Independent Investigation of Apple Supplier - Case Study Example

Case Analysis Assignment of the of the Step Problem Definition The Foxconn Technology Group can be considered as one of the biggest dealers of technological component products. It mainly does business with the companies like Apple Inc. and Hewlett Packard. Since the year 2009, the considered company has been facing serious lawsuits in its various factories in China. The lawsuits are concerning the inequitable labor practices as well as sweatshop practices followed. The issues cropped up when many of the workers working in the firm committed suicide because of huge work stress. The Taiwanese owned electronic components producing multinational company was severely criticized by the international human rights activist groups as well as the other activists in the global communities due to the large scale exploitation of the cheap labor sources in the country. The problems faced by the company were one of the most cited examples of the global sweatshop issues prevailing in the international scenarios at that time. The Foxconn workers’ suicide cases were investigated by a number of domestic and international authorities including the fair Labor Association (FLA) which identified severe malpractices in the human resource management systems implemented in the manufacturing houses of the company (Fair Labor Association, 2012). A number of core human resource management issues were identified in the company which included the exploitation of labors, the use of unfair labor practices, the provision of biased and unjust work environment, a non-caring attitude of the company towards the safety and health of the worker groups, low payment of wages and extremely long working hours. Along with these practices, the authoritative treatment of the managers of the company towards the labor groups also deteriorated the working condition of the labors in the Foxconn factories, thereby creating an exemplary sweatshop practice case for the company. The cultural aspect of the company further aggravated the human resource issues and malpractices in the factories of the Foxconn Technology Group. The company was accused of exploiting the labor resources in the then developing state of China after the repeated suicide cases of the workers drew high levels of media attention and were discussed on the global platforms. The fair stand taken by Apple Inc. which was the biggest client of Foxconn Technology Group was another main factor which further alleviated the criticisms made towards the company. Apple Inc. clearly stated that it would severe all types of business relations with the supplier if it does not immediately reinforce fair and just working practices and work environment for the labors in all its functional factories (Barboza and Duhigg, 2012). The suicide case records in the factories of Foxconn Technology Group as identified by the Fair Labor Association (FLA) are given in the table below. Figure 1: Foxconn suicides case frames in Chinese and the US press (in percentage) (Source: Fair Labor Association, 2012) Step 2: Justification for Problem Definition The human resource management issues faced by Foxconn Technology Group have already drawn major attention and consequently severe criticisms regarding the viability ad validity of the company as one of the largest private employer group in China. With the increasing focus of the international labor market authorities on the exploitation of labors in the developing countries, the human resource management issues of Foxconn has already led to the tarnishing of the brand reputation to a great extent. Also, it has led to the international regulatory authorities like the Fair labor Association (FLA) to continuously monitor and investigate the actions of the Foxconn Technology Group in relation to its human resource management practices. Coupled with these factors, the stand taken by the main clients of the company like Apple Inc. and Hewlett Packard etc. has made it more necessary for the company to adopt contemporary and sustainable human resource management techniques (Fair Labor Association, 2012). The use of labor management systems and strategies that would ensure the creation of a positive and supportive work environment for the labor groups of the company would be a suitable step that can be taken by the company to ensure future sustainability and viability of the business (Foxconn, 2010). Step 3: Alternative Courses of Action Foxconn Technology Group can spotlight to take up various preventive measures to avoid such kind of actions from the workers in the coming future. Such actions will place the foundation stone for taking remedial measures on human resource management strategies. From the above discussion it can easily be stated that the company under consideration is much weak in terms of being a socially responsible employer (Culpan, 2010). The unfair labor practices and labor exploitation done by the company over the years of its existence have already removed the trust factor associated with the brand to an almost irreparable degree. However, if the company takes timely steps as a part of the corrective measures to build up a sustainable human resource management system in the factories of the company, then the damage can be repaired to a considerable extent. This process may be time and cost incurring but the returns are likely to be high. Moreover, the company has little option other than trying to revive its damaged reputation as per the requirements of the