Apple is not evil.

Apple is not good.

Apple is an Idol.

As shown in recent articles in the NY Times and elsewhere, Apple is a corporation with a value system that makes rapid manufacturing a higher priority than safe and humane working conditions.

As a loyal Apple customer, I was shocked to read about the horrific conditions in the Chinese factories where iPhones and iPads are manufactured.  As a student of corporate culture, I can understand how it happened.

To summarize the news accounts:

• Hundreds of people injured by chemicals or explosions at iPad manufacturing plants over the last few years, even after repeated warnings about safety issues
• People living in overcrowded dorm rooms, working seven days a week, and having pay withheld as punishment.
• Former consultants and employees at Apple assert that the company is more concerned with continued product delivery and avoiding embarrassment than solving the problems

Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple responded to the stories in the Times in an internal email, published by the website 9to5Mac.  As a company and as individuals, we are defined by our values. Unfortunately some people are questioning Apple’s values today… We care about every worker in our worldwide supply chain. Any accident is deeply troubling, and any issue with working conditions is cause for concern. Any suggestion that we don’t care is patently false and offensive to us. 

I agree with Mr. Cook – this is an issue of values.  But values are measured by actions not feelings.  I take Mr. Cook at his word – they do care about the people.  But they care more about delivery times and costs.  The NY Times quotes a former executive who describes an internal debate. “Executives want to improve conditions within factories, but that dedication falters when it conflicts with crucial supplier relationships or the fast delivery of new products.”  This illustrates something I learned from interviewing many people in the corporate world: when the rubber hits the road decisions are driven by the overriding value system of the company. Apple’s true values are revealed by the decisions of its employees.

Mr. Cook’s goes on to describe Apple’s ongoing efforts to make changes.  For example it now will allow independent auditing of working conditions in its supply chain.  Apple’s changes are described in terms of the advantages to the business, not in terms of human values.

Apple was in a unique position to lead the industry by taking this step [to allow outside auditors]… These are the kinds of actions our customers expect from Apple.

What we will not do — and never have done — is stand still or turn a blind eye to problems in our supply chain.  I was really surprised as I read the last sentence.  I thought he was going to say “turn a blind eye to human suffering.”  I guess that is why I am here and he is there.

The email never says things like “we are doing everything we can to correct safety and labor issues as quickly as possible.”   It doesn’t say “We need to do more for worker safety, even if it means things need to go more slowly.”  The Times quotes a former Apple executive who says “We’ve known about labor abuses in some factories for four years, and they’re still going on.  If half the iPhones were malfunctioning, do you think Apple would let it go on for four years?”

Apple YOU ARE BUSTED.   

Chris O’Brien wrote in the San Jose Mercury news, “Conditions have never magically improved on their own.  Progress happens because people demand it.”

A company is tone deaf to morality, but hears a threat to its profits loud and clear.  I am not tone deaf to morality, and my purchasing behavior will change if Apple doesn’t change the way it treats its workers.