SUSTAINABILITY AND ETHICS.

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Running head: SUSTAINABILITY AND ETHICS
SUSTAINABILITY AND ETHICS: A CASE STUDY OF APPLE
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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Overview of the business activities of Apple..................................................................................2
Overview of the concept of Sustainability.......................................................................................3
Importance of the usage of ethics for the attainment of sustainability............................................4
Analysis of the enterprise Apple on the basis of the concepts of sustainability and ethics.............5
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................8
References........................................................................................................................................9

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Introduction
As opined by Davies (2016), the primary focus of the contemporary business enterprises
is on the enhancement of the financial returns earned by them and for the attainment of this end
the business enterprises are trying to enhance their productivity. Hansen et al. (2015) are of the
viewpoint that the major problem arises because of the fact that the business enterprises in order
to enhance their productivity and thereby their profitability are depleting the natural resources of
the planet at an alarming rate. For example, it is seen that the rate at which the different business
enterprises are using the natural resources of the planet for the manufacture of the products or
services offered by them to the customers it is likely that the future generations will not have
access to the same resources (Ben-Amar, Chang and McIlkenny 2017). In the light of these
aspects, it can be said that it had become important for the enterprises to take into account the
concepts of sustainability and ethics for the rational usage of the natural resources of the planet.
This paper will explore the concept of sustainability and the usage of ethics by the business
enterprises through the usage of the case study of the enterprise Apple.
Overview of the business activities of Apple
The enterprise Apple Inc was founded by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne
in the year 1976 (Apple.com 2019). The concerned enterprise is an American multinational
technology-based enterprise based in California and is reputed for the plethora of hardware and
software that it offers to the customers (Apple.com 2019). For example, it is seen that the
enterprise under discussion here offers operating system to the customers along with different
varieties of hardware like mother-board, smartphones and others. As a matter of fact, it is seen
that the concerned enterprise is often regarded to be a part of the ‘big four technology-based

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enterprises of the world’ along with Facebook, Amazon and Google (Apple.com 2019). More
importantly, the enterprise while being one of the largest technology-based enterprises of the
world is also one of the most reputed brands of the world as well (Apple.com 2019). In addition
to these, it had been seen that the enterprise in the present times as part of its planetary
responsibility is trying to reduce its ecological footprinting by reducing the amount of natural
resources used by it for the manufacture of the products or the services that it offers to the
customers (Purkayastha and Samad 2015). Thus, various kinds of measures have been
undertaken by the enterprise under discussion here in the recent times like initiatives to become a
greener company, reduce the amount of harmful emissions caused by it, usage of recent as well
as innovative technologies for the improvement of the nature of products or services offered by it
so as to reduce the pressure caused by it to the environment through its business activities and
others. In this regard, it needs to be said that the effective usage of these measures or initiatives
have not only helped the concerned enterprise in the recent times to reduce its ecological
footprinting but at the same time to become one of the most valued brands of the world as well.
Overview of the concept of Sustainability
Markman et al. (2016) are of the viewpoint that the concept of sustainability had become
an important one in the particular context of the business activities which are presently being
used by the different business enterprises. As discussed by Johnson and Schaltegger (2016),
sustainability refers to the process through which the business enterprises are being able to attain
certain minimum level of growth without causing the over-utilization or the over-exploitation of
the natural resources of the planet. On the other hand, Ferrell and Fraedrich (2015) have noted
that the concept of sustainability requires the enterprises to optimally utilize the limited resources
that they have at their disposal so as to reduce their ecological footprinting in the best possible

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manner. The effective usage of the process of sustainability is not only important from the
perspective of the planet but at the same time from the perspective of the business enterprises as
well.
According to Jansson et al. (2017), the business enterprises through the effective usage of
the process of sustainability have the opportunity to optimally utilize the resources that they have
at their disposal and also to recycle the wastes generated by them. This in turn is likely to reduce
the operations or the manufacturing cost incurred by the enterprises in an exponential manner
and thereby provides them the opportunity to enhance the profitability or the financial earned by
them as well (Galpin, Whitttington and Bell 2015). More importantly, the business enterprises
also have the opportunity to attain competitive advantage and thereby long-term growth within
the business market of their operation (Kourula, Pisani and Kolk 2017). On the other hand, it had
been seen that the effective usage of the construct of sustainability by the business enterprises
helps in the reduction of the environmental pressure created by the enterprises on the
environment (Wymer and Rundle-Thiele 2017). This in turn helps the business enterprises to
fulfill their responsibility towards the environment through the reduction in their ecological
footprinting.
Importance of the usage of ethics for the attainment of sustainability
Schaltegger and Burritt (2018) are of the viewpoint that the business enterprises for the
process of conducting their business operations need to take into account the concept of business
ethics which dictates that the business enterprises need to mold their business activities on the
basis of the concept of ethics. However, as discussed by Schuler et al. (2017), the problem arises
because of the fact that the majority of the business enterprises rather than taking the help of the

