Outsourcing and corporate social responsibility : Apple in China

Electronics industry has seen a tremendous industry shift from the developed countries to the emerging regions such as East and South Asia, particularly during the past four decades. And we can now see a huge industrial capability accumulation in Asia. This research note aims at, firstly, describing basic nature and structure of outsourcing business in Asia, and, secondly, we look into Apple Inc.'s supply chain to examine Apple supplier factory operations in Mainland China from, primarily, an environmental protection point of view. Based on the initial observation, it is pertinent to say that it is Apple Inc’s social corporate responsibility to address recently raised environmental issues and to create a socially responsible supply chain in China.