Application Of Kantianism In The Apple Case Study

Discuss about the Application of Kantianism in your chosen Case Study.

Core values are defined as the underlying values and principles of a person or an organization which guides their behavior and their decision-making skills (Arocha, 2017). Core values of an organization play a crucial role in developing their brand image, brand awareness and build a loyal base of customers.  I identified my core values as integrity, responsibility, freedom, positivity, and belonging, Along with these, I think discipline is one of the core values that motivates a person or an organization to achieve overall success. I think that being honest and loyal is crucial in order to achieve success in life or run a successful business. Learning from the mistakes, I have decided to hurt someone by telling lies to them or participating in wrong actions.  I am willing to take responsibility for my own actions and their consequences.  I believe in personal freedom and I think everybody has a right to decide for themselves independently. Positivity encourages a person to achieve new accomplishments and allows an organization to drive towards more productivity (Beiser, 2014). Belongingness plays a crucial factor in determining success in a person in all stages of their life.  I think discipline plays a crucial role in shaping the behavior of the person encouraging him to achieve new accomplishments.  

Management of Apple Inc. has decided to apologize for deliberately slow down the processors of iPhone 6, 6s, SE and iPhone 7.  Due to this, the batteries of these iPhones are not performing to their fullest capacity.  To solve this problem the company has decided to reduce the prices of iPhone batteries so that their customers can replace them for affordable prices (ABC News, 2017).  US customers can replace these batteries for 29 dollars instead of 79 dollars. 

Apple Inc. has slowed down the speed of the processors of their iPhones to increase the battery life of these phones. However, they have decided to decrease the cost of replacing old batteries and allow their users to check the health of their phones (Bowie, 2017). They are bringing a software update so that the customers evaluate the performance of their devices.  

The management of Apple Inc. has the core value to develop excellent quality products for their customers and they follow the principles of self-honesty.  In this case, the management did not follow the principles of self-honesty in their behavior (Levine, 2016). First, they admitted to deliberately slow down the processors and then refused this claim. They failed to follow their value of consumer protection using this practice.    

Apple case study

Apple Inc. has faced many legal complications due to this incident of slowing down the processors of iPhones. This practice has led to a series of negative consequences on the social and individual level, ruining the reputation of the organization (O'Neill, 2013). As this decision is not communicated to the customers earlier, a majority of them have decided to replace their batteries instead of buying new phones.

After reading this case study, I feel that Apple is unable to develop customer satisfaction in the market. The organization chooses to withhold details from their customers which have led to customer dissatisfaction. Due to this, several of the customers have decided to change the batteries of their iPhones instead of buying a new iPhone (Weinrib, 2017). Customers expect that their devices will perform in a better way after software update rather than slowing down.

I have felt the same way when I am unable to connect to Wi-Fi and sync my Gmail account using Samsung Galaxy S7. I felt that the company has let me down and they are not able to provide a better quality of customer service to me. I have also faced some other technical difficulties while using this device (Weinrib, 2017). Therefore, I believe that both these companies are unable to provide better customer service to their customers.

Immanuel Kant, a German philosopher first proposed the concept of Kantianism which can be used to define the principles of ethics, philosophy, and theory of knowledge (Werhane, 2014).  This philosophy has played a crucial role in affecting the thinking of other philosophers in the recent years. This philosophy uses the principles of Leibniz’s rationalism and Hume’s skepticism. I learned that Kantian ethics are deontological, which evaluates the rightfulness of a particular situation based on the sense of duty rather than their end results. Kantian ethics revolves around three principles of morality; goodwill, sense of duty and the nature of existing imperatives. I learned that goodwill of a person allows him to conduct moral duties as it follows the Moral law of the person (Critchley, 2014). This theory states that moral actions are not produced spontaneously, some triggering incident is needed to produce moral actions.  For example, a person might help another person in times of their need, or they might not consider to help them at all. In both of these situations, a person will know that it is their duty to help others in their times of need.  There are two types of imperatives that can play an influential role in producing moral actions from a person.

Kantianism

According to this theory, self-interest of a person plays a vital role in defining their goals. Sense of duty of a person can be affected by their desires, wants and personal goals. I learned that these desires and wants of a person can be defined as hypothetical imperatives. According to this theory, the actions of a person is defined by their imperative command and their moral law (Herschel and Miori, 2017).  The categorical imperative is divided into two sub-categories; first and second formulation. I learned that first formulation states that an act of a person follows a certain underlying principle or maxim.  According to the second formulation, one must evaluate how their actions is affecting others. Respecting others is an example of following these formulations. I learned that self-preservation and self-cultivation are some of the ways of observing these formulations (Stern, R., 2015).  Following strict rules and obligations is another way of following these formulations of Kant. According to Kantianism, rightfulness of an action is justified when it follows an appropriate rule. This theory considers humans to be the rational ones, who does not follows any predefined rules rather they develop their own rules.

Kantian theory of ethics states that humans are rational beings and they can decide their own rules and regulations. According to the theory, humans should be able to make important decisions and they should be allowed to do so. It also states that humans must act rationally and encourage others to do the same. According to this theory, an activity of a person or an organization is motivated by their demands, their objectives, and their goodwill. However, I observed that the behavior of the managers of Apple Inc. is unethical. In this case, study that the managers of Apple Inc. did not act rationally while withholding information from the customers (Ferdman, 2018).  The company did not provide information about slowing down of the processors of iPhones.  Thus, several of customers are forced to replace the batteries of their iPhones rather than buying a new one. The customers are not been able to make a rational decision whether to replace out-of-warranty batteries or buy a new iPhone. They are unable to make another rational decision of switching the company to buy phones from other companies. The management of Apple Inc. did not respect the decision of their customers by withholding this information.   

