DR. YANGA’S COLLEGES, INC.
Life and Death at an Outsourcing Factory: A Case Study Analysis
Life and Death at an Outsourcing Factory: A Case Study Analysis
Group 3
Cojutan, Diana
Dela Rama, Reigne
Manliquez, Marshey
Tablada, Mae
BSAIS-2B
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DR. YANGA’S COLLEGES, INC.
Life and Death at an Outsourcing Factory: A Case Study Analysis
January, 2022
Introduction
Outsourcing has become a popular strategy for companies worldwide. As
a strong force in the global economy, it reshapes businesses. (Boguslauskas &
Kvedaraviciene, 2009). Under such a trend, various organizations decide to rely on
external vendors in order to lower costs, ensure higher quality and flexibility, and gain
access to superior technical resources (Antonucci, Lordi, & Trucker, 1998; Tafti,
Sledgianowski, & Kierstead, 2008). Moreover, they may gain a competitive advantage
through a partnership by sharing information and knowledge (Fish & Seydel, 2006).
The level of self-reported injury was over three times higher among
outworkers than factory-based workers undertaking similar tasks. The most significant
factor explaining this difference was the payment system. All outworkers were paid
solely by the piece, whereas factory workers were paid either under a time plus
production bonus system or solely on a time basis. While the incidence of injury was
far higher among outworkers, factory-based workers paid under an incentive system
reported more injuries than those paid solely on a time basis. Increasing injury was
correlated with piecework payment systems.
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Life and Death at an Outsourcing Factory: A Case Study Analysis
I. Company Profile
Hon Hai Precision Industry Company, more commonly known by its
trade name Foxconn, was founded in Taipei in 1974. Foxconn is also the leading
technological solution provider and it continuously leverages its expertise in software
and hardware to integrate its unique manufacturing systems with emerging
technologies. By capitalizing on its expertise in Cloud Computing, Mobile Devices,
IoT, Big Data, AI, Smart Networks, and Robotics / Automation, the Group has
expanded not only its capabilities into the development of electric vehicles, digital
health and robotics, but also three key technologies –AI, semiconductors and newgeneration communications technology – which are key to driving its long-term growth
strategy and the four core product pillars: Consumer Products, Enterprise Products,
Computing Products and Components and Others.
The company has established R&D and manufacturing centers in other
markets around the world that includes China, India, Japan, Vietnam, Malaysia, Czech
Republic, U.S. and more. With a focus on research and development, the company
owns more than 83,500 patents. In addition to maximizing value-creation for customers
who include many of the world’s leading technology companies, Foxconn is also
dedicated to championing environmental sustainability in the manufacturing process
and serving as a best-practices model for global enterprises.
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Life and Death at an Outsourcing Factory: A Case Study Analysis
1.1 Foxconn’s Operation
In 2001, Hon Hai became Taiwan’s largest private-sector company in
terms ofsales, generating revenue of US$4.4 billion. Business Week, as early as in
2002, acclaimed Terry Gou as “the king of outsourcing” —when Foxconn was still
behind longstanding industry leaders Solectron18 and Flextronics. Since 2003, the
Taiwan- invested company has been China’s biggest exporter, and Foxconn’s revenue
reached an unprecedented high of US$61.8 billion in 2008. Despite the sharp
contraction of American and European demand for consumer electronics during the
recent economic downturn, Foxconn generated US$59.3 billion in revenue in 2009,
only a slight drop in sales of 4.1 per cent from the previous year. As investors and
consumers worldwide have regained some confidence in the global economy, Foxconn
gained new orders and workers were required to meet production deadlines, generating
unprecedented level of profits. In September 2010, Foxconn recorded revenue of
NT$253.48 billion (US$8.3 billion), 68.2 per cent increase on year; and accumulated
revenues for the first nine months peaked NT$1.95 trillion (US$60.8 billion), up nearly
63 per cent on year. In 2020, Foxconn achieved NT$5.35 trillion in revenue. The
company has received widespread international accolades and recognition since its
establishment. In 2020, the company ranked 26th on the Fortune Global 500 rankings,
25th in the Top 100 Digital Companies in the Forbes ranking of the World’s Best
Employers in 2019.
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Life and Death at an Outsourcing Factory: A Case Study Analysis
1.2 Foxconn’s Strategy
As part of an ambitious diversification strategy, Foxconn decided to expand
into three domains—electric vehicles (EVs), digital health and robotics— while zeroing
in on three key technologies—AI, semiconductors and next-gen communication
technologies.
As soon as Foxconn is mentioned, it is immediately related to Apple. Foxconn is the
largest vendor, supplying components and assembling products for Apple. In 2020, it
had a turnover of $193 billion and made a gross profit of $3.6 billion. As part of an
ambitious diversification strategy, Foxconn decided to expand into three domains—
electric vehicles (EVs), digital health and robotics— while zeroing in on three key
technologies—AI, semiconductors and next-gen communication technologies. Foxconn
believes that this 3+3 strategy will give it infinite growth potential.
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Life and Death at an Outsourcing Factory: A Case Study Analysis
Figure 1.
The most interesting aspect for me is Foxconn’s approach toward the EV
market. While the jury is still out on whether this will be a successful gambit, I do not
doubt Foxconn’s ability to make a strong impact in the established mobility value chain
and garner the attention of industry players.
