Running head: COMPANY OVERVIEW 1 COMPANY OVERVIEW 2 Company Overview Name: John Blair Institutional Affiliation: Rasmussen College Founded in 2001, Global Inc. is one of the leading manufacturers of consumer electronics such as personal computers, smartphones, and household appliances among other products. As a limited liability company members are not liable for the organization’s liabilities or debts (Deering & Murphy, 2003). It has experienced growth currently with approximately 13, 500 workers and an annual revenue of $14 billion as of December 2017. Smartphones and personal computers form its major source of revenue which currently comprises 45% of all the revenues. Starting 2009, the company expanded to the international market and has since experienced a growing revenue due to the expanding market share. More so, due to benefits such as cheap and readily available labor, the organization moved some of its manufacturing processes to Indonesia, Bhutan and Hong Kong which has greatly impacted the operational cost enabling it to provide goods at competitive prices. In 2016, the company faced issues related to labor management as it was established that some of its suppliers employ underage workers and also utilizes bonded labor. It has been an ethical issue faced by the organization whether it should cut ties with the suppliers and find other suppliers. The company did not have any policies that controlled labor management practices by the suppliers hence it was not likely for the organization to act with speed. On the other hand, in the established manufacturing plants in Asian countries, it emerged that some workers received wages lower than the minimum wages in the said countries. These have been the two major issues that have recently tarnished the organization’s public image. However, it has put efforts to turn around the situation and regain its previous public image. Reference Deering, A., & Murphy, A. (2003). The Partnering Imperative: Making Business Partnerships Work (1st ed.). New York, NY: Wiley. Running head: ETHICAL ISSUES IN CONSUMER ELECTRONICS INDUSTRY 1 ETHICAL ISSUES IN CONSUMER ELECTRONICS INDUSTRY 4 Trending Ethical Issues in Consumer Electronics Industry Name: John Blair Institutional Affiliation: Rasmussen College Trending Ethical Issues in Consumer Electronics Industry In the consumer electronics industry, players are competing with each other to create cutting edge devices that are more appealing to the consumers. Due to this need, majority of the manufacturers have employed various strategies such as partnering with third party manufacturers in a bid to lower operational costs hence being able to present consumers with competitively priced devices. However, it is imperative to note that adoption of the various strategies by the industry players has led to a number of ethical issues such as unfair labor practices as looked into in the following section. One, partnering with third party manufacturers.

1. Running head: COMPANY OVERVIEW
1
COMPANY OVERVIEW
2
Company Overview
Name: John Blair
Institutional Affiliation: Rasmussen College
Founded in 2001, Global Inc. is one of the leading
manufacturers of consumer electronics such as personal
computers, smartphones, and household appliances among other
products. As a limited liability company members are not liable
for the organization’s liabilities or debts (Deering & Murphy,
2003). It has experienced growth currently with approximately
13, 500 workers and an annual revenue of $14 billion as of
December 2017. Smartphones and personal computers form its
major source of revenue which currently comprises 45% of all
the revenues. Starting 2009, the company expanded to the
international market and has since experienced a growing
revenue due to the expanding market share. More so, due to
benefits such as cheap and readily available labor, the
organization moved some of its manufacturing processes to
Indonesia, Bhutan and Hong Kong which has greatly impacted
the operational cost enabling it to provide goods at competitive
prices.
In 2016, the company faced issues related to labor management
as it was established that some of its suppliers employ underage
workers and also utilizes bonded labor. It has been an ethical

2. issue faced by the organization whether it should cut ties with
the suppliers and find other suppliers. The company did not
have any policies that controlled labor management practices by
the suppliers hence it was not likely for the organization to act
with speed. On the other hand, in the established manufacturing
plants in Asian countries, it emerged that some workers
received wages lower than the minimum wages in the said
countries. These have been the two major issues that have
recently tarnished the organization’s public image. However, it
has put efforts to turn around the situation and regain its
previous public image.
Reference
Deering, A., & Murphy, A. (2003). The Partnering Imperative:
Making Business Partnerships Work (1st ed.). New York, NY:
Wiley.
Running head: ETHICAL ISSUES IN CONSUMER
ELECTRONICS INDUSTRY
1
ETHICAL ISSUES IN CONSUMER ELECTRONICS
INDUSTRY
4
Trending Ethical Issues in Consumer Electronics Industry
Name: John Blair
Institutional Affiliation: Rasmussen College
Trending Ethical Issues in Consumer Electronics Industry
In the consumer electronics industry, players are competing
with each other to create cutting edge devices that are more
appealing to the consumers. Due to this need, majority of the
manufacturers have employed various strategies such as
partnering with third party manufacturers in a bid to lower

