Management Issue at My Job
MANAGEMENT ISSUES AT MY JOB
One of the current issues in the workplace is women’s rights. The history of issues management can be traced back during the 1970s when General Electric responded to the demand for women's rights in the workplace (Wartick & Rude, 1986). In the case of G.E., it created company policies which recognized the rights of women in the work place. In the case of S. C. Johnson, it had to face some environmental issues regarding its products. In order to properly address the issues, the company removed chloroflourocarbon propellants from its aerospray products to be able to comply with environmental laws during the 1980s. By recognizing that the demands of new special interest groups and new government regulations meant that business was operating under a different business environment.
Hence, companies like GE and Johnson have decided to act on the issues and not just by identifying the changes that have to be done. Enhancing corporate performance can be done by improving public policy involvement, corporate social responsibility, and strategic management as part of the essential corporate tasks (Wartick & Rude, 1986).
In the case of Apple, Inc., it was confronted with security issues regarding its products such as the antenna of Apple’s iPhone or the battery of the Ipod Nano which had received a lot of attention about four years ago. To be able to address the concern on what might have been a fatal design flaw and series of quality issues, after receiving reports of first-generation Pod Nano MP3 players overheating, Apple’s Japan unit offered to replace the batteries of models sold between September 2005 and December 2006 to resolve the quality issues (Krzykowski, 2010).
Another issue that haunted Apple Inc.’s CEO, Mr. Tim Cook is when one of the company’s suppliers’ workers threatened to commit suicide after complaining their alleged inhumane working conditions. It was reported that Foxconn, which is one of Apple’s suppliers is also one of the biggest global electronics manufacturers that operates in Taiwan. Foxconn employed at least 150 Chinese workers, who threatened to jump off from the factory roof located in its plant in China, as they protested the company’s hazardous working conditions. It is a known fact that Apple gadgets have been popular to consumers all over the world. To address the issue, Apple stated that it shall abide to its corporate social responsibility when it decided to become a member of the Fair Labor Association. The association seeks to recognize the corporate social responsibility of member companies and to promote its advocacy.
On the part of Apple, it conducted a dialogue with Chinese labor rights activists and environmental groups to allow them to monitor the working environment of their supplier’s factories. Apple Inc. endeavoured to prevent the environmental and labor issue decided to give permission to the concerned labor groups to see to it that no harm is inflicted to the workers. Such action promoted the values of equality and fairness by giving the employees what is due to them. Mr Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple had to take action by making sure that no harm was inflicted to Foxconn’s workers and such decision is for the benefit of the majority. It can be considered as an ethical decision because avoiding harm or injury to others clearly promotes the welfare of the workers. Thus, by making the workplace of the employees safe and secured is a manifestation that Apple Inc promotes the rights of the workers.
It was best for Apple to terminate its contract with Foxconn if it continued to expose its workers to a hazardous working environment. The ethical decision that must be done by Apple is to ban the products manufactured by Foxconn if it ceases to provide the workers with a hazard-free working environment. The move of Apple promotes corporate social responsibility when it joined the fair labor association by providing the Foxconn workers with just salary and humane working environment. The decision of Apple Inc. is transcends management issues and shows the values and integrity of the company by recognizing the rights of the workers.
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