Ethical Dilemma And Theories: A Case Study Of Apple Inc Essay.

Apple Inc's Description and Practice of Child Labor

Discuss about the Ethical Dilemma and Theories.

Apple Inc is a US based company which is headquartered at California. The company manufactures and sells electronics and computer software across the globe. The company was the pioneer to introduce computers in early 90s. Apple has established its brand recognition through innovative products and services (Apple, 2017).

On one hand, Apple brings a smile on the face of its customers and on the other hand, it deploys child labor for its production and assembling. Child labor is one of the most critical issues which has shaken the world with its astonishing numbers and figures. There are more than 150 million children below the age of fifteen, who are involved in paid and unpaid form of job (Unicef, 2016). The company accepted that children between the ages of 11-15 were involved in three of the suppliers of Apple Inc. Though, the locations of the factories were not revealed by the company, but most of the assembling is done in China. The other factories of Apple are located in Singapore, Taiwan, US, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines and Czech Republic.

Apple claimed to no longer employee child labor in its supply chain process and justified the child labor by saying that the company intended to provide financial support to the underage children and promoted Kohlberg’s stage 1 of Obedience and Punishment (Wood, 2007). This was not the first time that Apple was accused of employing child labor in its factories where the parts were assembled (Zane, Irwin, & Reczek, 2016). The child workers were forced to work under hazardous conditions which was a threat to their life. The workers at one of the factories of Apple were poisoned by n-hexane gas which is harmful chemical and affects the eyesight and muscles of the body. Further, the factories were also not ventilated properly which again threatens the life of the workers. One of the Taiwanese supplier of Apple was reported to have a suicide because of charging the worker with allegation for stealing the prototype of iphone.

Further, the factories were found to violate the rule of Apple, which states that the maximum working hour for a worker is 60 hours per week (Moore, 2010).

The problem worsened in the year 2011 and more number of children was found to be employed in the factories of Apple (Moore, 2011).

Ethical Dilemma: How Apple could address the issue of child labor in its supply chain, especially in those locations where child labor is a common phenomenon and how can Apple assure that these children would be given some better opportunity or would be forced into deeper form of exploitation.

Ethical Dilemma Faced by Apple Inc in its Supply Chain

Ethical dilemma is a scenario when one is faced with the challenge of carrying out the most ethical course of action (Nathanson, 2017). In the case of Apple, on one hand it is providing electronic gadgets to the consumers and on the other hand, children below the age of 15 are forced to assemble the parts of those gadgets. In spite of laying down its rules and regulations for the suppliers, child labor is being deployed and is forced to work under unsafe working conditions. Apple took the initiative to audit its supply chain process to identify the children involved in the process of manufacturing and assembling (Moore, 2016). The company also claimed that when it finds a child below the age of 15, it pays off the child and then financially supports him to continue his education.

The company is faced with the ethical dilemma of how to ensure that no underage children are being employed by its factories. In order to understand the ethical dilemma, the report would shed some light on the plight of a child labor. The children in the countries suffer from poverty and do not have any means to survive. The child becomes the only source of income for his family’s sustenance. The child pays for the school fees of his siblings and also takes responsibility of providing bread and butter (Srivastava, 2011). The children in developing and under developed countries do not have access to basic amenities of food, shelter and education. The surrounding circumstances force these children to work at the age of below 15, at which they are suppose to attend their classes. The situation is far worse in the countries like Uzbekistan and East African countries where children die of starvation and have no shelter. Their only source of survival is sending their child to work. Their condition may get worsened when they are asked to leave their jobs because this job is all they have. For these children, school is not an option because of poor existing policies of these countries.

The report makes an attempt to view the situation from another perspective which is utilitarianism theory that states that for a particular situation, one’s action should contribute to the greatest welfare of the people and everybody’s interest is at par (Nathanson, 2017). Now in such a scenario, it would become unethical to force these children to abandon their jobs when their entire family is dependent up on this job. On the other hand, it becomes ethical to permit child labor policy because that would go hand in favor of these helpless children (Mojonnier, 2012). Apple progressed to stage of Kohlberg (Legalistic Social Contract) by modifying the rules as per its convenience (Wood, 2007).

Understanding the Ethical Dilemma and Utilizing Ethical Theories

This philosophy of utilitarianism is not digested by the multinational corporations because they fear that the image of their brand would be tarnished in the public and they would lose their consumer base. A second thought needs to be given on the agenda of child labor that if these companies are offering these children a job, free food and education, then are they being unethical. Thus, Apple demonstrated maxim 3 of universality by offering jobs to these children (Wood, 2007).

However, looking the situation from other perspective, children define the future of a country and forcing these children to work at an early age would hamper their childhood. These children are deprived of their basic rights and are being forced to work under hazardous conditions (Human Rights Watch, 2017). Since a child is ignorant and does not have any idea about their rights and freedom. They are forced to work under unsafe conditions which have declared unsafe for adults as well (Mckenna, 2012). Every year, approximately there are 2.7 million children dying because of hazardous working conditions (The World Counts, 2014). These children lack the experience to work on machinery and tools and also get an exposure to toxic chemicals (ILO, 2017). The ethical dilemma displays maxim 1 of consistency (Wood, 2007).

