Assessing the environmental impact and sustainability of Apple Inc.

Assessing the environmental impact and
sustainability of Apple Inc.
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ABSTRACT
The study aims to assessing the impact of environment and sustainability on the operations
and productivity of business. Therefore, sustainability and environment are two important aspect
which are needs to be considered by the businesses for the better performance of the business.
the present initiated that in the modern and competitive era, the primary obligation of each size
of business is to increasing the sustainability at market place for the intention to attaining higher
growth and success. Furthermore, literature review mainly focuses over providing theoretical
framework in relation to determining the significance of sustainability for the business and the
impact does business has via the suitable assessment of environmental factors and sustainability
practices. The key aim of the study is to enhancing idea and knowledge in relation to the aspect
of sustainability and environment and its influence over business. In this study, analysis is
completely based over quantitative method as it is best suitable to provide detailed investigation
via the support of suitable information in mathematical and statistical aspects. In addition to this,
primary study is being executing via the support of developing questionnaire which covers the
aim and objectives of the research. On the other hand, secondary sources like books, journals,
articles and so on are imperative in executing literature review. At the end, conclusion has
represents that the suitable assessment of sustainability and environmental practices ha positive
impact over the progression operations of the business. after that, few suggestions are provided
to Apple Inc to maintain operations to increasing sustainability within market.
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Contents
Assessing the environmental impact and sustainability of Apple Inc..............................................1
ABSTRACT.....................................................................................................................................2
PROPOSED TITLE – “Assessing the environmental impact and sustainability of Apple Inc.”....5
Background of the study.........................................................................................................5
Background to organisation....................................................................................................5
Aim of research......................................................................................................................6
Objectives of research............................................................................................................6
Research questions.................................................................................................................6
Rationale for the study............................................................................................................7
Project Structure.....................................................................................................................7
LITERATURE REVIEW................................................................................................................9
The concept of sustainability and its significance for organisation.......................................9
Benefits of adopting sustainability practices for the organisation........................................10
Impact of environment and sustainability on business activities and operations and
productivity of organisation.................................................................................................11
Different environmental and sustainability initiatives taken by Apple Inc. in its business
operations.............................................................................................................................12
Challenges related to environment and sustainability faced by Apple Inc..........................13
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY...................................................................................................15
Research philosophy.............................................................................................................15
Research approach................................................................................................................15
Research design....................................................................................................................16
Research strategy..................................................................................................................16
Research Choice...................................................................................................................19
Data collection method.........................................................................................................20
Sampling...............................................................................................................................20
Ethical considerations...........................................................................................................21
Time Horizon........................................................................................................................21
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DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION...........................................................................27
FINDINGS.....................................................................................................................................42
CONCLUSION AND FUTURE CONSIDERATIONS................................................................45
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................47
APPENDIX....................................................................................................................................50
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PROPOSED TITLE – “Assessing the environmental impact and sustainability of
Apple Inc.”
CHAPTER 1 - INTRODUCTION
Background of the study
Environmental impact is defined as any positive or adverse change in the quality of environment
resulting from the interference of human, which is able to alter the natural rhythm of the system's
processes (Schaltegger and Wagner, 2017). Sustainability emphasize on mitigating the
requirements of present while not compromising the future generation's ability to meet their
requirements. It is the concept which encourages organisations to take decisions in terms of
social, environmental as well as human influence for long term instead of short term gains like
the earnings report of next quarter. The organisations can accomplish their sustainable needs
through cutting emissions, sourcing fairly traded products and lowering down the use of energy.
However, while moving towards sustainability, organisation face various challenges.
Sustainability encourages businesses and individuals to make decisions on long term as well as
taking the future generation into consideration. This dissertation is based on title “Assessing the
environmental impact and sustainability of Apple Inc.” and it aims to assess the impact of
environment and sustainability on the operations and productivity of business. The objectives are
developed in the study based on its aim which directs the investigator to perform study in
systematic manner and accomplish aim of investigation (Abdul-Rashid and et. al., 2017).
Background to organisation
Apple Inc. is a multinational organisation of America which is headquartered in California. It is a
technology company which designs and develops computer software, online services and
consumer electronics (Fernando, Jabbour and Wah, 2019). The Organisation was established in
year 1976 by Steve Wozniak, Steve Jobs and Ronald Wayne. In the information technology
industry, Apple is considered as one of the big five organisations involving Facebook, Microsoft,
Amazon and Google. Different products of the organisation include Apple watch, Apple TV, Air
Pods, home pod smart speaker line etc. Its software includes watch OS, iPad OS, Mac OS, TV
OS and iOS operating systems. Apart from this, the online services of the company include iOS
Apple Store, Apple arcade, Apple TV+, Mac app Store, iCloud and iMessage. The other services
of organisation include Apple care Apple cash, Apple cards, Apple stores, Apple pay etc. The
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organisation has been known for its innovation and it was the first company to develop app based
ecosystem for the smartphones. In addition to this, it is the first company which introduce touch
id in smartphones and utilise 64-bit processor (Haseeb And et. al., 2019). The organisation
consistently emphasizing on making its manufacturing and supply chain more sustainable over
next decade and has received favourable reviews of environment since year 2017. It consistently
to strive for cent percent closed-loop supply chain and encourage others to develop mindfully as
well as strive to solidify organisation as a Pinnacle of environment forward thinking (Evans and
et. al., 2017).
