Business Ethics Apple Inc. - 1375 Words

Business Ethics: Apple Inc. (Essay Sample) Content: NameCourseInstructorDateAPPLE INC Through all the years, Apple Inc. has been involved in business it has tried to ensure that all its employees and other business associates adhere to certain ethical issues in the society. Basing on the economic or individualism theory, apple has maintained fair transactions and quality products. In addition to integrity, the company has managed success in many of its transactions without violating ethical issues. Through this theory, the company tries to make sure that its stakeholders and shareholders are happy (Mellahi and Geoffrey 12). Through the stockholder theory in its business ethics, Apple Company has related its activities on four main principles to its operations, which are integrity, respect, honesty and confidentiality. The company has its business code of conduct supplied to all its associates and employees. The company has also a dedicated business conduct helpline that employees can use to report any misconduct.Howeve r, not all Apple business transactions have been related to positive theories of business ethics. In some transactions, apple has been seen violating the Kantian theory of business ethics. This theory insists that every company should act rationally while making any business decisions. The company uses outsourcing as one of its business strategies. Most of Apple's products are assembled in china. This form one of the potential areas of misconduct (Mellahi and Geoffrey 12). This is the reason Apple has the supplier code of conduct due to the differing labor standards and less direct oversight than in the United States of America. The country has experienced several incidences of ethical issues over the last few years. Some of these ethical issues pose a great danger in Apple's reputation. These ethical issues have been observed in several sectors of the company operation. These Ares include the product quality, privacy sustainability and intellectual property and patents.Apple is als o related to the Utilitarianism theory of business ethics. It has tried to make everyone happy in its operation (Mellahi and Geoffrey 12). It has tried to make the customers happy by providing quality products. In the instances where apples quality is compromised the company has tried to react faster. This is because Apple has banked its success on brand quality. However, there have been several reputed incidences of quality concerns that have been reported against the company. One of the recent incidences of quality reported was when the company introduced the I- phone 4. Many consumers who bought the phone reported serious incidences of reception problems. These problems were mainly reported in the antennae inferences when the consumer used the phone. Due to the nature of competition and increased pace to launch new products every year apple has been faced with the problem of detecting problems in its products. There were complains about how apple handled this situation. Many peop le though the company only acted by minimizing the problem rather than making a complete removal of the problem. Apple reacted by providing bumpers and cases for a certain period that helped in resolving the problem.Apple transactions have also been related to the virtue theory of business ethics (Mellahi and Geoffrey 17). In the year, 2011 apple was faced up with another ethical problem. It was revealed that apple, through Google maps in its phone, and i-pad could collect date on the phone location (KIA 1). This was seen by many as consumer privacy infringement. In fact, the government blamed the company for such a move. However, Apple inc was quick to announce that the user were able to disable the feature in their phone. This was not; however, the fact since it was reported that some phones were still collecting location information moments after users had disabled the feature. Apple quickly solved this matter by creating an application.Ethical Issues of the environment have po sed a challenge to every company in the world (Mellahi and Geoffrey 34). In the year 2009, the company management admitted that its operation only contributed to over 9.6 million metric tons of gases being released. The life cycle of its products contributed about 97 percent of its emissions. The environmental impact of apple is a serious ethical issue since the company is constantly creating new products in the market.Another way of dealing with business ethics and situations used by Apple is through Replacement buying. This strategy was introduced by the company to curb ethical issues and maintain customers. However, the strategy has also been blamed for creating environmental concerns. In order to counter this issue, the company has embarked in developing products that are easy to recycle. Most of apples products are designed to last many years. It also recycles most of its products (Apple 1). The company through replacement buying ensured that its old products are not thrown awa y but returned to the company for proper recycling. The company has also established a recycling program in its stores to collect all old i-phones, iPods and other products that are manufactured by the company. The company also offers discount to every person that recycles the company product to a new version of the product. The company has also tackled this ethical issue by building products that emit fewer wastes than before as its iPods have less light - emitting diode than other phones.Many technological firms are faced with the problem of intellectual property. Apple has been struggling to keep its innovation secretive as much as possible. In order to avoid further ethical issues in the business, Apple maintains top secrets in most of its innovations. For instance in 1982 the company filed suit against franklin computer for violating its intellectual properties by formatting copies of Apple II operating system. The company also applied a lawsuit against Microsoft Corporation. H owever, Apple Inc has also been accused of violating other companys intellectual properties. For instance in 2000, in the case of itunes.co.ke which was registered by Ben Cohen to direct users to other sites The company took the domain name, itunes.co.ke from Cohen, who had registered the name first. Many people thought that the company was being favored against smaller companies (Mc Cathy 1).In the year 2007, the company faced another ethical issue of stealing other companys properties. In this case, Apple took a different strategy in dealing with the issue from the previous ethical cases. Cisco claimed that Apple had infringed its iPhone trademark. This is because cisco had owned the trademark from the year 2000. The two companies had been for a long time engaged in negotiations on whether apple would use the trademark. However, instead, APPLE is said to have walked out of the negotiations and opened up another company in the united states called the Ocean Telecom Services and fil ed the IPhone...

