Corporate Social Responsibility Defined: Importance And Strategies Of Apple

Importance of CSR Activities

How Corporate Social Responsibility is Defined?

Corporate Social Responsibility is an emerging management concept that is evolving in the current market scenario. It is a concept that entails to integrate various environmental and social concerns in the business operations along with having interactions with the stakeholders. It seeks so that the company can achieve a balance between the environmental and social imperatives. It also must seek that the company is able to address the expectations of its stakeholders and shareholders. The main aim of CSR activities is to reduce the poverty striven world. This will help to strengthen the reputation of the company and the brand image will be highlighted effectively.

An approach is necessary to be taken by the SMEs to promote CSR activities so that the adversity of economic viability is not affected directly (Arvidsson, 2014). It is an effort that needs to be taken to align the private enterprises along with achieving sustainable development also. It also minimizes the negative effects that can create a massive impact to the society as a whole. The major CSR activities include responsible sourcing, eco efficiency, engaging the stakeholders, maintaining effective employee and community relations maintain good governance and seek anti corruption measures also. There are various advantages of implementing CSR activities in an organization. It helps to increase sales and profits, save the operational costs, helps in attaining effective human resource base, improves brand reputation, helps in taking better decisions and also enhances the customer loyalty.

In the recent years an increased amount of attention is being given to the companies to raise social awareness within the organization environment along with other societal environment also (Bindhu et al., 2014). CSR in terms of business can be defined as the level of responsiveness of the business to its stakeholders in terms f ethical, legal and other environmental expectations also. A lot of pressure has been created on the employees of an organization to seek that the company is able to raise its CSR standards efficiently. Various campaigns are being launched and jointly been ventured to ensure corporate social responsibility. A strategic value needs to be gathered in an organization so that the products and business relationships can be aligned effectively. These CSR activities are actually leading for the development of small and medium sized enterprises in developing countries (Górny, 2014). Also these CSR activities are also generating the importance of the NGOs and they are having a crucial role to be played as a whole. It is important to initiate a strategic approach so that the company’s competitiveness can be increased. It also helps to encourage more environmental and social responsibility so that the benefits is evenly distributed among the company and it is necessary to see that all the employees seeks such inclusiveness towards CSR activities. The CSR activities also help in mitigating risks so that the social consequences can be rectified before implementing them in the market. The CSR activities also helps to offer a set of values that helps to build a more structured society and the economy is sustained and developed with favorable growth.

Defining CSR for Businesses

Apple Inc. is a multinational company that is headquarter in California. This company mainly involves into consumer electronics and also designs computer software; online services and personal computers also.The company product line include iPod, IPhone, iPad and also Apple Mac book. The company also introduced Apple TV recently to develop its range of products. Apple’s consumer software also involves iOS operating system. It also includes iTunes Store and App store. The company was founded by Steve Jobs in the year 1976. To add more information to the company Apple is the second largest information technology company that has earned maximum revenue. Apple has created a sensational brand image in terms of mobile phones. Today the world craves for carrying an iPhone in their pockets because of the reputation it has been able to create on the minds of the consumers. There are more than 72000 employees employed by Apple as of today. The world’s largest music retailer Apple store is also operated by the company itself. The total revenue of the company is estimated to be about US$182 billion. The company has also joined Dow Jones on March 19, 2015.

Apple is expected to enjoy a high level of brand loyalty and it is also recognized as a global brand across the world. The employees in the company work whole heartedly and with full dedication so that all the uncertainties can be overcome. ‘

The main objective of the company is to follow a strategic marketing policy. Their main motto is “Be unique”. This signifies that the company aims to distinguish itself from the other companies. This could be done by initiating new and creative ideas to develop the products. It is also important include an efficient Research and Development team so that better quality of products could be introduced in the market. Apple believes the policy of not copying any idea from any other company. This point helps strongly to keep a unique proposition in terms of other companies. Apple designed its products keeping in mind that it caters to all type of its customers starting from the students to the business developers. The biggest competitor of the company is considered to be Microsoft. Microsoft tries to adopt all possible changes that Apple releases into the market (Hoi, Wu and Zhang, 2013).

