While it might not be making headlines, a small Apple item in the news today caught my interest. At 10 AM local time at various Apple retail locations around the world, groups of the company’s customers were scheduled to deliver petitions containing at least 250,000 signatures demanding reforms to the way in which Apple conducts business with its suppliers, particularly a Chinese firm called Foxconn. This action stems in large part from a recent New York Times article that highlighted the often brutal working conditions at Foxconn’s Chinese facilities, conditions so awful that it led to a number of suicides over the course of the past year. Apple has stated that it recognizes the problem and has taken adequate measures to address the situation, including the imposition of what it terms a stringent annual review process for its entire supply chain. Others disagree, as this petition drive shows.
This is a fascinating story because Apple is on a tear and has always prided itself on being anti-establishment and the embodiment of cool. Today, however, the company is very much a global leader and a member of the global business establishment whether it wishes to be or not. Leaders are rightly held to a higher standard and they have to realize that as trend setters they are responsible for meeting those loftier expectations. This story might get buried under the impending avalanche of news that will greet the expected March launch of the iPad3 but all it takes is one or two more tragedies at one of its foreign suppliers to reignite this issue and should it flare up again Apple might not be able to ignore the furor.
