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, & Klassesn, 2014).However, in this movie, ones see employees almost forced to usedangerous machines in the factories which is immoral (Hartman,DesJardins, MacDonald, & 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& 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. Journalof Supply Chain Management, 49(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., & Hartman, L. P.(2014). Businessethics: 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 Socialcompliance accounting (pp.35-57). Springer International Publishing. Retrieved fromhttps://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-09997-2_5#page-1
Kennedy,J., & Schweitzer, M. E. (2015). Holding people responsible forethical violations: The surprising benefits of accusingothers. Academyof Management, 11258(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. Journalof World Business, 51(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., & Klassesn, R. (2014).Sustainable operations management: recent trends and futuredirections [Editorial]. InternationalJournal of Operations and Production Management, 34(5).Retrieved fromhttp://orca.cf.ac.uk/61301/1/WALKER%20IJOPM%20Sustainable%20Operations%20Management%20Introduction%2010%20Dec%202013.pdf