Current Event- Foxconn
MGMT 405
Current Event
Having a business in the electronic industry is difficult because this industry is very competitive. To stay at the same level as other competitors or rise above, companies have to be more innovative and efficient. Companies are often under pressure to find the lowest-cost providers, and typically are free to look globally. This is where outsourcing and offshoring comes into effect, along with the difficulty in finding balance in the corporation when dealing with different societies and their culture. In order to stay at the same level as other companies or rise above, Apple Inc. outsourced and offshored its jobs to many countries.
This article shows that Apple, being a multination corporation (MNC), has a blend of polycentric and regio-centric predisposition management strategies, dealing with human rights and labor practices. Apple at first made management decisions that were tailored to suit the culture, in this case, China; however, over the years, Apple has been scrutinized for their human rights and labor practices due to offshoring and outsourcing of jobs. In 2010 there were numerous amounts of suicides that occurred within the factories that Apple outsourced its jobs to. These suicides were due to bad working and living conditions, which stemmed from 60 hour work weeks, low pay, abuse on the job and countless other reasons.
Since Apple subcontracted their business to other companies, in this case Foxconn in China, Foxconn can manage their facility the way they want to, to a certain extent. There are many reasons as to why there have been many suicides at these overseas factories. However, one major contributing factor to the numerous suicides is the abuse that workers deal with. It has been reported that managers of Foxconn have been known to abuse workers for mistakes or missing deadlines. According to Trompeanaars’ cultural dimensions, this abuse could be due to China being a particularistic culture, in which conflicts can arise
Current Event
Having a business in the electronic industry is difficult because this industry is very competitive. To stay at the same level as other competitors or rise above, companies have to be more innovative and efficient. Companies are often under pressure to find the lowest-cost providers, and typically are free to look globally. This is where outsourcing and offshoring comes into effect, along with the difficulty in finding balance in the corporation when dealing with different societies and their culture. In order to stay at the same level as other companies or rise above, Apple Inc. outsourced and offshored its jobs to many countries.
This article shows that Apple, being a multination corporation (MNC), has a blend of polycentric and regio-centric predisposition management strategies, dealing with human rights and labor practices. Apple at first made management decisions that were tailored to suit the culture, in this case, China; however, over the years, Apple has been scrutinized for their human rights and labor practices due to offshoring and outsourcing of jobs. In 2010 there were numerous amounts of suicides that occurred within the factories that Apple outsourced its jobs to. These suicides were due to bad working and living conditions, which stemmed from 60 hour work weeks, low pay, abuse on the job and countless other reasons.
Since Apple subcontracted their business to other companies, in this case Foxconn in China, Foxconn can manage their facility the way they want to, to a certain extent. There are many reasons as to why there have been many suicides at these overseas factories. However, one major contributing factor to the numerous suicides is the abuse that workers deal with. It has been reported that managers of Foxconn have been known to abuse workers for mistakes or missing deadlines. According to Trompeanaars’ cultural dimensions, this abuse could be due to China being a particularistic culture, in which conflicts can arise