Business Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility at Apple

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of business ethics within Apple, examining various ethical issues the company has faced. It delves into specific challenges such as privacy concerns related to customer data, price fixing allegations in the e-book market, and supply chain management issues, including those related to globalization and fast-changing markets. The report also investigates Apple's approach to corporate social responsibility and sustainability, comparing its practices with other companies. Furthermore, it explores the application of ethical theories like utilitarian ethics, deontological ethics, and virtue ethics within Apple's business framework. The report concludes with a reflection on personal experiences related to business ethics in the workplace, offering a holistic view of ethical considerations in a major corporation.

BUSINESS ETHICS

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
1.Ethical issues in Apple........................................................................................................3
2. Sustainability and contribution of the companies in corporate social responsibility.........7
3. Own experience..................................................................................................................9
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................11
REFRENCE...................................................................................................................................12

INTRODUCTION
Business ethics is the approach of the most crucial activities in an organisation. It is
concerned with combination of rules and regulations which are necessarily required to be
performed by the organisation so it can accomplish business goals effectively and efficiently.
These rules and policies are important to assure that company and employees are protected from
various discrimination and unethical practices which can take place in the business premises.
Organisation undertaken in this report is Apple which was founded in 1976 by Steve Jobs. It is
concerned with the computer hardware, software industries. It serves various products and
services like iPod, iphone, iPad, ilife, iwork, apple stores, apple cards, etc. This report will
explain the various ethical issues which have faced by the apple and the manner in which it has
managed and cope up with those issues. This will further evaluate the comparison of corporate
social responsibility approach of the company with another company and later part will focus on
personal experience in learning importance of business ethics at the workplace.
MAIN BODY
1.Ethical issues in Apple.
Ethical issue is a problem or situation that necessitates the person or organisation to select
between various alternatives. These choices must be measures as right and wrong or fair and
unfair or ethical and unethical in nature. The company Apple gains profits in their organisation
on the cost of ethics which are followed inside the company. However, as per the competitive
business environment prevailing in the industry, there are various kinds of directors who take
part in various kinds of unethical practices which helps them in reducing their operational costs
and thus leading to achieve more higher margins than earlier. Through this, they are able to
outcross their competitors in the industry as well. It needs to be known that there are various
kinds of corporate scandals that have happened in the companies now-r-days that now the
companies are always under an eye of Media. Their ethical behaviours are continuously watched
because of the current incidences. Various kinds of government regulations are being pinned on
them and the shareholders are also spreading the importance of ethical behaviour on business
performance as it will be helpful for the company in solving their issues. So, it can be said that if
companies will follow ethical practices then they will be able to gain competitive advantages as
it helps in creating positive energy which is very much helpful in running the company for longer

period of time. As per the different media reports, it is said that Apple is one of the biggest and
successful companies globally. They use their ethics in order to earn more amount of profits. The
company is also following an effective code of conduct through which they make sure that the
employees are share holders are working together effectively and in cooperation in all the
situations of the company. But, on the other hand, they are also facing various kinds of ethical
dilemmas because of its rapid growth (Abend, 2014). Apple also faces a lot of pressure to be
competitive in the technology market Apple has faced several ethical issues and they are
discussed below :
Privacy : Due to increase in the usage of mobile phones and smart phones the Apple has to
think more and effective measures for making customer data private and confidential. Apple has
experienced the backlash in which it was found that certain Smartphone applications and
software were tracking the customers GPS devices and collects the customers data (Arce and
Gentile, 2015). For this purpose, the Apple has announced the options of disable the location so
that hackers or theft can be minimised and controlled. This upgraded security feature has
included that wifi enabled option and and a new policy in which the wifi option is automatically
disabled. If privacy is hampered then the major stakeholders that will be affected are customers
because each and every customer is highly concerned with data privacy and security of the
information.
Another privacy issue which was faced by the company in which Apple pay which is a
software that enables the customer to buy products from their mobile phones was attacked by the
hackers. Customers has experienced the problem of loss of cash and theft from their bank
accounts. Due to the wider volume of security features in the apple pay feature of the Apple
company, the consumers will be insured that the information is safe and secure. Further more,
the problem of hackers through which they are able to reach to the personal information of
clients is not only the responsibility of the company but the banking institutions are also
responsible for this because they have given the approval of the credit cards facilities to the
customers who have their account with Apple pay. These hacking and fraud activities has been
maximised because banks does not ask frequent questions to the customers for making proper
verifications of the customer account and has added the credit cards to the account of the
customers without effective verifications.

