Ch. 3 - Ethics & Social Responsibility

                                 

Apple is a company that has a huge task of meeting its ehics and social responsiblilty standards. In the past Apple has been criticized for exploiting workers and paying them extremely low wages for extra long shifts. Over the years Apple has been improving their ethics and social responsiblilies with investegations and funding. Ethics and Social responsibility are crucial for Apple's future because in the information age we live in it is very easy to find out whether or not Apple is following these standards. I will discuss how Apple is working and improving on these standards.





Legal Responsibility- Apple has taken action against unethical conduct in its facilities. For this particular responsibility, Apple has stopped the use of underage labor in ten facilities including Foxconn. According to Apple's website Since 2008, more than 861,000 workers have taken advantage of their Supplier Employee Education and Development (SEED) program, which offers free courses ranging from economics to English.

Economic Responsibility- Every corporation economic responsibility is to be profitable. Apple is first in its class in this field. Apple's revenue and profits are ($10,000,000,000 cash, gross profit margin 43.9% and no debt).  This data is from the year of 2013 and the most likely scenero is that amount doubled in 2014 with the release of the IPhone 6. When it comes to Economic Responsibility Apple is one the best companies in the World.


Voluntary Responsibility- Apple has done a tremendous job concerning environmental issues that range from toxic material removal from its products to the recyclying and the use greenhouse gas emission. Not only is Apple exceeding the environmental impact of its products in a positive way, Apple also support Bono in his Product Red Campaign by contributing it's revenue to fight against AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria.



Ethical Responsibility- Apple has eliminated dangerous working conditions and bribery in many of their facilities. Also Apple requires that every supplier that does business with Apple must demonstrate the highest commitment to protecting workers’ rights. This includes abiding by a maximum 60-hour workweek. In 2013, 92 percent of all Apple's suppliers’ workweeks were compliant with their 60-hour maximum standard. It also means holding suppliers accountable to ethical hiring practices. In 2014, Apple helped over 4500 foreign contract workers recoup US$3.96 million in excessive fees paid to labor brokers. Apple's dedication to human rights even extends to using more conflict-free minerals in thier products.


Apple has thorougly improved on their ethics and social responsobility standards. They have developed more environmentally friendly technology and have vastly improved working conditions. There is still room for improvement, but if Apple continues in the right direction they can set a the bar on how ethical and social responsibility is carried out.