Apple Ethic Case Study

Ethic are the foundation that many businesses should build upon. Apple has taken a stance to be more transparent with the public as well as their shareholders, although not on every occasion. Apple uses their vision statement, along with their philosophy in conducting day to day business at home as well as globally in the electronics industry. Electronics are an integral part of our everyday life and will continue to improve and become even more important. Our dependence on electronics helps keep the market relevant and very competitive for the businesses in that market. Competition is healthy for any industry but can entice corporations to take risks that could jeopardize their ethics. Apple has seen its share of scandals throughout the years

The electronics market stays competitive due to the continuing stream of new technology. Every addition of a new product by Apple’s competition must in turn be met with a more innovative product. Apple must remain on top of the industry to remain relevant and continue to produce profits. The competitive nature of this industry also dictates that all corporations in the market will face ethical dilemmas. According to an article entitled “Apple ‘attacking problems’ at its factories in China”, there are only 3 companies with facilities in the world capable of keeping up with the needs that Apple’s market demands (Moore, 2012). Unveiling a new iPhone nearly once a year continues to put stress onto those few facilities that handle so much of the production. Speed is a factor in how quickly a product can be turned from pieces into profit. This leads to a predicament if the supply cannot meet the demand and cost begin to rise. A very common way to reduce cost is outsourcing production to locations overseas. Outsourcing can be beneficial due to the lower cost of wages, but also has its drawback. Outsourcing is by no mean a bad idea, however, the many facilities that are ran overseas may not be held to the same standards that they would be in the United States. One way to show that corners are not being cut at the expense of employees is to be transparent with the

Shareholders are important to the continued success of corporations all around the globe. An ethical issue that could have impacted the relationship that Apple had with its shareholders is the less than upfront approach that Apple took in regards to the health of Steve Jobs. In an article found on Time.com Steve Jobs is referred to as “a modern-day Thomas Edison.” As stated in the article it is believed that Apple was not completely honest about the condition of Steve Jobs health as far back as 2004, and also again in 2008 when he took time away from the company due to health concerns. It is also alleged that this could have had an impact on the shareholders and the decisions made in regards to their stock in the company (Berr, 2011). This one of the many ways that Apple could be seen as a company with something to hide. Although, Apple has tried to be more transparent with how they conduct business with their suppliers, as well as how their suppliers treat employees. One of the ways they have tried to do this is by allowing outside monitors to investigate their production facilities in China (Moore, 2012). They have also shown some good faith in publishing the list of their suppliers to the public in 2012 (Moore, 2012). The Suppliers Code of Conduct that was mentioned earlier has had an impact on the relations that Apple has with many of their suppliers since its implementation. As of