COMM331 Essay: Business Case Analysis of Apple and Child Labour

This essay provides a comprehensive business case analysis of Apple, focusing on its involvement in child labor practices related to cobalt mining in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The analysis examines the impact of global commerce, positioning studies, and relevant theories on the company's actions and ethical responsibilities. The essay delves into the landmark lawsuit against Apple, the role of human rights lawyers, and the company's alleged exploitation of child labor for its supply chain. It further explores the application of accounting theories, positioning theory, ontology, epistemology, and research methodologies to understand the complexities of the case. The paper also analyzes the theories of global commerce, including imperialism and world systems theory, highlighting the implications for Apple's operations and the challenges of ethical sourcing. The essay concludes by emphasizing the importance of mitigating unethical practices, aligning with legal frameworks, and implementing corporate social responsibilities to ensure sustainable business practices and a positive brand image. The student's essay fulfills the requirements of COMM331 assignment, demonstrating an understanding of the theoretical underpinnings of the lectures and linking them to a real-world business issue.

Running head: BUSINESS CASE ANALYSIS
Business case analysis
Name of student
Name of University
Author note

1
BUSINESS CASE ANALYSIS
Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
Body...........................................................................................................................................3
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................7

2
BUSINESS CASE ANALYSIS
The essay is prepared to discuss about the analysis of a business case study
considering the business organisation named Apple, which has been held responsible and
sued for the cause of deaths of multiple child miners. Considering the analysis of the business
case, it has been found that four major articles have to be prioritised on including the
dynamics of systems, values and identity, positioning the studies and theories of global
commerce. From these multiple articles, the two major theoretical articles that have been
emphasized are the theories of global commerce and positioning the studies that have been
related to the case study analysis involving Apple to gain a bigger picture of the entire
scenario and ensure completion of the assignment perfectly (Hockerts 2015). Moreover, it has
also been found that Apple, being a major multinational business organisation, has managed
to serve customers worldwide, but at present, it has been named in the landmark lawsuit by
holding it responsible for committing unethical acts and undertaking approaches, which
resulted in the deaths of multiple children who worked in the mining activities for acquiring
cobalt, considered as a major fossil fuel used in the batteries of smart phones for charging
purposes (Sharma 2016).
The aim and purpose of the paper is to analyse the impact of global commerce and
portioning of studies managed by Apple. The thesis statement represents the motion about
how the management of these aspects can be linked with the company’s approach towards
prevention of child labour in the Congo region. Considering the analysis of the business case,
it has been found that Apple, along with other companies too faced major issues because of
the occurrence of deaths of multiple children who were found to be involved in the mining of
cobalt in the Democratic Republic region of Congo. The company was found to be named in
the federal class action lawsuit that had been filed in Washington, DC and mostly the human
rights lawyers were associated with this. It was also found that while mining in the
Democratic Republic region of the Congo, there were accidents such as due to the collapse of

3
BUSINESS CASE ANALYSIS
walls and also due to suffocation while working in the tunnel, which finally led to the fatal
consequences (Donnelly and Whelan 2017). The human rights lawyers made sure to provide
justice to the children and also their families, according to the International Rights law, which
also aimed at preventing child labour and abuse of children found to be innocent and forcing
them to work at such a young age in the mining regions. Apple was held responsible for
intentionally benefiting from the management of cruelty and use of child labour in the
concerned region of Congo. The mining of cobalt was done so as to use those in the batteries
used to charge the electronic devices such as the smart phones used by people. Also found in
the form of evidences, about forcing them to work for managing their educational expenses
further lead to making them work in those regions, which were not secure and safe, thereby,
resulted in collapse of tunnel and created other hazards too, which might even affect the
overall supply chain of Apple (Mayer 2014). Thus, it has been understood that child labour
has been a major issue here and also Apple’s aim to gain intentional benefits further made
this consequence worse, finally, led to asking for compensation by the families due to the
assumed forced labour and getting named in the landmark lawsuit too (Wakefield 2016).
Based on the statement of Gaffikin (2008), it has been believed that there are various
accounting theories that are basically used for the purpose of conducting research and for
managing the rules, laws and regulations and also the accounting practices to ensure keeping
up with the trends. The positioning of studies has been highlight here considering the
business case analysis, which showed that the theories would allow for understanding why a
thing has been done and what should be done for meeting such purposes (Gaffikin 2008). The
positioning of studies, according to the journal article proposed by Gaffikin (2008), should
also be benefit for gaining in-depth knowledge and information about the scenario, thereby,
manage resolving of complex issue that might be responsible for the failure of business and
even the prosecutions of various practices that could be unethical and inappropriate.

