Anyone interested in the Apple iPad has no doubt been to the Apple homepage lately and discovered this nice surprise bottom-center:
That’s right. At a time when Apple could be cross-selling any number of their new offerings, they are using one of the four sandboxes on their homepage to share their supplier responsibility practices. You know, the info that’s typically buried in the “about us” section of a company website—if it exists at all.
Strategic posturing? Maybe.
But consider the timing: Apple is on the cusp of their biggest product launch since the iPhone.
And consider the real estate: Whatever the company puts on their homepage sells.
Apple realizes at a time when their fortunes are good and the stock price is up, maybe putting social responsibility up front just might the most responsible thing they can do.
That’s my take. What’s yours?
They’re also trying to tout their “own way” of practicing and reporting sustainability/csr issues without conforming to industry reporting and disclosure norms, <- for which they've had several shareholder proposals, but have turned down. So long as they're communicating their own way, regardless of objectivity or substance, they can maintain a relatively positive brand image while conforming to their brand style of "going our own" (not fully transparent) way.
To me, it looks like Apple is doing the responsible thing. Sharing supplier responsibility practices does two things- a) Lets the stake holders show that they are a socially responsible organization and b) Lets people have access to information that they need