Business Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility

Business Ethics refers to the term which is related to the morale of employees and business. It is a part of a business code of conduct. Business ethics tell about what is right & what is wrong and what is acceptable behaviour & what is not. Corporate social responsibility refers to the responsibility of business towards societies and environment for their betterment. It helps the business to maintain sustainability for a longer time in the competitive environment (Crowther and Seifi, 2018).

This report will highlight the various ethical issues which apple handled in the past. It will also make a comparison between Apple's approach and another company's approach towards sustainability and corporate social responsibility. It will also describe the importance of business ethics for the workplace.

Apple Inc. is a multinational company who is running its business in various kinds of industries. It is a public company whose headquarters is in California, United State (U.S.).

Background - It was founded by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne in the year 1976. Currently, its key people are Arthur D. Levinson who is chairman, Tim Cook who is Chief Executive Officer, Luca Maestri (Chief Financial Officer), Jeff Williams (Chief Operations Officer) and Jony Ive (Chief Design Officer). It is serving its products and services at a global level (Li, 2016).

Operations – It has 500+ retail stores. It gives employment to around 132000 employees. Its product portfolio consists of Macintosh, iPod, iPhone, iPad, Apple watch, Apple TV, iOS, iLife, iWork, macOS and Logic Pro and more. Its service portfolio consists of App store, Apple Card, Apple Music, Apple News+, Apple TV+, iCloud, iTunes Store and Mac Apple Store and more. (Kane, 2015).

TASKS

1. Ethical issues handled by Apple. Perspectives of different stakeholders with the application of Normative and descriptive theories of ethics.

Apple INC is one of the customers based and accessible industries of the world which have offered the innovation to a large number of customers in the form of developing iPhones. Apple products are known for their innovation which has provided a variety of products from computer to its newly developed product which has amazed the people and provided the wireless technology iPods to customers (Clarke and Boersma, 2017). Although, Apple has continuously won first place as the world's most admired organization. Apple Inc. experienced various kinds of ethical issues in recent year which has impacted on the future growth and success of the organization. So, this company has excitingly handled various ethical issues. It can now be considered as one of the more significant strengths of the organization. Such that it helps in attracting a lot of high-class people. So various ethical issues are described below:

Privacy

It is one of the primary concern for the people as the customer uses the phone can be easily tracked by various networking sites or the devices can be easily hacked. However, Apple is considered as one of the most preferable and secured brands which offer the best security services to the customer. This firm gives respect to the consumer's privacy along with this, and Apple ensures the option of more customer which allows the organization to understand the customer trends and market position better more effectively.

However, today's, google assistance had provided a smart feature of GPS that tracks the location of the device as well as also collects the information from the phone. On the other hand, consumer privacy is one of the biggest concern for many government officials, and this could be a significant threat to data privacy. Apple Inc has considered privacy as one of the priority features. Although many companies have provided the option to switch off the location, still it can be easily trapped by hackers via networking Ip address and various gadgets. Moreover, Apple improved the privacy feature of iOS (Martin, 2015). This security feature up gradation includes the enhanced Wifi security and a policy in which the Location features are turned off by default.

Price Fixing

Price Fixing is another ethical issue for the Apple allegation of price fixing. It has been estimated that Apple conspired to fix prices on e-books. As per the allegations, Apple receives 30 per cent of the total prices in order to set e-book prices according to Ipad. Moreover, those consumers who trade old iPods receive the 10 per cent discounts on new versions. Retailers and publishers negotiate the prices as the competitor was found who was selling an e-book for less. Price Fixing is one of the best technique as a favoured nation clause which is generally used by companies to dominate the market by keeping competitors out.

Intellectual property

Intellectual Property is a significant concern among all the ethical issues handled by the company as protecting the information from the other companies is one of the primary concern (Mittelstadt and Floridi, 2018). Apple has filed a lawsuit against the Franklin computer corporation as they are illegally matting the copies of Apple IT's operating system. Apple's lawsuit against Microsoft after apple licensed the technology of Microsoft. However, two other lawsuits that are more ethical severe issues such that Apple use of Domain name iTunes.co.uk, which has been registered since 2000. However, Apple gets the right to use that domain name later.

Sustainability

Apple has also taken various steps to become greener which allows the company to reduce the environmental impact, so apple company have concentrated on the manufacturing and recycling of the product. It reduces the emission to 33.8 million matrix tons. Despite the recycling products, Apple Rejoined the EPEAT rating system which enables feedback as an indicator that dropping the system was a mistake and therefore this way the sustainability issue is being handled. Sustainability anticipated Apple for the implementation of similar changes in the future.

