Apples Labor Issues - Assignment Example

Running Head: АРРLЕ’S LАBОR ISSUЕS АND РR МISЕRIЕS Name Course Tutor Date Introduction Apple is one of the leading smartphone and computer companies in the world today. It was rated among the most valuable brands, defeating other major brands such as Coca-Cola and General Motors in 2013. Recently Apple has been losing its market to major competitors who have discovered new and better way to appeal to the extensive market of smartphones, tablets and personal computers. Though it has experienced much growth, it has lost its market share to other competing companies that employ strategies that seem to work better in a highly dynamic and competitive market. One factor that has emerged as a source of major contention for Apple is the public relations that the company employs regarding employees and working conditions (PR News Report Cards, 2005). The company has been blamed for having high prices that are not accessible for many except those in the high end markets. Competitors and rivals have taken advantage of this and have come up with cheaper products that solve problems that are common to the market. Obviously, consumers go for cheaper products that are of high quality. However, Apple remains a huge contender due to its brand recognition and awareness that has seen loyal consumers make repurchases and recommend their products over and overs. Apart from losing market to major competitors, Apple has also been faced with a public relations challenge. Critics have argues that the company is only focused on making big sales and is not concerned with the welfare for employees that work to meet their objectives. The public relation miseries have been blamed for part of the challeng that have been facing the company of late. Question 1 The public relations problem at Apple has been caused by reports of neglect of workers and inhumane working conditions that manufacturers have to go through in production of Apple products. Labour activists have voiced their concerns about how such a prestigious company would treat their employees. To make the situation even worse, employees at Apple manufacturing has been going on for sometime despite the many complains from different stakeholders. Consumers all over the world who are frequent shoppers of Apple products such as the iPhone, the ipad, and computers expressed their shock over the issue (Agnello, 2012,). Being a highly valued company, the same was expected to be replicated among employees in the company. Apple outsources cheap manufacturing labour from companies in countries such as China. There have been reports of employee deaths working the company as a result of the inhumane working conditions. Being the highly reputable company that the public considers, the situation was not expected. The image and reputation that any organisation has in the eyes of the public is very crucial in determining its overall performance. The general public relates to issues about how employees are treated and draw their buying decisions from there (Kent, 2010, P. 750). In a bid to deal with the allegations, Apple conducted a survey in it partner companies that were involved in manufacturing of its product in order to take necessary steps to correct the situation. Having billions of dollars in profits and revenues it is expected that the company should be a prestigious employer as well. It was discovered that 62% of the companies that Apple was in partnership with did not follow policies as they had been set by Apple (Agnello, 2012,). Apple halted the services of two companies that were found to be repeat violators of the policies. However this might have come too late as the reputation and image of the entire company was at stake and had already been tarnished. Though Apple showed efforts to alleviate the crisis, the damage had already been done and consumer had become sceptical over the company many wondered why Apple would let such injustices go on with their knowledge while at he same time they continued to carry out business as usual. Despite the competitive challenges that saw the market growth of Apple fall, the labour issues also contributed to this. One of the strong points that Apple has is a strong brand of quality and consumer loyalty. This was heavily affected as it was reflected in the performance, especially against major competitors. Further, competitors saw a weak point in their labour strategies and took advantage of it to appeal to the Apple market, hence decreasing their overall performance. The lessons that Apple and other could learn from the labour miseries is that public image and reputation are very crucial in determining the market perspective and consequent performance. Public outrage concerning the conduct of a company could see it lose its portfolio in terms of market share, profitability and public trust (Grunig, 2013, p. 6). To correct such situations, businesses are forced to spend huge amounts of money in order to redeem themselves. This was evidenced by the process which Apple had to take in research and surveying about the allegations. Public relations mistakes within organisations will always be considered by consumers and the public even long after they are solved ( Smith, 2013, p, 6) Question 2 Though Apple has worked in rebuilding public trust and reputation, there are models that it could utilise to make ensure that the crises in public relations and labour miseries are dealt with comprehensively. N 1984, Grinig and Hunt came up with four models of public relations to deal with different situations. The models include Press Agentry Model, Public Information Model, 2 way asymmetrical Model and the Two Way Symmetrical Model. While Apple