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Management Theory and Practice : Assignment

   

Added on  2020-05-16

12 Pages4231 Words592 Views
Running head: APPLE INCORPORATION0Management Theory andPractice

APPLE INCORPORATION1IntroductionEthical dilemmas are defined as confusing situations in which ethical principles of aperson are applied. The ethical dilemmas are often occurred due to complicated situations ordisagreements between people based on moral perspectives. In certain situations, theconfusing circumstances occur in a professional sense in which people are unable to decidethe correct and moral course of action. Due to conflicting ideologies of people, the ethicaldilemmas are creating in a professional setting. The ethical dilemmas can occur at any placeor anytime, but they are often witnessed in workplaces globally. In today’s competitiveworld, the corporations are facing various ethical diversity issues which increase theincidences of ethical dilemmas. This essay will focus on analysing the role of ethicalleadership and decision-making during the situations of ethical dilemmas. The essay will takethe example of Apple Incorporation which is an American multinational company thatprovides its services worldwide. In past two years, Apple has been in the news because thecompany is facing ethical dilemmas relating to Foxconn. The essay will analyse two ethicaltheories that can be implemented by the management of Apple Incorporation to address theissues of ethical dilemmas. Further, the essay will provide various recommendations that canassist the management of Apple in making ethical decisions.

APPLE INCORPORATION2Ethical Theories and Decision Making for Addressing Ethical DilemmaApple Incorporation is an American multinational corporation that was founded in1976; the head office of the firm is situated in Cupertino, California. The company operatesin computer hardware, software, digital distribution and consumer electronics industry.Currently, Apple market value stood at US$900 billion, and it is one of the most valuedcompanies in the world (Shen, 2017). The corporation is known for offering highlyinnovative products to its customers. The firm was founded by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak,and Ronald Wayne as an electronics company. The products offered by the company includeiPhone, iPad, iPod, iMac, MacBook Pro, Apple TV and many others. The corporation investsheavily in order to make environment-friendly products; the company avoids using harmfulelements such as lead or mercury while manufacturing its products. The firm is committed toreducing its carbon footprint, and they do it by using 100 percent of renewable energy topower its data centres and 96 percent of its facilities worldwide (Apple, 2018). Theorganisation provides a positive working environment to its employees that promote diversityin the workplace. In order to reduce its manufacturing costs, Apple outsources its productionoperation to China. Foxconn provides the facility of assessing consumer electronic productsto a large number of major vendors including Apple (Webb, 2017). In past few years, Apple has been in the news due to concerning working condition atfactories that are owned by Foxconn. Many news stories have provided that the workers inFoxconn owned factories are working in hazardous situations. The company is facing ethicaldilemmas because its products have a considerably high demand in the market and to fulfilsuch demand factories have to work in extensive hours (Sin, 2016). The employees workcontinuously in unhealthy situations to meet the demand of customers. The firm is one of thelargest organisations in the world in terms of profits yet still it has failed to address the issueof its employees in Foxconn. Recently, due to increasing demand of iPhones, a large numberof Foxconn employees threaten to engage in mass suicide. The CEO of Apple, Tim Cook, isfacing serious ethical dilemma because of negative working conditions of Foxconnemployees (Oster, 2016). Apple is a multinational firm and decisions of company’smanagement has a global impact; the company invest heavily in environment-friendlyoperations and employees’ diversity still it has failed to address the issue of Foxconnemployees. According to Fortune, Apple is worth more than US$900 billion which prove thatcorporation has a remarkable success in the smartphone and computer market (Shen, 2017).

APPLE INCORPORATION3However, the threat of mass suicide made by Foxconn employees proves that Apple hasfailed to make an ethical decision when it comes to its workers’ rights in China. As per an article in ‘The Guardian’ posted in June 2017, the working condition ofemployees at Foxconn is considerably bad, and there are threats of mass suicide made byemployees (Merchant, 2017). On 6th January 2018, a factory worker of Foxconn committedsuicide by jumping from the window of iPhone manufacturing factory (Fullerton, 2018). Thisincident adds to the countless times when employees of Foxconn committed suicide becauseof the negative working environment and long working shifts. As per Apple, the company hastaken few initiatives to tackle the issue of suicide and improving the working condition atFoxconn. For example, the corporation installed hanging nets in the factory premises toprevent people from jumping off the building (Smith, 2016). Although, as per recent incident,it is a proof that the initiatives of the company have failed substantially and the condition ofworkers in Foxconn is still bad. With the new launch of iPhones, iMac, MacBook, and otherApple products each year, Foxconn has to increase the working hours of employees in orderto meet the demand of the company. The management of Apple Incorporation can implement ethical theories to addressthe issues of Foxconn and improve the working condition of factory workers. The two mainfundamental ethical theories that can be implemented by the firm include Teleological andDeontological. Both these theories can assist Apple in making the right and ethical decisionin the situation and assist its management in implementing policies in order to improve theworking condition of Foxconn workers (Yoon, 2011). The Teleological approach is an ethicalconcept that focuses on seeking a “telos” while taking a decision. Telos is a Greek wordwhich means “goal” or “end”. This means that the approach is focused on how decisions andchoices affect a particular desired moral outcome. There are two main teleological moraltheories which include utilitarianism/consequentialism and the virtue ethics that was adoptedby ancient philosophers (Broad, 2014). Both of these theories are part of “traditional ethicaltheories” which are based on consequentialists and non-consequentialists. Utilitarianismapproach is widely popular in business and public policy context. The main concept ofUtilitarianism provides that organisations should make ethical choices to provide greatbenefits to a great number of people (McGee, 2010). “Ends justify the means” is the keyconcept of this theory, for example, one person can be killed to save the lives of five people.

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