CHALLENGES IN THE BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT

As a multinational organization that designs and sells computer software, cell phones, personal computers and consumer electronic products, Apple faces challenges in the global business environment that affects our operations and corporate social responsibility. As a result, Apple has reviewed and made changes to its Code of Conduct in the past year.
Due to globalization which is the result of the notable increase of cross-border trade, investments, cultural exchange, population growth and emergent economies(New World Encyclopedias, 2008). Globalization has had a tremendous effect on Apple. We face challenges in balancing social responsibility with corporate performance. Our organizational leaders created a visional company that offers work to people in other countries, which has enable us to acquire a large amount of cheap and disciplined labor. Apple and its shareholders have earned a significant amount of money from globalization. Much of our operations are conducted overseas and outsourcing has allowed Apple to minimize the labor costs of manufacturing. Suppliers that have been able to take advantage of its access to the Chinese supply chain within a highly developed industrial cluster in assembling Apple’s products have been very important on production cost reduction. Globalization causes our organization to constantly update and monitor the company’s business plan and Code of Conduct. As a global company, Apple employs 72,800 permanent full time employees, maintains 4387 retail stores in fifteen countries and operates the online Apple Store and iTune store, the latter of which is the world’s largest music retailer(Apple, 2015).
Apple requires their suppliers to adhere to specific standards in order to maintain their relationship with the company. Apple also expects their suppliers to maintain the highest standards of ethical conduct (Apple, 2015). Human rights and equality are ongoing challenges that organizations are faced with all over the world today. We have a vast number of suppliers dispersed around the world and have to be diligent in our efforts to make sure there are clear rules or standards, make corrective actions when necessary and maintain a level of respect toward workers and their basic human rights. As a multinational corporation, we have become increasingly aware of the consequences of exploiting cheap labor via sweatshop conditions that lack a widely accepted and clearly defined set of industry standards for good corporate citizenship. Apple has been making tremendous progress in this area over the recent years. We address difficult issues like underage labor, compensation for overtime hours worked, and environmental issues in a frank and open way(Apple, 2015). Apple believes that finding and correcting problems is not enough. Apple-designed training programs are used to educate suppliers and employees about local laws, their rights as workers, occupational health and safety, and Apple’s Supplier Code of Conduct. In addition, we evaluate our suppliers once a year to ensure that they are following the guidelines that Apple mandates for all of our suppliers. Ethics is a big part of Apples’ culture and if any violation of the policy and procedures are violated internally by employees, management is responsible for conducting an internal investigation. It has been quite challenging for Apple to check foreign workers, validate business practices and verify the numbers of hours that each employees work and if they get the necessary training annually. Workers employed by Apple’s suppliers have also recently reported improved safety within the workplace, increased wages, and less abuse and overtime hours(Bradsher and Duhigg, 2012). However, we work diligently to make sure that we review and audit our suppliers to ensure that they are adhering to our Code of conduct and industry standards. Considering Apple is the largest technology company in the world and is 100% outsourced, we are going to naturally be exposed to more issues (Chen, 2012).
At Apple, when awarding new business, we believe in being engaged early to catch potential issues. This engagement has allowed us to address over 700 findings related to labor standards, worker safety permits, environmental hazards and chemical management before production begins. In addition, when necessary, we go onsite, assess their facilities, and work together with them to build sound management systems from the ground up(Apple, 2015). By working with our suppliers before the startup of their operations, we are making sure that they are meeting our Code of Conduct and industry standards and can make the necessary corrections to get their businesses ready for production in a timely manner.
Each supplier is expected to meet the standards we’ve established in our Supplier Code of Conduct and our Supplier Responsibility Standards. In 2014, we performed 633 audits covering over 1.6 million workers, audited suppliers in 19 countries and made calls to over 30,000 workers to make sure that their rights were being upheld(Apple, 2015). Our goal is to have all suppliers adhere to our standards and treat all employees with the dignity and respect they deserve. Labor and human rights initiatives are taking place and focused upon during the hiring process and we are work to eliminate recruitment fees, worker exploitation, bonded labor and to prevent human rights abuses by sourcing responsibly. Apple also makes an effort to eliminate conflict mineral from the supply chain.
