Health and safety breaches,overtime and unpaid working hours on Apple factories in China - Essay Example

? Issues in contemporary management: Health and safety breaches, overtime and unpaid working hours on Apple factories in China Introduction Apple is arguably the biggest hand held device manufacturer in the world. The American company prides itself in the production of high quality and diverse range of handheld devices such as smart phones, laptops, iPods and computers among many other electronics. Being a business enterprise, the company’s management makes a number of decisions, most of which seek to improve productivity. One such decision included labor importation. Owing to the cheaper costs of some of the means of production such as electricity and labor in china, the company decided to open up its manufacturing companies in the country yet sell its products in the United States of America and in other countries across the world thus maximize profitability. In doing this, the company’s management has come under sharp criticisms following its poor management of its overseas companies thus facing widespread public protest in china. Such are clear pointers to the contemporary issues affecting managements and some of the ethical issues that they deal with in the process of managing their corporations. The management is the top decision making organ in an organization. In doing this, managers perform a number of roles key among which are controlling and planning. These involve the effective identification of resource and devising the most cost effective means of utilizing the resources to enhance profitability thus lengthening the longevity of the organization (Lu?sted, 2012). The management at Apple has tried doing this by carrying out effective market research through which they identified china as the source of the cheapest yet high quality labor. They thus decided to set the operations of the company in the country while outsourcing for the market for the company’s products. Apple has an international presence implying that it accesses the international market. To achieve this, the company produces products for all the segments in the market. This results in the production of some low quality therefore cheap products for sale in the low class market while producing some high quality and expensive market for the rich and the wealthy class in the mobile telephony market. This requires effective diversity with a constant rate of production coupled with adequate marketing for the company’s product. The company therefore resolves to maximize profitability by expanding the market for its products through intense marketing while limiting production costs by preferring to produce its product in the cheap Chinese market. The aggressive approach to both marketing and production present a number of ethical issues to the company’s management. Ethics refer to the personal intuitions guiding the ability to act rightly and justly. There is no clear cut definitions of ethics and ethical behavior, the two rely on the individual’s ability to choose between right and wrong both of which are abstract in this context. Different professions have a stringent code of conduct which govern the conduct of its members making them behave rightly while both on the organization's premises. The management in different organizations also sets up a strict code compelling ethical conduct of employees. In such cases, the management defines ethics and ethical behavior of the employees and has elaborate corrective measures to counter the lack of compliance to the set rules. In enforcing ethical behavior in the employees of an origination, it is imperative that the management itself acts ethically by making ethical decisions especially those concerning either the employees or the customers. The decision to import labor is one of the key contemporary issues in management in the modern society. The United States of America, which is the motherland for Apple, is a developed economy with the most competitive labor market. This makes the labor costs in the market quite high and thereby not affordable for many smaller companies. Furthermore, the high number of investors setting up in the market on a daily basis further aggravates matters in the job market making labor scarcer. Additionally, other means of production such as power and transportation are also more expensive in the country. Such a situation leaves more managers with very few choices. The need to increase profitability in such a labor market is difficult. Most multinational companies therefore seek to import labor by setting up companies in countries with cheap labor key among which has been china. The management of the apple corporations through its factories in China has made a number of highly unethical decisions concerning the management of its employees, most of which have solicited sharp reactions from the employees thus hampering the rate of productivity. One such decision is the outright neglect of the employees’ health concern and the safety breaches in the factories. Managers motivate their employees and one of the most effective ways of motivating employees is the provision of a human friendly work place, one which is safe and that safeguard the health of the employees (Carlton & Carlton, 1998). The Apple factories in the republic of China expose their employees to danger on a daily basis by allowing them to interact with chemicals without any protective gear. This does not only demoralize the workforce but is also an ethical concern. The source of this cheap labor is humans with equal life value. It thus is highly unethical to expose one to health risks deliberately. The manufacture of chips includes the use of highly radioactive chemicals some of which denature human cells. The Apple Corporation should thus protect her employees from such radiations and mapping out an effective medical plan simply to safeguard their health and make the workplace a little safer. In an attempt to improve productivity, the company’s management introduced over time, an arrangement in which employees work past their agreed hours for a calculated pay more probably per hour. Most companies in the underdeveloped countries use this approach to labor to exploit their employees. Humans tire and it is therefore necessary that the managers let their employees some adequate time to rest. During over time, employees have a small motivation, which is the pay they anticipate at the end of every working day. Failures to recognize that humans tire and thus require rest result in the production of substandard products which result in a total loss for the companies. Additionally, the extra time requires effective remuneration; most companies the Apple Corporation included however capitalize on the additional labor and exploit their employees by underpaying hem during the overtimes. During these times, labor is measured alongside the amount of output per hour. This requires a strict implementation through effective supervision. The management ensures this despite the tired personalities and the unsafe working environment. This compels the employees to work hard and stay longer in very unhygienic and radioactive environment only to make some few dollars a day. In doing this, the company takes advantage of the weak labor laws in the country to exploit the employees. This is utterly unethical besides being inhumane since it involves high level disrespect to the value of human life thereby thus substituting employees for the money they make the company. The Apple factory in China engages in yet another gross disrespect to the human life that constitutes the company’s work force. Money is the greatest source of motivation to labor. People wok purposely to get paid and any late payment is tantamount to disrespect. The Apple Corporation through its factory in China indulges in this by failing to pay its employees for the hours they work. In most cases the payment delay by weeks and even months. Apple is the biggest mobile company in the World it thus beats logic when such a company asserts to failing to pay employees for their working hours. These demoralize employees and are highly unethical. It is not right to hold back an employee’s salary especially after he earns for the company through the production of the products. By extrapolation, it is not the management that pays employees but the products. After selling the products, it thus is unjustifiable to hold back on other people’s money through delayed payments under whatever reasons. These and many more issues are pertinent issues in management that present challenges to managers in the modern society. The manner in which the management addresses them either motivates or demotivates the employees thus reducing the levels of productivity, as is the case with the Apple Corporation. Bibliography Carlton, J., & Carlton, J. (1998). Apple, the inside story of intrigue, egomania, and business blunders. New York: HarperBusiness. Lu?sted, M. A. (2012). Apple: The company and its visionary founder, Steve Jobs. Minneapolis, MN: ABDO Pub. Read More