Apple has contributed a lot to the CSR activities and also to build upon the business strategy of the organization. Apple has made the Form 10-K which constituted of the company annual report. It also included the relevant information on business strategies adopted by the company. It also includes all the legal information, financial data and the company risk factors also. Apple has also considered the GRI G3 indices which are related to the economy. This also includes publication on environmental reports, recycling its sources and also checks the supplier responsibility. The main aim of Apple in designing the products is to seek that a major indicator has been taken to ensure reports on environmental issues and also on the supplier responsibility. The energy efficient strategy of Apple is making the Apple’s products more powerful and at the same time it can be inferred that less amount of materials are also used (Kovács and Valkó, 2013).

CSR Activities and Development of SMEs

Another sustainable strategy taken up by the company for its innovativeness and creativity is by building an eco system around Apple’s software platform. The publishers, developers and multimedia distributors have contributed effectively to meet the goals of the company efficiently. However in spite of the fact that there was so much openness prevailing in the company there were disputes and criticisms regarding the software that was used by Apple. This acted as a hindrance to the company’s profit making capability.

Another important strategy was the distribution and service facility maintained by the company. There were various direct and indirect distribution channels that were used by the company to reach its customers at the end. The company also believes a direct and effective communication that needs to maintained at all different levels so that no information is been missed out to be informed to the customers at the end (Misztal and Jasiulewicz-Kaczmarek, 2014). In spite of all this it is hard to believe that apple is able to maintain high quality of after sales and support across the world. Apple is also planning a strategy to build a sustainable public relationship. Apple also believes to be operated under one roof therefore it is necessary to build effective supplier responsibilities. We know that Apple’s parts and products are globally outsourced therefore it is necessary to build an efficient chain of suppliers all over. Apple also works on targets such as taking corrective plans along with business partners, conducting onsite audits, etc.

In spite of all these strategies implemented it was criticized that Apple had poor CSR integration strategy. The following points support the statement:

• First of all it is necessary to introduce a responsible strategy that need to be recommended so that all the stakeholders can be actively involved. There must be a collaboration to solve the entire supply chain problem together. Also there must be adaptability to achieve long term competitive advantage. Also it is necessary to introduce responsible and innovative supply chain that can reduce the overall cost as a whole.
• Also it is necessary to seek that the company is able to adopt an appropriate supplier so that it helps to achieve a sign of reliability. The company employees are also expected to identify themselves in terms of company values and corporate identity.
• Finally there must be initiatives taken to engage with all the contractors eventually. And this is also needed to push them in aligning with the business goals. The benefits that the supplier can share are that of sharing of information, building more capacity and facilitating of practices (Rojek-Nowosielska, 2014).

Apple’s supply chain model is a CSR strategy that acts as a standard business model altogether so that the company is able to identify all its flaws and still move on towards meeting its goals efficiently.

Developing a CSR strategy around the company denotes a sense of obligation and bringing about certain well defined characters to enable effective growth to the organization. It is necessary for Apple to be embraced as a cool company and seek so that all its core values are highlighted. The major drivers of the company’s CSR activities are as follows:

