Category Archives: Ethics

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Ethical and social responsibilities of Apple

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Over time, businesses have assumed ethical and social responsibilities towards their customers, their employees and the environment. Corporations work on maintaining their customers’ trust, taking care of their employees’ well being and producing sustainable products. Apple is the leading tech company, selling over a hundred million products a year, having 164,000 employees, and reaching a net worth of $2307.15 billion. Apple has a huge impact on society as a whole, making social, ethical and environmental responsibility extremely vital.

Apple has published their up-to-date environmental progress report online for all current and potential customers to read. The report is highly detailed and focuses on climate change, resources and smarter chemistry. In the climate change category, Apple explains their goal of making their entire product footprint carbon neutral by 2030 by reducing emissions by 75 percent compared to 2015. Apple also is currently working on improving the product supply chain to 100% renewable electricity by 2030. The corporation was successful in reducing 40% overall emissions as well, avoiding over 23 million metric tons of emissions. In other words, Apple is not only making long term plans for a eco-friendly future, but is also actively showing proof and keeping the customers informed about it. Apple’s environmental progress report also mentions their plan of reducing water impacts in the manufacturing of their products, use of services and operation facilities. They have accomplished significant improvements, including 75% less plastic in packaging compared to 2015. Apple has made a clear investment in improving their impact on environment in the midst of mass production.

When it comes to toxic waste, Apple has made a big leap in recycling all their unused resources: all the new products contain 100% recycled aluminum enclosures. The material comes from used Apple products, which are returned by customers in exchange for in-store credit. Apple is also working on smarter chemistry, by avoiding exposure to chemicals that could be harmful to humans and their environment. Due to their efforts in this matter, Apple has been awarded the Safer Choice Partner award from EPA, showing how important safety is for the corporation.

Apple is a company that identifies itself not only by its products but its employees as well. The company has more than 164,000 employees and 521 stores worldwide. Apple is strongly anti-discrimination when it comes to gender, race, religion, and more. The company is proactive in their stance for inclusion and diversity by making clubs, events for everyone.

As a current Apple employee, learning and understanding their environmental progress report and their stance on inclusion has been very beneficial and eye opening for me, as it has proven to be productive in their social, ethical and environmental duties. What I would recommend Apple do is to release new products less frequently, since the new products only come with minor improvements or features compared to the latest ones. I think coming out with new products every year, including new accessories, also may cause overproduction. While I do enjoy the new products, I value the longevity and quality of a product more than the minor improvements that the new ones come with. I also believe one year is not enough for a customer to fully understand and make the most out of their product: in my opinion, two years is enough time for Apple to make an impactful new product and allow their customers to fully appreciate it. This would not only be environmentally responsible, but socially responsible as well: some consumers would not feel pressured to buy a product they don’t necessarily need (although I do recognize that Apple is a business that is trying to maximize their revenue). Personally, I would tell Apple to focus more on the longevity of their products rather than try to persuade their customers that they need to purchase a new phone after a few years due to battery or software issues.

Overall, I believe Apple is making continuous leaps towards improving their impact on society and our planet, but there are still some areas that it could improve on, such as their release cycles.

Week B Assignment- Elisjoe Ramirez

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BUSINESS SUSTAINABILITY

Throughout society were surrounded with a numerous businesses and companies. Many of these great companies follow a great set of values and principles. These values followed is a factor when it comes to promoting a company forward. In my opinion the practice of values and standards, reflects the integrity of a company. You can tell a lot from these principles; it demonstrates to the customers how invested the company is in satisfying their customers and employees. As this analysis progresses, the importance of applying these principles will be shown and described, with the company Sweetwater used as an example.

