LONG ANSWER QUESTION: For the long answer question write a d…
LONG ANSWER QUESTION: For the long answer question write a detailed and well-organized essay that responds directly to the new case study below. Your essay should be at least 325-350 words. Be sure your essay: addresses the prompt directly and includes examples from the case. has a strong thesis statment. integrates key terms and concepts from the course. applies specific and detailed course material to the case. have a short intoduction, body paragraph(s) and conclusion. You will be graded on the following criteria: making a clear and logical argument using course terminology and concepts from class and incorporating them accurately thoroughly answering all parts of the question using case examples writing clearly in standard written English. Good Luck! Case: 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 largest annual 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-yearold 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 labor 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. Questions to address in your essay: 1. Multinational corporations face a host of challenges in meeting the ethical and cultural expectations of their customers and suppliers. What are some of the challenges facing Apple in this case, and what actions could be taken to help mitigate them? 2. Is Apple an ethical company? Using the key ethical concepts from our course materials, argue for or against.
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