Driving Change

Driving meaningful change

Our goal is to ensure the highest standard of social responsibility wherever our products are made, but we know that auditing alone will not be sufficient to accomplish that goal. Ultimate success hinges on our suppliers taking ownership of social and environmental responsibility. Below are some of the methods we have implemented to go beyond monitoring.

Teaching and learning

In 2007 we facilitated training for our suppliers’ employees — both line operators and supervisors — to raise awareness about social responsibility. We also trained a cross section of Apple employees who interact with suppliers — such as quality engineers and purchasing managers — on how to spot potential violations of our Supplier Code of Conduct.

We’ve observed that many of our suppliers’ employees have educational needs beyond learning about social responsibility. Often these employees are living away from home for the first time and need information on life skills. So in 2007 we expanded our curriculum and offered optional courses such as personal financial management, stress reduction, and conflict management. We’ll continue to refine and expand these courses in 2008.

Doing more than audits

We are seeking ways to better integrate social responsibility into our business operations. One initiative that has proven effective is the development of key performance indicators as a supplement to audits. These indicators are designed to provide an ongoing gauge of working and living conditions at a facility.

For our final assembly suppliers, we collect and analyze 23 different data points each quarter, covering topics such as employee work hours, days off, and injury rates.

The real power of this approach is the ability to show how a particular supplier has performed over the last few quarters and to compare its results with those of similar suppliers. Notably, this data is a key element in our performance reviews and helps us decide whether to award future business.

In addition, we require Apple suppliers using Tantalum, a metal used in a small number of components, to declare that the metal is not sourced from illegal mining in the Democratic Republic of Congo.