Apple corporate responsibility to the customers Essay

Apple corporate responsibility to the customers - Essay Example According to its vision, the organization has been quite responsive in inculcating the value of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) when dealing with the customers. Fundamentally, due to its aspiration to create customer value and employee satisfaction, the organization has developed a ‘Corporate Charity Matching Program’ to keep its employees motivated and driven towards efficiency in rendering quality services to its customers (Apple Inc., 2013; Somo, n.d.). One of the major ethical issues witnessed by Apple when performing its operational activities is often argued to be its rapid innovation concerns. It is in this context that Apple has been focused on inculcating rapid innovations of its products which has not only reduce the span of product life cycle, but has also increased its challenges in terms of customer loyalty and brand awareness. For instance, due to the rapid innovations of its product line, the customers are likely to become unresponsive to the new brands launched along with possess a feel of dissatisfaction due to the decreasing span of product life cycle. Emphasizing on this particular issue, the aim of this study is to identify the initiatives taken by Apple in performing its CSR with efficiency from a customer point of view. The discussion will thus initially focus on studying the CSR initiatives majorly followed by Apple and further emphasize on learning the implications of its CSR initiatives on the customers. Based on the understanding obtained, few recommendations will also be provided for Apple to perform more efficiently when dealing with the customers. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Performed by Apple to Customers Apple acts quite responsibly in incorporating highly efficient codes of conduct with its intention to comply with various ethical responsibilities including all the suppliers and distributors in the organization and therefore ensuring quality throughout its supply chain. Apple also emphasizes on im plementing effective CSR strategies that would integrate greater awareness and responsible conscience among the management in offering highly innovative products to its customers through effective productivity, ensuring profitability for the organization to a large extent (Apple Inc., 2013; Chun, 2011). However, in its marketing practices, the company has been focused on rapid innovations, which has given rise to certain ethical issues in relation to quality standards, privacy assurance, intellectual property rights, customer loyalty and patent law infringement risks among others. For instance, because Apple extensively focused on product innovation at frequent instance, comparatively more than its rivals, it also has to witness substantial pressure in terms of preserving product quality which needs improvement on a consistent basis. Such rigorous emphasis on product quality along with innovation not only requires huge expenditure in the research and development process, but also in creases the risk of quality errors resulting in ethical hazards and customer dissatisfaction. To be illustrated, after the introduction of iPhone 4 by Apple, it was noted that customers had to face various difficulties due to the reception error in the gadget caused because of faulty antenna interference. Apple, in order to resolve the reception problems, provided free bumpers as well as cases for a limited period of time but had to suffer from rising expenditure as well as reducing customer loyalty