corporate of apple

Corporate culture
Apple was one of several highly successful companies founded in the 1970s that bucked the traditional notions of corporate culture. Jobs often walked around the office barefoot even after Apple became a Fortune 500 company. By the time of the "1984" television commercial, Apple's informal culture had become a key trait that differentiated it from its competitors.[313] According to a 2011 report in Fortune, this has resulted in a corporate culture more akin to a startup rather than a multinational corporation.[314]

As the company has grown and been led by a series of differently opinionated chief executives, it has arguably lost some of its original character. Nonetheless, it has maintained a reputation for fostering individuality and excellence that reliably attracts talented workers, particularly after Jobs returned to the company. Numerous Apple employees have stated that projects without Jobs's involvement often take longer than projects with it.[315] To recognize the best of its employees, Apple created the Apple Fellows program which awards individuals who make extraordinary technical or leadership contributions to personal computing while at the company. The Apple Fellowship has so far been awarded to individuals including Bill Atkinson,[316] Steve Capps,[317] Rod Holt,[316] Alan Kay,[318][319] Guy Kawasaki,[318][320] Al Alcorn,[321] Don Norman,[318] Rich Page,[316] and Steve Wozniak.[316]

At Apple, employees are specialists who are not exposed to functions outside their area of expertise. Jobs saw this as a means of having "best-in-class" employees in every role. For instance, Ron Johnson—Senior Vice President of Retail Operations until November 1, 2011—was responsible for site selection, in-store service, and store layout, yet had no control of the inventory in his stores (this was done by Cook, who had a background in supply-chain management).[322][322] Apple is also known for strictly enforcing accountability. Each project has a "directly responsible individual," or "DRI" in Apple jargon.[314] As an example, when iOS senior vice president Scott Forstall refused to sign Apple's official apology for numerous errors in the redesigned Maps app, he was forced to resign.[323] Unlike other major U.S. companies Apple provides a relatively simple compensation policy for executives that does not include perks enjoyed by other CEOs like country club fees or private use of company aircraft. The company typically grants stock options to executives every other year.[324]

Customer service
In 1999 Apple retained Eight Inc. as a strategic retail design partner and began creating the Apple retail stores. Tim Kobe of Eight Inc. prepared an "Apple Retail" white paper for Jobs, outlining the ability of separate Apple retail stores to directly drive the Apple brand experience—Kobe used their recently completed work with The North Face and Nike as a basis for the white paper.[citation needed] The first two Apple Stores opened on May 19, 2001 in Tysons Corner, Virginia, and Glendale, California. More than 7,700 people visited Apple’s first two stores in the opening weekend, spending a total of US$599,000.[325] As of June 2014, Apple maintains 425 retail stores in fourteen countries.[326][327] In addition to Apple products, the stores sell third-party products like software titles, digital cameras, camcorders and handheld organizers.[328]

A media article published in July 2013 provided details about Apple's "At-Home Apple Advisors" customer support program that serves as the corporation's call center. The advisors are employed within the U.S. and work remotely after undergoing a four-week training program and testing period. The advisors earn between US$9 and $12 per hour and receive intensive management to ensure a high quality of customer support.[329]

Manufacturing
The company's manufacturing, procurement and logistics enable it to execute massive product launches without having to maintain large, profit-sapping inventories. In 2011, Apple's profit margins were 40 percent, compared with between 10 and 20 percent for most other hardware companies. Cook's catchphrase to describe his focus on the company's operational arm is: “Nobody wants to buy sour milk”.[127][330]

During the Mac's early history Apple generally refused to adopt prevailing industry standards for hardware, instead creating their own.[331] This trend was largely reversed in the late 1990s, beginning with Apple's adoption of the PCI bus in the 7500/8500/9500 Power Macs. Apple has since joined the industry standards groups to influence the future direction of technology standards such as USB, AGP, HyperTransport, Wi-Fi, NVMe, PCIe and others in its products. FireWire is an Apple-originated standard that was widely adopted across the industry after it was standardized as IEEE 1394 and is a legally mandated port in all Cable TV boxes in the United States.[332]

