Corporate Governance and Ethical Practices: Apple Analysis

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of corporate governance and ethics, focusing on Apple as a case study. It begins with an introduction to corporate governance, its significance, and the specific context of Apple, including its company overview, structure, and vision. The main body delves into Apple's corporate governance framework, including its board of directors, roles, responsibilities, and emphasis on employee relations and compensation strategies. The report examines corporate governance failures and weaknesses, assessing the comparative corporate governance system and evaluating Apple's practices related to transparency, leadership, and accountability. It also explores globalization issues, international corporate governance, and the role of institutional investors and stakeholders. The report concludes with an evaluation of ethical considerations, corporate governance, and the importance of adapting to challenges like the COVID-19 pandemic. The report uses relevant academic literature to support its findings.

Corporate Governance
and ethics

Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
Company Overview................................................................................................................1
Corporate Governance...........................................................................................................2
Corporate Governance failure and weaknesses.....................................................................4
Evaluation of Corporate Governance....................................................................................5
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
As it is identified that in today's scenario the business environment is becoming so dynamic and
vast. It has been analysed that the corporate governance is one of the aspects which is emerging
within the business environment. The corporate governance the procedures through which the
business organisation systems are controlled and as well as directed. It is becoming most
significant factor within the business enterprises.. the corporate governance allows the
corporation to take better decisions and work in an effective manner according to gain the
interest of stakeholders. The organisation taken into consideration Apple which is an American
multinational organisation. This particular deals with the corporate governance of the Apple
company along with the internal structure, mechanism as well as shareholder’s perspective.
(Furlotti, and Mazza, 2020). There are various topics which will be discussed such as the failures
which is lead by the problems for the company, the consequences of corporate governance,
evaluation of the various responses to corporate governance and the role of government
regulations and responding to issues raised by an investigating of the ethical issues which is
impacting upon the business enterprises.
MAIN BODY
Company Overview
The Apple is an American multinational technology company which is dealing in the
various electronics, technology, software and online services. The company was founded in 1st
April, 1976 by Steve Jobs. The business organisation is headquartered in Cupertino, California,
United States. The company uses the advanced technology in order to attract customers by
offering the new products and services to its customers. The company is considered as one of the
largest technology company in terms of revenue. It is also considered as the biggest business
organisation by the market capitalisation. It is public limited company and is traded on Nasdaq
along with the other exchanges. There are various products which has been offered by the
company such as MacBook, mobile phones, I pad, Apple watch, music systems etc. there are
variety of products in the electronics wh9ch is distributed in order to attract customers. The main
vision of the company is to change the way people view the organisations and use the friendly
gadgets so the company is able to remain in the market for the longer period of time. It is also
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identified that the company had an alliance with the Microsoft so that the company is able to
create a Mac version of its software. This was the turning point for the Apple company. As the
company launched the iBook which enhances in its productivity and was leading in the market.
In 2007, Apple launching, a touch screen cellular phone which was one of the world’s successful
products. After that they dilated its services into other segments as well. Apple is the first
organisation to be valued at trillion dollars which was doubled in upcoming years. Apple is
traded in Nasdaq as AAPL and is a component of Nasdaq 100, S&P 100 and 500. it has been
identified that the organisation has approximately 520 stores around the world. The company is
famous of its technology and the security which its provides to its customers. (Rossouw, 2020)
Corporate Governance
The corporate governance is defined as the system which leads the company to work in s
systematic and with appropriate rules and regulations which can be directed and controlled by
the various authorise to achieve growth and success. This is related to the providing of the
guidance to the leadership and building trust among the investors in order to develop the
strategic framework of conducting business operations effectively. As there are various people
involved within the organisation such as interested stakeholders, management, employees which
need to be directed. The primary force of a company is board of directors that influence
corporate governance.
