Slowing Down issue of iPhone battery

 

The controversies of Applies Inc, reducing or slowing down the battery life, brought
about several ethical issues that were to be addressed. The models discussed in class will help us
know if the ethical dilemma was resolved/settled in a way that was consistent with good business
practices. Regarding permitting organizational abuse, we feel that Apple Inc failed to resolve the
issue about the investigation. The individual responsible for reducing the lifespan of iPhone
batteries, which Apple claimed so that the phone may not just shut down, should have been
convicted of violating the law. Instead, Apple Inc decides to pay the fine to compensate for the
damages caused. Even though the board of members must investigate the issue internally and
find the culprits involved in the scandal, AppleS Inc decided to blanket the scandal by offering to
pay the damages caused.
Apple must have been on a tight spot when legal proceedings were filed against them;
however, people must also reconsider. It was evident that Apple argued that what they did was
not to bring back consumers to their doorstep to buy much-advanced gadgets. They had good
intentions to maximize the life span of the mobile phone and ensure that the gadget does not just
shut down, causing further damage to electrical components (Etzioni, 2018). People are always
fast to judge; however, they might not know why someone made the decisions. Concerning
Apple Inc, they must have exhausted all possible options to ensure that the older versions of
Apples’ products are efficient; hence they decided to slow down the battery to avoid future
damages to the gadgets. According to Apple's argument, the law should also be expanded since
they never intended to damage their consumers. Besides, such negligence could have harmed the
strong brand that Apple Inc is having in the technology world.

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However, information about the iPhone battery and the issue of slowing down would
have been made public to their consumers. There is very sensitive information that organizations
must properly communicate to the general public. Hiding such information can be dangerous and
may cause extensive damage to an individual using the organization's products. Instead, Apple
decided to go for unethical behavior of hiding that piece of information from the general public.
The model of hiding or divulging information proves to us that Apple Inc did not involve In a
good business practice; hence according to us, the issue was not resolved according to good
business ethics. Besides, Apples Inc decide to pay off the fines to bury the hatchet.
Instead of Apple Inc finding the employees responsible for that negligence, they agreed
to remit back and pay for the damages done, which indicates that Apple Inc condones unethical
actions. Apple Inc is a successful company that may not wish to have a bad reputation, which
may harm or reduce their brands' value. However, they should have never condoned unethical
behavior within their premises (Clarke and Boersma 2017). Most organizations may get involved
in unethical behavior, which may later be costly to the organization. Apple Inc was fined a huge
amount of money due to condoning unethical actions of not communicating to the consumers of
the iPhone's batteries' issues. Hence, according to us, the controversies revolving around Apple
Inc were never resolved according to good business ethics.

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References

Clarke, T., & Boersma, M. (2017). The governance of global value chains: Unresolved human
rights, environmental and ethical dilemmas in the apple supply chain. Journal of Business
Ethics, 143(1), 111-131.
Etzioni, A. (2018). Apple: Good business, poor citizen?. Journal of Business Ethics, 151(1), 1-
11.