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PROFESSIONAL ETHICS
CASE STUDY : APPLE SUPPLIERS & LABOR PRACTICES

Presented by-
Mitali kohli
Ishwar Jagwani
Mayank kumar
Ayesha Khan
Akansha Chaudhary
Shreya Shreshtha
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1. Do you think Apple should be responsible for ethical lapses made by individuals further down
its supply chain? Why or why not?

• Yes. Apple hired its employees and therefore has agreed to take responsibility for its employees
actions that could reflect positively or negatively on the company. Apple should conduct the
better standard of ethical in all of our activities. Therefore, Supplier will always be ethical in each
part of its business, including relationship, works on, sourcing, and tasks. Apple should focus on
the better standard norms of social and ecological obligation and ethical conduct. Apple's supplier
need a safe place of work, treat laborers with pride and regard, act ethically.
• Apple Inc. should follow strict standards to hire a supplier for its supply chain, so that, in order to
secure a client as big as Apple, the suppliers would change their manner of working to grab the
project. Apple Inc. should consider the social impact that these ethical lapses have and work
accordingly.

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2. Should Apple continue to work with the suppliers in an effort to change practices, or should they
stop working with every supplier, even the conscientious ones, to make sure no “bad apples” are
getting through? Explain your reasoning.

• Apple should not continue with such suppliers since the company has a moral responsibility
towards the society. If the suppliers are engaged in unethical practices Apple should refuse
to work with them thereby impacting their business in a big way. Once that happens the
suppliers will reduce their profits and adopt more ethical practices due to the fear of losing
a large chunk of business which comes from Apple.
• Although, the company wants to stay engaged so as to make changes to the manner of
working of those suppliers, but, at the same time the company when asked about it, Apple
Inc. came up with the response that "it can only control or monitor its supplier's activities to
a certain extent". This statement shows that though Apple Inc. wants to make a change, it is
not ready to take complete responsibility to eradicate the practice. Thus, in this scenario, it
would rather be better to not associate themselves to such a poor social practice.

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3. Do you think consumers should be expected to take into account the ethical track record of companies
when making purchases? Why or why not?
“Business, as I have seen it, places one great demand on you: it needs you to self-impose a framework of
ethics, values, fairness and objectivity on yourself at all times.” - Ratan N Tata, 2006”

As well said by great pioneer of Business, whose organization’s services/products are leading the hearts of
Indian Consumers.
• Yes, Consumers should be expected to take into account the ethical track record of companies when making
purchases, as any businessman would do before investing i.e. considering the profit and the loss he would be
incurring after investing, the same goes for consumers as they are the ultimate consumers of the product
they purchase. Considering the ethical track record of any company gives a sense of security to its customers
with regard to their decision of agreeing or disagreeing with the given product.
• Accenture Strategy’s Global Consumer Pulse Research, revealed that consumers, across all generations, care
about what retailers say and how they act. More than six in ten younger consumers closely consider a
company’s ethical values and authenticity before buying their products, the research found .
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TOMS
• TOMS was founded by Blake Mycoskie in 2006 following a trip to Argentina. During his visit,
Mycoskie saw firsthand how people living in impoverished areas of Argentina had to live without
shoes, a challenge that many of us likely give little thought. Inspired by his trip, Mycoskie decided to
establish his company with giving in mind.
• Since 2006, TOMS’ footwear business has donated more than 60 million pairs of shoes to children in
need all over the world. As if that weren’t enough, TOMS’ eyewear division has given more than
400,000 pairs of glasses to visually impaired people who lack access to ophthalmological care.

• TOMS puts its social and environmental philanthropy on full display in virtually every aspect of its
branding. This not only lets potential customers know the kind of company they’re dealing with right off
the bat, but also reinforces TOMS’ brand values consistently across all channels.

• Ethical marketing is about helping consumers make better, more conscious choices about the products
they buy and the stores they frequent. It’s about changing the way they think about how goods are
provided, the people who make and sell the things consumers buy every day, and the communities that
rely on fair, ethical trade to survive. It’s about cultivating brand loyalty by aligning the organizational
values with those of the ideal customers.
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4. Can you think of other products or brands that rely on ethically questionable business
practices? Do you think consumers are turned off by their track record or are they largely
indifferent to it? Explain.
• Nestlé had promised to end child labour in 2001. In 2014, a research from various Nestle owned
cocoa farms in western Africa showed that the majority of plaintiffs were children below the age
of 15. Although, Nestlé maintained that they were taking serious steps to stop child labour. In
reality it was all just big words. The report goes on to say that children who did not work
properly were whipped and their feet's were sliced by the guards. Now, obviously Nestlé does
not promote forcing choldrrn to work and beating them, but at the same time they haven't done
enough to combat the problem. The reaction from the public was very short lived. Initially
Nestlé's share price had taken a hit but then on a matter of months they rose again and it seemed
that the people had almost forgotten about the whole fiasco. Nestlé continues to be the biggest
retail coffee brand in the world.
• People do not want to associate themselves to brands that do not take into consideration the harm
that they are posing to the society by either performing or ignoring the unethical practices that
take place to get the finished products in the market.
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5.Would knowing that a product was produced under ethically questionable conditions
affect your decision to purchase it? Explain with examples.

• It definitely affects my opinions on certain brands I would often use since I personally don't want to
support unethical practices, even if it doesn't affect me directly. When there was fraud and manipulated
results of Johnson talc scandal I completely boycotted their company and spoke up on the unethical
practices they were performing by hiding the involved risks . A lot of people did exactly what I did, but
somehow its never enough. J&J is still a top competitor which proves my previous statement. You
cannot expect consumers to take into account what a companies practices because in the end not all of
them will care.
• For example, I would rather not buy a bag, coats from Louis Vuitton or dior, knowing the cruelty to
animals that take place to bring the product to market.
• I would also refrain from buying products such as coffee from countries like Brazil, Cambodia, etc. that
are a result of child or forced labour.

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6. If you were part of a third-party regulating body, how would you deal with ethically questionable business
practices of multinational corporations like Apple? Would you feel obligated to do something, or do you think the
solution rests with the companies themselves? Explain your reasoning.

• Yes, I would feel obligated to do something against child labor. The first important thing, an
obligation, is to stop importing of tin until the problem would be solved, since child labor is
illegal, prohibited across the world. It is not only a legal issue, but also a social and moral issue
that interferes with the ability of children to attend regular school and it will be dangerous
mentally and socially. It is against the global sustainable development goals that requires for
adoption sustainable and social responsible policies.
• Having clear policies against child labor, and complies with the international human rights laws
and makes sure to maintain strong governance structures and adherence to law. Business to be
conducted with honesty, integrity and respect for all employees, customers and community.
Asking the company to be transparent to the public would be one the important responsibility
• As a third-party regulatory body, I would try to come up with a solution to the issues at hand.
By solving major corporations‘ problems like this would allow for more support from other
third-party groups and maybe even other influential corporations. Having this support would
help essentially force the company to fix its practices and unethical methods.
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