Leadership and Ethics: Analyzing Ethical Dilemma Faced by Apple Inc.

This essay provides an in-depth analysis of the ethical dilemma faced by Apple Inc., specifically concerning the deliberate slowdown of iPhones. The assignment begins with an overview of Apple's business practices and the impact of the ethical lapse on its reputation and customer trust. It then delves into the application of two key theoretical concepts from managerial ethics: the teleological approach, emphasizing outcome and utilitarianism, and the deontological approach, focusing on duty and moral obligations. The essay examines how Apple's actions, particularly the iPhone slowdown, align with or deviate from these ethical frameworks. It discusses the company's responses, including apologies and battery replacement programs, and evaluates the effectiveness of these measures in addressing stakeholder concerns. The analysis considers the role of leadership, particularly Tim Cook, and the impact of decisions on employees, customers, and the broader society. The essay concludes with a discussion of the importance of ethical leadership and a positive organizational climate in maintaining long-term business success and customer satisfaction, emphasizing the need for companies to prioritize ethical conduct alongside profitability. The assignment highlights the challenges of balancing business objectives with ethical responsibilities, offering insights into how companies can navigate complex ethical issues to maintain trust and integrity.

Running head: LEADERSHIP AND ETHICS
Leadership and Ethics
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author note

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Introduction
The ethical dilemma helps in implying the situation that is confusing in nature wherein
the ethics of the individuals are applied. This kind of situation is complicated in nature and arises
between the moral imperatives of the person. In certain kind of circumstances, this kind of
confusion arises in the sense that is professional in nature when the different moral principles of
different individuals are unable to figure the different course of action that is correct.
The ethical dilemmas can occur in any place but these are witnessed in different
workplaces. This kind of ethical dilemma can be accredited to different ethical diversities by
slowing down the battery of iphones in order to increase their sales in the entire competitive
market. The employees in the respective organization hail from different backgrounds and
culture wherein it increases the chance of conflicts. There can be different issues and conflicts in
the ideologies of the persons in the respective organization.
The main aim and purpose of the assignment is to analyze the ethical dilemma that has
occurred in Apple Inc Company and it has been in news for the past two years. The application
of two theoretical concepts will be used in such a manner that will influence the managerial
practices in the entire organization. The ethical dilemma that will be discussed in the particular
assignment is relating to the slowdown of the iphones that is sold by Apple Inc Company.
Overview of company and impact of ethical dilemma on Apple
As Apple is the tech giant in the entire global market, it is important to perform their
duties towards their customers who are loyal to Apple. The business chains of Apple are spread
across the country and this helped them in gaining loyalty and trust in the entire world from the
time of Steve Jobs (Chatterji & Toffel, 2014). Therefore, it is the responsibility of Tim Cook to

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maintain such standards presently and ensure high rate of production in the market along with
good quality in the same time. Apple Company can do this by maintaining quality standards and
not thinking of making profits. The different relationships with the stakeholders and the
employees are discussed as it shows that Apple Company was behaving in a positive manner
with the stakeholders.
In the essay, the ethical dilemma will be discussed that has been faced by Apple Inc
Company is based on the slowing down of the entire phone sets. The two theoretical concepts
from managerial ethics are to examine critically the different concepts in an effective manner.
Apple Inc Company is a multinational company that is based in America for designing along
with development of different software of computers and personal computers.
The different kind of hardware products are Mac Line, iPad and iPhone after Samsung.
Apple Inc is the second largest information technology companies in the entire world and Tim
Cook is the new CEO of the respective company. He has taken the entire responsibility of the
company in the year 2012 from late Steve Jobs. As soon as Tim Cook became the Chief
Executive Officer of the company, firstly he faced with an ethical dilemma related to the
threatening of suicides of the employees as the means of protecting themselves from extensively
tough working conditions (Shapiro & Stefkovich, 2015).
Recently, there were different articles reported that the respective company earned about
350 million US dollars in the year 2011 by selling the different iPhones that were sold to the
customers (Chan, Pun & Selden, 2013). However, there were issues with the iPhones wherein
iPhones were slowed down to gain huge amount of incentives and revenues by selling such kind
of products of Apple. However, this is one of the ethical dilemmas faced by them as they cheated