Price fixing : The another crucial ethical obstacle which was experienced by the apple
was associated to the price fixing in which the prices of E books were fixed by five leading
publishers of the books. A government authority representative that is a judge who has directed
that Apple was part of a deal which needed publishers to give Apple's iTunes store the best deals
in the marketplace for e-books. According to allegations, Apple allowed publishers to set the e-
book prices for the iPad (Barry, 2016). In this, the major stakeholder which will be affected are
the publisher of the books because their sale will decrease as people will prefer to read online
books rather than purchasing the book physically. Apart from this the organisation which is
involved in printing and publishing these books, their business will also get affected due to less
physical print out of the books.
Rioting : As per the reports, Apple Inc. stopped the sales of their I phone 4S in china.
This decision was made by the company by seeing the situation in Beijing where the riot began
outside the store where people were waiting since 48 hours. Actually, after waiting for such long
hours, the buyers wanted to come in front line. There were more than 2000 people in the line and
therefore the police who was located there intimated the staff of Apple store to not to open the
store for their safety. Thus, people who were waiting outside the store started throwing eggs at
their store and also attacked the mall property managers whom they mistaken as an Apple
employee. Later on, the customers were told to buy the phones online or from the authorized
sellers. Only 1 store in Beijing and other stores in Shanghai were opened. Therefore, the major
stakeholders who were affected from this situation were customers and employee safety who
were working in apple.
One more similar incident happened with Apple where more than 2000 Foxconn plant
workers who use to assemble iPhone 5 engaged into a fight in the working area. Around 5000
policemen was sent at the location so as to handle the whole population and fix the situation as
well. The whole property was destroyed like their glass was broken and the guards present there
was also beaten up ruthlessly (Ethics. 2019). Therefore, in this also the major stakeholder who
were adversely affected by the incident are employees and workers and has suffered from
various instances.
Supply chain management issues : Supply chain management renders the companies
specifically the manufacturers, more competitive and business advantages. But, it also gives
them loads of challenges especially in today's fast changing market. There are various kinds of

issues in supply chain management that Apple Inc. or any other company faces. Some of them
are as follows:
 Globalization – There are so many companies who are extending their services to
different countries in order to avail low labour costs or low taxes. But, it needs to be
understood that outsourcing the services not only extends the process of production in a
global manner but also through the company's global network. For ex – Apple is a huge
brand who is having its suppliers all around the world. Therefore, they need to have good
coordination and link with all their supplier parties across borders which is not an easy
deal. It is also need to be known that Apple is relying on its rival brand Samsung
Electronics to make OLED screens which they will debut with Iphone X. So, while going
through this idea, the company had to face a new challenge i.e. to make the finger print
sensor work through an OLED screen but this experiment failed and the company had to
bury thus idea and had to go back to facial recognition.
 Fast Changing markets – Similar to globalisation, the fast changing markets also bring
some major supply chain management challenges for the companies. This can be said
because now-r-days, the life-cycle of products are very small as the trends keeps on
changing. So, the companies are under a constant pressure to bring updates in its devices
so as to be in market. Apple Inc. understands this concept very nicely and thus they
constantly update their products and give tough competition to their rival brands in the
market.
Stakeholder are the people who are directly or indirectly associated with the operations of
the organisation. Each organisation has several persons associated with it either internally or
externally and are responsible for the success of the company.
 Normative ethics is concerned with the set of various ethical actions and behaviours in
which an individual must act or speak and behave. These theories are like virtue,
deontology, etc.
 Deception ethics is concerned with the actual way of behaving and speaking by the
individual. These theories are like utilitarian theory of business ethics, etc.
Ethical theories are very crucial elements in the businesses because it helps in
establishing foundation for challenging situations. It enables the organisation to apply the

