mgmt 9

A case study of Apple’s strategies.

Maran Almansoori

Anna Phillips

California State University San Bernardino

Crafting and Executing Strategy

3 NOV 2020

Introduction

The main reason why a company like Apple is in operation is for it to generate revenue and get profits at the same time keeping production costs at a minimum. The management of the company is tasked with the responsibility of operating the company in a manner that creates value for shareholders of the company. There are legal requirements that the company has to adhere to. These are regulated by the governments and other legal bodies in the country that the company operates from. Other than these requirements, Apple has a moral and ethical responsibility to its stakeholders and shareholders. It needs to follow certain moral and ethical codes in order to maintain its competitive advantage.

CHAPTER 9

LO 1: The concepts of corporate social responsibility and environmental sustainability and how companies balance these duties with economic responsibilities to shareholders.

Example 1:

Actions to support philanthropy, participate in community service and better the quality of life worldwide

Apple announced that it will be the first Laureate partner of the Malala fund. The fund is meant to significantly expand the efforts of Malala Yousufzai in supporting girl’s education and advocating for equal opportunities. Apple offered to provide technology and other forms of assistance to the fund. The fund aims at providing at a minimum 12 years of education for girls around the world. Apple’s contribution is meant to go a long way in supporting the cause. The monetary donations will help the fund cater for any administrative costs and other costs for programs that benefit the girl child.

Example 2

Actions to protect and sustain the environment

Apple has managed to achieve a 100% use of renewable energy for all its operations. Its facilities globally are powered by 100% renewable energy and for its facilities in 34 countries globally, the company is looking for renewable energy from its own projects. Apple starts its own renewable energy projects including wind, solar and low impact hydro projects. Apple has also managed to take significant steps in controlling the use of freshwater and improving the quality of water it discharges form Apple system. Apple has designed its new data centers to use less water for cooling its systems. It has helped Apple protect existing resources to ensure a continuous supply of water.

Example 3

Actions to enhance employee well-being and make the company a great place to work

Apple has put various programs that are meant to enhance employee well-being. It has provided educational programs to more than 3.6 million employees working for its suppliers since the year 2008. The programs have been led by Apple’s vice president for HR Denise Young Smith. Expectant mothers can take up to 4 weeks of leave before delivery and up to 3 months after delivery. Fathers and non-birth parents on the other hand can receive up to 6 weeks of paternal leave. The company has also introduced employee health and safety programs especially programs to mitigate against ergonomic risks and workstation design changes.

LO 2: How the standards of ethical behavior in business are no different from the ethical standards and norms of the larger society and culture in which a company operates

Example 1

The School of Ethical Universalism

According to this school, the moral conceptions of right and wrong are universal and rise above society, culture and religion. The ethical principle of being truthful and not being deliberately deceitful is one that is universally accepted in all cultures worldwide. It is similar to having high levels of integrity and treating others with decency. Apple had an ethical dilemma to disclose the health status of its founder and former CEO Steve Jobs. They intentionally hid his status from the public in a bid to safeguard the company’s performance in the Stock and Securities Exchange. The ethical principles the company dream comes from the school of ethical universalism.

Example 2

The School of Ethical Relativism

As much as there are universally accepted moral prescriptions, there are some major differences in the ethical codes from one society to another. Apple operates in several countries globally with different cultures. This difference also means that there is bound to be major differences in the moral code that is observed by individuals in these countries. China for instance has a weak commitment to human rights and labor laws. It is one of the reasons why companies in the Apple’s supply chain that operate in China tend to overwork their employees or employ underage kids because of their ethical and moral subscription.

Example 3

Ethics and Integrative Social Contracts Theory

This theory provides a middle ground for the different views of ethical universalism and ethical relativism. This theory dictates that a company needs to try and uphold a limited number of universal ethical principles and also support the circumstances of local cultures, traditions and values. The social contract dictates that local cultures and groups can specify the actions that are ethically permissible. The management of Apple has understood this concept very well and has monitored the kind of advertisements that are pushed in certain regions. For instance, in the Islamic region, their adverts need to be conservative and follow the Muslim moral code.

Conclusion

In designing strategy, it is clear that ethics play a vital role in the success of a company. These are the unwritten rules that a company has to adhere to in order to run its operations successfully. Apple has managed to adhere to some of these rues but has failed in some. The management of organizations needs to be able to set ethical standards for the organization so as to maintain human dignity for all who work with the company.

References

Campbell, T. (2006). A human rights approach to developing voluntary codes of conduct for multinational corporations. Business Ethics Quarterly, 16, 255–269.

Porter, M. E. (1998). Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analyzing Industries and Competitors (Illustrated ed.). Free Press.

Thompson, A., Peteraf, M., Gamble, J., & Strickland, A. (2017). Crafting & Executing Strategy: The Quest for Competitive Advantage: Concepts and Cases (21st ed.). McGraw-Hill Education.

Media Research

Is Apple ethical?

Apple is an American based company that deals with manufacture of computing devices like mobile phones and laptops. Its success has however been marred by various controversies and scandals. To achieve its competitive advantage, the company has outsourced its manufacturing activities to China. The country has a weak regard for human rights and has been cited to be exploiting its workforce. Although Apple requires its suppliers to strictly follow an ethical code of conduct, there has been allegations that most of the companies in its supply chain do not adhere to this strict moral code. There was a lawsuit by international human rights activists on behalf of some children and their parents form Congo who were being exploited by tech companies like Google and Apple among others.

Apple has also been on the receiving end of poor environmental conservation practices. It is reported that Apple has been using potentially hazardous materials like PVC. It has however gone on the defense to claim that its products are BFR and PVC free and gone a step further to include a list of the date that the components were phased out of their products. The company was also fined £10 million by Italian authorities who claimed that Apple had built obsolescence into its smartphones.

Apple has also received its fair share of criticism by the ethical consumer for having an organization structure that makes tax evasion easier. It has its subsidiaries in Ireland, Netherlands and in Singapore. These are tac havens and he body considers them as high-risk potential for evasion of tax.

These allegations have negatively affected the reputation of Apple as a country, it has however tried to redeem its glory by engaging in several Corporate Social Responsibility activities like donating to organizations hat empower girls worldwide like the Malala foundation.

Works cited

Dudovskiy, J. (2020, May 15). How ethical is Apple Inc? Retrieved from https://www.ethicalconsumer.org/company-profile/apple-inc#:~:text=Our research highlights several ethical,social finance, and political activities.