Developing Effective Transparency: A Case Study on Voluntary Disclosure and Social Responsibility at Apple Inc.

Apple Inc. ("Apple") is one of many multinational corporations in the electronics industry that uses a voluntary transparency policy to manage disclosure of information pertaining to labor conditions of supply chain factories. This note analyzes the strengths and weaknesses of Apple's transparency policies over the years, as well as the events that triggered these policies. This note also examines voluntary disclosure schemes generally, and discusses the inherent limitations of a policy that is self-defined and self-enforced. Despite its limitations, Apple's policy has initiated some positive changes to labor practices and has contributed to a broader discussion on corporate social responsibihty in electronic industry supply chains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]