Ethical Ethics Of Apple

1452 Words6 Pages
The report discusses about the ethical claims of Apple Inc., how far it has lived up to its claims, and the company's performance evaluation. According to Merriam-Webster, ethics is defined as "the discipline dealing with what is good and bad, with moral duty and obligation" (Merriam-Webster, n.d.). On the other hand, business ethics are moral principles that shape and guide the way business behave, the similar principles that determines an individual's actions in the business (Marcoux, 2008), and involves distinguishing between the rights and wrongs then making the choice that is believed to be right. Formerly known as Apple Computer, Inc., Apple Inc. was founded on 1 April 1976 by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak (Richardson and Terrell, 2008),…show more content…
has a supplier responsibility to create products ethically with workers treated with dignity and respect (Apple, 2014). The company has created programmes that aim "to educate and empower workers, and help preserve the environment's resources by implementing changes across their supply chains", enabling safer and more ethical working surroundings (Apple, 204). Apple Inc. currently has more than 600 audits covering over 16 million workers in 19 countries, a 40% increase from 2013 (Apple, 2014). It has been reported that many tech companies are outsourcing manufacturers in developing countries like China to gain higher profits by cutting costs (Jefferies, 2014), and Apple Inc. was no different. Sweatshop labours, especially in developing Asian countries with little to no existing labour laws, are preferred because of high turnaround times when manufacturing products (Jefferies, 2014), with tech giants Samsung, Dell, and Sony outsourcing to China as well. An article published by CNET reported that Chinese labourers in a factory producing iPhones in China were subject to poor working conditions, poor living conditions, and have inadequate job safety trainings besides receiving minimum wage working overtime just to cover monthly living expenses (Kan,…show more content…
has a responsibility to the environment and its surroundings. Steps are being taken by the company to be greener through reducing environmental impact at Apple facilities. In April 2015, Apple Inc. announced that the company will turn to environmentally sustainable practices in the usage of power and materials, moving closer to goals of using entirely renewable energy to power operational businesses (Kastrenakes, 2015). In October 2015, Apple Inc. announced two new initiatives in China to avoid the production of pollution by building solar energy sources in the country, partnering with local suppliers to install clean energy projects (Apple,
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