A Report on Apple iPhone Supply Chain Sustainability in China

This report investigates the sustainability of Apple's iPhone supply chain in China, focusing on the macro environment. It includes a literature review of sustainable global supply chains, identifies Apple's iPhone supply chain approaches and models, and recognizes upstream and downstream players and their locations. The study also identifies businesses in Apple's supply chain in China and analyzes macro-environmental factors using PESTLE analysis. The methodology is qualitative, relying on secondary data. Findings highlight the importance of sustainable supply chains and recommend efficient machinery, carbon footprint control, and waste reduction to improve sustainability. The research aims to determine how sustainable Apple's supply chain is by analyzing the macro environment in China.

Examination of the sustainability of the
Apple iPhone supply chain in China
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Abstract
The current project is tending to base on the topic of Examination of the sustainability of
the Apple iPhone supply chain in China for which an investigation is made on the Apple
organisation that is world largest technological company. The main aim of current study is to
study how sustainable Apple's the supply chain is from the angle of analysing the macro
environment in China. Further, the set objectives for current investigation includes conducting a
literature review with purpose of increasing understanding regarding the sustainable global
supply chain along with identifying the Apple iPhone supply chain approaches and model.
Further, the main purpose of current study also comprises of recognising the upstream and
downstream players in the Apple iPhone supply chain including their geographic location. Along
with this, the main boundaries and themes of current study comprises of the identification of the
how many businesses, have the supply chain in China together with identifying and analysing the
macro-environment factors in China using PESTLE analysis, which is related to the
sustainability of the Apple iPhone supply chain in China.
The methodology that has been applied within current study is based on qualitative nature
of method that supports in-doeth and more detailed information for better analysis and meeting
of setting objective. Along with this, to complete current study in most cost and time efficient
manner use of only secondary form of research has been made. The main finding of current
study comprises of analysis about the importance of sustainable supply chain. Further, the
solution for having improved sustainability in supply chain comprises of making use of efficient
machinery and vehicles along with keeping a check and control on carbon footprints and other
wastage in supply chain.
Contents
Abstract............................................................................................................................................2
1. Introduction..................................................................................................................................4
1.1 Context...................................................................................................................................4
1.2. Research problem and questions..........................................................................................6
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2. Literature review on the topic: “Sustainable supply chain”........................................................7
To conduct a literature review with purpose of increasing understanding regarding the
sustainable global supply chain...................................................................................................8
To recognise the upstream and downstream players in the Apple iPhone supply chain
including their geographic location...........................................................................................12
3. Apple iPhone approach to supply chain....................................................................................13
4. How many businesses have supply chain in China?.................................................................14
5. Current situation in China using PESTLE analysis that related to the sustainability in the
Apple iPhone supply chain............................................................................................................16
Political Factors.........................................................................................................................16
Economic factors.......................................................................................................................17
Social Factors.............................................................................................................................17
Technological Factors................................................................................................................18
Environmental Factors...............................................................................................................18
Legal Factors.............................................................................................................................19
6. Research Methodology..............................................................................................................19
7. Secondary Data Analysis...........................................................................................................21
What is the sustainable global supply chain?............................................................................21
What is the Apple iPhone supply chain approaches and model?..............................................21
What are the upstream and downstream players in the Apple iPhone supply chain including
their geographic location?..........................................................................................................22
How many businesses have the supply chain in China?............................................................22
What is the macro environment factors in China using PESTLE analysis, which is related to
the sustainability of the Apple iPhone supply chain in China?.................................................22
8. Findings, discussion and recommendations..............................................................................23
9. Conclusion.................................................................................................................................26
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................27
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1. Introduction
1.1 Context
Background of the research
Sustainability emphasis on meeting the requirements of the current without
compromising the capability of future generations to meet their requirements. Supply chain
introduces to the activities needed by the business to deliver their products or services to the
purchaser. A supply chain is emphasis on the main activities in their organisation needed to
convert raw materials through to finished services or goods (Arora and et. al., 2021). Along with
this, sustainability in supply chain has direct impact on supply chain of company that can makes
in promoting fair labour practices, anti-corruption practices, environment progress and human
rights.