How Adequate Is Mill’s Conception of Happiness How Good...

How adequate is Mill’s conception of happiness? How good are his arguments to show that â€Å"higher† pleasures are intrinsically more desirable than â€Å"lower† ones? Is this distinction consistent with the thesis that pleasure is the only thing of value? In â€Å"Utilitarianism† Mill argues that ‘higher’ pleasures are intrinsically more valuable than ‘lower’ pleasures, citing the invariable preference of men who have access to both available (pp.140). I am inclined to disagree, particularly with regards to his assertion that ‘higher’ pleasures have such a â€Å"superiority of quality†(pp.139), so as to render any quantity of ‘lower’ pleasures â€Å"in comparison, of small account†- this non-cardinal view of pleasure raises many discontinuities. This is†¦show more content†¦In Mill’s favour is the seemingly fundamental difference between human and animal pleasures, and ‘higher’ and ‘lower’ pleasures as an extension of this. He draws our attention to this with his assertion that we would prefer to be a â€Å"human being unsatisfied than a pig satisfied† (pp.140). This seems similar to earlier comparisons, but there is an important distinction. Mill highlights that anyone who doesn’t believe there are intrinsically more desirable higher pleasures is forced to concede it would be better to live as a beast. ‘Higher’ pleasures are an embodiment of our higher faculties and I believe that our enjoyment of these is an important marker of what makes us human. Which animal enjoys solving mathematics? Thus, as far as the distinction between human and animal pleasures, Mill’s claim seems reasonable. Another strength of Mill’s argument is his choice of words surrounding the ‘lower’ pleasures. We are told of a â€Å"satisfied† pig, and a â€Å"content† fool (pp.139-140). These sound like oxymoron, but also remind us of the much higher capacity for enjoyment of more intelligent people. A fool is easily contented, for he can easily exhaust the pleasure sources available to him. For the intelligent man or woman, the myriad of options available to them ensures they can never be lazily â€Å"content†. In addition, Mill’s views surrounding the ‘higher’ pleasures cannot beShow MoreRelatedOrganisational Theory230255 Words   |  922 Pages. Organization Theory Challenges and Perspectives John McAuley, Joanne Duberley and Phil Johnson . This book is, to my knowledge, the most comprehensive and reliable guide to organisational theory currently available. What is needed is a text that will give a good idea of the breadth and complexity of this important subject, and this is precisely what McAuley, Duberley and Johnson have provided. They have done some sterling service in bringing together the very diverse strands of work

Delta Air Lines Communications And Decision Making

Delta Air Lines: Communications and Decision Making Annie Mullins, Camaryn Jackson, Marinela Prifti and Bree Hood Brenau University May 13, 2015 Delta Air Lines Communications and Decision Making C.E. Woolman, the first leader of Delta Air Lines, believed that the company should take care of its employees so that, in return they would take care of customers. At the root of this care included effectively communicating with his teams and empowering them to make the right decisions. As Debra Nelson and James Quick reference in Organizational Behavior: Science, the Real World, and You, (2013, p. 283) â€Å"†¦communication, especially between managers and employees, is a critical foundation for effective performance in organizations†¦this is especially critical when leaders are articulating vision and achieving buy-in from employees.† The buy-in that Woolman received from his employees stemmed from his intentional engagement with them and expectation to provide the best customer service in the airline industry. Throughout its history, Delta has deliberately engaged its employees and has modeled a human resource management (HRM) system, which is the â€Å"term in creasingly used to refer to the philosophy, policies, procedures, and practices related to the management of an organization’s employees† (Sims, 2002, p. 2). The HRM system at Delta has impacted its organizational structure, corporate communications, and shared decision making. 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Business Rationale for Diversity Management of CERA †Free Samples

