Apples Labor Issues and PR Miseries - Essay Example

Apple’s Labor Issues and PR Miseries Introduction Founded on April 1976, Apple Inc is recognized as one of the most innovative companies in the present day market place. The maker of the iconic iPhone and iPad is amongst the richest companies of the world. While the company is widely admired, it has attracted negative publicity and public opinion primarily because of labour related issues in the manufacturing plants of one of its suppliers based in China. Public Opinion The summation of the multifaceted attitudes, beliefs and views of different people may be referred to as public opinion. In other words, public opinion is the shared opinions of people about any phenomenon. Thus, the opinion may pertain to a certain event, idea, organization, practice or even an individual. The people whose opinion is considered generally have some particular characteristic(s) and are interested in or are affected by the phenomenon. There would be certain occurrences, for example a steep rise in the prices of fuel which affect a substantially large proportion of the population. On the other hand, there would be certain occurrences which interest only a certain section of the society for example the development of a new drug that has certain adverse side effects but cures a potentially life threatening medical would invoke responses from the medical fraternity as well as the patients. It then boils down to the fact that public opinion, in reality, is the opinion of a small number of people who are concerned about the issue. It is for this reason that Berman (2008) avers that public opinion can be managed. With regard to organizations, people have remained indifferent to most issues except for their financial performance. However, of late there is heightened awareness about what organizations do about the 3 Ps viz. profits, people and planet; a concept known as the triple bottom line (Timothy 2011). People are not indifferent towards such issues and therefore the public opinion gains monumental importance with regard to such issues. Crisis at Apple Inc Apple Inc. found itself in the thick of things because of certain inhuman practices being adopted by one of the manufacturing organizations in its supply chain. China based company Foxconn, to whom certain manufacturing work was outsourced by Apple, was in the news for all wrong reasons. Among others the manufacturing plant that made iPhone products was accused of illegal overtime, deplorable safety standards and pathetic housing state (Finance Wire 2012). The working conditions at the plant were so dreadful that some of the workers committed suicide. Needless to say Apple got a lot of negative publicity as the news spread. The company managed the crisis by categorically denying the accusations initially. It harped on the fact that Apple had partnered with the Fair Labor Association (FLA) which was a sufficient enough evidence that Apple does due-diligence in putting a stop to labor abuse. The FLA was required to conduct a special voluntary audit at Foxconn’s factories in Shenzhen and Chengdu. As a part of the damage control exercise, Apple allowed independent outside organizations to inspect its factories to check whether the reports of labor abuse were correct or were baseless (Sherr et al. 2012). Apple also highlighted the fact that its code of conduct categorically advises its suppliers to comply with local labor laws. Drawn on internationally recognized standards, the code explicitly requires the suppliers to provide safe working conditions to workers, and treat them with dignity and respect. It directs the suppliers to deploy environment friendly manufacturing processes where Apple products are manufactured (Apple 2012). Effectiveness of Apple’s Actions While Apple made numerous attempts to escape unscathed from the controversy, the mud continues to stick on Apple. In fact, Foxconn has a long list of clients who outsource the manufacturing to the Taiwan-based firm. Sony, Sharp, Toshiba, Nokia, Motorola, Huawei, and Cisco are some of those big names. However, labor protection groups continue to single out Apple because it is Foxconn’s largest client. In fact, Apple contributes as much as 50 percent to Foxconn’s revenues. The dark clouds of controversy hover over Apple because of widely circulated e-mail from late Steve Jobs that stated Foxconn’s suicide rate to be well below the China average, indicating that Apple was aware of the harsh working conditions prevalent in its supply chain (Kan 2012). Lesson for Organizations The Foxconn episode suggests that organizations should put all checks and balances in place to ensure that their supply chain is ethical. While establishing and maintaining an ethical supply chain may prove to be an expensive proposition, in the ultimate analysis, it is the key to survival and success (DeLaurentis 2009). To be honest, it has become compulsory for an organization to deal with those vendors and suppliers who demonstrate the maximum level ethics in their business operations. Supplier ethics is a grave problem and the menace is growing (Industry Week 2008). Therefore an organization should incorporate as a part of the agreement with the business partner that the latter will adhere to the code of conduct and abide by the law of the land. In the event of an organization finding out some unethical practices occurring in the premises of say, an outsourced manufacturing plant, the company should issue a strict warning and impose penalties. If the unethical practices continue, the company should terminate the association immediately. Grunig’s Four Model’s of Public Relations Press Agentry/Publicity Model Public Information Model Two-Way Asymmetric Model Two-Way Symmetric Model The Cupertino, California, based behemoth followed the Public Information Model which is a ‘one-way’ communication model. An organisation practicing this model disseminates information and remains truthful from its own perspective. In wake of the Foxconn controversy, Apple, in a press release, stated that the FLA would be the inspecting the Foxconn plants and would interview thousands of employees to get the true information about working their working conditions. There are no further press releases from Apple on this matter. The company has published the ‘Apple Supplier Responsibility 2012 Progress Report’ which contains Foxconn’s reference twice. The report state that Apple, in connivance with Foxconn, launched an employee assistance program (EAP) at the latter’s facility in Shenzhen, China in 2010. The second reference about the supplier is the explosion at Foxconn’s Chengdu factory that sniffed life out of four employees and left 18 other workers injured. The Case of BP BP is one company that has become synonymous with corporate incompetence (Luce 2010). The company’s latest encounter with bad public relations emerged due to the massive oil spill in the Deepwater Horizon which had adverse ecological and environmental consequences (Oil Daily 2010). The company’s public relation department has worked overtime to reveal and inform all stake holders how the company has spend millions of dollars in the clean up exercises as well as in ameliorating lives of the people who have been affected by the catastrophe. Social Media Social media is the name given to the various interactive platforms like magazines, consumer groups, Internet forums, social networking sites, blogs, etc. via whereby individuals exchange information and content. The new avenues of social media that are based on the World Wide Web have grown tremendously in recent decades. They have the potency to deliver content to a large number of people within no time. In fact these mediums have rendered the traditional techniques of social media obsolete. Te conversational quality of new social media has meant that the conventional one-way form of communication, say advertising, alone is not enough. Companies have to make strategies and engage with the online audience (Yin 2008). Given the reach of the social media, the messages spread like forest fire. What happened in one geographical area would be known to people in all other parts of the world in practically no time at all. Messages literally spread at the speed of light due to social media. This is not the end though. People mince no words in voicing their opinion about companies, brands and their activities. Social media has emerged as a communication channel where monologue is not possible. The need of the hour is to create a dialogue with the publics. It has therefore become imperative for companies to use social media as a public relation tool by being less formal and more conversational on these forums. While many say that social media will kill the long-established PR mechanism and the mainstream media, Yin 2008 avers that it will not happen any time soon. Therefore companies must use social media as complementary rather than a substitute to the traditional public relations tools. Works Cited "At a Glance." The Business Communicator 5.9 (2005): 7-. ABI/INFORM Complete. Web. 3 Nov. 2012. Badaracco, Claire Hoertz. "Public Opinion and Corporate Expression: In Search of the Common Good." Public Relations Quarterly 41.3 (1996): 14-9. ABI/INFORM Complete. Web. 3 Nov. 2012. Berman, R. (2008). Managing public opinion. Chain Store Age, 84(3), 44-44. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/222060406? "BP Boss Sails into New Public Relations Disaster." 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Wall Street Journal: B.1. Mar 17 2012. ABI/INFORM Complete. Web. 3 Nov. 2012 . Timothy, F. Slaper, and J. Hall Tanya. "The Triple Bottom Line: What is it and how does it Work?" Indiana Business Review 86.1 (2011): 4-8. ABI/INFORM Complete. Web. 2 Nov. 2012. "Toward Ethical and Practical Supply Chain Management." Supply Chain Management Review 8.7 (2004): 67-. ABI/INFORM Complete. Web. 3 Nov. 2012. W, Richard Sherman. "The Triple Bottom Line: The Reporting of "Doing Well" & "Doing Good"." Journal of Applied Business Research 28.4 (2012): 673-81. ABI/INFORM Complete. Web. 2 Nov. 2012. Yin, Sara. "How Social Media and Pr Connect." Media: 20. May 15 2008. ABI/INFORM Complete. Web. 3 Nov. 2012 . Read More