Offshoring

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Question 1
Apple has an ethical obligation of ensuring that the workers from where they outsource their products are treated well by their contractor. Others may argue that Apple does not have any obligation to the workers as well as they are following the law and making profits as businesses should (Friedman 112). Of course, it would be financially beneficial for Apple to turn a blind eye to the suffering of the Chinese workers as long as they were meeting their desired profit margins.
Nonetheless, as much as Apple wants to make huge profits, it still has a social responsibility where it is supposed to uphold high ethical standards. Ethical standards are also the responsibilities of the company. The main ethical principles are beneficence, non-maleficence, fairness, truthfulness, justice, and respect for autonomy. These are the ethical principles that should be applied by Apple. For instance, some of the offshore companies have been proven to underpay its workers despite being overworked, this breaks the ethical principles. Since Apple is a beneficiary of their labor, it has a huge responsibility to ensure that the employees receive their dues as deserved.
This is supported by Post et al (n.p.) who mentioned that the cooperate organizations have a social responsibility of ensuring that the workers also benefit from this program. Since Apple is one of the main stakeholders in the company, it also has an ethical duty of ensuring that the workers are treated well.

To ensure this Is achieved Apple has set a standard for its contractors to ensure that they maintain an ethical condition for the workers
At the same time, Apple may be bound by the laws of the country that it outsources its products. Some of these countries may have a lower wage standard than that that is the US where Apple is situated. In such cases, there is tiny that can be done. However, Apple can influence the modifications of other conditions such as overworking and child labor. In such cases, Apple should step in to promote humanity.
Question 2
Human Resource Management is one of the core departments of an organization. HRM deals directly with the employees and therefore, it may have a big influence on how the workers are treated. A company should apply ethical principles in its business to create a positive environment where the business will thrive on a long-term basis. Ethical standards are influenced by human rights, virtue ethics and an analysis of the all the stakeholders in the business. The ethical standards are also based on the general ethical principles that have been mentioned before.
In general, the companies have an overall social responsibility that surpasses the economic benefits of the company. Therefore, in accomplishing this responsibility, the company has to ensure that it abides by the internationally accepted ethical principles.
Nevertheless, the application of human resource management at an international level is likely to be faced with some challenges. This may be caused by the differences in labor laws among different localities. For instance, different countries may have different wage bills for their workers. In this case, the HRM may be faced with a challenge of equalizing the ethical principles across the board. Another challenging factor is the integration of different cultures into the organization. The HR is responsible for ensuring that its employees receive adequate training on the culture of a foreign country so as to maintain the ethical principles within the jurisdiction of that country. Bribery is another challenge that the HR may face when executing his duties. While in some countries facilitation payments may be considered as a bribe, is some countries is may not. Therefore, this poses a particular ethical challenge to the HR especially if he comes from a country that has strict bribery principles.
Works cited
Friedman, Milton. Capitalism and Freedom. Chicago, USA: University of Chicago Press, 2009.
Post, James E., William Frederick C., Anne Lawrence T., and James Weber. Business and Society: Corporate strategy, Public policy, Ethics. New York, USA: McGraw-Hill, 1996.