Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation
Question a
Apple has tried to ensure its employee display appropriate conduct in all situations. It bases its success on creating innovative, high-quality products and services and demonstrating integrity in business interactions. According to Apple, the four main principles of integrity are: honesty, confidentiality, respect, and compliance (Apple Inc, 2015). The principles have enabled the company to draft business conduct that applies to its operation.
Despite its consistency, it has experienced several ethical issues. The issues could have a profound effect on the company’s future success (Blewitt, 2014). The issues apple company faces include; product quality- Apple’s brand hinges upon the product that has created serious ethical dilemmas. For the past years, the company has been producing new versions of its products, especially the iPad and the iPhone, on a regular basis (Apple Inc, 2015). This strategy gives the company a way of maintaining sustainability by correcting the mistakes of the previous version and introducing new and exciting product features.
Secondly, privacy is another major ethical concern for Apple Inc. The company disclosed certain features on a cell phone they sell to collect data on the phone’s location. Despite the company announced that customer should disable this feature, it’s not true since some of the apple phones continue to collect information. On the issue of sustainability, according to Blewitt (2014) the company faces the challenge of environmental pollution. Approximately 3 percent of the gasses emitted is from their company. Additionally, customers have criticized Apple planning obsolesce hence affects the sustainability of their products.
Question b
Segmentation involves finding out what kind of customers with different needs exist. Apple company over time has considered consumer segments that expect higher standards of sustainability. For such customers, the company has enabled to determine the kinds of a customer dealing with, selecting the best off tiring to serve and finally implementing segmentation by optimizing their products and services for the segments (Ethical Corporation, 2009)
Apple products, especially the tablets are designed to such type of customer. For example the speed, performance, roominess and safety of iPads is high and up to the modern customers’ expectations (Apple Inc, 2015). Additionally, the company considers all the ethical issue such as privacy, intellectual property, accessibility, and quality while producing the products.
Question c
Corporate Social Responsibility defined as a business outlook that acknowledges responsibilities to stakeholders beyond shareholders. They include suppliers, customers, and employees as well as local and international communities in which it operates and the natural environment. The main objective of corporate social responsibility is to represent awareness that the actions organizations take the unintended consequence outside the business, and the business has a responsibility to address them.
Apple Company has embraced innovation in its technology, design, and product experience. According to Kinicki and Kreitner (2009) the corporation responsibility initiative adopted by the company includes; promoting education, including special education and employments enhancing vocational skill and live hood, ensuring environmental sustainability, promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment, improving health care and providing disaster relief. Additionally, it has also adopted providing financial assistance to the reputable non-governmental organization. Some of the Corporate Social Responsibility is new, but others have been there for a quite long time (Kinicki & Kreitner, 2009). For Apple Inc, the primary aim is to boost market with other companies and also to expand boundaries to other areas.
Question d
The concept of corporate social responsibility meant the organizations have an ethical and philanthropic mandate in addition to the responsibility to earn a fair return for investors and company with the laws. Apple stated corporate social responsibility and ethical goals in a way had affected its participation in the product category. For instance, the moral goals over period initiated the production of goods and services that are needed and desired by the customer and sell those goods and services at reasonable price.
The product quality has increased tremendously hence creating competition with other companies. Additionally, the corporate social responsibility and ethical goals over time handles product updates. The apple company almost every year updates its product. The new version products provide the desired output required by the customer (Ferrell, 2014). Hence, it creates trustworthy, efficient, profit and keeps shareholders’ interest in the minds. In conclusion, the Apple company participation in the product has changed. They are focusing on improving their product quality putting into account company corporate social responsibility and ethical goals.
Question e
At times, corporate sustainability initiatives frequently get citizen for being more talk than action. Customers’ sustainability and ethical expectations of the company was kept into consideration. In terms of product, the following are customers expect from the Apple Company. Firstly, should regularly report on their sustainability strategy and performance. The disclosure will include credible, standardized, independently verified metrics encompassing all material stakeholder concern and detail goals and plans for future action (Ferrell, 2014).
Secondly the company should also but customer segmentation in consideration. The product produced should be of high quality and adhering to the ethical concern of the customers. The company should also diversify in that it should come up with new products apart from iPods, iPhones, but should produce other products to the market. Lastly, Apple Company should invest the necessary resources to achieve environmental neutrality and to demonstrate respect for the human rights in their operation, hence will create links, market and boundaries for the selling of their products that was also controlled by the proper governance of the company.
References
Apple Inc, 2015. Apple.com, Retrieved From, <http://www.apple.com> 21 October, 2015
Blewitt, J. (2014). Understanding Sustainable Development. New York: Routledge.
Kinicki, A., & Kreitner, R. (2009). Organizational behavior: Key concepts, skills, & best practices (4th ed.). Boston: McGraw-Hill/Irwin Publishing
Ferrell, J. F. (2014). Business Ethics: Ethical Decision Making & Cases. Boston: Cengage Learning