present situation. Firstly, the company should establish a people oriented organizational culture and work environment that would focus on the soft HRM approaches rather than on the hard HRM approaches. Secondly, the company should focus on adhering to the industry standards of working hours and pay scales. The work environment should have embedded strategies for maintaining adequate health and safety standards for the workers. Additionally, the mental and psychological health of the employees should also be seen as a matter of concern. Thirdly, the company should also extend high degrees of standardized as well as customized training and development support the employee groups so that the trust level and commitment levels of the employees can be heightened through the development of employee welfare ad interests (Armstrong, 2006). Step 4: Evaluation of Alternatives The implementation of the above decided human resource management strategies may have several pros and cons associated with each one of them. The first strategy of employing a people oriented culture and organizational environment would be time incurring and would also call for high levels of cooperation and communication among all levels of employees in the company. Also, it would require a complete transformation from the current hierarchical controlling structure of the company to a more open and collaborative structure which may be difficult for immediate implementation. The second strategy of establishing safe and secure work environments for the employees should be immediately considered because it is a mandatory step for survival in the highly conscious corporate world. The third strategy of extending support and training systems for the employee groups is an add-on human resource management initiative that should be employed by the company to gain sufficient competitive advantage in terms of being a preferred and reputed employer. Step 5: Review In this part of the paper it can be implied that strategies relating to human resource management should be before and after implementation with the aim to understand the feasibility or the consistency of them. Also, review is necessary to understand the associated costs and the benefits that can be expected from the use of each of this human resource management strategy in the Foxconn Technology Group. The review of each of the human resource management strategies should also be done to understand whether they are acting in a suitable manner to achieve the pre decided organizational objectives, enabling the company to become consistent in terms of adhering to the labor market and labor economic standards and regulations. Step 6: Conclusions, Recommendations and Decisions Thus, it can be recommended that setting up above average standards and practices for the welfare and management of the labor group in the factories of Foxconn would be a major initiative that can help the company to develop its human resource management arena and also enhance the organizational effectiveness, sustainability and reputation among the global citizen groups (Huang and Chen, 2009). The employment of the systems that would enable sufficient levels of adherence and compliance to the domestic and international labor market regulations and practices should be given the highest level of priority in the process of establishing suitable human resource management strategies in the Foxconn Technology Group. This can be followed by the establishment of the other two strategies decided or the company. Step 7: Follow Up and Evaluation The evaluation of the implemented human resource management practices and strategies would be necessary to understand how far the desired results have been achieved after the implementation of these strategies. The evaluations should be done by a dedicated department within the human resource management groups of the company and should be done on a periodic and frequent basis so that any loopholes or unfair practices in the human resource management practices of the company can be immediately identified and rectified. This would help to save the company from a varied number of monetary and non-monetary threats and issues. . References Armstrong, M. (2006). A Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice. London: Kogan Page. Barboza, D. & Duhigg, C. (2012). China Contractor Again Faces Labor Issues on iPhones. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/11/technology/foxconn-said-to-use-forced-student-labor-to-make-iphones.html. Culpan, T. (2010). Foxconn removes safety nets, holds rallies after suicides. Retrieved from www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-08-17/iphone-maker-foxconn-removes-nets-to-hold-rallies-after-spate-of-suicides.html. Fair Labor Association. (2012). Foxconn Verification Status Report. Retrieved from http://www.fairlabor.org/sites/default/files/documents/reports/appendix1_interns_final.pdf. Fair labor Association. (2012). Independent Investigation of Apple Supplier, Foxconn. Retrieved from http://www.fairlabor.org/sites/default/files/documents/reports/foxconn_investigation_report.pdf. Foxconn. (2010). Foxconn suffers promised to value their lives and care for their families: Further promote the love and care project. Retrieved from http://www.foxconn.com.cn/ComDetailNews40.html. Huang, Y. & Chen, J. (2009). Discursive democratization in mainland China: A diachronic study of the New Year’s editorials in the People’s Daily. Journal of Asian Pacific Communication, Vol. 9 (2), pp. 199–217. Read More