Apple is given American multinational technology company for this dissertation.
Company is specialising in computer software, consumer electronics and online services. Apple
is the largest technology company that was founded in 1976 by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and
Ronald Wayne (Is Apple’s Supply Chain Really the No. 1? A Case Study, 2013). There are
different products sell by Apple i.e. iPhone, iPod, Apple TV, watch etc. These are main products
sell by Apple with purpose of increasing customer base. Along with this, supply chain of Apple
is its use of numerous suppliers for the same components. Company has a wide network of third
party suppliers within its supply chain. In accordance to recent investigation, Apple has around
785 suppliers within 31 countries worldwide. In this 349 of are based in China.
Figure 1: Apple's Supply Chain
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(Source: Apple's Supply Chain, 2018)
From the above mentioned graph, it has been interpreted that Apple is a number one
supply chain company. There are different countries where Apple has to sourcing their products
or services i.e. United States, China, Europe and other Asian countries. China is a main country
where Apple manufacture their products (Wang and et. al., 2021). Main distributions of Apple
are online store, retail stores, direct sales force and wholesalers, retailers and network centres.
Apple is well famous for its design and innovation. This is a world leader in innovation, product
development and design, branding, software ecosystem and marketing.
Apart from this, PESTLE analysis is the tool through which marketers analyse the macro
environmental factors which affects the business. These are the external environmental factors.
PESTLE stands for Political factors, Economic factors, Social factors, Technological factors,
Legal factors, Environmental factors (Han, Goetz and Schmidt, 2021). China is a political and an
economic superpower. Over the years, it has developed a number of important programmes of
change as well as made great improvements within many fields. In terms of nominal gross
domestic product, it is the second largest economy within the world. Legal issues and
government regulation are main political factors that helps Apple in maintaining of sustainability
of iPhone. Along with this, all factors are important in maintaining sustainability of global
supply chain.
Importance of the issue
The research topic is important because today’s sustainability in supply chain helps
business organisation in increasing of customer base. There are various advantages of
sustainability in supply chain i.e. improving productivity while saving money, reduced
environment impact, improve continuity of supply, protecting against reputational damage, win
more business, helps in increasing number of customers (Kudtarkar, 2020). Along with this,
iPhone is the product of Apple Inc. that wants to improve their business by examine the
sustainability in supply chain. If Apple not implement sustainability in iPhone supply chain
within China, there are different issues that would be faced by them. These issues are higher cost
of distribution, loss of product, higher possibility of product damage, inappropriate staff
behvaiour etc.
Pivotal variables
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There are two variables that are essential within a dissertation i.e. dependent variable and
independent variable. In this research objective supply chain of the Apple iPhone within China is
the dependent variable that is depend on sustainability. Both variables are essential in attaining
research aim successfully. Therefore, both variables are effective in conducting current
dissertation successfully.
Research Aim and objectives
Research aim: Main aim of this dissertation is “To study how sustainable Apple's the supply
chain is from the angle of analyzing the macro environment in China”.
Research objectives:
 To conduct a literature review with purpose of increasing understanding regarding the
sustainable global supply chain
 To identify the Apple iPhone supply chain approaches and model
 To recognise the upstream and downstream players in the Apple iPhone supply chain
including their geographic location
 To identify the how many businesses, have the supply chain in China
 To identify and analyse the macro-environment factors in China using PESTLE analysis,
which is related to the sustainability of the Apple iPhone supply chain in China.
1.2. Research problem and questions
Main research problem of this research topic is the influence of sustainability on supply
chain of the Apple iPhone within China. There are various challenges faced by Apple in China
related to the sustainability and supply chain (Strauss, 2019). These problems are cost of
distribution, inappropriate staff behvaiour and higher possibility of product damage. These are
main challenges that have direct and negative impact on Apple. Along with this, current research
is important for different stakeholders i.e. organisation, researcher and students. For students,
this dissertation or topic helps them by increasing their knowledge regarding the supply chain
and sustainability. For researcher, current research is highly beneficial for them by improving
their different types of research skills i.e. data collection, time management, presentation and
decision making (Li and Xia, 2021). All these are main skills that facilitate investigator in
improvement of its personal and professional growth. For organisation, current research is
externally beneficial for them by providing accurate and relevant information regarding the
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benefits of sustainability in iPhone supply chain. Therefore, all these are main stakeholders that
are benefited with the help of current dissertation.