• To train the managers and workers on responsible practices: It is necessary for the suppliers to live up to all the standards in the industry. It is necessary to train the factory supervisors and the workers to maintain a safe and respectful workplace so that work related harassments can be reduced (Wirl, Feichtinger and Kort, 2013). It is also necessary to speak with all individual employees that they are able to understand their own rights and also seek that the company is able to violate all such rights of each and every employee. It is also necessary to train the employees so that they follow Apple’s code of conduct, occupational health and safety and abided by the laws of the nation.
• To give the workers opportunities to learn: Apple have newly introduces SEED (Supplier Employee Education and Development) program which is introduced with well equipped classrooms. This is an effective way to expand the workers education on their factory shifts for better skills and knowledge. Apple has also partnership with some local universities so that the workers have access to high school equivalency and also with advanced learning programs (Simpson and Taylor, 2013).
• Excessive work load and work hours need to be reduced: An important priority was imposed by Apple that excessive overtime should be reduced. Work week up to 60 hours should be permitted. And all the overtime undertaken must be voluntarily executed. What Apple does is that it tracks the work hours on a weekly basis so that millions of people can be reached in the supply chain. It is also necessary for the company to be notified in advance about the production plans. In this way the teams of Apple can work along with the suppliers and also seek to find out best possible solution. Adequate rest must also be ensured to the workers because that is a part of their employment contract.
• Prevention of Underage labor: Apple has the motto to eradicate underage labor. If it is found prevailing in the industry then they are placed on probation. Even sometimes the business relationship is terminated. They follow a comprehensive audit approach and check the entire workers portfolio properly when they are been hired by the company. The workers photo ids are also verified to check underage labor if it is prevailing or not. Apple undertakes the program of Underage Labor Remediation Program that includes that the underage workers must be sent back to school so that they can complete their studies and then uphold their financial commitment to the family in terms of income (Social Learning towards a Sustainable World, 2014).

Certain recommendations are been given to the company so that they can build over their CSR strategies more effectively. The recommendations are given below:

• Improving health and safety through education: It can be recommended to the company to ensure effective worker health and safety because this is considered as one of the important priorities for any company. This point can ensure corrective action plan. But there is a problem of people who have such leadership skills so people can be given training the ones who are experienced enough to take such leadership roles into account and the issues can be resolved as a result. A formal 18 month program can be built within the supply chain. Also the company can think about building a partnership with certain nonprofit organizations so that strong EHS programs can be built. This can be an efficient training program.
• Identifying and reducing risk: It is recommended to the company to reduce the amount of risks that are mostly associated with a company. This can be done by addressing all the hazards that are involved to the employees as well as to the suppliers. Various campaigns can be implemented such as site safety, health concerns of employees. Sometimes it is seen that these risks affects the company policy and it becomes a hindrance to the company growth as a whole.
• Ensuring worker well being: For this the human resource managers along with the line supervisors needs to be imparted training that involves mental health assessments. It is also necessary to create healthy work environment and keep the premises neat and tidy.
• Use recyclable products: It is recommended so that the company can use recyclable materials that are necessary to build the mobile phones and iPods. If the batteries of the computers and laptops are made of recyclable products then when they are scrapped they can be further used in the production process instead of dumping it forever.
• Launch campaigns for women empowerment: As we can see that in today’s world the women are also going along with men in terms of work pressure. So various campaigns can be initiated so that the women feel secured within the work environment and also they are protected from any kind of uncertainties or accidents and they can successfully give their best.
• Cause to environmental responsibility: It is expected that the suppliers goes beyond the rules and regulations of laws to protect its environment. The company can built impact on waste management initiatives including waste water management drives so that water is able to reach all parts of the country. Profile surveys must be conducted to check the pollution databases and necessary educational campaigns may be taken up by the management. All the anti leakage grounds and weather proofing must be facilitated and checked by the management. Also actions must be taken regarding disposal of the waste so that environment is protected.

Conclusion:

It can be concluded that CSR activity basically acts a strategic management tool against the consumer realities. In today’s world the consumers pursues individual convenience and self interest by seeking economically viable products. There are very few companies which takes initiatives to build upon strategies to build importance of CSR activities. The CSR activities should more focused towards the consumers because they are considered as the most important determinant of corporate behavior. Apple is a worldwide corporation that is striving to be a market leader. The CSR activity can act as an important resource that can leverage the expectations of the company as a whole. This can play a strong role in building relation and improving the brand identity as a whole. Basically they also reflect the society’s expectations that it have from a company. The business also views it as an opportunity to build a long term strategy and thus CSR can be integrated to the core business activities also. This also helps in creating a developed economy for the company. It was also found out that Apple’s CSR activities were criticized because the company failed to incorporate effective CSR communication to its employees. Apple must continue to build strong brand identity and position so that no further attention is been given to criticisms.

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