CORE AND PERIPHERY
1 Apple is renowned for the control it exercises over every element of its business, from design to marketing. The resulting products, to its fans, verge on perfection. But there are clearly some steps in the manufacturing process that it does not supervise so closely. According to a report the firm released on February 23rd, the treatment of workers at several of its contractors in various countries broke both local laws and Apple’s own standards. Such problems are thought to be rife at Western firms’ suppliers in China in particular, but are seldom brought to light. Even Apple’s account raises more questions than it answers.
2 Apple says some of its suppliers hired underage employees, dumped hazardous waste illegally, made staff work unreasonable hours and paid less than the minimum wage. They also violated Apple’s own standards by discriminating against pregnant women, providing inadequate safety equipment and imposing onerous recruitment fees on workers. Remedial steps, the company says, have already been taken. But it does not specify where these events occurred or how many people were affected. Over the past three years the firm has increased the number of facilities audited each year from 39 to 102. But how much of its production this represents is not disclosed. The report does, however, observe that Apple’s suppliers are good at protecting its intellectual property, if not their workers’ rights.
3 To be fair, Apple was under no obligation to commission the report or make its findings public. What is more, the report claims, “During most of our audits, suppliers stated that Apple was the only company that had ever audited their facility for supplier responsibility.”
4 China’s reluctance to grant visas to foreign reporters and its censorship of the press does allow factories to elude the kind of scrutiny that would be routine elsewhere. But even China may have limits. On February 25th th, a government mouthpiece, reported that 62 workers had been poisoned in a poorly ventilated factory in Suzhou run by Wintek, a Taiwanese manufacturer that makes products for firms including Apple and Nokia.
5 To defuse concerns about their contractors’ conduct, some Western firms, such as Nike, have made their entire supply chains public. That is something that Apple, which is notoriously secretive, remains unwilling to do.
THE ECONOMIST, MARCH, 6TH-12TH, 2010
Which of the following events most likely supports the declaration in paragraph 4 that “...even China may have limits”?
a) China has started vigorously to investigate factories that have been accused of unfair or illegal labor practices.
b) China will now make it more difficult for foreign firms to set up joint operations with domestic manufacturing companies.
c) China has started to review its policy on granting visas to foreign reporters.
d) China's government has accused a Taiwanese manufacturer of doing nothing to save the lives of 62 workers who had been poisoned in a factory.
e) A Chinese government news organ revealed an incident in which Chinese workers were hurt in a factory.