could utilise most of these models to deal with different aspects of the situation, the biggest challenge lies in the public perception of the company and its effects once it was exposed (Grunig, 2013, p. 5). In this case, convincing the public on how the matter was being dealt with was significant. Therefore, the public information model was most appropriate to deal with the crisis. Making the general public understand the situation, its causes, what was being done and future preventative measure should be covered in the strategy. Information released to the public should be supported with evidence and support information to back up any claims of progress. Further, the platform should be used to make statements explaining the source of the problem and measures put in place to appeal to aggrieved parties (Watson & Noble, 2007, p. 8). The public information strategy should utilise press releases, conferences, interview and web publications all matters should be directed towards regaining public confidence and should be handled from all possible avenues. To show the concern and weight of the issues, top management and leaders should be at the forefront in addressing the public over the issues. All conclusive matters should be made know and be satisfactory to the public. Furthermore, other models in could be used to find out the root labour problems and deal with them accordingly Question 3 In the contemporary world competition has become so apparent and brutal that companies have been forced to be innovative and creative. In this view, competitor strategies are closely scrutinised in a bid to identify niches that might be resourceful. Therefore, exposing weaknesses to competitors is a detrimental mistake that may see loss of business. The Apple case in the public relations expose is an example of this. Their public relations miseries exposed them to challenges in terms of market orientation, market share, production costs and most importantly public reputation (Zamani, Kasimati, Giaglis, 2012, 441). The problem was so widespread due to the emergence of social media which facilitated public knowledge of the situation. As a result, protests were not only physical outside Apple stores but also in social media platforms. The scope of Apple as an international company helped it to survive the challenge, though the image had already been affected( Gupta, Prinzinger 2013, P. 215). If Apple was a small sized company and faced similar challenges, it would have been on the brink of collapse. Further, Apple had the financial and human resource capability to deal with the crisis. It management was able to quell the protests and assure the public of corrective action to manage the crisis. In the digital era, companies should be weary of public relations problems due the speed at which they spread and the potential they have to cause damages. Therefore, companies should always ensue that labour rights are followed and reputation within workers meets public expectations, they should also ensure that proper channels of complains and problems facing all stakeholders are put in place and dealt with in a conclusive and comprehensive manner. Employers should also ensure employee satisfaction through provision of good working conditions and appropriate remuneration. Crisis centres should be set o dal with any issues that might cause public relations and hence ruin reputations and public images. Conclusion Public relations is a very crucial and important aspect of businesses. The image and reputation plays a huge role in determining performance and sustainability. The labour crises at Apple cost huge amounts of resources to deal with. This was accompanied by market loss and reduction in profitability. When businesses are facing public relation cries, it is the competitor who gains from it. In this view, other smartphone manufactures in the market gained market share and improved profitability as a result. However, when such issues occur, measures to reduce their effects should be taken through employment of appropriate public relations models and corrective strategies. Each situation should be approached with caution and relevant models applied. Businesses should also have in mind the digital era could have both in aggravating and alleviating public relations crises. References Agnello, A, 2012Investorpalce. Retrieved December 18, 2013, from Apple’s Labor Issues and PR Miseries: http://investorplace.com/2012/02/apples-labor-issues-and-pr-miseries-aapl-msft-dell-mmi/#.UrHt6yfAO58 Gupta, A. & Prinzinger, J. 2013, "Apple, Inc.: Where Is It Going From Here?", Journal of Business Case Studies (Online), vol. 9, no. 3, pp. 215-n/a. Kent, 2010, What is a public relations “crisis”? Refocusing crisis research’, The handbook of crisis communication, pp.705-712. "PR News Report Cards: In Times Of Crisis, Even Icons Can Tumble", 2005, PR News, vol. 61, no. 39, pp. 1. Smith, R, 2013, Strategic planning for public relations. Routledge. London "Strategy Analytics Smartphone Shipments Report: 'Android's Domination of Global Smartphone Shipments Hits New Peak in Q3 2013'", 2013, Professional Services Close - Up, . Steiner, Z, 2012, RESTORING EMPLOYER IMAGE AFTER A CRISIS (Doctoral dissertation, Colorado State University). Zamani, E, Kasimati, A, Giaglis, G. 2012. Response to a PR Crisis in the age of Social Media: a Case Study Approach. In International Conference on Contemporary Marketing Issues (ICCMI) pp. 441. Grunig, J, 2013, Excellence in Public Relations and Communication Management, Routledge, London Watson, T , Noble, P, 2007, Evaluating Public Relations: A Best Practice Guide to Public Relations Planning, Research and Evaluation, Kogan Page Publishers, London. Read More