apple ethical issues essay

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• Ethical Dilemma and an Ethical Lapse Difference Words: 672
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• Ethical Dilemmas as an Integral Part of Business Words: 567
• Apple Incorporation’s Strategic Plan Words: 1714
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• Aspects of Apple Inc. Analysis Words: 3371
• Solving Ethical Dilemmas Words: 680
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Apple Inc.: The Ethical Dilemmas

Introduction, ethical dilemmas, past strategies, recorded gains, compliance plan.

Business ethics is a critical field that guides organizational managers to pursue desirable practices while fulfilling their stakeholders’ needs. The presence of proper mechanisms makes it possible for companies to remain ethical. However, the issues arising from supply chains and the process of continuous innovative can lead to certain questions. At Apple Incorporation, one of the most important goals is to promote ethical practices when producing, marketing, and supporting the continued use of the available services and products. Unfortunately, some of the reported lawsuits and actions have shed more light about his organization’s ethical standing. The first dilemma described in this paper includes failure to promote environmental sustainability through mining and electronic wastes. The second one emerges from the company’s failure to protect and safeguard the rights of human beings involved in various levels of its supply chain and production. A workable action plan for improved compliance is presented to help the company address the existing ethical challenges. When implemented correctly, these issues could become things of the past and take Apple closer to its business aims.

Apple Inc. remains one of successful technological giants with many employees and high-quality services and products. The existing mission revolves around doing business in an ethical, honest, and acceptable manner while following the established regulations. The sustainability of any organization depends on its ability to do honest business. Unfortunately, Apple falls short of effective ethical principles since there are some areas that need immediate attention. Failure to address some of the current ethical dilemmas could have negative impacts on its future performance. This report examines some of the existing issues and presents a practical compliance plan that can help improve Apple’s future image.

The first ethical issue affecting Apple’s credibility is that of environmental conservation. The company’s rating when it comes to green reporting has remained poor within the past three years. The second dilemma is the question of human rights. With its supply chain, this organization has been found to collaborate with suppliers and mining companies that use child labor (Kelly, 2019). It also lacks proper mechanisms for holding such stakeholders accountable and ensuring that all activities are transparent and capable of delivering meaningful results.

The first notable dilemma stems from the issue of climate change. As a leading organization in the delivery of consumer products, Apple Inc. was not performing excellently in Ethical Consumer ratings. The emerging challenges revolved around the use of minerals from conflict areas. It was also relying on the use phthalates, PVC, and BFR (Bukhari, 2021). These materials are usually hazardous and capable of affecting the sustainability of the natural environment. Most of its past cases have seen the corporation being fined for promoting the use and production of toxic electronic waste (Axon, 2020). For instance, Italian authorities fined Apple around 10 million pounds for obsolescence in most of their smartphones (Bukhari, 2021). These issues describe why Apple is associated with unethical practices.

The second dilemma appears to be systemic at Apple. For example, a lawsuit of 2019 revealed that Apple has been identified as a defendant following the death of children in Africa’s Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). In such a case, the involved families wanted the company to provide compensation since their children had died or seriously injured in one of the country’s cobalt mines (Kelly, 2019). Additionally, the company has failed to put proper mechanisms to remove the divisive issue of child labor in different assembly lines and mining operations. Apple was also emerging as one of the organizations that failed to provide clearly defined policies to promote people’s freedom and expressions.

The leadership at Apple Inc. has been keen to implement various evidence-based approaches to address some of these ethical concerns. For instance, the company is considering several strategies to improve its environmental footprint by reducing the use of hazardous chemicals. A good example is the consideration of a right to repair bill that make it possible for Apple to remove planned obsolescence in its devices (Bukhari, 2021). Unfortunately, this effort only comes after the company has been fined or engaged in protracted lawsuits (Heller, 2020). The company has promised its stakeholders that it will start to rely on clean energy to make its supply chain more ethical. However, cases of environmental deterioration associated with the actions of the leading mineral companies continue to remain a major challenge.

In the company’s website, any visitor would learn that Apple Inc. is implementing a number of mechanisms to compel its supply chain partners to remain ethical. The focus on promoting desirable labor practices is evident. The company has been providing several guidelines to compel such firms to avoid the use of child labor and dishonoring people’s rights. Unfortunately, such measures remain ineffective since most of the workers find it hard to present their views (Bukhari, 2021). The company does not have effective governance strategies and efforts to deal with the problematic question of human rights. More cases involving the use of child labor and failure to honor workers’ demands along the entire supply chain continue to emerge.

