Question

With its highly coveted line of consumer electronics, Apple has a cult following among loyal consumers. During the 2014 holiday season, 74.5 million iPhones were sold. Demand like this meant that Apple was in line to make over $52 billion in profits in 2015, the largestannual profit ever generated from a company’s operations. Despite its consistent financial performance year over year, Apple’s robust profit margin
hides a more complicated set of business ethics. Similar to many products sold
in the U.S., Apple does not manufacture most its goods domestically. Most of
the component sourcing and factory production is done overseas in conditions
that critics have argued are dangerous to workers and harmful to the
environment.
For example, tin is a major component in Apple’s products and much of it is sourced in Indonesia. Although there are mines that
source tin ethically, there are also many that do not. One study found
workers—many of them children—working in unsafe conditions, digging tin out by
hand in mines prone to landslides that could bury workers alive. About 70% of
the tin used in electronic devices such as smartphones and tablets comes from
these more dangerous, small-scale mines. An investigation by the BBC revealed
how perilous these working conditions can be. In interviews with miners, a
12-year-old working at the bottom of a 70-foot cliff of sand said: “I worry
about landslides. The earth slipping from up there to the bottom. It could
happen.”
Apple defends its practices by saying it only has so much control over monitoring and regulating its component sources. The
company justifies its sourcing practices by saying that it is a complex
process, with tens of thousands of miners selling tin, many of them through
middle-men. In a statement to the BBC, Apple said “the simplest course of
action would be for Apple to unilaterally refuse any tin from Indonesian mines.
That would be easy for us to do and would certainly shield us from criticism.
But that would also be the lazy and cowardly path, since it would do nothing to
improve the situation. We have chosen to stay engaged and attempt to drive
changes on the ground.”
In an effort for greater transparency, Apple has released annual reports detailing their work with suppliers and labour
practices. While more recent investigations have shown some improvements to
suppliers’ working conditions, Apple continues to face criticism as consumer
demand for iPhones and other products continues to grow.

a. While it may be a good business move for Apple to be seen trying to improve working
conditions in its supply chain, does Apple have an ethical responsibility to
ensure labour practices among its suppliers meets a reasonable standard? Answer this question by providing a normative
claim concerning the responsibility businesses have for ensuring it is not
benefiting from dangerous or exploitative labour practices (It can be a
principle in support of responsibility or against such a responsibility). Which of the four basic moral values or
principles are you implying in your normative claim?

b. Now present an opposing normative claim to yours and state which of the four basic normative values or principles it implies.

c. Give a reason why your normative claim should be accepted instead of the opposing
normative claim.

Answer 1

The information on the way that an item was delivered under morally faulty conditions may influence the choice to buy it is since now individuals have begun concentrating on doing things that would profit the public. The organizations additionally have begun offering significance to their CSR exercises to improve their notoriety. Individuals were not fretted over the morals previously yet now the purchasers have gotten cautious while choosing the brands. For instance when the customers comprehended the awful impacts of contamination made by the Cola organizations to the earth by tossing the creation squander into close by the streams and lakes, the notoriety got influenced, and shoppers confined themselves from purchasing Cola items to spare nature. Certain conditions are not known to people in general, yet when they comprehend that it is delivered under morally flawed conditions, the items are not favored by the general population including me.

6. In the event that I were a piece of outsider managing body, I would catch up with the MNS like Apple to guarantee consistence to the guidelines set by the specialists to guarantee network health and reasonable condition. I would feel committed to guarantee that the laws are followed as an individual from the managing body as opposed to trusting that the organizations will discover arrangement without anyone else. So as to guarantee consistence, the controlling body should discover an answer for guarantee the wellbeing of network and educate the organizations to follow the equivalent. At the point when the organizations discover arrangement without anyone else, they would offer significance to their benefit than ensuring the network and condition. On the off chance that the procedure proceeds with changes as indicated by their suggestions, there might be slight enhancements like on account of Apple, however there would not be a conclusion to such practices as it would cost much for those huge organizations.