Apple and Foxconn

In the past few years Apple and other electronics manufacturers have been in the news for alleged unethical practices carried out by some of their suppliers. The ethical issues were concerning the 2010 suicides in the Chinese Foxconn factories, which are the main suppliers for Apple, and the IPhone5 strikes that occurred in the beginning of October. All of these events were as a result of the workers' poor living conditions, inadequate health care benefits and a load of overtime hours. Apple's speedy response has been triggered by the growing global concern regarding Foxconn's unethical practices towards its workers. Apple has agreed to work along with Foxconn and the Fair Labor Association in order to ensure that its suppliers in China start carrying out more ethical practices such as hiring more workers, improving living standards, and providing more training. Following the 5 Step Process to Solve Ethical Problems would have helped the CEO of Apple solve the issues at Foxconn, right when they first occurred, back in 2010. The process would help determine an appropriate action plan that is both ethical and beneficial for the stakeholders. It would help establish and encourage appropriate moral grounds throughout the company and it would also encourage the company to continue acting ethically, by regularly auditing its decisions. This decision would be beneficial because being ethical can make a company more favorable, in the eyes of the general public, when compared to its unethical competitors.

Foxconn Technology Group, a subsidy of the Hon Hai Precision Industries Ltd. is one of the world's largest electronics manufacturers. It ranks 43rd among Global Fortune 500 Companies. It manufactures hardware for a prestigious list of clients, including Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, HP, Dell, Nokia and Nintendo. In 2010, a series of suicides at Chinese Foxconn factories garnered media coverage and exposed the unethical practices carried out by them. The suicides were