It has been identified that the board of directors of the Apple organisation has 7 members
out of which 5 members of the board are handling the management team. There are different
roles and responsibilities of the board of directors where the main objective is to set the short
term goals and the long term goals including the different strategies in order to achieve those
goals and objectives. It is identified that in order to allocate resources the board of directors need
to analyse the different financial aspect for the in order to lead the team and achieve the
objectives. It has been identified that board of directors within the organisation are authorized by
mission statement of the enterprise in order to ensure about the managements performance which
is optimized internally with values and standards of objectives of business. Board of director’s
role is acting as perfect on behalf of shareholders and stakeholders by making sure that interest is
clearly met and inferred.( Philip, S., 2019)
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As it is identified that it is very essential for the company to focus on developing the
strong agreements in the way of documents which can help in reducing the risk of conflicts
which can be developed between the management and emplouyes of the business organisation.
The Apple company focus on the attraction and retention of the employees so that the company
is able to achieve the goals and objectives and growth and success within the market. It is also
essential for the organisation to develop an effective compensation and the various programmes
which enhances the performance of employees. This plays a major role in attracting the
stakeholder and employees within the business organisation. The company believes that the
financial performance may enhances in the challenging economic environment. It is very
essential for the company to have strategic compensation strategies which includes rewards,
bonus, promotions, which can help the organisation to gain competitive advantage and a long-
term revenues in order to retain employees in an effective and efficient manner. (Magill, G. and
Prybil, L., 2020)
It has been identified that the Apple company is Port of directors is composed with the
high-quality of persons who have the knowledge and expertise in their respective fields. It is also
identified that their effectiveness is of high significance as this impacts the performance in the
ability of the functions in order to work in an effective and efficient manner. It was also
identified that after the COVID-19 pandemic and the social and economic disruptions which
have caused the various challenges for the business organisation and the leaders to be work
effectively. The supply chain in the workplace is with the directors in the board of managers for
what able to manage in an appropriate manner and there were difficulties for the business
organisation. As the board completely understand the organisation very well and have the crabs
where is opportunity strategies in order to minimise the risk.
Role of institutional investors- In Apple there exists an issue of organization which
creeps up the expertly worked firms. Leaders have liabilities clashing to self and firm for
advancing the interest at cost of association's advantage. Here these institutional powers bring the
power as they have interest in advancement of company's long haul. They effectively seek after
the organizations board for following the viable corporate administration, financial backers
guarantee that firm puts long haul interest over leader's advantage. (Flórez-Parra, and et.al., 2021)
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Shareholders and stakeholder view point in ethical manner- By the investor's model
job of corporate administration is for lessening the premium struggle, among leaders and investor
in Apple. They limit organization costs which results from awry data among leaders and
investors and from existent artful way of behaving and changing revenue while in partner's
administration model Apple is the social development, assumptions compartment, targets and
partner's inclinations. In corporate administration adjusting choices totally to investor's revenue
is counterproductive as it doesn't ensure feasible improvement of firm coming about because of
partner's union. Partners idea of corporate administration persuades for revaluating synthesis of
checking and managerial bodies and inquiries for addressing partners.
Employees and ethics- In corporate administration moral issues mindfulness ensures that
chiefs stay away from the power misuse and making unseemly moves bringing about the sketchy
way of behaving and inward acts of Apple. Sharing of force between the different representatives
makes the organizations construction and workplace becomes imperative issue in administration.
( Kumaza, A. and He, Y., 2018)
Corporate Governance failure and weaknesses
Assessment of Corporate Governance
Comparative Corporate System of Governance: Within Europe, the governance at
corporate level is at the cross roads, as they are following the policy regarding firm boards
strengthening, enhance the flow of information and encourages the institutional investors
oversight. The evaluation of corporate governance is about the assessment of company regarding
their procedures and practices and also about the evaluation of board of directors corporations. In
addition to this, it is about the assessment regarding the individual and committees
directors(Coates and John., 2018). For evaluating the company's corporate governance it is
important that to balance the board composition and evaluate the board on the regular basis. It is
important to enure the director interdependence and also ensure about the auditor inter
dependence. It is necessary that to be transparent and also defines the rights of shareholders. In
the further step, they have aimed for value creation on the long term basis. It is important to
manage the risk with proactive nature. After that it is important to follow the sustainability with
support of best practices and also there is regulatory pressure for reporting of the environmental,
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social and corporate governance metrics. At the end, it is important to document the policies and
procedures which is related to the shareholders rights, board meeting operation, social and
corporate governance metrics so issues are advised to ahead of the game and also be prepared for
the upcoming legislation as well.
