Taft College Why Were Foxconn and Apple so Embarrassed by Worker Suicides Questions – Description
Foxconn. Chapter 17, pg. 537-538
Please answer the following questions
1.Why were Foxconn and Apple so embarrassed by worker suicides?
2.Why having designed and produced highly popular products such as iPhones and iPads was not enough?
3.What else were Foxconn and Apple expected to do?
Student 1 Melissa:Why were Foxconn and Apple so embarrassed by worker suicides?Foxconn and Apple were so embarrassed by suicides of their workers
because the companies were being viewed as responsible and more specific
Foxconn factories because of the poor conditions that the factories
workers were being forced to work under. Also, Foxconn was openly
criticized for its treatment of workers, and in addition to worker
suicides, they drew even more negative attention to the company. As a
result of this, Apple was also criticized for its association with
Foxconn, and for not attempting to step in and do more to improve worker
conditions at the factories. Which if done so, could have had a huge
impact on the number of suicides that we’re occurring.Why having designed and produced highly popular products such as iPhones and iPads was not enough? Apple has successfully designed and produced highly popular products
such as iPhones, iPads, Computer devices and even Smart watches, but
these products alone was not enough to make the company sustainable.
Apple wanted to find a way to make continuous and consistent profit from
these products, and it did so by developing a strong network of devices
and features around their devices. This ecosystem includes the App
Store, Apple Arcade, iTunes, Apple TV, Podcasts, and iCloud. By creating
these add on features, Apple was able to make money from its products
and become an even more successful company.What else were Foxconn and Apple expected to do?Foxconn and Apple were expected to take several possible steps that
were intended on improving worker conditions but also to remedy their
mistakes. Some of those improvements were: Providing better working
conditions for employees, improving communication and transparency with
employees, an important one in the book which was enhancing worker
safety measures, implementing policies to prevent excessive overtime
which could aide in the stress and burnout of the employees, and
addressing employee grievances in a prompt and effective manner. Heffernan, M. (2013, August 7). What happened after the Foxconn suicides. CBS News. from https://www.cbsnews.com/news/what-happened-after-the-foxconn-suicides/Interesting, S. (2015, July 22). Foxconn: Depressing Apple Factory. Sometimes Interesting. from https://sometimes-interesting.com/foxconn-depressing-apple-factory/
Student 2 Karla:1.Why were Foxconn and Apple so embarrassed by worker suicides?According to the book, these companies were embarrassed by worker
suicides because there business model was the “culprit”. Working at
Foxconn would require a lot from its employees to the point of
exhaustion and enormous stress this would cause workers depression and
in some cases lead to suicide. The company was criticized for treating
workers unhuman like and exploiting them because it is cheap
“sweatshops”. In response of these suicides attempts Foxconn decided to
place nets outside the dormitories and increased Shenzhen factory
workers’ pay by 30%.2. Why having designed and produced highly popular products such as iPhones and iPads was not enough? Companies like these have to consider and respond to issues beyond
“economic, technical, and legal requirements of the firm to accomplish
social benefits along with the traditional economic gains which the firm
seeks” (Peng, 2020). This is called Corporate Social Responsibility.
Part of those issues is to take care of their main asset and stakeholder
for their success. Foxconn main stakeholder is its employees without
this important asset Foxconn wouldn’t be the global leader in contract
manufacturing services.3. What else were Foxconn and Apple expected to do? Foxconn and Apple were expected to address the problem and make a
better working environment for its employees. Foxconn placed nets on the
dormitories to prevent more suicides from happening. According to the
book, Apple and other companies did audits and no evidence was found
that Foxconn mistreated or abused its employees. Foxconn promised to
strengthen up their Corporate Social Responsibility.Peng, M. W. (2020). Global Business (4th ed.). Cengage Learning US. https://bookshelf.vitalsource.com/books/9781305890305
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