CSR Analysis:
Apple Inc.
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a form of corporate
self-regulation integrated into a business model. The most beneficial CSR policies function as a built-in, self-regulating mechanism whereby business would monitor and ensure its compliance to law, ethics for the influence of environment, consumers, the employees, stakeholders, and communities. CSR is a purposeful inclusion of public interest into the corporation’s decision making, and honors a triple bottom line: people, planet and profit.
One such company following a CSR regulation is Apple Inc., one of Fortune 500’s top companies. The company was founded in Cupertino, California on April 1, 1976 and incorporated Jan. 3, 1977. The company was founded under Steve Jobs, who currently serves as the company’s CEO. For the company’s first 30 years it was known as Apple Computer, Inc., but in 2007 the “Computer” was dropped to reflect the company’s focus on personal computers. Currently Apple has about 35,000 employees worldwide and its annual sales in U.S. dollars are roughly $32.48 billion, based on 2008 figures.
Apple prides itself on its aesthetic design and distinctive advertising campaigns. The company is known for its strong consumer relations and its fan base is unlike any other, based on customer reviews and analysis. “Fortune” magazine named Apple the most admired company in the United States in 2008 and in the world in 2009.
On the subject of CSR, Apple requires suppliers to adhere to a Supplier Code of Conduct. This insists they provide safe working conditions for their employees, treat others respectfully and fairly, and use environmentally responsible manufacturing processes. The company monitors through factory audits corrective action plans, and verification measures.
Recently, however, Apple has found itself under severe criticism for its CSR implementation, and has begun an extensive experiment in improving its environmental impact on the world.
In 2007, Apple launched a new line of green products in attempt to quash shareholder requests for more corporate social responsibility. Currently Apple has a strong shareholder, with a “green” name. Al Gore, who serves as a board of director for Apple Inc. and recommended the shareholders vote against a resolution to define “sustainability” and would include a company-wide review of policies in the green initiative.
Apple’s criticism came from Greenpeace over its failure to publish information on its policies regarding the use of toxic chemicals in its products. Steve Jobs issued an apology and planned for new targets designed to phase out the use of the hazardous materials/chemicals.
This followed with the launching of the new 17” MacBook Pro laptop claiming to be “the world’s greenest family of notebooks.” The laptop is made of highly recyclable aluminum and is mercury and arsenic free. It also includes a non-removable lithium polymer battery. The claim says that the average user should get 1,000 recharge cycles before it needs replacing, three times the cycle of average batteries.
The decision to integrate the new battery technology into the laptop may attract some criticism from green groups, which have previously criticized the absence of a non-removable battery in the Apple iPhone.
The following is an evaluation of Apple’s green initiative through a SWOT analysis.
The S (Strengths) of the company’s initiative is pretty significant. Due to the threat of possible man-made global warming theories, this works well in the company’s favor. Should the theories be true, the company can pride itself in taking steps to improve both the Ozone and the environmental changes in climate. The inclusion of a lithium polymer battery that cannot be removed by the user is another added bonus for the strengths in their new green campaign. By the time the battery is dead, most users will be ready to purchase a new computer, anyway.
The W (Weaknesses) of the company’s initiative are quite slim, thankfully. However there are necessary steps to ensure the proper implementation. For example, Apple has the concern about adding a non-removable battery to its iPhone lineup and adding stronger and longer lasting polymer batteries, like used in the MacBook pro line.
The O (Opportunities) available to Apple is vast. The company now can attract a new audience and keep the old one as well. Whether or not the user believes in green initiatives, no one can argue the value in a longer lasting battery. A longer lasting battery means more use of the computer and more positive reviews from the consumer. The inclusion of the longer lasting battery may also attract new users because of its longer life.
The (T) Threats to Apple include the worry of the company wasting millions of dollars for a theory that has yet to be proven. The company may look back and wonder if the including of battery batteries and recycled material was a good idea should the theory be proven false one day.
The ROI, or the Return on Investment for Apple is significantly strongly in its favor, especially with the release of the iPhone and iPod family. The chart at the top of the page is a showcases the reasons consumers buy an iPod. Based on this data it is safe to assume Apple’s CSR is working to its benefit as the customers have remained happy for nearly 35 years.
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