Flashcards
Apple - example of TNC
Cards in this deck (21)
- 1Apple Inc. is what ?a transnational electronic technology corporation
- 2where is its HQ ?california
- 3apple produces many of the familiar high tech products that are marketed under what ?its universal 'i' brand
i.e. iMacs, iPhones, iPods, iPads and launched the new 'apple watch' in 2015 - 4since 2000 apple has experienced phenomenal growth as an organisation because of its development of mobile and wifi-devices - apple is now the worlds ... ?- second largest IT company by revenue
- third-largest mobile phone manufacturer
- largest music retailer
- number 1 global brand by value - 5apple has over 98,000 full time employees and over 450 retail stores in how many countries ?16
- 6apples success has been due to what factors ?- stylish and well-designed products
- slick marketing and branding = generating brand loyalty
- innovative products
- focus highly on mobile devices, which fits their markets needs
- selling, via the internet, their ancillary products music and apps - 7what is apple's market / average market profile ?their market is predominantly in richer, developed countries - in 2014 44% of sales were in the USA
average market profile = young (average age of 31); wealthy and educated who a re prepared to pay a premium price for their products - 8SPATIAL ORGANISATION : apple is a truly global company with distinctive geography - their main products are designed where ? made where ? and sold where ?designed in Silicon Valley, California
made in china by Foxconn (a Taiwan based economy)
sold all over the world - especially to consumers in developed countries - 9SPATIAL ORGANISATION : most of apple's employees are based in the developed world, mainly in the USA - this reflects the high-tech and knowledge intensive nature of its business - describe the spatial organisation- HQ, research and design centres and data centres are concentrated in silicon valley California (agglomeration)
- European HQ in cork, Ireland where it employs 4000 workers on its production line and customer support call centre
- assembly of apple's main products is outsourced to Foxconn - main production base is is Foxconn city, Shenzhen in Guangdong province China
- of its 453 retail stores, 110 are in europe and middle east and 25 in china - 10what is agglomeration ?when companies in similar industries locate near to each other because of the benefits gained by sharing ideas and resources
- 11PRODUCTION: apple's mainstream products are produced in china - what are the reasons for this ?- large source of highly skilled, hard-working but low paid workers
- a number of mainly taiwanese companies competed for the apple manufacturing contract which forced down production costs
- shenzen was location of China's first and most successful Special Economic Zone, offering a no. of incentives to attract foreign companies - 12IMPACTS ON IRELAND: apple's european HQ is based in cork, it is the only fully apple-owned manufacturing facility in the world - why was apple lured to locate in ireland ?as the irish government had a 12.5 % corporation tax = second lowest in EU
- 13IMPACTS ON IRELAND: what are the positive impacts apple has had on ireland ?- employs 4000 workers directly on imac production line = corks largest private employer
- indications that apples presence has generated up to a further 2500 jobs for workers employed as part of supply chain
- company's presence in cork has attracted other high-tech firms
- presence has also attracted a highly skilled workforce and provided inspiration for local education, research and development
- company has expanded and contributed to infrastructural improvements in the city - 14IMPACTS ON IRELAND: what are the negative impacts apple has had ?many of the more highly skilled workers are foreign nationals (mainly from EU), apple accused of not creating sufficient work for local people
- 15IMPACTS ON IRELAND: apple has been accused of corporate tax avoidance - as a TNC operating in a no. of countries it can use subsidiary firms in other countries to declare profits and pay lower rate of tax - the investigation into apple's tax liabilities has caused what ?tension between USA and EU as each claimed that apple owed them tax on their profits = exposed flaw in increasingly globalised world
- 16IMPACTS ON CHINA: WORKING CONDITIONS: in 2006 reported that 200,000 workers who lived and worked in the shenzen factory were regularly what ? what did media reports call this ?working more than 60 hours a week for around $100 a month, half of which was taken up by living expenses
media reports used the term 'sweatshop conditions' and reported enforced overtime - 17IMPACTS ON CHINA: HEALTH AND SAFTEY: what happened to 50 workers in 2010 at a company subcontracted by foxconn ?the were poisoned by a toxic chemical used to clean ipad screens and decided to sue apple - in order to reduce costs adequate ventilation had not been installed - most cases were settled out of court
- 18IMPACTS ON CHINA: STUDENT AND CHILD LABOUR: foxconn's use of students and children is part of its objective of maintaining a low-cost and flexible labour force - employees under 18 are subject to what ?the same working conditions as adults - provincial authorities supported the policy by allowing them to be graded as interns or trainees
- 19IMPACTS ON CHINA: what has brought the most damage to apples reputationof all controversies, the suicides in 2009-10 probably brought the most damage to apple's reputation as a business
- 20ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES: criticism have largely come from Greenpeace - as a global environmental campaigning group they carry a lot of influence and produce a green electronic guid which ranks companies on their environmental performance - what was apple criticised for ?- it reliance on non-renewable resources to supply electricity to its data centres
- use of toxic chemicals such as PVC, in their manufacturing process
- factories in china were discharging pollutants and toxic metals into local water supplies
- lack of recyclability of many of apples products - 21ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES: how did apple respond to the environmental issues ?by launching its Green My Apple campaign to improve its green credentials - now uses 75% renewable energy - investing in large solar farms to power its data centres
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- geography case studies / examples (global governance ) Flashcards on Apple - example of TNC, created by niamh bergin on 27/05/2018.
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