Content area
Abstract
Recently, Apple released a list of suppliers that accounts for 97% of the company's supply chain expenses. The company also became the first technology enterprise to join the Fair Labor Association, which works to improve labor conditions and boasts such members as Nike, Adidas, and H&M. The increased transparency is welcome after a spate of bad press regarding overseas supplier Foxconn and others raised doubt about Apple's commitment to corporate social responsibility (CSR). The world's largest electronics manufacturer, Foxconn employs more than one million people who work for clients like Amazon, Microsoft, and HP, as well as Apple. It is one of the few firms worldwide with the capacity and skill to build the Xbox 360, Kindle, and iPhone, and labor costs are cheap. One engineer with a college degree made US $22 for a 12-hour work day before he was burned to death in an iPad unit dust explosion at Foxconn in May 2011.