I.

Introduction

Apple Inc. is an American multinational technology company headquartered in

Cupertino, California, specializing in the design, production, and sale of consumer
electronics, computer software, and online services. It was founded in April 1976 by
Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne. Along with Amazon, Google, Microsoft,
and Facebook, it is considered one of the Five Major US Information Technology Firms.
Its hardware product lines include iPhone smartphones, iPad tablets, Macbook laptops,
Mac personal computers, iPod portable music players, Apple Watch smartwatches, Apple
TV digital media players, AirPods wireless headphones, AirPods Max headphones,
AirPods Max headphones, and smart speakers Smart HomePod. macOS, iOS, iPad,
watchOS, and tvOS, as well as the iTunes media player, Safari web browser, Shazam
music identifier, and the iLife and iWork artistic and productivity work packages, are all
part of Apple's apps. Final Cut Pro, Logic Pro, and Xcode are examples of technical
applications. The iTunes Shop, iOS App Store, Mac App Store, Apple Arcade, Apple
Music, and Apple TV are among its online services. Apple Shop, Genius Bar, AppleCare,
Apple Pay, Apple Pay Cash, and Apple Card are among the other services available.

- Of course, Steve Jobs drew the core value and sustainability for Apple, pushing senior
leaders and Apple staff to stick to conditions and abide by the rigors. Jobs is the one that
never compromises when it comes to putting that value into effect and upholding it:
Creativity and standards.

- Apple's products are known for their creativity. The proof is that, until recently, when
the first tech behemoth, IBM, had sold entirely off its personal computer and server lines,
Apple had virtually entire computer lines. Upgraded products for end-user computers and
tablets, such as the MacBook and iPad, also come with two operating systems: macOS
and iOS. And the only iOS can proudly claim to be the first company in the world to
cross a $ 1,000 billion market capitalization, preventing being swallowed up by Android
like Microsoft's Windows Phone or having to migrate to Android later. As the Nokia
HMD Global age terminal array. For decades, Apple has been the world's number one in
terms of standards.

- The quality standards from the early iPhone era and the bars from the early iPhone era
go hand in hand in the new iPhone era. No one can match Apple when it comes to
product perfection. No smartphone maker can fit the iPhone in this regard: quality,
durability, sharpness, delicacy... to every detail. That is the spirit of Steve Jobs, and from
the time Steve Jobs has been maintained and maintained until now.
Steve Jobs, a singular genius with a unique artistic vision, has never wavered from
innovation and quality ideals. However, the more passionate Steve Jobs was about these
values, the more conservative he became. Tim Cook inherits Steve Jobs's core values of
creativity and quality, but he does not embrace the obnoxious conservatism of "saint
Jobs." Although Apple today is not necessarily no longer conservative, even in Tim
Cook's thinking, the iPhone's creativity is not as dense as in the early generations because
of the spiral of change and demand. The new exhausted quickly, but in general, in both
these criteria, Apple Tim Cook still maintained a stable. Thanks to the maintenance and
integrity of that core value, the number of iPhone sales increased steadily. It does not
tend to leave but only increases, making Apple the first trillion-dollar company above.
World.

II. Case study summary

- In February 2016, Apple received an offer from the FBI and the US government to
crack the iPhone lock of a terrorist FBI asked Apple to create a "backdoor" for the iPhone
- the latest version of the iOS operating system. New to make it easier to open your phone
so you can see the documents therein.

- This offer has caused Apple, Tim Cook, to face considerable controversy when it seems
that both sides have their own goals. One side is the safety and confidentiality of
customers' personal information, and the other side is the safety of an entire country.

- With a new version of the software (IOS), information about terrorism that needs to be
extracted from the iPhone in San Bernadino will be exploited easily but will give the
government too much authority when they can easily invade. Import and retrieve
information from any iPhone user. Moreover, the software can become the target of
terrorist organizations because of its power.