In context to Apple company, the corporate governance strategy majorly operates on the
pillar of transparency, leadership, accountability, strong standards and leadership of the corporate
management. It is majorly reinforced by the board of directors. Within the organisation, the
board of directors has the responsibility regarding the management of the affairs of the
organisation in addition to set the approach of business. The board also creates the mitigation
policies and risk management besides ensuring the company is compliant with different
obligations of regulatory nature(Song and et.al., 2018). It includes the business ethics, flexible
organisation culture and executive performance. Within the Apple Company, there are majorly
five departments where the teams are allocated with the responsibility of full material disclosure,
direct engagement of the community and the governance as well. Within the community
engagement activities it basically include health financing, education trust and also support for
the different cultural events.
It has been observed at the organisational level of Apple, they have oversees the Chief
Executive Officer and other senior management in the competent and ethical operation of Apple
on the daily basis. It also assures regarding the interests of long term nature of shareholders
which are being served. In this manner, corporate governance has been evaluated with the right
kind of approach. At the organisational level , it is important to have corporate governance so
that work can be done into effective terms and into efficient manner as well. That's why it is
necessary to follow all the rules and regulations regarding the corporate governance. (Amorelli,
M.F. and García‐Sánchez, I.M., 2021)
Evaluation of Corporate Governance
Globalization issues of International Corporate governance:
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The economic growth of an organisation can be majorly influenced with the expansion of
business on a global level due to the incorporation of corporate governance. The international
corporate governance is majorly affected with globalisation which has raised major issues in
relation to security, well-being and responsibility of organisations. There has a major
development in technology with the rise of globalisation and there has been an incredible growth
in the technical sphere which has increased the expectations of markets. There are major issues
due to globalisation of corporate governance which includes the structure of board and
management with the structure of ownership and exercising of control rights. The financial
transparency with disclosure of information and responsibility of corporate is also affected with
the influence of globalisation in International corporate governance. There has been an increase
in demands of the services of International companies like Apple due to the progress of global
governance. The developed political force has helped in growing the economic force of the
organisation with the influential impact of globalisation. The size of the board has also increased
on a parent level with the increase in subsidiary boards which has in turn raised the demands for
the development of business. (Murthy, N. and Gopalkrishnan, S., 2022)
The company of Apple has made a revolution by increasing the access of its technical devices
such as computers to make them in a consumer friendly manner. Globalisation has helped in
increasing the numbers of employees in the reputed organisation of Apple. There has been an
incredible growth in the market supply of organisation due to the incorporation of latest and
greatest technology of the associated company.
Leadership, Values and management of ethical behaviour:
The way or conduct through which the leaders of organisations are able to execute values and
principles for building the ethical standards of business is termed as Ethical leadership. The
morals of the organisation with strong execution of correct and right things helps in
demonstrating appropriate things through ethical leader. There is an immense need of
maintenance of moral principles and practices in the era of digitalisation as any kind of small
mistake would effect the image and reputation of the company. The external brand image of the
company may be enhanced and improved with the responsible behaviour and conduct of ethical
leaders. The employees are also encouraged to do their work in responsible and efficient manner
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which further helps in increasing the productivity of organisation. There are sic main elements
which define ethical leadership such as honesty, responsibility, transparency, integrity, justice
and respect. The relationship of the customers with business can be strengthen with the impact of
value and ethics in leadership. The organisation of Apple is also able to set a standard with
building of a comfort level with the ethics and values for customers. The social responsibility of
the company is mainly related with the incorporation of ethics in management. The company is
also able to evaluate the strengths and weakness with moral responsibility in order to have a
positive impact on its business. An individual is also aware about the upcoming consequences
with the incorporation of ethics and values which further helps in developing the skills of
leadership, enhancement in the process of decision making. The credibility of the company is
also build with the incorporation of ethics and values which further helps in developing long
term profit for growth of the company. (Boachie, C. and Mensah, E., 2022)
Ethics and CSR internationally:
The main purpose of ethics in international business is to build and maintain the reputation of
company in order to develop efficient practices for raising the standards of business on
international level. The incorporation of ethics and social responsibility helps in strengthening
the relationship of partners in business organisations which will further help in developing the
ethical standards of an organisation. The importance of CSR is that it helps in benefiting the
organisation with contribution to social issue and even helps in preventing the issues of the
society through global governance. The sustainable operation of corporate governance helps in
having profitable business with increase of customers in the business of organisation.