Research Questions
 What is the sustainable global supply chain?
 What is the Apple iPhone supply chain approaches and model?
 What are the upstream and downstream players in the Apple iPhone supply chain
including their geographic location?
 How many businesses have the supply chain in China?
 What is the macro-environment factors in China using PESTLE analysis, which is related
to the sustainability of the Apple iPhone supply chain in China?
2. Literature review on the topic: “Sustainable supply chain”
It forms out one of the most vital aspect of any research and investigation that comprises of
systematic review and analysis of the pre-existing and secondary form of information. Literature
review tend to be vital aspect of every research as it set out the base and entire framework for the
study (Lim and Tan, et. al., 2021). The current literature review is based on the topic of
sustainable Apple's the supply chain is from the angle of analyzing the macro environment in
China that tend to focus on enhancing the sustainable supply chain. Use and analysis of the
online article and other firm of literature present in form of book, journals and other records has
been made for having an effective literature review based on the concept of sustainable supply
chain.
The concept of the Sustainability is mainly related with the making decisions by the firms
and companies that they work and perform their activities in such manner that do not have
negative consequences for either current or future generations. As per this broad definition,
sustainability is something that aim at creating a positive impact on a wide range of ecological
and human issues along with changing attitudes for the preservation of natural resources to a
commitment to human and societal wellbeing (Yu and Chen, 2021). Further, the definition of the
Sustainable supply chain management basically involves the improved integrating
environmentally and financially viable practices that organisation tend to have into the complete
supply chain lifecycle, from product design and development, to material selection, (including
raw material extraction or agricultural production), manufacturing, packaging, transportation. It
has been analyzed that the transportation and packing of the product are the main reasons that
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creates maximum of the pollution thus, it is vital for organisation to think about more sustainable
and pollution free ways of transportation and package of the product to ensure a more sustainable
and positive supply chain. The below stated objectives are tending to provide a detail and more
vital understanding regarding the sustainable global supply chain (Hong and et. al., 2021). Along
with this, the undertaking of current study and literature also comprises of better analysis of the
Apple iPhone supply chain approaches and model along with determining the upstream and
downstream players in the Apple iPhone supply chain including their geographic location
together with the review of many businesses that have the supply chain in China along with
macro-environment factors in China using PESTLE analysis, which is related to the
sustainability of the Apple iPhone supply chain in China.
To conduct a literature review with purpose of increasing understanding regarding the
sustainable global supply chain
With respect to the information provided by Rana, R.L., Tricase, C. and De Cesare, L.,
2021, a better understanding regarding the satiable global supply chains has been derived which
consists of determination of the impact a company’s supply chain that it tends to make in
promoting human rights, fair labour practices, environmental progress and anti-corruption
policies. It has been analysed and seen that a growing and continuously increasing need for
integrating sustainable choices and adopting eco- friendly practises into supply-chain
management is seen that is increasing concern for sustainability and creating pressure on
companies for transforming their approach and way of business operations. The concept of the
sustainable supply chain is basically based on meeting of the set corporate values or business
opportunities while meeting the traditional priorities such as quality, efficiency and cost
regularly together with keeping in mind and compete for proper attention towards the concerns
such as working conditions and environmental impact (Li, 2021). Thus, the main aim and focus
of the A sustainable supply chain is to grab the value chain opportunities together with offering a
significant level of the competitive advantages for early adopters and the process innovators who
aim at meeting environmental practises and eco-friendly supply chain operation while meeting
their long term goals and objectives. Further, it has been also observed and analysed that the to
achieve a sustainable supply chain an organisation needs to effectively address the
environmental, social, economic as well as all the legal concerns that might tend to come across
its entire supply chain. Thus, as per taking a holistic approach the companies can understand the
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concept of sustainable supply chain as a way through which they can make efforts to reduce the
waste and environmental footprint and at the same time taking stopes for improving labour
conditions and health and safety by the way of effectively stopping the worker exploitation. So,
an understanding can be developing that a fully sustainable supply chain can be taken as the one
that tend to ensure the socially responsible business practices that are not only good and
beneficial for the physical planet and the people who living and working here but at the same
time they tend to also support business growth and higher success in an improved manner (Mani
and Gunasekaran, 2021).