framework which is useful in determining the appropriate legislation. There are various ethical
theories which will be adopted by apple inc and they are discussed below :
 Utilitarian ethics : This theory was founded by Jeremy Bentham and is concerned with
various consequences and outcomes where the aim of the organisation is related to the
accomplishment of increasing happiness and minimising sufferings of the majority of the
people.
 Deontological ethics : This ethical theory was founded by Immanuel Kant and is
concerned with emphasising on boundation of several rules and regulations in which an
individual have some responsibility towards the family, religion, country, etc. In this,
people must be treated with dignity and respect.
 Virtue ethics : This ethical theory was founded by Aristotle and the perspective is
emphasised on virtue and practising good. It considers that virtue develop public relations
in professionalism.
2. Sustainability and contribution of the companies in corporate social responsibility.
Sustainability is one of the most important and complex process in present business world.
This is concerned with the interconnection of the global business environment with organisations
which realises, determine and negotiate their worldly social, environmental and economic
impacts. Corporate responsibility and sustainability is concerned with allowing the organisations
to integrate conception of societal and environmental as well as economic worth into important
plan of action and functioning. This is useful in developing the administration of enterprise
hazards and future possibilities which will be intensifying the business social and environmental
sustainability for long term goals and objectives. It refers to a company's responsibility for its
impact on society (DesJardins and McCall, 2014). This includes social, environmental and
economic aspects. In present business scenario, CSR activities are very important for the
businesses because :
Improves public image : By indulging in CSR activities companies are able to improve
their image and reputation in the target market. This is helpful when business firm can advanced
their reputation and image in the eyes of the general public by following non profits with the
help of various donations in the form of money, volunteer-ism and other kind of donations in
form of various products and services, thereby developing strong partnerships.

Maximisation of brand awareness : When the organisation is strictly committed towards
the ethical practices then it will create a strong brand awareness among the people.
Cost benefit : The sustainability initiatives will give the advantage of cost saving such as
using less packaging or organic materials are used more which will give advantage of
sustainability and cost benefit to the company (Vranceanu, 2014).
Competitive advantage : By adopting effective CSR programs the company will be able
to maintain a social and environmental position in the market. Thus, this will contribute to the
gaining a competitive advantage over other companies.
Public participation : It further intensify the involvement of the general public with the
help of the organisations corporate programs which aims to provide that the organisation is
completely involved in improving and developing the communities with the acts like volunteer
grants and matching gifts which helps not only in attracting the employees but it also involves
them to work towards the attainment of business objectives by retaining them and enhancing
them to work harder which will involve their complete participation.
Apple has implemented various process and steps which will enhance them to contribute
to their best towards the greenery and minimises the harmful effects of the environments. This
has put various limitations on determining the use of renewable sources of energy and recyclable
products, its usage and methods of manufacturing such that it does not affect the environment.
Though, the company has accepted that the major portion of the discharge and waste is arises
from the products produced by them. During the year 2013, the company has provided with a
report which has revealed that the operation contribution of Apple in that year was 33.8 million
metric tons through which green house gas were released. Out of this contribution, 2% arouses
from the facilities provided by the company and 98% comes from product life cycle which will
involve recycling, logistics, usage and manufacturing (Apple Ethics. 2019). As far as the
products of the Apple are touching heights and success due to its regular innovation in the
products, the company is also experiencing the serious threat of the impact of environment on its
products and services. Apple has used and adopted several CSR programs in its operations and
they are discussed below :
Supporting legal communities : Apple has launched Global Volunteer Program in
which it has inspired the employees to volunteer the local communities (Hoffman, Frederick and