The organisation of Apple has set high standards in order to maintain the ethical conduct with
safeguarding of health and well being of its workers. The standards of safety are also improved
with the improvement in the working of the company. The company believes in the conduct of
fair and ethical workplace for functioning of its workers. The workers must be treated with
respect and dignity in order to set the standards of organisation with establishment and
enforcement of human rights. (SALLEHUDDIN, M.R. and ROSLI, N.A.M., 2019)
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CONCLUSION
From the above report it is concluded that the aspect of corporate governance is very important
in order to regularise the activities of business in current time. The operational functioning and
activities of organisations can be directed and controlled with the imposition of corporate
governance. The members of the organisation including the directors, shareholders and
employees are able to evaluate the internal and external activities of the organisation. Corporate
governance helps in managing the internal functioning of an organisation in a smooth and
efficient way. The weakness or failure of corporate governance is also mentioned which helps in
analysing the risks instituted with the business. There is huge effect on international market with
the incorporation of corporate governance.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Furlotti, K. and Mazza, T., 2020. Code of ethics and workers' communication policies: The role of
corporate governance. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 27(6),
pp.3060-3072.
Rossouw, G.J., 2020. The ethics of governance and governance of ethics in the King Reports. Journal of
Global Responsibility.
Philip, S., 2019. TLP for Corporate Governance & Social Responsibility 2014-2016.
Magill, G. and Prybil, L., 2020. Governance Ethics in Healthcare Organizations. Routledge.
Flórez-Parra, J.M., Lopez-Perez, M.V., Hernández, A.M.L. and Sánchez, R.G., 2021. Analysing and
evaluating environmental information disclosure in universities: the role of corporate
governance, stakeholders and culture. International Journal of Sustainability in Higher
Education, 22(4), pp.931-957.
Kumaza, A. and He, Y., 2018. Is Corporate Governance Accountability Branch of Social Responsibility?
An Empirical Intuition from Ghana. Journal of Accounting, Finance & Management
Strategy, 13(2), pp.67-96.
Murthy, N. and Gopalkrishnan, S., 2022. Creating a Nexus between Dark Triad Personalities, Non-
Performing Assets, Corporate Governance and Frauds in the Indian Banking sector. Journal of
Financial Crime, (ahead-of-print).
Boachie, C. and Mensah, E., 2022. The effect of earnings management on firm performance: The
moderating role of corporate governance quality. International Review of Financial Analysis, 83,
p.102270.
SALLEHUDDIN, M.R. and ROSLI, N.A.M., 2019. Corporate Governance and Corporate Environmental
Disclosures of Public-Listed Companies in Bursa Malaysia. IJO-International Journal of
Business Management (ISSN 2811-2504), 2(10), pp.01-15.
Amorelli, M.F. and García‐Sánchez, I.M., 2021. Trends in the dynamic evolution of board gender diversity
and corporate social responsibility. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental
Management, 28(2), pp.537-554.
Coates, I. V. and John, C., 2018. The future of corporate governance part I: the problem of
twelve.
Song and et.al., 2018. Sustainable strategy for corporate governance based on the sentiment
analysis of financial reports with CSR. Financial Innovation, 4(1), pp.1-14.
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