3. operational costs hence being able to present consumers with
competitively priced devices. However, it is imperative to note
that adoption of the various strategies by the industry players
has led to a number of ethical issues such as unfair labor
practices as looked into in the following section.
One, partnering with third party manufacturers has led to a
major ethical concern when it comes to utilization and
management of labor. A good example is Apple and the
manufacturing company Foxconn. After scrutiny, it was
established that Foxconn had provided unsafe working
conditions and also employed child labor in the production
processes (Stahl, Timmermans & Flick, 2017). Foxconn was a
major partner to Apple hence leading to an ethical question
regarding Apple’s stand on fair labor practices. Foxconn
represents many factories in Asia that partner with players in
the consumer electronics industry. The manufacturing plants
tend to practice unfair labor practices in a bid to maintain low
operational costs. If the firms cut ties with the manufacturers,
they are likely to experience rising operational costs hence
leading to an ethical dilemma.
Two, the players in the consumer electronics industry are also
facing an ethical dilemma when it comes to quality assurance.
Mainly, the assembling process depends on key components and
parts from other manufacturers. Last year, Samsung Galaxy
Note 7 phones exploded and it was later found out that batteries
which were manufactured by a third party had been faulty
(Newcomb, 2017). This highlighted an ethical dilemma being
faced by a majority of consumer electronics manufacturers.
There are third parties that do not comprehensively ensure
quality products are manufactured. When faulty components
lead to problems such as exploding phones, the brand owner’s
reputation is heavily impacted. There is a need for performance
agreements to be reached to avoid such occurrences in the

4. future.
Three, there is an ethical dilemma when it comes to corporate
social responsibility. In various regions such as China and
Indonesia, the manufacturing plants established by industry
players have been causing a lot of pollution and there have been
calls for the companies to invest in measures that will help curb
pollution. However, due to the intensity of the pollution
especially in China, it is deemed costly meaning that the
companies must be ready to part with millions of dollars which
may have an impact on their overall performance (Stahl et al.,
2017). The companies feel that investing heavily in corporate
social responsibility will negatively impact their business
performance hence are not ready to do so.
From the above accounts, it can be seen that ethical issues
surrounding the consumer electronics industry mainly entail the
manner in which production is attained. Partnering with third
party manufacturers has been the leading cause of issues as the
players strive to attain minimal operational costs. Third party
manufacturers do not put in place sufficient measures for
upholding ethical business performance which is then blamed on
the industry players. In order for a firm to deal with the said
ethical issues, it is imperative that an agreement on performance
between it and the third party manufacturers is reached.
References
Newcomb, A. (2017, January 23). Samsung Finally Explains the
Galaxy Note 7 Exploding Battery Mess. Retrieved from
NBCNews: https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/samsung-
finally-explains-galaxy-note-7-exploding-battery-mess-n710581
Stahl, B., Timmermans, J., & Flick, C. (2017). Ethics of
Emerging Information and Communication Technologies: On
the implementation of responsible research and innovation.
Science and Public Policy 44(3), 369–381.

5. Running head: ETHICAL ISSUES
1
ETHICAL ISSUES
4
Ethical Issues
Name: John Blair
Institutional Affiliation: Rasmussen College
Ethical Issues
The consumer electronics industry is highly changing as various
players strive to drive strategies such as presenting customers
with cutting edge devices. More so, there are more and more
new entrants that are changing the manner in which traditional
players are meeting the needs of the consumers. For instance,
companies such as Samsung and Apple are diversifying the
product offering mainly through offering third-party products in
a bid to reach a higher customer satisfaction level (Stahl,
Timmermans & Flick, 2017). As changes continue to be
experienced in the industry, there are new ethical issues as
looked into in the following section.
One, the players in the industry are aiming at presenting
consumers with devices that are low-priced which is introducing
a new ethical concern. The companies are manufacturing
devices with low quality materials. For a number of times,
smartphone devices have exploded leading to common questions
whether the manufacturers are utilizing best materials in the
assembly line. The manufacturers are looking for cheaper
components and materials so that unit cost of the products can

6. be low, a new ethical dilemma. When such is done, the well-
being of the consumers is put at risk. More so, when such is
done, such devices are likely to wear out fast meaning that
consumers are not presented with devices worth their money.
Essentially, the manufacturers need to focus on use of materials
and components that do not compromise the quality of the
devices.
Two, there have been cases where companies have been found
to “steal” or “copy” some technological feats from a rival
company. When such happens, the company that has copied
from another faces litigation and may be heavily fined (Page,
2009). However, the companies being fined are worth billions
of dollars meaning that they may copy technologies such as
software and wait for the suit to be filed. Mainly, when an
organization copies and uses the technology, there are more
benefits such as presenting consumers with devices with the
latest technologies hence likely to satisfy the consumers. In
such a scenario, an organization is faced with an ethical
dilemma, whether to copy the technology and reap the benefits
and then get fined or to completely refrain from such a
behavior. Mainly, organizations will choose to copy and face a
litigation.
Additionally, there is a new ethical dilemma being faced by the
manufacturers when it comes to management of the relationship
with the customers. There have been several cases where
organizations realize that devices already released to the
markets are faulty. In such a case, the manufacturers are faced
with an ethical dilemma, whether to recall them and incur the
costs or let consumers continue using them. This normally
happens in a case where the faults do not lead to occurrences
such as exploding. Normally, especially with new entrants, it is
common for devices to have faulty software that consumers are
not likely to identify hence the organizations are likely to
ignore due to expenses that may be incurred if recalled.

7. Essentially, if the faults have no potential of causing injuries,
the organizations are not likely to recall them. It can be seen
that the consumer electronics industry is facing a number of
ethical issues not yet in the limelight. The organizations need to
ensure that consumers are prioritized and their needs met
effectively for them to sustain their market share and
profitability.
References
Stahl, B., Timmermans, J., & Flick, C. (2017). Ethics of
Emerging Information and Communication Technologies: On
the implementation of responsible research and innovation.
Science and Public Policy 44(3), 369–381.
Page, T. (2009). Feature creep and usability in consumer
electronic product design. International Journal of Product
Development 9(4), 31-59.