In addition to this, various stakeholders saw Apple' action as a deceptive way to get around the negotiation procedure. As the organization considers the interests and concern of several critical stakeholders in its policies and programs that corporate social responsibility. A stakeholder group of Apple Inc generally impose varying demands in different aspect of the business. In this organization, one of the most important stakeholders are the customers who appreciate the products launched by the industry periodically and participates in consumption of new services (Rooksbym and et al., 2016). Some of the critical stakeholders of the Apple Inc Includes Employees, investors, various suppliers and distributors. The perceptions of various stakeholders within the company are as follows:

Customer: The company prioritize the customers as its top stakeholders in devising corporate social responsibility. However, the customers of the Apple industry are satisfied with the production and features of the iPhones as this is the most secured phone which provides confidentiality to the data of the users.

Employees: They are the second prioritize stakeholders who contribute the firm towards the main objective of the firm (Rooksbym and et al., 2016). The employees of the firm are aimed at career development. So their perceptions about the company are that Apple's corporate social responsibility efforts satisfy the concerns and interest of the customers as a talented stakeholder group.

Investors: The perception of the investors in determining the corporate social responsibility includes satisfaction and massive profitability as they invest in the company.

2. Comparison between Apple's approach with another company's approach in terms of sustainability and corporate social responsibility

Comparison between Apple's approach with Samsung's approach in terms of Sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility are as follows -

APPLE's APPROACH

Apple approach towards CSR is made by Apple environmental initiatives departments. Their CSR focus areas are as follows -

Environment

Apple mainly focuses on environmental sustainability which is fulfilled by following programs, initiatives and activities –

Energy Consumption by Apple

Apple make products which use less power energy. Apple is focusing on the power consumption which is decreasing. Apple's clean energy index is 100%. Apple uses technologies which can reuse the consumed energy. It also initiates to bring 4 gigawatts of renewable power technology (Alvarado-Herrera and et al., 2017).

Water Consumption by Apple

Company has started launching clean water programs, and through that program, they can save consumable water from wastage. Their cooling system is manufactured in that way which can reuse the water up to 35 times.

Carbon Emissions by Apple

Apple provides its employees with electric vehicles rather than fuel based vehicles. Apples started making products which can use less CO2 emissions. Apple started using paper packages which can be made by recycled wood fibre which reduce the consumption of polythene (Dowling, 2016).

Communities

Apple after environmental sustainability, focus on the development of communities by doing various CSR activities and programs which are as follows -

Apple and Gender Equality

Apple focuses on equality related to the employees. They pay equal amounts to all the employees who are working at the same level, whether employees are men or women. It does not matter to the Apple Company. Apple also not discriminate any of its employees based on nine protected characteristics which are given inequality act.

Apple and Labour & Human Rights

Apple's code of conduct is considered to be the most robust policy which is needed to be followed by every member of the company. Apple takes care of the employees and labours and their rights regarding working hours and working places (Etzioni, 2018).

Apple and Employee Health & Safety

Apple focuses on the employees' health and safety, and for that, they run 18 months program in which they do various activities to improve the health of employees and give training them to provide knowledge about the safety, its tools and technologies (Unit, 2015).

SAMSUNG APPROACH

Samsung approach towards CSR is made by Samsung CSR committee. The company publishes CSR policy reports every year which includes the details of CSR activities, programs and initiatives. Their CSR focus areas are as follows -

Education

Samsung believes that every student in the world should get a proper education. Thus, Samsung provides education to the students by doing various initiatives such as -

Building Libraries

Samsung is focusing on building libraries so that students can achieve a pleasant learning environment which should be clean, safe and healthy.

Book Donation

Samsung donates various kinds of books for the students who can not afford to buy books by money or by rent.

Smart Class

Samsung provides students with Samsung's technologies, services and expertise so that students can have greater access to education and learning (Choi and et al., 2018).

Employment

Samsung provides various employment and career opportunities by following initiatives and programs, which are as follows -

Technical Schools

Samsung opens various technical schools where men, women are graduates are being teaching and acquiring technical skills so that they can earn and live life.

Job Experience Programs

Samsung provides middle school students about the experiences in corporate life and helps them to choose career and career exploration. They also provide career counselling to the job seekers.

Health Care

Samsung is worried about the increasing numbers of health-related issues. Thus, Samsung is doing various CSR activities, programs and initiatives which are as follows -

Smart Health Care

Samsung focuses on advanced health care by providing advanced medical technologies and equipment to the hospitals.