- The problem that matters to us and discusses is the dilemma that Tim Cook faces when
his responsibilities to the country, the company, the customer, and the whole technology
industry in the Silicon Valley are too large and contradictory.

- The battle between the tech companies and the government is not over yet, and the way
Cook makes his decisions will be a lesson in every business decision .

Questions:
1.What are the various kinds of executive management decisions? Where does an ethical
dilemma arise?
2.What dilemmas did Tim Cook face?

3.What were Cook’s primary responsibilities, what would have influenced his decision to
refuse to succumb to U.S government pressure to build a backdoor to the iPhone?
Examine the contradiction in these responsibilities, if any.

4.Assess how Cook may have resolved these dilemmas.

5.What should Cook have done?

III. Questions and Answers

1. What are the various kinds of executive management decisions? Where do ethical
dilemmas arise?

- Here, the FBI asked Apple to provide data on the iPhone found in the car of a couple
who were suspected of having triggered the San Bernadino bombing. Currently, the FBI
wants Apple to build a so-called "back door" to get the data inside the phone quickly. But
Apple's CEO Cook refused because this is a violation of the customer's privacy, contrary
to the security criteria put on top of the company. This is also one reason that sparked
disputes over the state's encryption problems between the US government and technology
companies.

- Negotiations have been ineffective between government prosecutors and Apple. The
scene was destroyed, the government had no access to the evidence in the shootings, and
only Apple could help the authorities locate it with exclusive technological means. So the
US Federal Court released an order ordering Apple to provide the FBI with "appropriate
technical assistance," and with a 1000-word letter explaining why Apple refused the
Court's ruling.

- Apple faces an ethical challenge in which "the government has asked them to hack their
users and compromise decades of advancements in protection that protect their customers
from hackers and sophisticated cybercrime."

- Here, the FBI and the government will increase the probability of catching sophisticated
offenders if they agree, but Apple is still in violation of consumer privacy at the same
time. Apple claims that "too risky to make" is what the government needs and "simply
not." To secure consumers, Apple engineers have implemented strong encryption into the
iPhone but were ironically instructed to compromise the security. The problem faced by
the management team of Cook and Apple can be seen as the "dirty hand question," the
management ethical dilemmas, the conflict between different ethics, conflicts between
the spheres of various responsibilities.

- Overall, Executive managers are faced with ethical decision-making daily. Often,
managers may not even be aware that they are making an ethical/unethical decision.
Managers make decisions that affect their employees, customers, creditors, and
shareholders. Ethical dilemmas arise when managers face decision-making situations
whose outcome may have conflicting interests; in other words, the decision affects the
stakeholders involved so that one party is being harmed while another party is benefiting
from the outcome.

2. What dilemmas did Tim Cook face?

Tim Cook, the Chief Executive Officer of Apple, was faced with the predicament of
protecting customer information privacy versus releasing customer information to the
Federal Bureau of Information (FBI) to protect our nation’s security.

- This situation was created on December 2, 2015; a couple of Farook and wife Malik
opened fire, shot and killed 14 people, and injured 22 people at the Inland Area Center in
San Bernadino, California. The victims were all San Bernadino health workers and
gathered for a banquet where services were available to the disabled. FBI thought this is a
terrorist incident. Malik and Farook were later killed in a gunfight with police. The FBI
opened an investigation, and the focus of the research was to check the couple's phones,
computers... to determine the motive of the crime. But their computer hard drive was lost.
However, an iPhone that the boss provided to Farook was found in the car the couple
were killed in. Due to fears that the iPhone's data would be deleted, the FBI came to
Apple to expect Apple to unlock Farook's encrypted iPhone. The FBI wanted Apple to
"provide data that the iPhone owns, comply with a valid subpoena and search warrant,
etc... and Apple engineers are always ready to assist the FBI". Specifically, the FBI
wanted Apple to create software to decrypt the iPhone, a “backdoor” that would allow the
FBI to retrieve data in this investigation and future cases. But Apple disagreed with the
FBI's request.