Further, with respect to the information provided by the Mark Nutburn, 2019, an
increasing understanding about the main benefits and advantages of having sustainable global
business environment could also be made which consists of reduction in the negative
environmental impact along with supporting and leading out improved continuity and betterment
in supply. A detailed discussion and analysis of the some of the key benefits of having
sustainable supply chain for a firm and provided and listed as below:
Reduced environmental impact- One of the key benefit of having sustainable supply chain
comprises of the fact it helps in reducing and meeting the negative impact of supply chain
practises and other business operations on the physical environment. Thus, ensures a more
healthy and better world to live for staff, workers and overall society. It was assumed that
reducing the environmental impact of business are costly for organisation but the concept of
sustainable supply chain tend to reflect that reducing environmental impact can lead to big
savings for firms through reducing various wastage and enhancing the overall efficiency of the
vehicles and machinery used in supply chain (Guo and et. al., 2021). For instance, the famous
John Mitchell Ltd has invested in the driver training for its haulage fleet and reaped savings that
leads to a higher saving and profit of over £650,000. Along with this, the famous sport retailer
Nike has also adopted sustainable supply chain practices and has changed the way it
manufactures some trainers that resulted in form of reducing labour costs by up to 50% and
reducing material usage by 20%, that has been resulted in form of 0.25% higher margins (Xu and
Dai, 2021).
Improve continuity of supply- The another major advantage of having sustainable form of
supply chain comprises of the fact that it tend to have the over reliance in a single link in the
supply chain market that have a known on effect on the business. It has been observed that
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having a multiple suppliers for raw material helps to improve the continuity of the product and
also prevent the costly downtime and reputation damage through creating and ensuring a more
sustainable and error free delivery of raw material. Thus, having a sustainable global supply
chain is vital for a form as it avoid the chances of the delays, shortage of resources and steep
costs thus, enhance the profit level and also protect the reputational damage for a firm (Dhakar
and et. al., 2021).
Potential for new partnership- It has been analysed that in today’s business environment
the customers, suppliers and all other associated parties and stakeholders of a firm are tend to
become more environmental and social friendly who are in support of sustainable supply chain.
Thus, having a sustainable supply chain helps to create an improved brand image and reputation
in the market that act as an attractive prospect for the companies that are tend to look for partner.
So, having and adopting the environmental credentials and eco-friendly supply chain practises
will likely to help the firm to align with the other valuable brands that tend to open new potential
partnership and other business opportunities in form of improved brand image (Arora and et. al.,
2021).
Support from government initiatives- Due the rising issues such as global warming,
climate changes along with exploitation of workforce and staff has make government more
concerned towards the sustainable practises. Thus, many governmental initiatives are tend to
provide by the United Sates and many other nations of the world including, China, UK, etc. who
are providing tax benefits and other investment incentives for the companies who are adopting
sustainable supply chain practises and management. Along with this, in many parts of the world,
sustainable practises are also taken as part of mandate law, thus, adoption and making use of
sustainable supply chain is always beneficial and advantageous for a business organisation as it
tend to support improved opportunities and governmental support for having smooth business
operations (Han, Goetz and Schmidt, 2021).
Apart from this, according to the view point of Zhang, H., 2021, it has been observed that
the three key and most elements of supply chain sustainability tend to include the social
responsibility of a firm, its environmental responsibility, along with the financial responsibility.
