LGH602 Leadership Report: Apple's Philanthropic Strategy and Ethics

This report examines Apple's leadership perspectives on philanthropic responsibilities, focusing on their approach to societal development and ethical considerations. The paper analyzes the company's strategy, particularly Steve Jobs' leadership, and its impact on the author's ethics and leadership development plan. It explores how Apple prioritizes product innovation and employment over traditional philanthropic donations, justifying this approach and assessing its ethical validity. The report references academic sources to support its arguments and concludes by discussing how the case study influences the author's understanding of leadership ethics and strategic decision-making in a global context, specifically within the hospitality industry.

Running head: LEADERSHIP
Leadership
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1LEADERSHIP
Introduction:
The paper is focused in the elaboration of the leadership perspectives of a chosen
company Apple in terms of the philanthropic responsibilities. The paper assesses the
obligation of the modern business organizations in terms of donating money for the societal
development. Apart from that, the paper evaluates the participation of the chosen company in
the societal development and along with that, the paper portrays the impact of the strategy of
the chosen company for the development of the society on the my application of the ethics
and the leadership development plan.
Leadership Perspectives for the Donation:
The general objective of the modern business organizations regarding the
philanthropic responsibilities are observed to be divided into two ways. In the first case, the
business organizations are observed to focus on the marketing of their products through the
increased donation for the events and the activities designed for the societal development
(Mainardes et al., 2017). Through the donation to the external philanthropic causes, the
business organizations are seen to improve the corporate image that has the potential to
attract larger number of customers for increment of the profit of the organization (Griffin &
Prakash, 2014). On the other hand, many of the business organizations which do not have the
necessity of the formation of the brand for attracting customers, are seen to be more inclined
towards the improvement of the products with the presence of the improved technology and
modern innovations. According to many of those business analysts, the societal development
is the improvement of the quality of the products with the presence of the innovative thinking
and the technology and the development of the society is to be rated with the calculation of
the profit for the organizations.

2LEADERSHIP
Hence it is pretty evident that the perspectives with the philanthropic responsibility is
different for the different organizations (Choi & Yu, 2014). An organization which does not
have the lucrative brand for their products and the services are seen to be more focused in
donating to the external philanthropic causes. Whereas a company that has a recognized
brand associated with it, will always consider the production of the innovative products to be
the best suited method for the societal development.
Justification for the Apple’s strategy:
Steve Jobs, the chief executive officer of the chosen company is observed to lead the
organization in such a manner where the donation for the philanthropic causes were observed
to be significantly limited. Apple, being one of the global leader of the electronics industry in
terms of the generation of the profit where the market value of the company for the financial
year 2016-17 is 222 billion US dollars and the revenue of the company is 15.68 billion US
dollars, the company is identified as one of the least contributing organization in the external
philanthropic causes (Youtube.com, 2019). The intention of the senior level management of
the organization of considering the production of the innovative products to be the major
contribution towards the development of the society is observed to be the base of such
treatment from the part of the organization. It is seen that the development of the products of
the chosen company in the form of the laptop, phones and the other electronic gadgets are
considered to be the important contribution of the company towards the improvement of the
society from the part of the CEO of the organization (Apple.com, 2019). The CEO of the
chosen organization is seen to comment that the increment in the employment for the new
and innovative products which will be in perfect alignment with the preferences of the
customers, to be a significant step in the development of the society.

3LEADERSHIP
As mentioned earlier, the perspective of the organizations are different in donating for
the external philanthropic causes, there is not any sort of ethical invalidity in case of the
chosen organization’s lack of philanthropy (Muller & Whiteman, 2016). There are various
techniques for the development of the society that the modern business organizations can use
and in case of the chosen organization, the management was observed to consider the product
development and the increment of the employment to be the best suited methods for the
development of the society. Hence the ethical validity in the strategy of the chosen
organization in terms of managing the philanthropic responsibility is seen to be notably
present.
Opinion on the leadership of Steve Jobs:
Steve Jobs is considered to be one of the business icon of the modern business for his
visionary leadership during his tenure for the organization, Apple. His leadership was seen to
be significant for the internal employees of the organization and the customers of the
organization as well. His name was considered to be the brand for the chosen organization
where the importance of his leadership in the formation of the products and in the design of
the services was seen to be significant for the company’s improved performances in the
generation of the profit. Adding to this, the chosen company under his leadership was a
renowned name for the improved products with the significant presence of the technology
and the innovative ideas. With Steve Jobs in the position of the CEO of the organization, the
customers were observed to have the trust in the organization that improved products with
significant application of the technology will be served for the value of their money. The
leadership of Steve Jobs had a similar impact on me.
However, with the precise idea of the various techniques that the modern business
organizations use for the effective management of the philanthropic responsibilities, the

4LEADERSHIP
impact of the case has notably limited contribution in changing my opinion towards the
company’s business process. I do feel that the improvement of the products with the presence
of the technology and innovation is the unique selling proposition for the chosen organization
and there is not any sort of liability on them in donating for the philanthropic causes. Hence
their consideration regarding the social development through the increment in the
employment and increment in the production of the innovative products were of great
significance according to my understanding.
Impact on ethics and leadership development plan:
My application of the ethics in the leadership development is limitedly affected with
the improvement of the corporate image. The companies that are observed to donate to the
philanthropic causes, are seen to have the objective of improving the corporate image of the
organization for attracting the market limelight and on the other hand, the companies which
have a significantly recognised brand for their products such as Apple, are more concerned in
providing the scope to the customers for achieving improved quality in the products and the
services. Hence such organizations are not following any sort of unethical approaches for the
products and the services that they design (Bocquet et al., 2013).
The application of the ethics in my leadership development is observed to be based on
the benefits such as the improvement of the productivity, the decrement in the faulty
operations and the decrement of the reputational damage for my team. The case portrays the
strategies of the chosen organization for the societal development and incorporates no ethical
threat. Hence it will not be wrong if I use the learning of the strategy in my leadership
development.

5LEADERSHIP
References:
Apple.com (2019). Apple. Retrieved from https://www.apple.com/
Bocquet, R., Le Bas, C., Mothe, C., & Poussing, N. (2013). Are firms with different CSR
profiles equally innovative? Empirical analysis with survey data. European
Management Journal, 31(6), 642-654.
Choi, Y., & Yu, Y. (2014). The influence of perceived corporate sustainability practices on
employees and organizational performance. Sustainability, 6(1), 348-364.
Griffin, J. J., & Prakash, A. (2014). Corporate responsibility: Initiatives and mechanisms.
Business & Society, 53(4), 465-482.
Mainardes, E. W., Laurett, R., Degasperi, N. C. P., & Lasso, S. V. (2017). External
motivators for donation of money and/or goods. International Journal of Nonprofit
and Voluntary Sector Marketing, 22(2), e1568.
Muller, A., & Whiteman, G. (2016). Corporate philanthropic responses to emergent human
needs: The role of organizational attention focus. Journal of Business Ethics, 137(2),
299-314.
Youtube.com (2019). Dilemma: Apple, Jobs, Philanthropy. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mO1ZubYuWXc&feature=youtu.be