Apple Inc tends to prefer outsourcing the assembly points of the I phone products to foreign states such as China due to the relatively low costs that the organization tends to occur in China. The logic behind that China tends to have lower labor costs is due to the large population that tends to exist thus leading to the workforce to be relatively affordable and easily accessible by Apple Inc. Furthermore, Chinese subcontracts tend to have an adequate response program that they tend to play a significant role in ensuring that the subcontractors respond to the organizational requests (Gurtu, Searcy, and Jaber, 2016). The other reason is that engineers who play a vital role in the assembling of I phones were easily accessible and affordable in comparison to the engineers of the United States. In addition, components that are used in assembling the I phone are usually easily available in China.
What are the potential costs and risks to China?
The potential vulnerabilities are that the subcontractors might maliciously use the data they acquire about the assembling of the I phone products for personal gain. Laborers might decide to sell the information they obtain from competitors due to the poor working conditions that they are forced to endure. Furthermore, the costs of shipping parts are relatively high in China.
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In addition to Apple, who else benefits from Apple decision to outsource assembly in China?
The subcontractors tend to benefit from the outsourcing decision of Apple significantly. Furthermore, the employee in the assembly plant also benefit as they tend to acquire their source of income from the assembly jobs.
Who are the potential losers here?
The potential losers from the decision of Apple outsourcing their assembly point in China are the citizens of the United States as the jobs that they would have been offered to them would be occupied the Chinese citizens.
What are the potential ethical problems associated with outsourcing assembly jobs to Foxconn in China?
One of the ethical issues that tend to arise in Foxconn is that the employees of the organization usually feel that the management targets them due to the poor working conditions they are subjected.
How might Apple deal with these?
Apple company might decide to create guidelines in the assembly company they choose to offer the contract on employees’ ethics and the working conditions that they are to be subjected to by Foxconn.
On balance, do you think that kind of outsourcing that has been undertaken by Apple is a good thing or a bad thing for the American economy?
In analyzing the case, in the perception of self, I believe that the outsourcing decision undertaken by Apple Inc is an adverse thing to the economy of the United States. The United States economy tends to have labor gaps in the economy, and the presence of an Apple assembly plant will assist to mitigate this problem (Lahiri, 2016). Furthermore, the plant will help to upgrade the lives of the jobless United States citizens.
Reference
Gurtu, A., Searcy, C., & Jaber, M. Y. (2016). Effects of offshore outsourcing on a nation. Sustainable Production and Consumption , 7 , 94-105.
Lahiri, S. (2016). Does outsourcing really improve firm performance? Empirical evidence and research agenda. International Journal of Management Reviews , 18 (4), 464-497.