However, Apple believes that the empowerment of workers, education and training about their Code and their rights is essential for our organization’s growth. Putting Apple employees first and empowering them to understand their own value has helped the company to produce one ground-breaking, beautiful product after another(Bhullar, 2011). We have invested millions of dollars in education and development and enhanced our operations by assisting employees to attain college degrees and secondary education. Apple has developed a Supplier Employee Education Development (SEED) Program to help assist workers in their professional and personal development. This program offer classes in technical, software, management, and other skills, and affords workers the opportunity to take advantage of Apple’s partnerships with universities to obtain higher education and advanced degrees(Apple, 2013).
Enforcing environmental standards is another way that Apple is working to make changes to their Code of Conduct. We are working across our supply chain in an effort to save water, preserve and protect our world’s natural resources for years to come. Implementing environmentally sound practices and educating managers to resolve workplace issues are our some of our key goals. Employees are trained on process safety topics and improving working conditions. Supplier personnel receive training on personal protection equipment, chemical safety, and control of hazardous energy stored in factory equipment. In addition, suppliers must provide its workers with personal protective equipment, secure emergency exits within their facilities and ensure that they are unlocked, and conduct in-house occupational hazards monitoring activities(Apple, 2013). Transparency has become our goal and we publish the names of our top suppliers, the smelters that provide suppliers with the minerals that go into our products, our Code and detailed Standards, and the aggregate scores of our supplier audits(Apple, 2015).
Therefore, around the world, Apple employees unite daily to bring equality, respect for human rights and protection of the environment to the deepest levels of our supply chain. It’s not enough to set high standards, we must work every day to make sure they are upheld(Apple, 2015) . Even though we have made significant progress, there is always room for improvement and we are always seeking ways to solve the challenges we face in our business and make changes to enhance our Code of Conduct throughout our organization. In January, 2012, in an effort to improve transparency and eliminate labor rights violations within suppliers’ factories, Apple joined the Fair Labor Association(FLA), a non-profit organization that promotes the protection of workers’ rights. Changing economic, political, social, cultural and technological forces on business and society forces Apple to work diligently to improve working conditions, increase awareness, educate employees and suppliers and enforce our Code of Conduct annually. We will continue to be accountable, empower our workers, focus on labor and human right, health and safety, and preserving the environment.

References
Apple. (2015, n.d.) Supplier Responsibility. Retrieved from https://www.apple.com/supplier-responsibility Apple. (2013, July 5) Apple - Supplier Responsibility - Health and Safety. Retrieved from http://www.apple.com/supplierresponsibility/health-and-safety.html
Apple.(2013, July 5) Apple - Supplier Responsibility - Empowering Workers. Retrieved from http://www.apple.com/supplierresponsibility/empowering-workers.html
Bhullar, Bindi (2011, August 31). Empowering Employees to Innovate: What the Tech Industry can Learn from Steve Jobs Leadership. Retrieved from http://www.businesscomputingworld.co.uk/empowering-employees-to-innovate-what-the-tech-industry-can-learn-from-steve-jobs-leadership/ Bradsher, K and Duhigg, C.(2012, December 27) Signs of Changing Taking Hold in
Electronics Factories in China. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/27business/signs-of-changes-taking-hold-in-electronics-factories-in-china.html?pagewanted=all Chen, H. (2012, March 2) Who's Really To Blame for Apple's Chinese Labor Problems Retrieved from http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/03/whos-really-to-blame-for-apples-chinese-labor-problems/253892/ New World Encyclopedias.(2008). Globalization. Retrieved from http://newworldencyclopedia