- Tim Cook defied the FBI’s request. His reasons were:

• The government wanted Apple to create something that did not exist.

• The software that Apple would be required to create could fall into the wrong
hands and be used to unlock anyone’s iPhone.
• Building a backdoor would effectively make encryption a useless tool for
protecting data.

• Apple would be ultimately hacking into its users and reversing any security
measures it had created.

- With this as the backdrop, Tim Cook felt compelled to protect his Apple brand as there
was the potential to lose a substantial part of his customer base if he acquiesced to the
FBI’s demands. Apple firmly believed its customers were concerned with the security
and privacy of their information stored on the iPhone. However, if Tim Cook agreed to
the government’s request and built the software, Apple would be assisting in the fight
against terrorists. The software would enable the FBI to:

• Combat terrorism and aid in preventing future attacks.

• Assist in investigations by speedily obtaining data.

• Deter criminals from using their cellphones to communicate or store data

3. What were Cook’s primary responsibilities? What would have influenced his
decision to refuse to succumb to U.S government pressure to build a backdoor to the
iPhone? Examine the contradiction in these responsibilities, if any.

What were Cook's primary responsibilities, which would have influenced his
decision to refuse to succumb to U.S Government pressure to build a backdoor to
the iPhone?

- Tim Cook's primary duty was to be under an obligation to the owners of Apple and its
brand. Apple's business model was focused on the sale of goods, not the processing of
data. This business model differed from other business models in the market, such as
Google, which produced revenue through targeted advertising created with collected data.
Cook has long been a proponent of user privacy. Speaking at a technology conference in
2010, Cook made known his thoughts on consumer protection: "He has held a very
different perception on privacy than others of our Valley colleagues." Thus, after
constructing an iPhone feature that displayed where the phone and its user were located,
the firm, citing the privacy of the client, left the option of whether to use this feature
entirely to consumers who could monitor whether the applications were able to use the
location data of the phone. The growing use of iPhones as a store of personal
information, and the consumer's vulnerability to the possible use and misuse of personal
data, led Cook to take a stern stance on customer privacy. The iPhone accounted for two-
thirds of Apple's sales in 2016, and if Apple were to undermine the protection of its
phones, it would be possible for consumers to turn to another company. Apple has
already experienced a humiliating violation of its iCloud by leaking hundreds of naked
celebrities' images over the internet in August 2014. It was also on the back of Edward
Snowden, a former member of the Central Intelligence Agency. He announced that the
U.S. government has been tracking individuals without their consent by accessing emails,
photographs, recordings, and phone calls to fight terrorism. Overall, after U.S. people
heard that the government was monitoring the most personal aspects of their life, there
was a national backlash. The backlash included Apple as users challenged the company's
ability to secure their privacy.

Another significant concern for Apple was to behave in the best interests of Apple's
faithful customers. Cellphones are seldom used today to make phone calls. Cellphones
are, instead, storage devices of personal information. If you're messaging, emailing,
creating images, using an app, or storing pictures, a mobile phone is a unique insight into
our lives. Apple noticed this and started to encrypt the data on its phones. Apple's
security functionality was so rigid that even its developers could not remove data from
phones or tablets. Privacy was a crucial concern for Apple. Addressing the question of
trust, Cook said, "Our commitment to protecting your privacy derives from profound
regard for our customers. We know that your faith is not easy. That's why we've all had to
work as hard as we can to make a living and keep it". Privacy was also a profoundly
personal matter for Tim Cook. Since becoming CEO in 2011, it was not until 2014 that
Tim Cook admitted that he was gay.