Sweetwater, a company founded by Chuck Surack in 1979, from his recording studio out of the back of a Volkswagen bus. From a very begin we see humble beginnings, that influenced in maintaining this humbleness.  Sweetwater focus on carrying and selling a variety of musical instruments that many companies don’t specialize in. As I continued to study the actions taken by this company when practicing philanthropy, many examples I discovered. According to Sweetwater.com, Sweetwater, “No matter the issues, we will stay the course and continue to simply do the right thing — with compassion, with integrity, and most certainly, without bias.” (Sweetwater, 2022)  Sweetwater has partnered with non-profit Music Will to help impact citizens through the nation to receive musical education. Perfect example of integrity, the founder and his team remembered the humble beginnings and now focus on giving other people the opportunity to learn musically. Sweetwater also practices great social health practices with their staff. On their campus they have a free health clinic, a fitness center, an in-house counselor, career coaches, development opportunities, expansive benefits, and equal pay. These benefits are super vital when budling an industry that is sustainable and positive. I can only imagine how this allows employees to work with a smile from ear to ear. This very important because these positive roots bear fruits to positivity relayed towards customers and believe or not even business competition. Did you know? That “The Sweetwater campus headquarters in Fort Wayne was one of the first 200 buildings in the entire world to become LEED Platinum Certified by the United States Green Building Council following its initial construction.” (Sweetwater, 2022) Yes, I know I sound like broken record or maybe like sponsored promo, but this just shows how Sweetwater invests much their time and effort to converse energy which is vital to our communities. Now when it comes to what else Sweetwater can put in practice, I believe is volunteerism. This leads Sweetwater into sustainability and security.  Why? Well, this generation that is growing is extremely influenced by music and not in a good way many times. We as a society rarely see any artist setting the example in giving back to the community and the environment serving other as we grow in stature. Our generation must understand and learn how positive it is to humble yourself and put our community first, a community handed to our responsibility we must pass it down it a much more enhanced and advanced state. Sweetwater shouldn’t only focus on pushing their customers to learning music but building morals and values. When you develop a department that can go out in society and clean the park, give food to those in need. Your teaching kids the key life principle said by the one and only Jesus Christ: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.” (Apostle). This is key for society to understand that no matter how prosperous you become sharing that prosperity is what will bring upon more prosperity.

Sweetwater, a company that maybe isn’t heard compared to many mainstream companies used throughout the world, but this is a company that is up and coming. To my experience this always offer me great customer service and this why I can speak with such security on what they offer to the table.

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Ethics and Social Responsibility

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A company that I interact with often and love purchasing clothes from, is H&M. Yes H&M is a fast fashion brand and has been under fire for underpaying their workers, but it has been taking several measures for the environment lately, and is improving in regards to its ethical practices.
Surprisingly, It has been named one of the most ethical companies in the world, eight times, by Ethisphere, a for-profit company that defines and measures corporate ethical standards. H&M has taken some positive steps towards reducing its impact on the environment over the years. It uses renewable energy for part of its supply chain and has a policy to prevent deforestation of endangered forests. The brand offers a recycling program where you can return clothes from any brand in-store. H&M also uses some eco-friendly materials like organic cotton and recycled polyester in some products. The brand was also among the first to stock a “Conscious” sustainable fashion collection in its stores and online. I personally like to buy clothes from this collection because they are more sustainable and wear for a long time.

H&M has also made some improvements in its labor policies in recent years, given the concern of its labor conditions and wages in countries like Bangladesh and India. H&M topped the Fashion Transparency Index in 2020, scoring 71-805 in the first place. While many brands hide the details of its working conditions, H&M publishes a clear and detailed list of suppliers in the final stage of production, as well as information about its supplier policies, audits, remediation processes and its policies on forced labor, gender equality and freedom of association. With the pandemic going on since 2020, H&M has also disclosed some policies to protect its workers from the impact of COVID-19, although its not sure if they have been fully implemented yet.
H&M also has some policies for animal welfare. It has a formal animal welfare policy aligned with Five Freedoms and traces some animal products to the first stage of production. It also uses wool from non-mulesed sheep, as well as banned the use of fur, angora and exotic animal skins in its products.

Although, given the above mentioned measures H&M is taking, it is still far from perfect in ethics and social responsibility. There are several measures H&M can take to be more ethical and sustainable. As it is a fast fashion brand, it can produce a new line of clothing which is 100% sustainable, unlike “Conscious” which is 50% sustainable. It has a lot of consumers worldwide, this way environmentally conscious people can prefer to buy those clothes. It should meet the modern labor standards in its factories in developing countries, by insuring and taking measures for worker health and safety, providing standard living wages and labor rights. Although they don’t use many animal products, as mentioned earlier, they still use leather and exotic animal hair. They should abstain from using them and instead use alternatives, like Polyurethane, which is a synthetic material used as a leather substitute. It is cruelty-free and less damaging to the environment. They can also use more eco-friendly materials, like natural linen, tencel and organic cotton in their products.