Thus, Apple has been continuously facing the above described ethical dilemma to employ child labor because on one hand they would deprive a child of his entitled rights and on the other hand, they would push the child towards other forms of exploitation.

After analyzing the problem, it can be assessed that addressing the issue of child labor is a challenging issue and would require the support of the company as well as government. It is clear that forcing the children to leave their jobs would affect the entire family of these children, who rely for bread and butter on these children’s income.

Now the goal would be to ensure that these children do not fall victim of some other form of exploitation and therefore, retain these children in their supply chain activity. Now, once Apple has retained these children, it now needs to consider the magnitude of consequences from the moral intensity of Jones by demonstrating maxim 3 of universality through its utilitarian aspects (Wood, 2007):

1. Supply chain mapping: Apple needs to take interest in understanding the entire process of supply chain including the second tier and third tier suppliers.
2. Identify Risk: The company needs to identify the risk associated in the manufacturing process. Though Apple took the initiative to audit its own supply chain process but the results were ineffective because the number of child labor increased from 2009 to 2011. Therefore, company needs to consider the issue very seriously in order to adhere to the ILO standards.
3. Transparency: The company needs to take maintain the transparency of the supply chain system to ensure that the vendors abide by the standard laws as prescribed by the company.
4. Proper monitoring and control system: Instead of forcing the children to leave the factory, the company should rather take corrective action through proper monitoring and control system.
5. Reforming Business Practices: Following plan of action should be layout in order to reform the business practices:
6. Health and Safety Concerns: The Company must make sure the health and safety of these children, and the children should not be exposed to toxic elements or other hazardous working conditions. Proper ventilation facility must be available in the factory.
7. Limited Working Hours: Further, the working hours must be limited to the limit of 60 hours per week to maintain the dignity of the workers.
8. Agreement: The children must receive the salary they are entitled to and receive a dignified job which they deserve. They must receive an agreement stating about their job, salary, working hours and other terms and conditions which are as per the company policy.
9. Education Opportunity: Further, they must receive free education and food so that they are not deprived of their childhood and can explore other employment opportunities once they achieve the age of 18.

Mike Gustavsson, being a retired lecturer of Business Ethics, stood against the motion and is of the view that the top management of any company plays a vital role in integrating ethical behavior in any business, thereby supporting ethical leadership in business schools. He believes that Ethical leadership focuses on doing the right thing and seeks to serve others to make a long lasting positive impact on the business. He is of the view that ethical leaders make better business decisions which shapes the business activities of an organization. Corporate governance is required to balance the economical and social goals of a business (Zimmerli, Richter & Holzinger, 2007). Mike considers corporate governance as a business model that conducts fair dealings with all the stakeholders of the company including customers, employees, suppliers, communities and shareholders (Brink, 2011). He, therefore, displays the characteristics of discretionary stakeholder and promotes the rule of Universality which is Maxim 3 of Kant’s theory (Wood, 2007). Mike follows the universal ethical principle of Kohlberg’s which considers justice and humanity above anything else (Garz, 2009). In spite of standing in strong support of high moral values and equality, Mike could not respect the rights and equality of his daughter and began to protest against Alfaraft AB, which turns the orientation of his beliefs from stakeholder to shareholder (Fryer, 2014).

Ethical Solution for Child Labor in Apple Inc's Supply Chain

Jan Edward, being the CEO of Clean Solutions Inc, stood against the motion. She was of the view that ethics should not be separated from day to day business activities and every agenda must have ethics involved to assure ethical behavior. Jan strongly supported ethical leadership in a business and wanted to carry them together hand in hand. She engaged herself and her team in helping disadvantaged people to serve the society as a corporate social responsibility (Roa, 2007). Therefore, she strongly supported ethical leadership in education system. She belonged to the group of stakeholder because of her extended control over the business (Fryer, 2014). Her self-centered and self motivated characteristics demonstrated egoism (Osterberg, 2012). Her initiative towards corporate social responsibility and selfless concern for others demonstrated her altruistic beliefs (Vilcox & Mohan, 2007). In spite of demonstrating stage 3 attributes of conventional morality, she was being naively egoistical by wanting to change the trend by applying her own ethical principles which questions her ethical leadership mutual respect trait (Wood, 2007). 

Mei-Hua Felung’s stood against the motion. Their decisions were influenced by the external factors including public opinion, laws and regulations etc. From her act and conduct, Mei-Hua demonstrated maxim 1 of consistency and utilitarian attributes (Wood, 2007). She also exhibited stage 3 of ‘good boy good girl orientation’ along with stage 5 of legalistic social contract (Wood, 2007). She is perceived as at stage 4 of law and order orientation because of her professional characteristic to abide by legal obligations. From her ability of bending the rules as per her own convenience, she is found to exhibit stage 1 of obedience and punishment orientation (Wood, 2007). She would play with the rules to suit the needs of her clients and help them in tax evasion by strictly adhering to the rules and regulations.