- Tim Cook was responsible for people and organizations outside their own firm
company, since “the company had a complicated relationship with government agencies,
labor unions, supplier and even competitors. In this situation, Tim Cook's responsibility
for the government minimum, there was no court order here. The judge’s writ requested
Apple’s help in the case; it did not compel the company to do so. Despite the U.S
government's request is reasonable, Tim Cook could choose to refused or corporate with
the government. With other competitors, Tim Cook had full responsibility to the entire
technological community in Silicon Valley. If Tim Cook agrees to corporate with the
government, other companies like Facebook, Microsoft, or Samsung would have to create
a backdoor when requested by the government. This would be a precedent for other
countries.

- Finally, the issue which made Tim Cook concerned the most is that the backdoor could
easily be leaked, stolen, or abused by hackers, criminals, terrorists, and unstable regimes.
If this happened, the government is unable to protect the people. It electrifies the
terrorists who have substantial data sources of iPhone users, making them more
dangerous and less tolerant than before.

b, Examine the contradiction in responsibilities, if any.

Firstly, If we examine Cook’s Commitment to Private Life, we notice that Cook strongly
believed and desired personal privacy even in his private life. This is made evident when
Cook disclosed that he was gay, admitting that he did not tell this before due to his strong
belief in privacy. We can see that Cook’s managing style does not differ from his private
thoughts, which means no contradictions in this sphere. Cook stressed the importance of
having values and sticking to them.

- Secondly, Tim Cook says he is afraid that creating the software will ultimately aid
terrorists like Syed and Tashfeen. However, by not making backdoor software, he is
helping Syed and Tashfeen. The FBI might have found evidence to assist in the San
Bernardino murders if they could unlock the phone. By not creating the software, Apple
conveniently has a way of avoiding similar FBI requests in the future. An additional
concern is that Apple has given the green light to other terrorists to use the iPhone in the
future. Terrorists will use the iPhone since the data is private and unable to be decrypted.
While Tim Cook preaches that he is making the world safer by not offering a backdoor,
he encourages terrorists to use his product.

- Finally, Tim Cook had a responsibility to the victims of the San Bernardino murders.
These persons were customers of his as they were employees of the Inland Regional
Center. The Inland Regional Center had a business account with Apple and had issued an
iPhone to Syed. To overlook the responsibility Tim Cook had to the persons killed,
mostly when Inland Regional Center was an Apple account, seems hypocritical. It can be
interpreted that Tim Cook thought more of his company than the 14 lives that were lost.

4. Assess how Cook may have resolved these dilemmas

- Analysis according to ethical philosophies, I genuinely think that Tim Cook's response
was by far the most positive and the least harmful. While failing to comply with the
court's ruling, it offered Apple the most significant benefit, and it certainly harmed the
FBI. However, depending on different ethical philosophies, we will have other solutions.

- First, if Tim Cook is egoistic and the reaction was the most positive and the least
harmful. This is the theory of action to achieve an important goal. Egoismists have long
held that behavior is right and morally acceptable if it benefits another person. Selfish
philosophers have long held that an action is right and morally acceptable if it helps
another person. In Apple's case, Cook hasn’t accepted a request to create a "backdoor" to
unlock the iPhone, get information from the terrorist's phone. Apple's CEO does so to
ensure that other customers' confidential information is not disclosed. The law
enforcement in the US says there are hundreds of iPhones they want Apple to help
unlock, and if Apple does comply with the US government's request this time, hundreds
of other devices are brought out to ask Apple to continue to help unlock it.

- This is similar to Apple creating a master key capable of opening hundreds of millions
of locks. Of course, suppose that the master key is generated. In that case, Apple will
have to do everything to protect the resolution's security, but in a world where data is
continuously threatened and viewed by the team from multiple sides. This will be the
target of constant attack by hackers and cybercriminals. And no one is sure that this
master key can be secure without falling into someone else's hands with malicious intent.
Therefore, rejecting a request by the FBI and the US government will help Apple retain
trust with customers using Apple – the company's most enormous income and
development source.