This analysis reveals that Apple is not doing much to overcome or address most of the recorded ethical dilemmas. Within the last two years, the number of lawsuits and complaints from different stakeholders has been on the rise. The company’s ethical image and rating has been on the decline (Kelly, 2019). These trends call for integrative and sustainable approaches to make the company more profitable and admirable. Failure to address them using proper mechanisms could increase Apple’s chances of losing its current competitive position and even becoming obsolete.

The first dilemma revolving around environmental sustainability has received the best solution. The measures Apple implements to rectify the ethical concern are usually informed by emerging lawsuits and industrial disputes. In foreign countries, stakeholders and government agencies have remained concerns about the invasive mining techniques involved in the supply chain (Bukhari, 2021). The logistical processes and the use of non-renewable energy sources affect the company’s image when it comes to the question of sustainability (Bukhari, 2021). This evidence shows conclusively that Apple is still an unethical corporation when examined from the environmental conservation point of view. It is presently grappling with the same concern due to the absence of proper mitigation efforts.

For the second issue on human rights, analysts and investigators acknowledge that the measures put in place remain ineffective. In most of the Asian countries where most of the parts come from, companies have been accused of using sweatshops and child labor. In the DRC, cases of collapsing mines and injuries miners continue to be reported (Kelly, 2019). This organization lacks proper mechanisms to hold these stakeholders accountable for their actions. Nonetheless, Apple Inc. continues to do business with such suppliers despite the fact that they engage in unethical practices (Kelly, 2019). Additionally, proper mechanisms are still lacking to ensure that more workers are able to receive better remunerations and working conditions. These key challenges have led to the poor ratings associated with the organization.

The completed analysis indicates that Apple is still struggling with the selected two ethical dilemmas. Most of the measures implemented in the past have not delivered the much needed results. The overall organizational image is being affected negatively. These realities explain why a proper compliance plan would be recommendable to deal with these questions for once and for all (Bukhari, 2021). The proposed strategy for Apple needs to focus on a culture of integrity implementable across all functions of the company. This company needs to pursue this strategy through the lens of an organizational change to ensure that positive results are recorded.

At the very beginning, departmental leaders and managers in all companies and suppliers within the supply chain would be updated about the new effort towards ethical practices. During the phase, Apple would hire professionals to identify these ethical dilemmas, their possible impacts, and examine case studies of companies that have tackled them more efficiently (Heller, 2020). The involved team will then educate all stakeholders about the new change and appreciate the possible impacts of unethical practices in the organization. This approach will ensure that the environment is suitable and capable of supporting he proposed transformation.

The change leader would capitalize on the established situation to introduce the suggested ethical guidelines. For instance, all suppliers and assembly firms would be compelled to stop using child labor. The issues of sweatshops, uncompetitive remunerations, and poor working conditions will become things of the past (Krummel & Siegfried, 2021). Companies that operate different mines would be compelled to make environmental protection a top priority issue (Sonnemaker, 2020). All key engineers, software and hardware technicians, and product designers will no longer have to include toxic materials in their final devices. All organizational functions would be redesigned in such a way that they push sustainable practices to the next level.

With these proposed practices in place, Apple Inc. would go further to start relying on the use of clean energy sources. This trend would then be associated with improved green and sustainability reporting practices. The organization would then pursue these new changes the new normal and encourage all followers and stakeholders to be part of the process (Krummel & Siegfried, 2021). When implemented effectively, this new compliance plan would help address the two identified ethical dilemmas. The proposed techniques would also remove all other malpractices that have the potential to disorient its overall sustainability ratings.

The current organizational performance Apple Inc. records are acceptable. This corporation is associated with high-quality devices capable of meeting the needs of all users. However, the recorded ethical concerns are problematic and capable of disorienting future profitability. The suggested compliance plan is inclusive in nature and presents practices and approaches that transform the operations of all key stakeholders. Its successful implementation at apple would make the corporation more ethical while addressing the problems of the past.

Axon, S. (2020). Ex-Apple employees say company ignored China labor-law violations. Ars Technica. Web.