Apple Inc. at first apologized for deliberately slowing their phones and then refuses to accept that it is done intentionally. Different customers use iPhones for different reasons, such as calling, texting, and other purposes. Slowing down of the processors of their phones will negatively affect the daily activities of these people. After updating, these devices should be able to perform perfectly, not slow down. In this case study, Apple Inc. fails to act rationally and provide protection to their respective customers.  Slowing down of these phones to increase the longevity of the battery will cause various problems in the daily lives of their customers (Jamieson et al., 2018). The management of the company did not act out of their goodwill.  They did not want to share this information with their customers at first. Then they tried to say that they did not intentionally slow their phones down.  I think, that they did not provide an opportunity to their customers to make their own rational decisions about how to fix the problem associated with their iPhones (Stern, R., 2015).  The management may not reveal this information to their customers at all if they did not receive any complaints regarding the performance of their iPhones.                     

Application of Kantianism in the case study

Using Kantian theory and my personal core values, I would have handled the situation differently as the Chief Executive Officer of Apple Inc.  I would have released the information beforehand so that the customers can make a rational decision about how to fix this problem. I would have taken full responsibility for any problems that the customers might face due to slowing down of the processors of these iPhones. It would be rational action on behalf of the company and the customers can make rational decisions about replacing the batteries of their phones or buy a new one.  The customers will feel respected and valued and they will continue to be the loyal base of customers of Apple Inc. Each customer uses their phones differently and I would respect their individualism as a senior executive of the company. It will allow the company to build a better brand image in the eyes of their customers. The consumers of the company will be satisfied and they would feel their demands are respected and protected by the company.  The company will be able to show integrity by disclosing this information to their customers (Nistor and M?lu?an, 2017).  The customers will support and love the company for providing them the information about the specific problem.

According to the principles of Kantianism disclosing of the information will ethical, as it will be motivated from the goodwill of Apple Inc. The customers will be able to feel that the company is considering their customers to be an integral part of the corporation. I think by doing this the company will able to give freedom to their customers, freedom to choose how to act in this particular situation. It would increase the positivity of this incident as the company will be looking for new ways to produce better products for their customers. Revealing the information will show that Apple Inc. is ready to admit when they are unable to solve a technical issue. It will not go against the business goals of the organization either, so it is not unethical (Vveinhardt et al., 2016). The customers will understand the importance of the situation and will not be disgruntled unlike what has really happened.  As a CEO, I think the customers will not think that slowing down of processors as a marketing strategy of Apple Inc. They will not think that it is done to increase the sales of their new iPhones. They will either support the business decision of the company or they will not, but they will be free to make that choice.

I would be able to apply all the five core values while disclosing information about technical problems associated with processors of their iPhones.  By disclosing the information, Apple Inc. will be able to act rationally and thus provide an opportunity to their customers to act rationally too. They will be free to make their own choices on how to solve the problems associated with slow iPhone processors (Stern, R., 2015).  The customers will be able to choose whether to replace the batteries from their iPhones or buy a new one. They will be able to choose whether they should stay with Apple or choose another company to buy their phones as well. Different stakeholders of the company will be affected positively if the company decided to release the information regarding the problems associated with slow processors of iPhones.  The company will not face any legal problems thus saving valuable time and other resources of Apple Inc. 

References  

ABC News. (2017). Apple's sorry for slowing down your iPhone. Here's how it wants to make it up to you. [online] Available at: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-12-29/apple-says-its-sorry-for-slowing-down-your-iphone/9291602 [Accessed 12 May 2018].

Arocha, J.B., 2017. Getting to the Core: A Case Study on the Company Culture of Apple Inc.

Beiser, F.C., 2014. The Genesis of Neo-Kantianism, 1796-1880. OUP Oxford.

Bowie, N.E., 2017. Business ethics: A Kantian perspective. Cambridge University Press.

Critchley, S., 2014. Infinitely demanding: Ethics of commitment, politics of resistance. Verso Books.

Ferdman, B.M., 2018. Incorporating Diversity and Inclusion as Core Values in Organization Development Practice. In Enacting Values-Based Change (pp. 157-167). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.

Herschel, R. and Miori, V.M., 2017. Ethics & Big Data. Technology in Society, 49, pp.31-36.

Jamieson, D.W., Church, A.H. and Vogelsang, J.D., 2018. Enacting Values-Based Change: Organization Development in Action. In Enacting Values-Based Change (pp. 1-8). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.

Levine, S., 2016. Kantianism and Pragmatism: A Response to Margolis. contemporary pragmatism, 13(1).

Nistor, R.L. and M?lu?an, D., 2017. THE CORE VALUES DETERMINE THE EFFECT OF ACHIEVING HIGH PERFORMANCE. Managerial Challenges of the Contemporary Society. Proceedings, 10(2), pp.80-86.

O'Neill, O., 2013. Acting on principle: An essay on Kantian ethics. Cambridge University Press.

Schein, E.H., 2017. Organization development: A Jossey-Bass reader. John Wiley & Sons.

Stern, R., 2015. Kantian Ethics.

Vveinhardt, J., Gulbovaite, E. and Streimikiene, D., 2016. Different Values Forms in Organization: is the Congruence Possible?. Montenegrin Journal of Economics, 12(2), p.117.

Weinrib, J., 2017. Law as a Kantian idea of reason. In Kant and Law (pp. 3-40). Routledge.

Werhane, P.H., 2014. Moral imagination. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.