Labor practices
Further information: Criticism of Apple Inc. § Labor practices
The company advertised its products as being made in America until the late 1990s; however, as a result of outsourcing initiatives in the 2000s, almost all of its manufacturing is now handled abroad. According to a report by the New York Times, Apple insiders "believe the vast scale of overseas factories as well as the flexibility, diligence and industrial skills of foreign workers have so outpaced their American counterparts that “Made in the U.S.A.” is no longer a viable option for most Apple products".[333]

In 2006, the Mail on Sunday reported on the working conditions of the Chinese factories where contract manufacturers Foxconn and Inventec produced the iPod.[334] The article stated that one complex of factories that assembled the iPod and other items had over 200,000 workers living and working within it. Employees regularly worked more than 60 hours per week and made around $100 per month. A little over half of the workers' earnings was required to pay for rent and food from the company.[335][336][337]

Apple immediately launched an investigation after the 2006 media report, and worked with their manufacturers to ensure acceptable working conditions.[338] In 2007, Apple started yearly audits of all its suppliers regarding worker's rights, slowly raising standards and pruning suppliers that did not comply. Yearly progress reports have been published since 2008.[339] In 2011, Apple admitted that its suppliers' child labor practices in China had worsened.[340]

The Foxconn suicides occurred between January and November 2010, when 18[341] Foxconn (Chinese: 富士康) employees attempted suicide, resulting in 14 deaths—the company was the world’s largest contract electronics manufacturer, for clients including Apple, at the time.[341][342][343] The suicides drew media attention, and employment practices at Foxconn were investigated by Apple.[344] Apple issued a public statement about the suicides, and company spokesperson Steven Dowling said:

[Apple is] saddened and upset by the recent suicides at Foxconn ... A team from Apple is independently evaluating the steps they are taking to address these tragic events and we will continue our ongoing inspections of the facilities where our products are made.[345]

The statement was released after the results from the company's probe into its suppliers' labor practices were published in early 2010. Foxconn was not specifically named in the report, but Apple identified a series of serious labor violations of labor laws, including Apple's own rules, and some child labor existed in a number of factories.[345] Apple committed to the implementation of changes following the suicides.[346]

Also in 2010, workers in China planned to sue iPhone contractors over poisoning by a cleaner used to clean LCD screens. One worker claimed that he and his coworkers had not been informed of possible occupational illnesses.[347] After a high suicide rate in a Foxconn facility in China making iPads and iPhones, albeit a lower rate than that of China as a whole,[348] workers were forced to sign a legally binding document guaranteeing that they would not kill themselves.[349] Workers in factories producing Apple products have also been exposed to n-hexane, a neurotoxin that is a cheaper alternative than alcohol for cleaning the products.[350][351][352]

A 2014 BBC investigation found excessive hours and other problems persisted, despite Apple's promise to reform factory practice after the 2010 Foxconn suicides. The Pegatron factory was once again the subject of review, as reporters gained access to the working conditions inside through recruitment as employees. While the BBC maintained that the experiences of its reporters showed that labor violations were continuing since 2010, Apple publicly disagreed with the BBC and stated: “We are aware of no other company doing as much as Apple to ensure fair and safe working conditions".[346]

In December 2014, the Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights published a report which documented inhumane conditions for the 15,000 workers at a Zhen Ding Technology factory in Shenzhen, China, which serves as a major supplier of circuit boards for Apple's iPhone and iPad. According to the report, workers are pressured into 65-hour work weeks which leaves them so exhausted that they often sleep during lunch breaks. They are also made to reside in "primitive, dark and filthy dorms" where they sleep "on plywood, with six to ten workers in each crowded room." Omnipresent security personnel also routinely harass and beat the workers