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ethical theory of Utilitarianism are increasingly resorting to the usage of the ethical theory of
Kantianism. For example, the ethical theory of Kantianism states that the end justifies the means
which had been taken or adopted for the attainment of their end (Reinecke, Arnold and Palazzo
2016). Thus, it is seen that the business enterprises try to justify their over-exploitation of the
natural resources of the planet by stating that they are fulfilling their economic responsibility
towards the nations through the enhancement in their means of production. This approach
adopted by the enterprises however completely negates the damage that the business operations
of the enterprises are causing towards the environment.
As stated by Akrivou and Bradbury-Huang (2015), the theory of Utilitarianism states that
the business enterprises need to take the help of the kind of actions or activities which are likely
to cause the maximum amount of benefit to the maximum number of stakeholders. This ethical
theory becomes important from the perspective of the concept of sustainability. As discussed by
Crane et al. (2019), this can be explained on the basis of the fact that the business enterprises
taking the help of this ethical theory would be able to ensure the fact that they use the natural
resources of the planet in an optimum manner and thereby reduce their ecological footprinting.
This in turn is likely to help the business enterprises to ensure the fact that the future generations
of the planet would also have access to the same kind of natural resources that the present
generation have access to. In the light of these aspects, it can be said that it becomes imperative
for the business enterprises to not only take into account the concept of sustainability but at the
same time use the ethical theory of Utilitarianism for the effective usage of the same.

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Analysis of the enterprise Apple on the basis of the concepts of sustainability and ethics
The business enterprise Apple over the years had to face a substantial amount of criticism
on the score of the business activities used by it. In this regard, it needs to be said that the
primary objective of the enterprise under discussion here over the years had to enhance it
production and thereby earn a higher amount of profitability. This in turn had propelled the
concerned enterprise over the years to completely disregard the aspect of sustainability or for that
matter the damage that the business activities used by it had been causing to the environment
(Purkayastha and Samad 2015). This in the present times had adversely affected the brand image
as well as the profitability of the concerned enterprise which in turn had forced the enterprise
under discussion here to take the help of the concept of sustainability and ethics for the designing
and the effective conduct of its business operations.
Apple in the present times had taken the help of various kinds of measures in order to
effectively use the concepts of sustainability and ethics for the attainment of long-term growth as
well as competitive advantage within the business market of its operation. In this regard, it needs
to be said that one of the most important measures which had been used by Apple in the present
times for the reduction of its ecological footprinting is its decision to become a greener company
through the reduction of the damage that the different facilities used by it caused to the
environment (Apple.com 2019). As a matter of fact, it had been seen that the concerned
enterprise is presently trying to put restrictions on the manufacturing process used by it, the
usage of the different resources, recycling the wastes generated by it and others. These initiatives
undertaken by the enterprise under discussion here are important since they offer dual benefits to
the enterprise. On the one hand, they have enabled the enterprise to reduce its operations cost by
promoting the optimum utilization of its organizational resources and thereby helped it to not

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only enhance its profitability but at the same time to gain competitive advantage as well
(Purkayastha and Samad 2015). On the other hand, it had been seen that it had also helped the
concerned enterprise to reduce its ecological footprinting as well by reducing the damage that the
different business activities used by the enterprise causes to the environment.
Apple along with the usage of the above mentioned measures is also taking the help of
different other measures for the effective attainment of sustainability and long-term growth. For
example, it had been seen that the enterprise under discussion here in the present time is taking
the help of different kinds of measures which are intended to improve the condition of the
employees who are a part of the enterprise. In this regard, it needs to be said that the enterprise is
addressing the issues of gender pay gap, gender inequality, discrimination, women empowerment
and others for the improvement of the condition of the employees who are a part of the same
(Apple.com 2019). The usage of these initiatives in turn had helped the concerned enterprise to
enhance the job satisfaction level of the employees and thereby earn their loyalty. This in turn
had helped the enterprise to enhance its productivity and thereby attain long-term growth.
An important aspect of the different sustainability measures used by the enterprise Apple
is the fact that these initiatives or measures are completely based on the concept of ethics and the
different ethical theories. For example, it had been seen that the enterprise under discussion
actively takes the help of the ethical theory of Utilitarianism for the designing of its various
sustainability measures. In this regard, it needs to be said that had the enterprise wanted then it
could have easily taken the help of the kind of measures which could have enhanced its
productivity as well as profitability although they would have been destructive from the
perspective of the environment (Purkayastha and Samad 2015). However, Apple taking the help
of the ethical theory of Utilitarianism had designed its business activities which are intended to

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help it to attain sustainability as well as long-term growth while reducing its ecological
footprinting.
Conclusion
To conclude, the contemporary business enterprises are required to take into account the
concepts of sustainability and ethics for the purpose of modeling their business activities. These
two concepts are important from the perspective of the modern-day business world because they
are not only likely to help the business enterprises to attain long-term growth or competitive
advantage but also reduce their ecological footprinting as well. This in turn is likely to help the
enterprises to reduce the damage that they causing to the environment through its business
activities and thereby fulfill its environmental responsibility as a business enterprise. These
aspects of the concepts of sustainability and ethics become apparent from the above analysis of
the same in the particular context of the enterprise Apple.

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References
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business schools toward ethics and sustainability. Academy of Management Learning &
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Apple.com 2019. Apple Official Home Page. [online] Available at:
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