4
BUSINESS CASE ANALYSIS
The positioning theory has been a principal analytical tool used for the purpose of
establishing a stance where the various factors influencing the collaborative study would be
understood and even analyse the interaction among the researchers who have been part of
conducting he research regarding the same. The positioning theory has been based on the
social constructionism, which represented the fact that the human behaviours have been
driven by the goal orientation and thus established a major portion of social science too. Not
only does this theory ensures acqusitions of knowledge and information about the company’s
approach towards positioning of studies, but also shed light on the different ways of
improving collaborative learning as well as investigate the dynamics of group interactions,
required to make the research successful and noteworthy. Based on the positioning theory and
statement made by the author in the journal article it has been found that with the use of
theory and by positioning the studies, foundations of knowledge has been laid, which could
also create enhanced level of scopes and opportunities required to assess whether the
knowledge and information have been reliable or not. According to the statement of Kun and
Brenner (2015), the philosophical terms include the ontology and epistemology, which could
lay foundation of knowledge and also make assumptions such as how the business
organisation named Apple could be benefited by allowing management of child labour and
other young individuals to work at the mining regions for extensive supply chain
management (Kun and Brenner 2015). The company checked into the various aspects of the
ontology philosophy so as to develop the reality based on various situations and different
settings too. On the other hand, the process of epistemology, as stated by Klakegg (2016), has
enabled acqusitions of knowledge and information about the current scenario and how the
negative consequences emerged due to the casualties in the region of Congo. Though humans
here generated as well as acquired knowledge about the casualties while working at the
Democratic Republic of Congo, still they were lured in the name of providing money to

5
BUSINESS CASE ANALYSIS
manage their educational expenses and future, which further made them work at the mining
areas keeping in mind that risks might occur any time.
Based on the findings of the issues and acquiring knowledge and information about
the same, it has been depicted by Klakegg (2016) that the research methodology could be
useful for determining the various methods and techniques, furthermore, investigate or
evaluate about the knowledge purpose and how information has been acquired. From the
business case analysis, it has been found that understanding the studies play a critical part in
the assessment of the entire situation, thereby, ensured that the Washington-based group
International Rights Advocates and even the human rights lawyers to gain information and do
necessary justice for them too (Klakegg 2016). The company, on the other hand, analysed the
information with the understanding of complaints made by people regarding failure to
regulate the supply chains properly, which made the company also fail to implement the
policies that actually prevailed claiming to prevent child labour while managing supply
chains. The various philosophies, on the basis of the journal article, represented the fact that
responsible sourcing of materials would be required along with management of ethical
practices to prevent child labour, furthermore, remain aligned with the policies and principles
implemented by the organisation as a whole.
Another theoretical article is based on the theories of global commerce, which also
has been related to the information and knowledge about child labour. The global commerce,
as stated by van Horn (2019), represents the management of purchases and selling of goods
and services globally considering the economic exchange of these goods and services. The
impact of global commerce has been immense, because it has not only helped in managing
trade activities across boundaries, but also has helped in better transfer of technology,
outsourcing activities, better flow of capital management and also foreign direct investments,
which could be essential for managing global business effectively (Jupille et al. 2013). Apple

6
BUSINESS CASE ANALYSIS
has managed to operate worldwide, which extends the ability to manage financial exchange
across boundaries, while at the same time, focus on the global markets to analyse the demand
and how much supplies are required to meet those (van Horn 2019). On the other hand, the
management of networks done with the help of virtual connections and other ways of
communication have to be precise for coping up with the corporate culture, remain aligned
with the values and beliefs, thereby, manage self-reinforced behaviours within quick time
(Suttle 2014). Considering the statement of Whitney et al. (2015), the theory of Imperialism
helped in identifying the markets and also assessed the opportunities to make investments for
raising the working capital and improve business functioning. It has also allowed Apple to
manage global capital and exploit the lesser developed nations much more comprehensively,
which should have been considered properly so as to prevent child labour in the Democratic
Republic of Congo (Whitney et al. 2015).
Moreover, the World Systems Theory has been centred on the international division
of labour along with the management of skills, global capital and Government involvement
too. Though there have been multiple benefits including enhancement of foreign direct
investments, trade activities across boundaries, better communication flow management,
there were certain disadvantages too and it could be quite relatable with the functioning of the
business organization, i.e., Apple. Based on the theories of global commerce, it has been
found that the employees of the organisation have experienced exhaustion and they even had
to move on to the global locations, which created shortage of labour in some areas too
(Gaffikin 2008). Not only does the globalisation created harm to the environment, but also
there has been increased in the child labour and slavery, which could be a major example for
Apple as well. The company was also found to be responsible, because the children were
forced to work at the Democratic Republic of the Congo for mining cobalt, which is a major
component used in the lithium ion batteries used to charge electronic devices. Due to this,

