Apple Labor Issues
There is a company by the name of Foxconn based out of Taiwan. This company is well known for it’s electronic manufacturing and has been involved in numerous business controversies. Many businesses today are having a reoccurrence of unethical behaviors. When anyone that deals with electronics is asked about Foxconn, they don’t tell you how good the products that come from the company are but more of how they treat their employees and the environment they are put in. Foxconn is widely known throughout the world as having a major impact on the electronic devises we have used in the past, present and maybe even the near future. The company has many factories throughout the world but the main headquarters is located in New Taipei, Taiwan. Foxconn has been known to be the largest maker and exporter of electronic components in Greater China for quite some time now. The company has well over 250,000 employees just in China alone. Many refer to the property as Foxconn City because of the amount of people that work within the 15 factories. This 1.16 square miles of factories and employees is where the majority of negative publicity has been coming from and is making many question the business ethics of such a well known business. The definition of business ethics can be well described as “balancing the goal of profits with the values of individuals and society”(1). To my understanding, I would take that definition as the company should not only take into consideration the value of the money they are making but should also take into the factor the value of the employees who made that company make money. This company was first in the major headlines for having unbearable working conditions much to the extremes of a sweatshop. Foxconn was known to give their employees long hours, low pay salaries, having many underage children working and even violating laws towards overtime. Many British newspapers wrote about these horrific conditions. They all seemed to
Cited: 1.) Twomey, David.Business Law.Mason:Southwestern.2011.Print 2.) Chang, Gordon.”Suicides at Apple Supplier in China”.Forbes.com.May28,2012. 3.) Pague, David.”What Cameras Inside Foxconn Found”.New York Times. February 23, 2012. 4.) Moore, Malcom.”Apple Child Labor Issues Worsen”.The Telegraph.February 15, 2011