An understanding has been developed that the social responsibility of a firm is basically focused
on addressing the moral, ethical, and philanthropic expectations that society tend to have from an
organization. Further, the environmental responsibility is related with the meeting the
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environmental needs by the way of seizing the carbon foot print and reducing other negative
impact on environment (Kudtarkar, 2020). The last financial reasonability of the sustainability in
supply chain comprises of supply chain finance practices and the other techniques that helps to
support trade transactions, in more efficient manner that aim at minimizes negative impacts and
creates environmental, social, and economic benefits for all stakeholders involved in bringing
products and services to markets. Further, it has been also analysed and observed that the
Sustainable supply chain management is a vital process that tend to involves the integrating
environmentally and financially viable practices into the complete supply chain lifecycle, from
product design and development, to material selection, (including raw material extraction or
agricultural production), manufacturing, packaging, transportation, warehousing, distribution,
consumption, return and disposal. Thus, it has been observed that the adoption of the
environmentally sustainable supply chain management and practices helps to assist a company in
reducing their total carbon footprint and also tend to optimize the end-to-end operations in order
to achieve a greater cost savings and improved level of the profitability. The main prioritises of
having a sustainable supply chain comprises of the having proper Environmental stewardship
along with focusing on the Conservation of resources and Reduction of carbon footprint (Li and
Xia, 2021). Further, Financial savings and viability along with meeting Social responsibility by
the way of adopting good practises such as equality at workplace, positive working environment,
healthy relationship, etc. also forms out a vital part of sustainable supply chain. Further, there are
many reasons that tend to support the sustainable supply chain by a firm which comprises of the
fact that having sustainable supply chain improves the financial results as it helps in improving
overall brand image that drives increased sales and higher share valuation. Along with this,
elimination of the waste and harmful activities is taken as the hallmark and most vital aspect of
the sustainable supply chain that supports financial advantageous and other improved practises
for a firm (Strauss, 2019).
Further, with respect to the information provided by the Velislava Ivanova, 2014, it has been
analysed that various effective ways are there that can be adopted and implicate by a business
firm to support and have a more sustainable supply chain that consists of effectively mapping the
supply chain activities along with communication expectations to ensure balance with supplier to
enjoy sustainable efforts. Apart from this, it has been also seen that the baseline the suppliers
performance along with setting compliance standards and collecting information from suppliers
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for self-assuagement also supports effective creating and management of the effective
sustainable supply chain. Beside this, it has been also understood that the developing and
providing proper training and effective capacity building programmes is also an effective way to
bring positive changes in the attitudes towards having a more sustainable and eco-friendly way
of supply chain. Implication of proper conferences and online training modules through capacity
building campaigns together with showcasing the success stories of selected suppliers, the
business organisation can recognize and make effective efforts to demonstrate the practical
benefits of sustainability initiatives to others in the supply chain which motivates and directs
operations towards sustainability (Wang and et. al., 2021). Apart from this, the other steps that
can be taken and adopted by a firm comprises of effectively developing or deploying the
improved and robust tracking tools within the firm which is including software solutions in order
to effective monitor and analysis the supplier performance and their improvement towards
concept of the sustainability over the time. Along with this, regularly performing a logistics
assessment is also an effective way to develop suitable supply chain by determining where
sustainability improvements can be made along with having an integrated supply chain
sustainability criterion into the procurement process to ensure and have more better management
of supply chain sustainability. Beside this, creating a proper shift towards supply chain
sustainability by the way of leveraging buying power and influence helps to expand the
sustainability goals of a firm beyond the direct operations across your supply chain by the way of
effectively encourage and leading improved innovation is supply chain management to have
better check on wastage and pollution level in supply chain (Lim and Tan, et. al., 2021).
To recognise the upstream and downstream players in the Apple iPhone supply chain including
their geographic location
In accordance with the information provided by Song, G. and Song, S., 2021, it has been
observed that the Apple is the world largest technology company that is engaged in the business
of manufacturing and marketing the tablets, smartphones, wearables, computers and services
across the world. Along with this, many supply chain experts have also determine Apple is the
best supply chain at a global level and has achieved five out of five points that is setting an
example for all the participants of supply chain community. Many vital steps are being taken by
the Apple for reducing the inventory holdings that supports reduction in warehouse cost and
makes its supply chain process more cost effective and efficient (Yu and Chen, 2021). Further, a
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