Ethical Issues Facing Apple

Introduction Ethic is important to every organization because it govern how the organization is seen by the populations it serves. As a result of the recent awareness of ethical issues, companies must aware of their actions so that they remain competitive. Apple is an American corporation that manufactures and designs electronics, including computers software, hardware, as well as computers electronics. According to O’Grady (2009, p. 45), the company has an outstanding Macintosh personal computer lines, and it is well known for its user friendly and dependable user base which enable them to stand out well against their competitors. Currently, the company has more than 284 retails shops that are spread all over the 10 countries (Myers, n.d.). The company has made a significant reputation in the consumer market. However, currently, the company has been the victim of some ethical challenges. Ethical issues are issues that require a person or an organization to choose between two alternatives (Reuters, 2012). However, these alternatives must be evaluated between right or wrong. Therefore, this essay focuses on ethical issues that Apple faces along with evaluating them in light of ethical theories, followed by courses of action taken by the company or company can take to overcome them. Ethical Issues Facing Apple According to Renouard (2011, p. 85), ethical issues are harmful to an organization regardless of the business. As Strother et al., (2009, p. 245) emphasize, every organization should strive to make sure that it addresses its ethical issues in order to be profitable. Ethical issues not only affect the company’s public image, but also make the company face a lot of criticism. Same stands true for Apple Company, which has been a victim of ethical issues affecting it. Some of these issues including chemical related problems, bribery, and employment of underage workers, are being discussed below. These issues caused direct impacts on the company shareholders, as well as stakeholders (Torres et al 2012, P. 65). Therefore, the company requires coming up with a solution to these problems in order to ensure that they maintain the company’s profitability. Chemical related Problems According to Sethi (2012, para.3), Apple has recently been hit by harsh criticism about working condition of their Faxconn factories. The company has crosses many ethical boundaries, and one these ethical boundaries are the use of chemicals without protecting employees. Chemical as an ethical issue has negative repercussion on the organization at large (O’Grady, 2009, p. 45) as they Chemical not only seriously affect employees’ health, but also affects other stakeholders. Some of the chemical can damage the reproductive system of employees, leading to the emergence of cancer cases and infertility. In women, these chemicals can also affect their menstrual cycles, leading to menstrual disorders, which may cause birth of deformed children (O’Grady, 2009, p. 45). On the other hand, Torres, et al. (2012, p. 64) argues that, other stakeholders including the shareholder and customers may be affected by these chemical in case of the customers, and the shareholders will lose their money because of negative publicity. Not only this but the failure of the company to handle toxicity issues will hurt the company’s financial health due to negative publicity, which may result in a damaging effect on company’s brand image (O’Grady, 2009, p. 34). As a result, Apple will not only loose fund, but will also be required to give out money to respond to the injuries claim by the employees. Under ethical theory, the use of chemical in the factor is an act of egoism. There are two types of egoism, ethical egoism and psychological egoism. Psychological egoism indicates that people are motivated by their own interests. In this respect, Apple uses chemical to pursue their own goals, and they do not mind about the workers. Employment of Underage Students Employment of underage workers is another ethical issue that is affecting the company. According to report by the Torres, et al. (2012, p. 64), Apple factories in China have crossed the boundary by employing underage workers, which children are used to assemble electronics. They workers work under poor environmental condition and, therefore, allow the organization to save a lot of money. In addition, Apple, especially the Foxconn, has been criticized for the use of student with the claim of providing internship. According to Chakrabortty (2013), students make a significant number of Foxconn’s labor force constituting 15 percent, or 180000 at peak time. The use of underage workers in an organization affects the organization as a whole. For instance, underage workers may make other workers feel insecure and without some of their right (Renouard, 2011, p.90). In Apple, the company has led to the company breaking some labor regulations that govern how the organization operates (Myers, n.d.). Additionally, the company has reported lower sales of it product as a result of the negative publicity (Cahalan, 2013). The author also indicates that consumers are now buying more of the 5-inch screen offered by companies such as Samsung because of ethical issues associated with Apple. Apple has also fired some of its Chinese suppliers because of using underage. Therefore, there is a clear indication of the issue affecting the shareholders because they are losing their profits. Under the ethical theory, these actions can be seen as egoism. The company is using underage children to maximize their profits because children are cheap to hire. Modern indentured Servitude Modern indentured servitude is another ethical issue that is affecting the company. According to Worstall (2013), an audit done on the company revealed that employees are required to pay recruitment fees. These recruitment fees are bonded to the modern indentured servitude. The workers are forced to pay these fees, and the same time forced to work. A report from Faxconn factories indicates that employees are forced to work for seven days a week, and they stand to the point they are unable to walk (Myers, n.d.). This became painful to the point where several of them started committing suicide at one of the Foxconn’s factory, Shenzen (Myers, n.d.). In addition, Worstall (2013) indicate that Apple factories in China practice military style of management where an employee is not supposed to interact with another employee. These factors can affect the organization and tarnish their public image. These actions can also be analyzed through psychological egoism because the company overworks the employees to achieve high production with minimal production cost. Therefore, the company is only motivated by the goals it wants to accomplish without consideration of the employees. How to overcome these Issues Although there have been allegations and human rights and labor right abuses, the company has been proactive in the way it handles the working condition within the factories that produce their product (Worstall, 2013). For instance, the company has established code of conduct that every supplier needs to follow (Worstall 2013). The company has started auditing and making each supplier provides a responsibility report. Although these actions have been criticized, they have improved the working condition of employees (Torres et al 2012, p. 65). To solve the chemical challenge, the company has trained 350 employees on process safety topic and deployed them in different suppliers’ factories since 2011 to improve the working conditions of employees. Apple has also trained 261 suppliers personnel on the use of protective equipment, 95 have been trained on chemical safety and 77 on control hazardous energy (Torres et al 2012, P. 65). In addition, Apple has also tried to minimize the cases of excessive overtime at the suppliers over time. According to Myers (n.d.), the company, in 2011, started tracking the number of hours worked by employees, and they contacted employers if they found any code of violation. In 2012, the company expanded the program to monitor over 1 million workers, and also started publishing monthly compliances on its annual suppliers’ compliance responsibility report (Myers, n.d.) According to Worstall (2013), Apple has made some efforts to eliminate the ethical issues by pursuing zero tolerance policy on child labor and ensure that the victim of child labor are returned to school and compensated for the lost time. Furthermore, to overcome the issue of underage workers, the company should stop thinking only on their self-interest. Employment of children who are below 18 years is illegal (Renouard, 2011, p.88). Therefore, if the company need to employ an under 18 child, first, it need to get permission from the parent. Although employee saves the company many costs, it also brings a number of the problems to stakeholder (Renouard, 2011, p.91). According to Worstall (2013), the company has joined different right in an effort to make the labor transparency rights. The company can handle the problem of Modern indentured servitude through their human resource department (Myers, n.d.). The problem indicates that most of the workers in the company are involuntary Workers are forced to work because they have paid recruitment fees to sub agency. The company should allow involuntary workers to leave the company (Torres et al 2012, P. 65). Limitation of the efforts Although action take by apple have produced some table result, and the company has been hailed for changing from being notorious, some critics indicate that Apple supply chain is still far from good. Sweatshop condition still

