nets in between the buildings as 20 more were stopped
from killing themselves by the company authorities. At Longhua, there was a highly
charged. This is because approximately 350,000 workers eat and otherwise live there,
and during their protests, they had started chanting an insulting chant at Foxconn.
The president of Foxconn, after heavy negotiations, said that the company would
plan to move a significant portion of its workforce to a Western part of China, where
they will be closer to their families. The case had become so out of control that the
people who lived on the company premises had started calling the factory a Death
Express. Management also had taken some steps toward controlling this
phenomenon, such as creating a suicide hotline, and bringing monks to counter
forces of evil.

The Foxconn Empire employs about a million people, in the city of Shenzhen, across
the city of Hong Kong. The premises of the industry contain 15 manufacturing
buildings and they have dedicated one building to each customer. It was in these
buildings where the suicides took place. The company made public a statement
where it said that they have avoided a further 20 suicides. Steve Jobs, the CEO of
Apple upon hearing about the tragedy said that he found this incident very troubling
and also mentioned that Apple always strives to provide the best jobs in a company
with regard to understanding the working condition under the company’s supply
chain. There has been an alarming increase in the number of suicides, whose reasons
are still not apparent. The culture of the workforce at Foxconn has been described as
being run similar to a military. (Moore, 2010).

Foxconn’s Unethical Management – Working conditions

The main reason for Foxconn being under the spotlight was because of its unethical
management and working conditions which has been considered as the root cause
of the deaths and suicides in the past one year. A report recently explains the toiling
and the exhaustion caused by 12-hour shifts, workers prohibited from talking or
interacting with co-workers and the pressure of just-in-time production in order to
meet the high demand (Eyck, 2010). SACOM held a protest on the 8th of June which
was the same day Apple launched its iPhone4. The demand of the protests initiated
by the activists was to boycott all the Foxconn products (Eyck, 2010).

Furthermore, a Chinese undercover team, filtered through the Longhua plant and
gave the reporters they entire scenario of the industry. They reported by stating that
the facilities were adequate but highly criticized their management. Hundreds of
people work in the workshops and did not have the permission to even talk to their
colleagues.. If so found, they would get a black mark on their record, be shouted at
by their manager or even be fined. The report was followed adding Foxconn’s laying
off of more than ten thousand workers due to the financial downturn and had been
pressured to meet up with the demand for the Apple iPad due to its monumental
success (Moore, 2010). The iPad appears to have placed immense strain on Foxconn
workers which resulted in them in quitting jobs at the rate of 15,000 a month
(Robins, 2010). The workers in the factory need practice to become really efficient
and the new staff has to keep up.

The workers that were asked about the working conditions stated that their hands
would still keep on twitching when they are not working and mimic the motion as
they were not able to relax their minds (Chang, 2010). The workers worked for an
average of 120 hours per month, exceeding the limit set by Apply by 70 hours
(Moore, 2010). Foxconn management style was regarded as severe and obstructed
the code of ethics for managing employees. Apple therefore was urged upon to take
appropriate steps if they were concerned about the health and safety of the workers
(Crothall, 2010).

Nevertheless, Apple has taken this issue into strict consideration and has urged
Foxconn to do the same. These tragedies threw a very undesirable spotlight on the
labor practices of Foxconn. After a few months of this incident, Foxconn has pledged
to enhance work conditions, increase the pay, take into consideration of allowing
workers to live closer to their homes aswell as reduce overtime hours.

Conclusion
Apple Inc. regardless of the recent controversies with Foxconn has reacted well and
taken action in this regard under the guidance of Steve Jobs. After tremendous
pressure from the labor organization in China, Steve Jobs has given this matter of
utmost importance and high priority. Nevertheless, the situation in the province of
Longhua has shown to improve. The Labor Department has agreed upon increasing
the wages and to provide better facilities to the workers all around. Apple has lived
up to its reputation of living up to its strong supplier responsibility program and its
supplier code of conduct.