Deshi Chen stood favor of the motion because of his practical oriented belief and considered ethical leadership as an obstacle in the path of success of an organization. He demonstrated the opinion of shareholder and strongly opposed the integration of ethics in business (Fryer, 2014). His self-centered and self motivated attributes displayed egoism. Deshi exhibited stage 2 of instrumental relativist orientation because of his failure to understand the importance of ethics in business (Wood, 2007). He was also perceived to demonstrate stage 3 on the basis of social expectation conformities.

All the parties stood in favor the motion except Deshi, who is considered to be the most transparent. On the other hand, Mei-Hua is considered the most unethical because of her persecution delusions.

Portfolio of Evidence Contents

After studying the debate ‘The Case of the Holiday’, the report aims to identify the ethical dilemmas of every character and reflecting upon the perspective of Boris illustratively.

Team 1 perceives the ethical dilemma of Boris from the perspective of intriguing within the interests of company, client, manager and himself. The two options of Boris were to reschedule the launch of product which would have influenced the client relationship or cancel his holiday and benefit his career opportunity by enhancing the client relationship and contributing to the growth of business which would affect the relationship with Swee Lan.

Team 2 illustrates the ethical dilemma of Swee Lan after the receiving the response from Boris. Swee Lan definitely had the authority to influence the decision of Boris to prioritize career or stay committed to the promised holiday. She was also influenced by her parents’ reaction and feared getting them upset.

Team 3 recognized the ethical dilemma of manager by evaluating company’s profit and planned holiday of Boris. It is clear that manager upholds his interests in fulfilling the needs of client to increase the business prospects which neglects the holiday of Boris. Or if he would grant the permission of holiday then that would severely influence the client relationship.

Team 4 represents Marcus and his friends, whose dilemma is being highlighted when they react to the response of Boris to cancel his planned holiday for interest of company. They perceive this decision of Boris as impractical and express their concerns for the employment standards in the company, which needs to be enhanced so as to not put any employee in such a dilemma.

Further, ethical dilemma of Boris has been illustrated.

The company had a shareholder view because of its focus on profitability where employees were asked to strictly adhere to the rules and regulations to maintain their competency. They were expected to adhere their goals and objectives with that of the company to increase the overall productivity of the organization. Boris demonstrated the characteristics of obedience and punishment orientation of stage 1 of Kohlberg during the tenure of product release (Wood, 2007). The issue can be further illustrated as negligible room for manoeuvre which states that declining the order of an authority would lead to punishment by the company. This affected the decision of Boris due to which he cancelled the planned holiday to follow the order of manager. Utilitarianism theory helps to add another perspective of the situation by reflecting the action plan of Boris as the best choice which is in the favor of client, company and himself (Smith, 2008).

The Ethical Leadership Debate

Boris demonstrates the attributes of Type A which declares him as competitive, self-esteemed, ambitious and goal oriented which reflects his egoism (Osterberg, 2012). In the process, Boris begin to reflect the instrumental relativist orientation of stage 2 by thinking that this product launch would help him to advance in his career by awarding him the credit of increasing business prospects (Wood, 2007). 

Further, the moral intensity of Boris circumscribes around the results of the action. The possible outcome of the situation could either put his career in danger or affect his relationship with his girlfriend Swee Lan. Boris did not receive the consent of his friends as well as girlfriend for his decision to cancel his holiday plan.

Overall, Boris used utilitarian approach for making his decision for the greater good of his company and client.

During the process of analyzing cases, we had many conflicts due to our difference of opinions, which helped us to evolve our teamwork skills and interpersonal communication. To analyze the cases and scenarios, I came across various stages of moral development and maxim of ethical theories which play a significant role in the sustainability of an organization.

The instrumental relativist orientation of Kohlberg’s stage 2 is self-interest driven wherein, one’s actions are determined from the personal gain and interest. The goal of our team was to solve the case studies by applying various ethical theories and models. The complete process involved many conflicts and arguments over the motion of the characters, yet the team stayed focused and motivated and every teammate contributed his opinion and argument to apply the suitable theory to the scenario. In order to contribute our best efforts, we segmented the task to allocate the segments to every individual which eased our efforts and served our purpose. This enabled every individual to develop his concepts of ethical theories and moral development. According to the theory of collectivism, individuals should help each other to establish mutual trust within the group. This helped us to move to Kohlberg’s stage 3 which is good boy nice girl which is requisite to meet the social expectations.

We had arguments while we tried to reach a common conclusion and I perceived it as an opportunity to utilize my ethical leadership by giving respect to every teammate’s view and opinion. I got the platform to enhance my interpersonal and teamwork skills by demonstrating my authority by paying equal respect to all. This facilitated us to progress to Kohlberg’s stage 5 of Social contract legalistic orientation. We could now conclude to a common view point by listening to every member’s perspective.

Thus, the case study helped me to understand the significance of Kant’s theory which is required to maintain the discipline in a team.

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