So much of what I read is familiar - although extreme. Have suppliers clamoring to work with you, take apart their financials so you know actual cost and then allow a minimum profit. It's the new American way... and we reward these companies with tax breaks. Maybe this time - because the story is about the iconic American company, Apple - the country will understand what is happening and what they are complicit in.
Yes, there is such a thing as too much profit if that profit comes from these types of practices. Here's a short blurb from the article. You have to read it for yourself.
"Apple typically asks suppliers to specify how much every part costs, how
many workers are needed and the size of their salaries. Executives want
to know every financial detail. Afterward, Apple calculates how much it
will pay for a part. Most suppliers are allowed only the slimmest of
profits.
So suppliers often try to cut corners, replace expensive chemicals with
less costly alternatives, or push their employees to work faster and
longer, according to people at those companies.
'The only way you make money working for Apple is figuring out how to do
things more efficiently or cheaper,' said an executive at one company
that helped bring the iPad to market. 'And then they’ll come back the
next year, and force a 10 percent price cut.'"
We are a better country. We are a better people than this.
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