Question: Discuss about the Business Rationale for Diversity Management. Answer: Introduction Diversity covers a wide scope, things such as ethnicity, age, skin color, talents and abilities creates a diversity environment (April Syed, 2015, p.34). The issue of diversity management provides gives a provision of the source of competitive advantage. The whole process therefore, leads to adapting to change. In the business rationale argument, there is sufficient conviction that the rationale for diversity in the organization will definitely aid in developing a team with wide range of expertise, ideas and thoughts, that will therefore result to innovation and effective management to greater opportunities (Janssens Zanoni, 2014, p.317). Business rationale for diversity management for the case of CERA Diversity issues rests upon the human resource management desk. For the case of CERA, the Business rationale argument for diversity management holds to that, increase of the employee diversity is accompanied by an increase in the demand for effectual communication among the employee. This implies that, as diversity increases, that is, diversity in abilities, talents and all other aspects, the need to address each of them from a certain strata increases. The role of the management team also increases. CERA management team, from the top management, the middle and the low management are entitled to diversity management roles. It can be classified to communication, service, loyalties and sharing of responsibilities. Arguments for diversity management There are a number of arguments for diversity in business management of which I am convinced of. CERA can give a good base for these arguments. One of the argument rests on Localization of employee. CERA is a big company. It need to employ people from as many countries as possible. It will expand the business boundaries. The diverse people are in this case in a position to help in expansion of services from local market to the international market. For example, CERA is not well known in some parts of Europe and Asia. If the management incorporated diverse employee recruitments, there will be advancement in the business expansion. Again, the company that has no diversity management, lacks creativity because it has identical individuals who will give a similar idea (Yadav Nagpal, 2014, p.77). Organizational infrastructure and technology is another argument that diversity management would address. There are people who have different conditions. The conditions might be physical. For instance, CERA may have a representation of people with physical disabilities. The task allocation and the infrastructure should be fitted well to accommodate them. When the management ensure equality in the working conditions, the performance will be pleasant. It can be classified under interpersonal modernization. On the issue of technology, diversity calls for people with different skills and abilities. In CERA, I am convinced of the different categories of experts that are present there. If people in the whole organization have parallel skills and technological knowledge, there is no advancement (Benschop et al., 2015, p.553). The management always looks on that to ensure that there is no or very little duplication of abilities and skills. Gender and sex is another concern in diversity management rationale that have convinced me. For every organization, CERA being one. The presentation of men and women is very important. Men and women are different. There are things that men will do better than women and vice versa. Therefore, the business rationale argument is convincing and applicable. Argument I would make to Mark French regarding the business case for focusing on diversity management Mark French talks of positive and negative stereotype when he argues that the stereotypes should be avoided and that people should be judged according to individual achievements. It is true that in diversity, we encounter such kind of people. Most specifically the negative stereotypes. The feel neglected and contempt by others. On his argument, I stand with him that workers should work and overcome barriers of language and culture. The people who looks at the opposite gender as stereotypes are there in organizations (Goel, 2016, p.38), even in CERA. It is the work of the managers to try out all means to ensure that all the stereotyped groups are secure from intimidation. Safety information should be disseminated to these individuals regularly so that it clears to everyone. In one of Marks statement of arguments, he states about working as a team which is very okay for diversity reasons. These groups should be varied and assured. The reason for team is that, there is variety of abilities that can be employed to a task and hence complete it very fast. An organization is a system. According to the system theory of management, the different departments makes up the whole system. They are part. It means that if this is the case, they have to work cooperatively and in a group so as they can be able to accomplish many things together. However, there is a problem if the idea is not well examined. If a group or a team has diversity insensitive elements or people who is all in all, the group may not perform as expected. It is because many people will relax with what they have and never to assist with what talent or skill they have. It implies that the managers should be in a position to get back to their subjects and monitor performance and validity of the disti nctive team (Christensen Schneider, 2015, p.168). Argument to Mark French on the issue of the people with disability is also very much varied. He should know the society has people