Ch 3 - Ethics & Social Responsibility

    Ethics refers to well-founded standards of right and wrong that prescribe what humans ought to do, usually in terms of rights, obligations, and benefits to society, fairness, or specific virtues. Ethics is different from law, which consists of unwritten rules people have developed for our interactions with one another. Ethics and social responsibility are part of elements that companies need to have in order to achieve companies’ goal and further development. 

Ethics in Business

         A company or a businessperson has obligation to be honest with customers, to broader social and philosophical questions. One the other hand, fairly treat and respect its employees also is an indicator to demonstrate a company’s ethical behavior.

Steps to make ethics and social responsibility work for you.

1.   Set goals (what do you want your company to achieve?).

2.    Decide what cause you want to align yourself with (analysis the cause- effect).

3.    Choose or set a nonprofit organization to partner with (cooperate with developing a partnership).

4.    Design a program, and propose it to the nonprofit group.

5.    Negotiate an agreement with the organization.

6.    Involve employees.

7.    Involve customers.

Apple’s Ethical and Social Responsibility Challenges

·      Foxcoon worker abuse scandal: Although Apple did not directly involve exploitation of workers, it indirectly supported Foxcoon’s unethical behavior that caused those employees’ economic and physical lost. As a global giant electrical company, Apple has obligations and rights to negotiate with its suppliers about treatment of employees.

·      Product quality: Apple’s brand hinges upon product quality, so mistakes can create serious ethical dilemmas. Once consumers purchase the product, the company has responsible for the after-sale services. For example, after Iphone4 introduced, consumers began to complain of reception problems. The problems were caused by antenna interference that occurred when users held the phone a certain way.  Apple must take regarding product quality. Consumers view product quality as inseparable from Apple. Hence, a mishap in this area could damage the brand’s strength.

·      Privacy: privacy is another major concern for Apple Inc. In 2011 Apple and Google disclosed that certain features on the cell phones they sell collect data on the phones’ locations. Consumers and government officials saw this as an infringement on user privacy.

·      Sustainability: the company admits that the majority of its emissions come from its products. In 2009 Apple stated that its operations contributed to 9.6 million metric tons of metric gases being released. While 2percent came from its facilities, 97 percent came from the life cycle of its products.