Aim of research
The main aim of this research study is “To assess the impact of environment and
sustainability on the operations and productivity of business. A case study on Apple Inc.”
Objectives of research
The main objectives associated with this specific study are provided below:
1. To understand the concept of sustainability and its significance for organisation.
2. To identify benefits of adopting sustainability practices for the organisation.
3. To analyse the impact of environment and sustainability on business activities and
operations and productivity of organisation.
4. To determine different environmental and sustainability initiatives taken by Apple Inc. in
its business operations.
5. To ascertain the challenges related to environment and sustainability faced by Apple Inc.
Research questions
The main questions in relation to this investigation are as follows:
1. What is the concept of sustainability and its significance for organisation?
2. Which are the various benefits of adopting sustainability practices for the organisation?
3. What is the impact of environment and sustainability on business activities, operations
and productivity of organisation?
4. Which are the different environmental and sustainability initiatives taken by Apple Inc. in
its business operations?
5. What are the challenges related to environment and sustainability faced by Apple Inc.?
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Rationale for the study
This dissertation project is performed on the title “Assessing the environmental impact and
sustainability of Apple Inc.” and it intent to analyse the impact of environment and sustainability
on the operations and productivity of business. Performing this study enable investigator to
acquire deep information and knowledge on the topic of study. By the help of this investigation,
the researcher is able to understand sustainability concept along with its significance for
company. It will also help in determining the benefits that a company can get by adopting
sustainability practices (Longoni and Cagliano, 2015). Apart from this, the impact of
environment and sustainability on the activities, operations and productivity of business are also
analysed by performing this study. Moreover, it also makes the researcher able to determine
environmental and sustainability initiatives that Apple Inc. taken into consideration in its
business operations along with various challenges associated with environment and sustainability
that organisation faced. The study is very effective for the organisation in terms of determining
the challenges and initiatives to overcome the challenges. It helps in consistently improving the
business operations and make them more sustainable and environment friendly. In addition to
this, this investigation it is also beneficial for academic purpose as it is a base for the scholars to
carry on further study on this particular topic or the associated topic.
Project Structure
This is the most significant aspect of investigation as it provides suitable outline specification to
the study and provides idea about the aspects that are needs to be covered in the project (Ng and
Rezaee, 2015). In the case of this present investigation work, based on the aspect of assessing the
impact of environment and sustainability on the operations and productivity of business, the
project structure is effective in providing suitable guidance to assistance the e tire work in right
manner. The suitable chapters that will be cover in the study are associated as under:
Chapter 1: Introduction
This is the primary aspect of an investigation which plays a significant role in introducing
about the chosen study area or issue effectively. This section of investigation covers background
of the study, significance of the study, rationale of executing the research, aim, objectives and
questions of the research. Here in this present study, summary has been provides about the
impact of environment and sustainability on the operations and productivity of business and
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rationale has also been discussed or aim and objectives are presented to assist the work in right
manner.
Chapter 2: Literature Review
This is the second and important area of an investigation which provides suitable guidance in the
manner of developing theoretical framework to via the help of executing analysis over the
already accumulated information. Here secondary research has been executing over the aspect of
evaluating the impact of environment and sustainability on the operations and productivity of
business, with the support of books, journals, articles and so on. This section enhances
theoretical knowledge about the chosen study phenomenon (Morioka and Carvalho, 2016).
Chapter 3: Research Methodology
This section of investigation is mainly relay over selecting, evaluating, analysing and
implementing the right methodology or tool to aid the investigation in right direction. Therefore,
this section comprises over different applications like type of investigation, strategy, philosophy,
approach of research, data collection method, sampling and so on. That is significant for assist
the study over the area of assess the impact of environment and sustainability on the operations
and productivity of business in more efficient manner.
Chapter 4: Data Analysis and Findings
This is the section where, analysis will be made on the results that has been accumulated. In this
present dissertation work, researcher is considering primary investigating method for the data
collection therefore; interpretation will be made and on the basis of those information and
discussion will be performed on the information which has been collected. Thus, thematic
analysis approach is being considering for this analysis to provide systematic evaluation (Vij and
Bedi, 2016).
Chapter 5: Conclusion and Further Consideration
This is the final and most important area of investigation where conclusion has been drawn
over the findings of the research as here the outcome of research is present in summary. In
addition to this, recommendations are drawn over the conclusion to provide future benefits to the
business.
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