7
BUSINESS CASE ANALYSIS
here were multiple accidents in the region such as collapse of wall and while working inside
the tunnel as well, fatal injuries were experienced by children, ultimately leading to death of
many children. Thus, the global commerce theories were associated with the identification of
issues experienced such as been found while analysis the case scenario for Apple (Suttle
2014). All these issues also contributed to the management of unethical practices, which
further deteriorated the brand image and thus the company had been part of the alleged
misconduct, which further made it named in the landmark lawsuit as well. Thus, in order to
implement some major changes and also make sure to become successful in the globalisation
era, the unethical practices have to be mitigated as well as shed light on aligning the legal
frameworks and policies with the global business management practices. Also to be noted
that the corporate social responsibilities must be managed properly for benefiting these
people working at the organisation while even creating educational opportunities to them for
keeping their morale high and ensure higher level of motivation among them too (Whitney et
al. 2015). This should improve the potential of the organisation to remain sustainable, ensure
improvement of brand image with the help of preventing unethical approaches to be
conducted, for smooth transition of business.
The essay demonstrated the valuable insights acquired on the basis of business case
analysis, which has been made possible with the help of using two theoretical articles related
to the positioning of studies and also the global commerce. The Positioning of studies
allowed for the management of philosophical approaches including ontology, epistemology
and methodology for gathering relevant data, knowledge and information required to
determine how the incidents occurred revolving around the child labour at the Democratic
Republic in Congo. This also helped in the assessment of approaches and practices that were
termed as unethical to lure the children towards working at the mining regions for cobalt with
the statement of providing benefits and monetary rewards so that they could bear educational

8
BUSINESS CASE ANALYSIS
expenses. On the other hand, the global commerce theories helped in determining how the
global commerce though managed to help the organisation to manage business across
boundaries, then also led to the management of child labour, which has been already found
from the case scenario involving Apple. Therefore, based on these theoretical articles, an in-
depth understanding has been gained, which could help in making sure that the organisational
policies had to be followed and must be aligned with the corporate goals as well to promote
ethical business and attain long term sustainability in the future too.


9
BUSINESS CASE ANALYSIS
References
Beinhocker, E.D., 2006. The origin of wealth: Evolution, complexity, and the radical
remaking of economics. Harvard Business Press.
Gaffikin, M. 2008 "Chapter 1: Understanding Theory" in Gaffikin, M. Accounting Theory:
Research, Regulation and Accounting Practice, Pearson Education Australia. Sydney. pp. 3-
22
Garside, J., 2013. Child labour uncovered in Apple’s supply chain. The Guardian, 25.
Donnelly, J. and Whelan, D.J., 2017. International human rights. Hachette UK.
Hockerts, K., 2015. A cognitive perspective on the business case for corporate sustainability.
Business Strategy and the Environment, 24(2), pp.102-122.
Jupille, J.H., Jupille, J., Mattli, W. and Snidal, D., 2013. Institutional choice and global
commerce. Cambridge University Press.
Klakegg, O.J., 2016. Ontology and epistemology. In Designs, Methods and Practices for
Research of Project Management (pp. 87-96). Routledge.
Kun, W. and Brenner, J.E., 2015. An informational ontology and epistemology of cognition.
Foundations of Science, 20(3), pp.249-279.
Mayer, F.W., 2014. Leveraging private governance for public purpose: Business, civil society
and the state in labour regulation. In Handbook of the international political economy of
governance. Edward Elgar Publishing.
Myers, C. and Fellow, K., 2014. Corporate Social Responsibility in the consumer electronics
industry: A case study of Apple Inc. Resource document. Georgetown University, Edmund

10
BUSINESS CASE ANALYSIS
A. Walsh School of Foreign Service. http://lwp. georgetown.
edu/wp-content/uploads/Connor-Myers. pdf. Accessed, 10.
Sharma, K., 2016. Child Labour in South Asia. Routledge.
Suttle, O., 2014. Equality in global commerce: towards a political theory of international
economic law. European Journal of International Law, 25(4), pp.1043-1070.
van Horn, S., 2019. World Englishes and global commerce. The handbook of world
Englishes, pp.635-655.
Wakefield, J., 2016. Apple, Samsung, and Sony face child labour claims. BBC News.
http://www. bbc. com/news/technology, 35311456.
Whitney, K., Bradley, J.M., Baugh, D.E. and Jr, C.W.C., 2015. Systems theory as a
foundation for governance of complex systems. International Journal of System of Systems
Engineering, 6(1-2), pp.15-32.