Schwartz, 2014). Later on this program was revised in which it has given free to the employees
to decide upon the task in which people will have an interest to work.
Educating and empowering workers : Apple has a strong contribution and involvement
in educating and empowering the workers. For this purpose, it has offered various programs
which will make people learn, educate and develop their abilities without charging any money
from the people. The company has also extended the benefits for the employees (Heath, 2014).
For instance, Apple provides a reasonable maternity leave to the female employees by
considering four week before the delivery of the baby and can take up to 14 week leave after the
birth of the baby which will considered as paid leaves for the pregnant or expected employees.
Apart from this, it also provides six week of paid parental leaves to the father or male employees
or non birth parents so that they can stay with their partners and provides them with moral
support.
Labour and human rights at apple : For providing employment protection, the
company has adopted several legislation which has helped the company in establishing its image
in the market. It has implemented the business person code of conduct which is treated to be the
hardest job in the electronics business enterprise.
Usage of energy resources in Apple : Apple is highly recognised and appraised for
completely utilising the limited resources effectively and efficiently and contributing to the
environment by minimising the total power consumption of apple's products by 57%. For
instance, its products like Mac mini is treated to be the worlds most energy efficient desktop
computer which has also surpassed the outlines of the energy star.
Sustainable sourcing : Apple is highly involved in using recyclable materials in its day
to day practises which has contributed n using 99% of the paper or material used in the
packaging of the products are equipped from the recycled wood fibre. For maintaining this, the
company has collaborated and partnered with the conservation fund which also aims to prevent
the numerous wild life and forests.
The another organization undertaken in this report is Microsoft which was founded in
1975 and deals in developing computer software and programs (May, Luth and Schwoerer,
2014). This company is taken to compare the CSR programs which are used by the organization
and they are discussed below :

While supporting local communities, the employees of the company has donated huge
sum of money. The Lagos Solar project in Nigeria uses batteries that are charged by solar panels,
along with intelligent invertors are connected to Microsoft Azure Internet of Things technology.
International software provider Temenos relies on Microsoft Cloud services to reach people
across Myanmar who lack access to banking, giving them opportunities for more financial
stability and access to micro credit and other financial services.
For educating and empowering people, Microsoft has significant contribution by
providing education facilities to the rural and poor people of the society(Pearson,2017). Apart
from this, their were approximately 61 technology enabled companies which have joined the
Microsoft for the purpose of protecting and preventing by empowering civilians online with the
help of Cyber security tech record. By collaborating the working with the Markle Foundation,
the Microsoft has successfully enabled themselves with the skills which will be needed to
achieve success in the digital economy by which the company will empower and encourage
approximately 50,000 workers by 2020.
For protecting the global planet, 100% carbon neutral operations were attained and Apple
surpassed the goal of sourcing 50% of the electricity used by data centres from renewable energy
sources by the end of 2018. 75% reduction in carbon emissions is planned through continued
carbon neutrality and energy commitments (Truly innovative products leave their mark on the
world instead of the planet, 2019).
3. Own experience.
Business ethics is very important for the organisation. I have learned and understood this
thing by this report. It was a challenging task for me to discover and analyse that how important
the business ethic is for the organisations (Trevino and Nelson, 2016). Ethical business concern
is relatable with the legal opinion of right and wrong or ethical and unethical which will be given
by an individual. These judgements can be taken by various people within the organisation and it
can be either the single individual or group of people who have experienced a strong impact of
the culture of the organisation.
I have learned that the ethical practices not only protects the employees of the companies
but this also motivates them which makes them goal oriented and they work towards the
accomplishment of business goals and practices (Rhodes, 2016). Customer will be conformable

while buying product from the company that is sourcing their labour and materials in an efficient
and ethical manner.
It approaches beyond the employee loyalty and the strength of management team bonds.
The business through it's initiative focusses on ethical operations that are directly linked with
profitability of he business in both the short and long run. In order to understand that whether
ethical operations are worth it the business will use paramount such as reputation of business in
the surrounding environment and business investor and other businesses. If the business does not
operate in an ethical manner the investor tent not to buy their stock or otherwise support the
operations of their business.
As the are of the socially responsible is growing by each day it is important for business
to b more ethical in the business in order to keep the investor interested. The increasing interest
of investor to invest in firms that are operating in an ethical manner are forcing firms to behave
ethically.
As the firms behave in ethical manner they tent to enhance their positive public image ,
and few other benefits such as it helps in attracting potential investors and helps in retaining
current shareholder in order to maintain a positive mage the business needs to operate in ethical
manner which involves treating employees with respect and treating the environment also
respectfully. It also involves adoption fair practices in the both terms of price as well as
consumer treatment.
CONCLUSION
From the above file it has been concluded that business ethics is crucial for every
organisation. It helps in maintaining and developing the image of the company. This further is
helpful in protecting the employees of the company from several unethical practices. If company
faces any unethical issues then the business ethics is very helpful in guiding and bringing the
company on the right track. It further helps in improving the credibility and image of the
company in the minds of the customers and gives an advantage over the competitors.

REFRENCE
Books and Journals