prevails and suicides cases are still common. Critics indicates that much of the company has done is only to improve public relation (Myers, n.d.) Conclusion The recent awareness of ethical issues demands companies to be aware of their actions so that they remain competitive. Apple is an American corporation that manufactures and designs electronics, including computers software, hardware, as well as computers electronics. In the recent years, Apple has come under fierce criticism due to some ethical issues it is facing. Some of these issues include the use of underage children, the use of chemicals and the problem of modern indentured servitude. These actions can be evaluated by an ethical theory of psychological egoism, which indicates that their own interests motivate people. However, the company has handled these problems by pursuing zero tolerance policy, training of employees and tracking the number of work done by employees. Apple also requires tackling the problem of modern indentured servitude. References Cahalan, P. (2013). Apple’s reputation hit by poor iPhone sales, child labour. Retrieved on 17 March 2014 from http://www.gympietimes.com.au/news/apples-reputation-hit-poor-iphone-sales-child-labo/1736845/ Chakrabortty, A. (2013). Forced student labour is central to the Chinese economic miracle. Retrieved on 17 March 2014 from http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/oct/14/forced-student-labour-china-apple Myers, C. (n.d.). Corporate Social Responsibility in the Consumer Electronics Industry: A Case Study of Apple Inc. Retrieved on 17 March 2014 from http://lwp.georgetown.edu/wp-content/uploads/Connor-Myers.pdf O’Grady, J. D. 2009. Apple Inc. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press. Renouard, C. 2011. Corporate social responsibility, utilitarianism, and the capabilities approach. Journal of business ethics, 98(1), 85-97. Reuters, 2012.Apple supplier audit reveals child labour, environmental violations. Retrieved on 1 March 2014 from http://business.financialpost.com/2012/01/13/apple-supplier-audit-reveals-child-labour-environmental-violations/?__lsa=5fa5-0959 Sethi, P. S. 2012. Two Faces of Apple. Retrieved on 1 March 2014 from http://www.carnegiecouncil.org/publications/ethics_online/0068.html Strother, J. B., Fazal,

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