Bukhari, S. A. R. (2021). Ethical issues at Apple Inc. In Research & Publication. Web.

Heller, M. (2020). Apple rebukes supplier for labor code violations. CFO. Web.

Kelly, A. (2019). Apple and Google named in US lawsuit over Congolese child cobalt mining deaths. The Guardian, 1-6.

Krummel, D., & Siegfried, P. (2021). Child labour ethics through the prism of utilitarianism and deontology. Open Access Library Journal, 8 (2), 1-14. Web.

Sonnemaker, T. (2020). Apple knew a supplier was using child labor but took 3 years to fully cut ties, despite the company’s promises to hold itself to the ‘highest standards,’ report says. Business Insider. Web.

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Apple has long been the target of numerous campaigns due to workers' rights issues at its supplier factories.

But the multi-billion pound tech giant has also been found wanting in other areas.

Is Apple ethical?

Our research highlights several ethical issues with Apple, including climate change, environmental reporting, habitats & resources, pollution and toxics, arms & military supply, human rights, workers' rights, supply chain management, irresponsible marketing, anti-social finance, and political activities. 

Below we outline of some of these issues. To see the full detailed stories, and Apple's overall ethical rating, please sign in or subscribe .

In December 2019 a Guardian article named Apple as defendants in a lawsuit filed in Washington DC by human rights firm International Rights Advocates on behalf of 14 parents and children from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Other defendants in this lawsuit included Google, Dell, Microsoft and Tesla.

Several families were seeking damages and compensation for the death or serious injury of children who they claim were working in cobalt mines in Apple's supply chain.

Also in 2019 the Ranking Digital Rights (RDR) Corporate Accountability Index gave Apple a score of just 46% . The report rated companies on "commitments and policies, based on international human rights standards." Apple was said to have scored poorly, "due to its lack of governance and oversight over human rights risks, and also lack of clear disclosure of policies affecting users’ freedom of expression."

Environment

Apple received Ethical Consumer's worst rating for environmental reporting in 2019. Whilst the information in their 2019 Environmental Responsibility report covered Apple's main environmental impacts, including conflict minerals, it included only one dated and quantified future environmental target:

“By 2020, Apple and our suppliers will generate or procure at least 4 gigawatts of clean energy in our supply chain.”

Because Apple lacked a second future-dated, quantified target we deducted a mark in the Environmental Reporting category.

Apple's 2019 Environmental Responsibility Report included sections on the use of potentially hazardous chemicals such as PVC, BFR and phthalates.

It claimed that all of its newer products were BFR and PVC free, and included a table that listed the dates at which these substances has been phased out of specific parts of products and packaging. Apple commented that "Apple products are free of PVC and phthalates with the exception of power cords in India, Thailand, and South Korea, where we continue to seek government approval for our PVC and phthalates replacement." As the company had already achieved the elimination of PVC, BFR and phthalates from its products except in some exceptional cases, it received Ethical Consumer’s best rating for its pollution and toxics policy.

There was third party verification by Bureau Veritas (BV) and of product-related carbon footprint by Fraunhofer. 

In 2018, Apple was fined £10 million by the Italian authorities for ‘planned obsolescence’ built into their smartphones. Furthermore in the US, Apple lobbied a right to repair bill which helped to cause its being pulled. As a result, Apple can be seen as part of the problem of toxic e-waste .

In July 2019 Ethical Consumer awarded Apple a worst mark for strategies that were likely to be used to avoid tax. This was because the family tree for Apple Inc on  www.hoovers.com  and showed that the company had subsidiaries in Ireland, the Netherlands, and Singapore. 

These were jurisdictions which were considered by Ethical Consumer to be tax havens and were therefore considered to be at high risk of being used for tax avoidance purposes.

Upon further investigation, Ethical Consumer found a statement given by Apple that provided a narrative explanation for why the company had subsidiaries in Ireland. This wasn't strong enough to affect our decision to give Apple a worst rating for tax avoidance, especially given that we found no country-by-country financial information or reporting (CBCR), nor a clear public tax statement confirming that it was this company’s policy not to engage in tax avoidance activity or to use tax havens for tax avoidance purposes. Apple is one of the silicon six, which has been revealed to have a tax gap of $100 billion so far this decade .

As a result, Apple Inc lost a whole mark in our tax avoidance category.

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