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the customers by performing such acts and this has disappointed the customers largely (Kim,
2016).
However, Apple Inc Company is known for the innovation and creativity in the different
products that are sold by them and they have well reserved revenues of over Rs. 90 billion
dollars in their cash reserves. However, the major issue that was faced by Tim Cook was the
different complaints regarding the slowing down iPhones and the pressure created on the
different employees. (Chatterji & Toffel, 2016).
Teleological Approach
The different theories of ethics are helpful in providing proper base for the judgment of
the content that is ethical in nature. The two kind of ethical theories are Deontological along with
Teleological and these kinds of theories help in deriving various conclusions in respect of the
scenario that is provided under the consideration.
Teleological approach helps in focusing on outcome along with importance of action.
Utilitarianism is one of the widely used Teleological theories in the business context and this
kind of theory is established in nature to provide the customers the best quality service (Shapiro
& Stefkovich, 2015). This kind of act is required to be performed when utilities that is produced
and generated are the same. Apple needs to use the respective approach as this adheres to theory
and justify the means effectively. Apple can use such ethics in a manner that will be based on
result-oriented ethics (Chan, Pun & Selden, 2017).
Apple Company tried to apologize to the different customers by focusing on the quality
of the different products that has been delivered by them to the customers (Jensen & Puri, 2016).
Apple Company delivers the best quality products along with services to the customers whom

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they have troubled previously. There has news that has reported that Apple has performed
extremely well in maintaining balance between economic and financial success of the entire
company. However, the workers in the company complained about the tough working hours and
culture of the work (Ferrell & Fraedrich, 2015).
The Guardian reported that Apple Inc Company has designed several initiatives to quell
deal with stakeholders of the company. It has been reported that Apple Company has apologized
to the different loyal customers for the different problems faced by them regarding slowing down
iPhones and other devices and products of Apple. Apple Inc Company worked hands in hands
with the different environmental groups and agreed different external monitors in the supply
factories. It helped the respective company in proving that they are focusing more on the social
matters than the financial matters.
On the other hand, the customers were still complaining about the iPhone products that
were sold to them were still the same. Apple Inc Company is mainly focused on accomplishing
the targets and Tim Cook is mainly focused on the performing the acts on time and gaining huge
revenues ("Apple apologizes for iPhone slowdown drama, will offer $29 battery replacements",
2018). The employees of the respective company complained that there was no such motivation
factor in the work. From this scenario, it can be understood that Apple did not follow such
guidelines of the teleological in an effective manner and this created issues in the sale of their
products (Chan, Pun & Selden, 2017).
Tim Cook along with other board members of the company planned to increase the sales
of the company by upgrading the series of the software of phone sets by lowering the battery of
the respective products. This was performed in such a manner that the devices worked in a

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prompt manner for couple of days and then the battery dropped to zero percentage without any
low battery notifications. It was also complained by the customers that Apple iphones and other
sets were getting hot while charging and it took more than twelve hours to complete the charging
and get it done to hundred percentages.
Deontology Approach
On the other hand, Deontology approach helps in understanding the duty of performing
best for the entire society. There are different factors that help in determination of the
righteousness of the society. This kind of theory can be applied by Apple Inc Company in order
to increase morality of the individuals and in the current scenario, Apple has contributed
significantly in field of retail chain and technology and created huge positive impact on the entire
society (Huxham & Vangen, 2013).
However, regarding ethics, Apple failed in performing best and they have hurted the
sentiments of the workers along with public in general. It is the duty-based ethics and this is
applicable for Apple as they did not worry about their reputation and sold different products of
Apple at high prices to the customers (Rushe, 2016). Apple did not sell the objects fairly to the
different customers in the market and fooled them intentionally. Later on, the customers were
aware of such issues and they felt they were cheated. This affected the sales of the Apple
products in the market and this helped in understanding that Apple did not follow deontological
approach.
Tim Cook, the CEO of the company performed the best for the company, however this is
affecting the employees and public and this created as an ethical dilemma in the entire society.
The entire case is dealing with different ethical issues and the main ethical approaches that were