Week B

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The organization I choose for this Assignment is Trader Joe’s. Trader Joe’s is a U-S based grocery store. This supermarket can be found in counties all over the world.

The primary reason I wanted to write this short essay on Trader Joes is because of the extraordinary service. From the employees to the clients, it is the absolute best. The employees are extremely kind and helpful and efficient. When looking for something specific they will immediately help the client. If they can’t seem to find the particular item, they will do their best to find in it their backroom. When finishing looking around, the line might seem long sometimes, but goes so fast because of their organized team. They take everything out of your basket, scan the items, and bag them without letting you touch a thing. All with the biggest smile on their face no matter the employee. The service is as good as a five star hotel.

Living in New York can be expensive and sometimes buying groceries can be equivalent to going out for dinner. Trader Joes is the solution for many people. They sell good food for reasonable prices.

Trader Joes contributes to their local communities. They organize donations, they donate food and beverages to as many organizations they can for people in need. They also donate 100% of their products that go unsold.

As much good as Trader Joes does for their community, I believe they should work on their packaging to be more sustainable. It would be amazing if they were able to find a solution to reduce the amount of materials they use. For example, they can try to use renewable and recyclable materials. Not only for the planet but for the harmful substances.

I thank Trader Joe’s for their friendly team and always leaving their store with a smile.

Week B Assignment – Masayuki Kirsch

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In a 1–2-page paper and in your own words, briefly describe what this organization is doing now regarding corporate social responsibility and pursuing sustainable business practices.

Masayuki Kirsch- Social Responsibility

Week B Assignment – Marketing 100

Nike is the most recognized and widespread sports brand globally, with a global brand value of approximately 30$ Billion in 2021. Being a consumer of their products for nearly my whole life, I am familiar with how Nike markets their products and branding. Sustainable business practices are when a company operates without compromising the world’s environmental circumstances, as environmentally friendly is considered sustainable. Having your business revolved around the apparel market, natural questioning of the company’s ethics regarding product safety and more is inevitable. Nike, the world’s largest apparel company, faces immense responsibility and eye-catchers in its every decision. Hence, the brand must create the best selection to enhance its social responsibility and appearance.

Nike promotes “MOVE TO ZERO” which Nike claims as its “Nike’s journey toward zero carbon and zero waste to help protect the future of the sport.” This project states that Nike will work towards minimizing Nike’s environmental footprint, creating sustainable products, and providing such products to the public. Specifically, Nike recycles old shoes and their materials and then refurbishes them to develop new footwear or gear wear, selling at a lower and affordable price. The project results have been promising: “Nike diverts more than 1 billion plastic bottles per year from landfills to create yarns for new jerseys and uppers for Flyknit shoes.” Nike also emphasizes the services and projects, as videos choreographing their mission of reducing carbon footprints have pulled in 10’s of millions of views.

Nike is popular for its contributions to local communities by constructing basketball courts. These courts also allow low-income kids to find new opportunities and gage outside. Nike has revealed a newly built basketball court in Hong Kong, known as the “Shek Lei Grind Court.” However, this court is unique as its external is roofed in Nike Grind. Nike Grind is a rubber constructed from 20,000 used pairs of sneakers. Nike stays true to its commitment and is most effective at such. Nike’s project “Move to Zero” and other recent attempts to reduce their carbon footprint have been very successful, simultaneously providing communities with affordable shoes and courts accessible for play.

Nike has created such a solid foundation that I suggest that Nike keep this process up and innovate new ways to provide more to the community. Nike should also touch upon their most significant controversy: its labor quality in China. Besides that, Nike has dramatically reduced its carbon footprint and maximized its assets to give back to the public. One last recommendation is to create small projects covering specific countries that benefit those communities.

