Blog

ETHICAL ISSUES IN “APPLE’S BROKEN PROMISES” 6

EthicalIssues in “Apple’s Broken Promises”

EthicalIssues in “Apple’s Broken Promises”

Question1: Ethical Issues

SafetyTests

Theemployees are required to take safety tests before gettingemployment. However, Pegatron is one of those companies that overlookthis by guiding the workers on what to say. The employees who aredesperate for work have no option but to comply.

WorkingHours

Theemployees should be given a chance to decide whether they want towork during night shifts. In the video, they are guided on what totick as a way of circumventing.

Confiscationof IDs

Theconfiscation of the IDs is meant to deny the workers the right toleave the factories thus forcing them to work for more hours thanthey choose.

ChildrenWorkers

Themovie also highlights children working in deplorable conditions inIndonesia.

Question2: Stakeholders and an Ethical Issue

Apple

Appleis at the centre of the controversy as the purchaser of componentsfrom suppliers where there is exploitation of the employees.

Suppliers

Theyare the employers of the workers where the working conditions arepoor and deemed to be human rights abuses.

Employees

Theyare the victims of the exploitation in the factories found in China.There are also the children workers in Indonesia where Apple obtainssome of the raw materials.

Customers

Theyare the main target of the movie who are expected to mount pressureon Apple to change its approach on suppliers.

Safetyof Workers

Itis one of the prominent issues in the movie. Both in China andIndonesia, the safety of the workers is compromised. According to thedescriptive theory, it is not right to let a person get into asituation where safety is not guaranteed (Walker,Seuring, Sarkis, &amp Klassesn, 2014).However, in this movie, ones see employees almost forced to usedangerous machines in the factories which is immoral (Hartman,DesJardins, MacDonald, &amp Hartman, 2014).Similarly, the children in Indonesia work with their hands to minetin used in the manufacture of components of the phones.

Theemployers in these factories and Apple Inc. fail to consider theoutcomes of the actions they are taking. Their actions are in directcontrast to consequentialist theory (Gasper,2016).The judgments they make are not guided by the results. On thecontrary, they are after the profits they will derive from theventure.

Question3: Corporate Social Responsibility

Thecompanies getting their supplies from those exploiting theiremployees have the duty of ensuring that the conditions improve(Kolk,2016).As part of their corporate social responsibility, they can ensurethat they are aware of what is happening in the whole of the supplychain (Kennedy&amp Schweitzer, 2015).Conducting regular inspection by its employees in the factories willensure that such issues get addressed. If they persist, they can turndown the offer conduct business with such suppliers (Ellram,2013).Once the suppliers realize that it is a serious issue, they willaddress it.

Question4: The Customer

Thereis a feeling of distaste as a customer. Having the product makes onefeel like a part of the exploitation of the employees. It does nothelp matters to think that the product has a premium pricing. Theinitial thought is that all the stakeholders are getting a fair shareof the product. However, that is not the case. The demand for theproducts of Apple will reduce as the customers shy away from theproduct. Buying Apple products will make the customer feel like theyare a part of the exploitation (Islam,2015).At the same time, the customer will feel that Apple is a greedycompany that only values its profits.

References

Ellram,L. M. (2013). Offshoring, reshoring and the manufacturing locationdecision.&nbspJournalof Supply Chain Management,&nbsp49(2),3-5. Retrieved fromhttp://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jscm.12023/full

Gasper,D. (2016). Ethics of development. InternationalInstitute of Social Studies.Retrievedfromhttp://repub.eur.nl/pub/79125/Gasper_DEVELOPMENT-ETHICS_OUP-Canada_3.pdf

Hartman,L. P., DesJardins, J. R., MacDonald, C., &amp Hartman, L. P.(2014).&nbspBusinessethics: Decision making for personal integrity and socialresponsibility.New York: McGraw-Hill. Retrieved fromhttp://amberton.mylifeblue.com/media/Syllabi/Winter%202015/Graduate/RGS6036_E3.pdf

Islam,M. A. (2015). Legitimacy threats and stakeholder concerns withinsupply chains. In&nbspSocialcompliance accounting&nbsp(pp.35-57). Springer International Publishing. Retrieved fromhttps://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-09997-2_5#page-1

Kennedy,J., &amp Schweitzer, M. E. (2015). Holding people responsible forethical violations: The surprising benefits of accusingothers.&nbspAcademyof Management,&nbsp11258(1).Retrieved from:https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/5d7b/1cc30d2337cd00dd45055da305aea2c44149.pdf

Kolk,A. (2016). The social responsibility of international business: Fromethics and the environment to CSR and sustainabledevelopment.&nbspJournalof World Business,&nbsp51(1),23-34. Retrieved fromhttps://www.researchgate.net/profile/Ans_Kolk/publication/280493611_The_social_responsibility_of_international_business_From_ethics_and_the_environment_to_CSR_and_sustainable_development/links/55b6888a08aec0e5f437f3a0.pdf

Walker,H. L., Seuring, S., Sarkis, J., &amp Klassesn, R. (2014).Sustainable operations management: recent trends and futuredirections [Editorial].&nbspInternationalJournal of Operations and Production Management,&nbsp34(5).Retrieved fromhttp://orca.cf.ac.uk/61301/1/WALKER%20IJOPM%20Sustainable%20Operations%20Management%20Introduction%2010%20Dec%202013.pdf