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applied are virtue ethics, deontological approach and consequentiality approach. This kind of
case is both deontological approach and teleological approach wherein Apple took care of
convincing the workers to work as per their flexibility in the hours of working. Furthermore, the
Apple Inc Company has helped the customers by reducing their different regrets relating to the
different slowing down of devices.
According to Denning and Dew, (2015), the act that has been performed by Apple has to
be ethical in nature to provide proper welfare of the stakeholders. It has been seen in different
news article that Apple was not ethical with the employees and presently there has been news of
fooling the loyal customers of Apple. The major concern of Apple Inc Company was not to lose
their business and reduce the cost of the different products and this has positively affected the
stakeholders of the company. The entire management of Apple needs to follow the different
theoretical approaches in order to maintain proper prosperity by keeping the customers happy
and satisfied in the entire competitive market (Huxham & Vangen, 2013).
The entire profit making initiative of the company is dependent on the hard work of the
employees along with satisfying the loyal customers in the market. The customers are concerned
regarding the social behavior of the company rather than the profit-making attitude. Jia, Hall and
Zhu, (2015) commented that without the strong kind of leadership, it is not possible for the
company to survive in the entire competitive market as this will make the business inaccurate in
nature. The author believes that leadership is decisive along with dictatorship in nature and this
helped in involving shared kind of responsibility of the higher officials and other employees to
overcome such issues in an effective manner. Tim Cook did not follow such kind of decision-
making and leadership quality as he focused on the profitability of the firm and did not think
about the customers.

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Application of positive climate
Proper adoption of the strategy helps the company in quick flow of different decisions
moreover; this will help in making the different tasks more flexible in nature. The workers of
Apple Inc Company have to be well trained in nature in order to handle the different problems in
the future in an effective manner. The entire Apple Inc Company has apologized to the
customers in the competitive market wherein it reduced the cost of the batteries of iPhones and
other products of Apple. This helped them in making different changes in the damages that has
been done by them to the different iPhone sets of the customers (Jiraporn, Jiraporn,
Kitsabunnarat-Chatjuthamard & Tong, 2016). They tried to apologize to the customers by
reducing the cost of different products and the servicing charges of iPhones as well in the
market.
Ki, Kim and Ledingham, (2015) commented that trust of the employees and the
customers on the respective company is built on the three components that are the capacity to
trust, competence and intentions. The ethics has to be followed by the workplace, as this will
help them in focusing more on the social values than the financial aspects of the respective
company.
The code of ethics and conducts has to be followed by the respective company in order to
make the employees aware about the different requirements of the customers and employees who
are working for the organization (Ferrell & Fraedrich, 2016). The leader of the company needs to
influence the different actions of others with the exhibition of the ethical values in a powerful
manner. The ethics refer to the different motives and virtues of individuals that will impact the
choices of the leader of the entire organization.

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Application of positive climate in Apple
Furthermore, the working hours of the employees were increased to a huge extent and
tried to increase their sales by selling such devices with different kind of defects. There is
different kind of organizations in the competitive market who has the habit of highlighting their
success in the annual reports that has been generated in the different news (Ho, Li, & Tong
2016). They perform such activities against the different merits of the corporate social
responsibility. It is necessary in nature to take into considerations the different economic and
social considerations, as this will help the company in overcoming the different ethical
dilemmas.
Furthermore, Apple is well placed to have huge influence on the different matters that is
surrounding Foxconn. However, Tim Cook assured that the company will follow the different
CSR guidelines across the different supply chain globally (Shapiro & Stefkovich, 2016). The
article that has been published online in the year 2012, in the month of January helped in
analyzing the silence of the entire Apple Company and this is testament of the different problems
surrounding Foxconn. The situation that has been developed in Foxconn along with the issues of
slowing down iPhones did not develop overnight.
The slowing down of different iPhone versions that included iPhone 6, 6S and 7 helped
the company in earning huge profit in the past two years. On the other hand, the pressure that has
been put on the employees was in news and the labor organizations blamed the working hours
along with inhuman treatment. The low wages that has been provided by the Apple Inc Company
to the workers was another issue faced by the company. The respective company sold such
handsets to large number of loyal customers that has helped them in fooling the customers by