Blood Donation Drives

Samsung organizes blood donation programs daily at different locations in order to provide blood to the hospitals and encourages its employees to donate blood.

Ergonomic Applications

Samsung promotes and supports employees' health and safety by making ergonomic applications in the working place environment (Chang, Zhang and Xiong, 2019).

Community

Samsung does various activities, programs and initiatives for the improvement and betterment of communities. These activities, programs and initiatives are as follows -

Water of Life

Samsung is aiming at the cleaning and safety of the water. For that, they develop water treatment systems.

Connection with Local Communities

Samsung is visiting various villages all over the world in order to provide assistant to communities on various aspects such as farming, fishing and hand-crafting and so on.

Solve for Tomorrow

It is a program which is initiated by Samsung in order to support communities in solving various social issues.

COMPARISON BETWEEN SAMSUNG AND APPLE

From the above-written CSR policies of both companies, it has been understood that Apple is more focused on Environmental Sustainability and Samsung is more focused on Community, Employees and Environmental Sustainability. Also, their initiatives are different due to their objectives (Park, 2016).

3. Importance of Business ethics

Business ethics should be taken seriously by the business and include in following aspects of the organization such as;

• Fair dealing by keeping price fair for every client
• The policy should be equal for all the employees and every level of managers.
• In case of violation of ethics, immediate action should be taken by the company whether any members of the organisation do the violation.
• The business ethics policy should be based on a legal framework governed by the government.

The success of a company depends on many factors which are more profound and beyond the financial statements and financial profitability. It depends on business ethics, management philosophy of the company towards ethics and its organizational culture. If the company wants long-term success, then they should keep in mind that business ethics can take their business success beyond the organization's profitability, industry and size level.

Business Ethics plays a vital role in business which is as follows -

• I have the experience that business ethics helps me to take those decisions which were not good for business, but they were good for the community. These decisions are taken by business ethics policy in which employees are allowed to take those decisions which should be good for communities whether good for the organisation or not, does not matter.
• I have the experience that business ethics teaches me about how to behave with customers. Well, behaviours of employees attract the customers towards a business and can make them loyal customers too which is beneficial for the company's products and services' sales, and it increases the profitability of the business.
• I have the experience that where business ethics are followed by organisation strictly, in that organisation, employees and employers both share a good relationship which creates pleasant working environment and employees are satisfied which improve their work productivity. Also, it helps in building employer brand where employees are willing to work.
• I have the experience that due to good business ethics policy, the company's profitability and revenue are good. Thus, it attracts more investors to invest their money in a business which helps the company to expand its business and gain growth opportunities. This also keeps the company's share price high. It also helps current investors to keep trust in the business with their money.
• I have the experience that a company who work within its business moral framework, guidelines and policy is also less face to legal actions and fines for the poor behaviour of its members and their risks for violation of all the significant laws which is related to the organisational and employees behaviour are less.
• I have the experience that Reputation/goodwill is the most important for any organisation. Once it, so it is difficult for the organisation to maintain its goodwill for a long time. Unethical policy or unethical behaviour or unethical activities can damage the reputation of the business and make less attracting for its stakeholders and customers.
• I have the experience that business ethics teaches employees to respect the values, cultures, religions and perceptions of the different backgrounds of employees which leads to protecting the society in a better way rather than the legal system adopted by the government. This lead to reduce the conflicts between various communities and societies.
• I have the experience that when organisation's management team decide that how the whole company operates on a day-to-day basis and their approach is based on ethical practices and behaviour, their decisions and activities are always beneficial for the employees, company and societies. Also, business ethics focuses on the healthy competition between various companies which is beneficial for the personal and professional growth of the employees and the company's contribution towards the nation's economy is positive.
• I have the experience that business ethics encourages business to have started more and more initiatives in the area of corporate social responsibility and ethical investment responsibility which gain communities and societies trusts for the company forever and reliable. Also, it helps the organisation to solve various social issues which are beneficial for the company's employees and societies.

CONCLUSION

From the above study, it has been summarised that business ethics is an essential part of the organization. Ignorance of business ethics not only give birth to ethical issues, but it also creates a negative impact on the company's brand image. Business ethics must be clear and followed by all employees. Corporate Social responsibilities (CSR) is an essential aspect of any business. In today's competitive environment, its importance is increasing day by day. It not only enhances the goodwill of the business but also helps business in maintaining the sustainability of the organization for a longer time in a competitive environment. Business ethics and Social corporate society are interrelated to and different from each other. These two terms help the business to attract its stakeholders and win their trust. These two terms help a business to earn profit and maintain its business in legally framework where they can run their business peacefully.