Apple’s Tim Cook Talks About Corporate Responsibility to Community

Companies have obligations to their shareholders, but for Financial results report Q2 2020, Tim Cook made it clear that his responsibility for the company also requires commitments to the community.

Responsible business

A pandemic is often the big storyteller. It highlights truths that have been obscured. Tim Cook’s opening remarks underscored the truth that businesses, especially the big and wealthy, must recognize and act on broader commitments to the community.

What does it mean? For example, companies use the planet’s resources for profit. But we all share the same planet. Companies therefore have a responsibility to reduce or even improve the impact of their actions. Apple takes take this responsibility seriously.

In the introductory remarks by CEO Cook, he similarly described a wide range of measures Apple has taken to meet its obligations in the face of a serious health threat. For example, making a million face masks a week for health professionals. Donations to charities. COVID-19 self-assessment applications. Contact tracking API (with Google). Continue to pay salaries to store employees while shops are closed. And, quoting Cook:

“In this difficult environment, our users depend on Apple products to stay connected, informed, creative and productive. We feel motivated and inspired to not only continue to meet these needs in an innovative way, but also to give back to support the global response of the tens of millions of masks and custom face masks we have sent to professionals. from anywhere in the world. world, to the millions we have donated to organizations such as Global Citizen and America’s Food Fund. ‘

High contrast

This corporate value contrasts sharply with some who, it seems, believed it was entirely appropriate to abuse and exploit their customers. Because it was profitable and easy to live with.

If there was a cynical belief that Apple’s legacy of personal health, the environment, and customer privacy and security was nothing but a ruse for its great profits, this vanity is now being tested. naked as a lie during this potentially deadly pandemic.

Again, we see a stark contrast to some other companies that are slow to protect their workers in crowded factories and warehouses. Significant amounts were also available to them, but their late actions and focus on profit did not properly meet their obligations to the community.

Harder times could come for Apple, but it was great to see Apple use its corporate bond sense to calibrate its course through a major global crisis. More than ever, we respect and admire Tim Cook’s leadership.