Corporate social responsibility is a matter of choice for most companies, but for Apple Inc., it is a fundamental necessity. Apple Inc. is a multinational corporate behemoth primarily involved in the development, manufacturing, and marketing of electronic gadgets including smartphones, personal computers, and tablets. For over four decades, Apple Inc., led inter alia by Steve Jobs never focused on CSR as it does today. In 2011 when current CEO Tim Cook took over, several critical issues about the company make a focus on CSR necessary (Dudovskiy, 2017). CSR is not just a general concept of Apple Inc. as different CSR approaches are predicated on the different direct and indirect needs of the company.
Among the primary areas of Apple CSR is great labor relations both within the company and any of the external and international contractors that work for Apple. Good labor relations within the company is not only a part of CSR but also integral to the company’s strategic plan. During the Apple restructuring process between 1997 and 2007, the company marketed itself as the most innovative company in the world (Dudovskiy, 2017). To be that innovative, Apple requires the best available human talent; hence the need for superb labor relations. Such top talent may not want to associate with a company that has poor labor relations reputation even among international contractors. To some extent, therefore, being extremely good to employees is more of a survival tactic for Apple.
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Apple is also involved in a myriad of community development projects, giving to the less fortunate and assisting when there is a disaster, more so natural disasters. For example, in 2017, Apple gave a million dollars for the Southern California Wildfire Recovery Efforts and much more for myriad other charitable projects (Dudovskiy, 2017). Giving towards charity is also a necessity for Apple Inc. as it is one of the most profitable companies in the world, mainly through premium pricing. Customers who have to part with more money to get an Apple product as compared to the competition will be assuaged to know that part of the proceeds goes into charity.
As part of its CSR strategy, Apple promotes gender and racial parity by seeking to employ more women and minorities. As of 2017, Apple had 32% women employee, 9% African American employees, and 12% Hispanics (Dudovskiy, 2017). Apple’s CEO is also openly gay, a sign of gender-based accommodation in the company. Apple is also working to improve its gender and racial employee balance. Among the important reasons for Apple to seek for gender and racial parity as part of its CSR is to ward off the elitist attribution it had developed before. Through racial and gender parity, Apple seeks to present itself as a people’s company.
The most important focus of Apple’s CSR is, however, environmental conservation. Apple has been seeking to enhance energy conservation. The company has reduced power consumption by 57% and is also seeking to use 96% renewable energy (Dudovskiy, 2017). Such improvements have also been reported in the usage of other resources including water for its manufacturing processes and wood due to paper consumption. Whereas preserving the environment is important for every corporate citizen, it also serves as a marketing strategy for Apple. Apple sells premium products at premium prices to modern tech-savvy customers. Most of these customers also happen to be sensitive about social justice issues including environmental preservation. Environmental scandals would displease these customers; hence the reason for Apple to go out of its way to conserve the environment.
The totality of the above not only confirms the importance of CSR but also shows that for companies such as Apple Inc., CSR is no longer a choice but has become a fundamental necessity. Failure to adhere to proper CSR would not just affect Apple’s reputation but also its profitability. Good CSR is not part of Apple’s traditional organizational culture. Instead, it forms part of the company’s strategic plan as developed by Tim Cook after taking over in 2011. Good CSR is part of the corporate strategy that has kept Apple Inc. growing in the modern market, even as it makes the company a good corporate citizen.
References
Dudovskiy, J. (2018, January 27). Apple corporate social responsibility (CSR). Retrieved from https://research-methodology.net/apple-corporate-social-responsibility-csr/ .