 

 

Nike Sustainability. move to Zero. Nike.com. (n.d.). Retrieved November 6, 2022, from https://www.nike.com/sustainability

About.nike.com. (n.d.). Retrieved November 6, 2022, from https://about.nike.com/en/newsroom/releases/nike-move-to-zero-climate-change-initiative

Engle, E. (2019, September 24). Nike announces Zero Carbon & Zero waste initiative. HYPEBEAST. Retrieved November 6, 2022, from https://hypebeast.com/2019/9/nike-move-to-zero-zero-carbon-waste-info

Foot Locker

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A company that I interact with regularly is Foot Locker. Footlocker is an American footwear and sportswear retail company. I currently work at Footlocker, and have been working in this company since June 2021. What this organization is doing now with regard to corporate social responsibility and pursuing sustainable business practices is encouraging all to collaborate in order to achieve our global goal of becoming the world’s leading retailer of athletically inspired footwear and apparel. Also Footlocker being a great place to work from acquires talent to teach new employees how to grow and develop, recognize and reward employees, and retain them. They have goals to drive our human capital management strategy. Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DIBs) is used in the execution of our programs and resources, and we try to find and develop talent from a wide range of backgrounds.By creating opportunities for employees to grow and develop, recognizing and rewarding performance, supporting employees’ physical, emotional, and financial wellness, and being an inclusive workplace for our employees worldwide, we fulfill our commitment to be a great place to work. (Foot Locker, Inc.) Footlocker as a company is deeply committed to improving the quality of life for both employees and the people who live in the global communities they serve.They accomplish this by assisting those in need and empowering them through our partnerships and educational, health, and athletic initiatives.Foot Locker donates many resources to charitable organizations such as Two Ten Footwear Foundation, American Red Cross, Fred Jordan Missions, Boys, etc. The recommendations I have for Footlocker to become more ethical is to branch off more. Meaning that footlocker should start opening up in different countries. This will benefit more people and be fair for more people to get the experience and love of apparel and footwear like everyone else. The pratices that they should continue is following sustainability commitment, supporting ethical practices.

Week B Assignment

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Allison Molina- Ethic

In a 1-2 page paper and in your own words, briefly describe what this organization is doing now with regard to corporate social responsibility and pursuing sustainable business practices.

Shake Shack one of the most well known fast foods in New York, and one of my personal favorites. Shake Shack has many ways in marketing its self. The fast food chain having a great way of showing corporate social responsibility, which is the concern of business for the welfare of society as a whole, and  way of showing sustainable business practices. Sustainable business practices are the ability of a society or company to continue to operate without compromising the planets environmental condition in the future. 

Shake Shack having many different ways of showing their social responsibilities. In a statement made by Shake Shack one can Identify many different ways in which Shake Shake takes charge of their corporate social responsibilities. Shake Shack takes huge responsibility in regards to their team, personally as a former worker for the company, Shake Shack aways creates an environment of care for their team, which leads to creating jobs, that society wants to work in. Shake Shake insures that the company always is using ingredients that are 100% real, and of high-quality, Shake Shack is able to guarantee this to their customers by showing them where their produce is coming from, and how their produce is created. When Shake shack decides to work with a partner, their principal is making sure that the partnering company shares the same beliefs as the company. Shake Shack guarantees society with food that is 100% real, 100% antibiotic, and hormone free protein. The company stands strong next to their buns as being NON-GMO. They make sure their animals are raised free of hunger, thirst, discomfort, pain, injury, disease, fear and distress. These are all the ways in which the company encompasses Corporate social responsibility. 

Shake Shack is a company growing in regards to their sustainability. In the statement made by the company many can identify their sustainable practices. The company says that the bags that are being used to package the food are 100% recycled fiber making it good to the existence of the planet. Their straws are a way in which they decrease their carbon print, the straws are a 100% plastic free. They also, have plant based products, which is a way to decrease meat usage, which is important in America. Shake Shack claims they are consistently in works with sustainable groups to better their sustainable practices. These are ways in which Shake Shack says they are growing into a more sustainable company. 

As a former worker of the company Shake shack, there are many ways in which a worker is able to notice the company’s corporate social responsibility, and their sustainable business practices. Shake shack is off to a good start in regards to both aspects. If Shake shack were to make each customer more aware of their sustainable practices, this can encourage consumers to promote other fast food chains to be as sustainable, this would benefit shake shack’s ethical ideals and the world.