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explaining them the cause is their old iPhones, changes the handsets, and upgrade them to new
version. On the other hand, the labors complained about the different payment of wages issues
and this was going beyond the CSR activities (Rushe, 2015).
Different leadership styles and consequences
Furthermore, it is vital to understand that leaders need to embrace ethics in an effective
manner. In the year 2012, Apple Company published their financial quarterly results wherein the
focus of the investigators shifted on the merits of the revenue and payment of dividends and
forecast of revenues. This was good news for the different shareholders of Apple Inc, but they
did not investigate the reactions of the customers of Apple Inc Company. Tim Cook was proud
and happy as he earned huge amount of profits and revenues in the entire market and gained
competitive advantage. Furthermore, the employees were not happy with the entire situation as
this did not benefit them in any manner (Denning & Dew, 2015).
However, from the different news it has been seen and noticed that Apple did not work
hard in handling the different ethical matters of the company along with employees. The welfare
of employees and gaining loyal customers was dwindling in nature and the constant coverage by
the media that was negative in nature influenced the different perspicacity of the respective
company. This even created a negative impact on the economic conditions of the entire company
along with success of Apple.
The Bureaucratic leadership approach was the reason for no success in the organization
and this has affected the organization’s success as well. Tim Cook followed his own rules and
regulations in such a manner that it affects the entire management system. This kind of
leadership had negative effect on the entire company as this has affected the organization in an

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ineffective manner. The different rules and regulations regarding behavior of work and duties of
employees that is consistent in nature. The respective approach was affecting the employees who
were working with Apple and it affected their morale of the employees (Kim, 2016). There have
been cross-purposes between the different thoughts of the employees and employer. The
employees did not have any such role to play in the decision making process of the company.
Tim Cook did not allow the employees to highlight their opinions in the organization as
CEO felt he would take the major decisions. The different slowing down of the Apple phones
had huge impact on the company as the loyal customers were upset and they felt cheated by the
company (Shapiro & Stefkovich, 2015).
Conclusion
The essay has helped in analyzing the entire organization in a multi perspective view that
helped in maximizing the input and profit in the entire market. There has been ethical dilemma in
the respective workplace wherein it helped them in generating profitability. It has been
commented that the company has earned huge amount of profit in the competitive market by
fooling the customers in the market by slowing down the entire set of iPhones and other devices
in order to maximize their production and revenues in the market. The company did not
understand the different issues faced by the employees in the organization who were the main
assets of the company. Tim Cook did not focus on the issues of the employees, as his focus was
to gain profit and revenues in the competitive market to be more competitive in nature.
The entire essay has used the domination and machine metaphor as this helped them in
developing their views on the entire company. The two theoretical approaches that have been
discussed in the entire essay helped in examining the ethical dilemma that was faced by the

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organization named Apple Inc Company. The entire essay helped in providing recommendations
that helped in ensuring that the leaders of the respective organization are making decisions in an
ethical manner. It helped in analyzing and enhancing the different leadership, management and
other theories along with consequences of the ethical dilemma in the entire organization. It can
be concluded that Apple Inc Company needs to adopt strategies such as transformational
leadership as this can help them in retaining their loyal customers. Apple Inc needs to apply
strategies that are fair in nature, as this will help them in gaining strong customer base.
Lastly, it is seen that the ethical dilemmas that has been faced by the company has to be
ascertained in such a manner that this will help them in being competitive in nature. Apple needs
to understand the issues of the customers and they had apologized to the customers for the
mishap that has been created by their company. The respective company has lowered the prices
of the different service charges and other cost of different sets in Apple as this has helped them
in gaining strong customer base in the entire competitive market. The bureaucracy approach of
leadership has to be eliminated from the company, as this will help them in being more
competitive in a fair manner in the competitive environment.

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