Apple values innovation in their products. That is why Apple is such a well-known brand for their superior technology products. When skimming through Apple’s marketing strategy there is little room for CSR initiatives (Basin 2016). However, when you delve further into the economic, legal, ethical and philanthropic projects that Apple undertakes, which is what Carroll (1991) depicts as the four CSR branches, there are many different initiatives.

 

       In terms of the positive aspects of CSR, Apple is good at partnering with stakeholders to achieve desired change. They have also been committed to powering their buildings with 100% renewable energy (currently at 93%: Apple 2017c; Apple 2016), which is being required by law. Prior to the death of the founder of Apple, Steve Jobs, little had done in CSR, but since then Apple has been more involved with charities and other stakeholders.

 

       However, there are still things that Apple need to accomplish to improve their CSR activities. The marketing strategy of Apple is so focused on creating innovative products, to “focus on what is really important” which is to create excellent and innovative products (Basin 2016). There is no mention of CSR in their strategy. This shows how little Apple communicates about CSR, which needs to be improved and shown on their website (currently, their website has a section for Sustainability and Environmental Responsibility). In addition, Apple have no dedicated CSR team (Godelnik 2012).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

       The main way that Apple communicates its CSR is through their website. They publish yearly reports and environmental audits, which they also post on their website. In terms of their employees, it was found that employees are not told about CSR initiatives during training (click here for INTERVIEW transcript ). In addition, an observational survey of an Apple store found no information about any CSR projects. According to the Dawkin's (2004) category of stakeholders, Apple is only communicating to opinion leaders, and not to the general public. Apple should be communicating to the general public, which has proven to be a valuable type of communications.

 

Here are some of the CSR initiatives that Apple are currently undertaking:

 

Economic

• To reach out to the audiences of below initiatives to buy Apple products

• To bring about sustainable changes that will lessen costs of energy in the future

 

Legal

• Participating in protests against immigration and partnering with the International Organisation for Migration to see change (Apple 2017a; Williams 2017)

 

Ethical

• Energy efficiency: aiming for 100% of all their buildings to completely rely on renewable energy (Apple 2017a)

• Solar Projects: Creation of solar farms to generate up to 80 million kilowatt hours per year of clean energy to power 61,000 Chinese Homes (Apple 2015)

• Responsible Forestry: responsibly protect 1m acres of forestry in Beijing to achieve a net-zero impact on the world’s supply of sustainable virgin fibre (Apple 2015)

 

Philanthropic

• Matching employee donations to charities: Dollar for a dollar (Lane 2011)

• Partnership with PRODUCT Red charity to eradicate AIDS in Africa: percentage of sales on red products going to the charity (RED 2017; Jade 2006)

• Community Involvement: Organise field trips for schools to be taught various skills in an Apple shop with their Apple products (Apple 2017b)