Secondly, contrary to the above case, if Tim Cook accepts the government and the FBI's
request, it means that this is a law-abiding act (following deontology). Deontology judges
right or wrong by referring to higher duties that must be derived from universal rules.
Those rules are usually laws set by the government, which are taken as general rules for
society, for the community. This act of consent is in Apple's favor for helping the FBI
find the information and databases located in the terrorist's iPhone 5C. They will be yang
by the government and receive superb support if they create a "backdoor." However, they
will generate great controversy in the community. Some would agree to this to help the
government and the FBI eliminate the threat from terrorists and create a sense of safety
for the residents. Some have suggested that this is an infringement on the privacy of
iPhone users. Tim Cook and his team were presented with a mixed bag of emotions. This
decision is very likely to decrease Apple's revenue because consumers no longer feel
comfortable using their computers. Accepting this request would put Apple in grave
danger.

- Thirdly, the refusal is in favor of apple and related parties (utilitarianism theory). (1)
Apple, shareholders: they able to avoid the cost and time of building a backdoor, build
trust with customers (2) Other technology companies: if creating a "backdoor" for the
FBI, Apple and other technology companies will make a master key capable of opening
hundreds of millions of locks. However, they will face mixed “waves” of public opinion
when they do not obey the law (that is, they do not follow deontology). But with only one
consent, they will be squeezed by the government in similar circumstances. US President
Donald Trump has just angered Apple because it refuses to allow the US government to
access the iPhone and has forced the company to sign a government contract. Therefore,
to help other corporations not be awkward in this case, not controlled by the government,
Apple does so is reasonable (3) Tech community: it can be said that Apple as a person at
the forepart in refusing to unlock the phone find customer information. This put pressure
on the government but helped the tech community assert its freedom and credibility.

- Finally, the basic ideology of ethical philosophy is expressed through the definition:
The followers of the righteous and justice philosophy believe that an act that can be
considered moral and acceptable is acting for others' good, especially disadvantaged
ones. In Apple's case, Tim Cook may agree to unlock the FBI, but the FBI also incurs all
the losses to Apple and pays its engineers. Because creating a key that can open all of
Apple's locks will attract the attention of cybercriminals and hackers. So after helping the
FBI, it is the FBI responsible for protecting this key. Simultaneously, this iPhone's
unlocking will also create a wave of attacks on Apple about information security. Apple
also has to suffer from it, so the FBI should also be responsible for this.

5. What should Cook have done?

- In iOS, there is a function that automatically erases all internal data if the user enters the
wrong password more than ten times. And ironically, this is a feature that can be "off"
and "on" easily, right inside the device's Settings. The FBI asked Apple to "level" another
version of iOS to allow users to enter the wrong password as many times as they want.
And this is also the key to the deadlock between Apple and the FBI in recent days: CEO
Tim Cook disagrees with creating "a dangerous precedent" of creating solutions that go
beyond insurance in the products they sell.

- In my point, the response by Apple was the right. Tim Cook made the most reasonable
decision for his company. Apple is Tim Cook’s most important responsibility for his
company’s CEO and most visible spokesperson. To comply with the FBI’s request would
only hurt the company financially. Following, here are some disadvantages in favor of
accepting the offer from the FBI and US government. These are given below:

+ The backdoor of the iPhone first damages customer satisfaction because the consumer’s
privacy is not secured. So, this is the main reason Apple could lose a huge of customers.

+ This will play a role in the stock prices falling for the organization.

+ When allowed to accept to get the iPhone's backdoor, the user’s information security
becomes at risk.
+ The backdoor is a clear violation of privacy. That reduces the customer's trust level in
the company, which also reduces the company’s reputation.

+ The backdoor of iPhone verdures the users more helpless to the hackers

+ The time and expense to create a “backdoor.”

- Besides, the government was not going to reimburse Apple for any financial losses
incurred due to the “backdoor.” So, for the long–term health of his company, employees,
and investors, Tim Cook made the right choice.