who are impaired and disabled in different ways. These people should not be neglected or eliminated in the workforce. They can have a very great contribution to the company. Again, disability is not inability. One may be a cripple but at the same time, the person can give very firm sales ideas to the sales department. One can have oral impairment, but the same person can be the best accountant. Mark French argument is indisputable in this issue. In this case, there are also performance levels of these people. People will hardly perform the same. In diversification policies, the sharing of duties in the organization, like in CERA, should be considerate of the diversified employee and reduce their turnover (Hancock et al., 2013, p.573). For instance, a person with allergy to scorching sun must not be given a lot of field work during summer because the perso n will be affected on health wise. It therefore calls for the human resource management and the diversity managers to be vigilant over the diversity cases for the good of the company. Diversity and gender is an argument brought about by Mark. The case of gender starts from recruitment. There are positions that are preserved only for women while there are some seats preserved for me. It may apply in some cases. In CERA, this case is evident. The bigger number of employee are men but there is a god number of employees who are women. The diversification on basis of gender is almost diminishing in the current world. The chauvinistic society seems to elapse so quickly. However, In the positions where women are holding, lets there be fairness and justice. Let people respect other people since everybody is different. In fact, people personalities are different. One has to know the other partner especially in CERA so that people can appreciate one another and instead to mock your fellow employee, you work harmoniously (Kirton Greene, 2015, p. 252). I am completely convinced by the business diversity rationales that has been laid for the case of CERA. The arguments are laid on concerns in Human Resource Department and the management of diversity issues. Marks arguments too are varied and practical in their application as they appraise the role of diversity in organization for the benefits of the whole, or of the individual and the company. The more the company embrace diversity, the better the results. Conclusion All in a nut shell, the business rationale argument for diversity management is a significant and primary issue that every human resource person should seek to examine and implement. In the business line management, diversity issues may either bring good or bad results. When people in an organization unite with their diversity, they will join the little potential that each have and make things right for the company. The rationale discussed above are convincing, logic and practical in their application. Since every organization aims at fitting in the competitive international market, Diversity management is a key to that (Armstrong Taylor, 2014, p.93). An organization like CERA will be able to compete favorably in the international market since they will be backed with people from diverse origin, diverse skills and abilities and people with different but rational thinking. References Janssens, M., Zanoni, P. (2014). Alternative diversity management: Organizational practices fostering ethnic equality at work. Scandinavian Journal of Management, 30(3), 317-331. Klarsfeld, A., Booysen, L. A., Ng, E., Roper, I., Tatli, A. (Eds.). (2014). 9.78 E+ 12: Country Perspectives on Diversity and Equal Treatment. Edward Elgar Publishing. Armstrong, M. Taylor, S., (2014). Armstrong's handbook of human resource management practice. Kogan Page Publishers. Kirton, G., Greene, A. M. (2015). The dynamics of managing diversity: A critical approach. Routledge. Harvey, C. P., Allard, M. (2015). Understanding and managing diversity. Pearson. April, K., Syed, J. (2015). Race and ethnicity. Managing Diversity and Inclusion: An International Perspective, 134. Christensen, K., Schneider, B. (Eds.). (2015). Workplace flexibility: Realigning 20th-century jobs for a 21st-century workforce. Cornell University Press. Yadav, N., Nagpal, A. (2014). Emerging issues in human resource management. International Journal of Management, IT and Engineering, 4(10), 77. Goel, M. R. (2016). An Empirical Study to find out the effect of Demographic and Cultural Factors on Implementation of HR Practices on Diversified Workforce in respect to employees of IT Sector in Noida region in India. Imperial Journal of Interdisciplinary Research, 2(5). Benschop, Y., Holgersson, C., Van den Brink, M., Wahl, A. (2015). Future challenges for practices of diversity management in organizations.Handbook for Diversity in Organizations, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 553-574. Hancock, J. I., Allen, D. G., Bosco, F. A., McDaniel, K. R., Pierce, C. A. (2013). Meta-analytic review of employee turnover as a predictor of firm performance. Journal of Management, 39(3), 573-603