One of the biggest weaknesses I
foresee for Foxconn in terms of this approach is its lack of experience in mobility. The
mobility value chain is undeniably complex. But instead of learning the rules of the
game and trying to master them, Foxconn seems to have embarked on a path that
involves radically simplifying the value chain and creating a place for itself.
Irrespective of the result, its approach warrants closer attention.
As a mobility sector analyst, there are five notable points that I see anchoring
Foxconn’s EV strategy:
1. Targeting everything:
In analyzing the breadth of its EV initiatives, it seems that Foxconn is
targeting every aspect of the value chain, from component supply and contract
manufacturing to launching its own brand. It appears to be a simultaneous attempt to
learn about the value chain and find a position for itself. What makes Foxconn such an
unpredictable player ties into where it finds a strong foothold; it may emerge as a
competitor, supplier or even a partner.
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Life and Death at an Outsourcing Factory: A Case Study Analysis
Figure 2.
2. Creating a value chain
Foxconn does not quite fit into the current mobility value chain. Instead of
trying to overcome this challenge, it has turned this weakness on its head, identifying
and allying with thousands of companies facing similar struggles in finding their
position in this rigid value chain. The MIH Alliance established by Foxconn has over
1,000 partner companies with the following break up. The objectives of the MIH
Alliance are quite interesting:
1. Open up the value chain.
2. Lower the barriers of entry.
3. Provide ready resources for growth.
After its first membership meeting, the Alliance declared its intention to reduce
the development time for a new EV model from four years to two years. For a
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Life and Death at an Outsourcing Factory: A Case Study Analysis
conventional automotive player, this would appear to be a moonshot. However, VinFast
has taught the automotive industry that there are no sacred cows. As the mobility value
chain takes shape, everything—including product development lifecycle times—will be
questioned. A disruptor like Foxconn will force the traditional automotive industry to
take a long, hard look at its development processes.
3.Selling the tools:
Figure 3.
Of the several products and services that Foxconn is attempting to develop,
the most interesting is the skateboard platform. It aims to offer a platform that is
available in four different wheelbase configurations with three different battery packs
and three different drives. In addition, it will provide the hardware and software needed
to run the platform. To understand the importance of this strategy, consider Apple
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Life and Death at an Outsourcing Factory: A Case Study Analysis
versus Android. These represent two contrasting approaches to the value chain. Apple
designed its own operating system (OS), developed and manufactured the components,
and created a closed value chain. Android provided a free OS and encouraged cellphone
manufacturers to assemble their own cellphones based on configurations suited to their
particular target markets. Tesla’s strategy is similar to that of Apple, while Foxconn is
attempting to be the Android of EVs. By providing software, hardware and a
mechanical platform on a ready-to-use basis, it is attempting to target several mediumto small-sized EV assemblers. These budding EV assemblers are looking at exploiting
niche opportunities related to purpose-built vehicles. These would provide highly
customized mobility solutions such as parcel delivery vehicles or dedicated e-hailing
vehicles, among others. Currently, limited volumes have meant that incumbent
automotive players lack the motivation to invest in developing new products for these
applications. But once product development is democratized, we will see the emergence
of purpose-built vehicles for various niches. In such a scenario, Foxconn and similar
players will come out winners.
4. Teaming up with disruptors:
Foxconn has a clear strategy to partner with potential disruptors in the market.
It has partnered with Fiskar in the US and Byton in China to contract manufacture their
vehicles. It has also partnered with PTT, Thailand’s national oil producer, which has
EV ambitions. PTT is expected to focus on the downstream value chain, including
retailing, charging infrastructure, charging services and managing the customer
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Life and Death at an Outsourcing Factory: A Case Study Analysis
lifecycle, while Foxconn is set to bring its expertise on the upstream value chain, taking
responsibility for sourcing, supply chain management and production. It would be a
perfect symbiotic relationship where both partners focus on their core competencies and
benefit from each other’s synergies.
5. Hedging its bets:
Such aggressive strategies notwithstanding, Foxconn seems to be hedging its
bets by partnering with established automotive players such as Geely and Stellantis. It
has a 50:50 joint venture—Mobile Drive—with Stellantis that focuses on smart cockpit
solutions. Mobile Drive is also a tier 1 supplier for Stellantis. The partnership with
Geely will focus mostly on providing supply chain and sourcing management services
to other OEMs by combining Foxconn’s expertise in electronics component sourcing
with Geely’s know-how in conventional automotive components.
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Life and Death at an Outsourcing Factory: A Case Study Analysis
1.3 Organizational
Structure
Figure 4. Organizational Structure
II. Statement of the Problem
Foxconn Complex is a major outsourcing firm that is located at Shenzen
China. It has over 50,000 of employees and workers who is mostly young. This
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Life and Death at an Outsourcing Factory: A Case Study Analysis
company is known for making Apple products, Dell and Hewlett Packard. Other than
that, they are also known for abusing their employee's health and freedom, industrial
accidents and worker suicides often happens in their company.
This study aims to identify the difficulties encountered by workers and
employees in an outsourcing company. Specifically, to answer the following questions:
1. What are the possible factors that can lead to worker's suicidal attempt?
2. What are the reasons that can cause workers to lose motivation at work?
3. Why do employees and workers don't feel job satisfaction?
III. Objective of the Case
The case study main objective is to know the factors that can lead to
worker's suicidal attempt that concerning to the employee's mental and emotional
health. And also, to provide the solution and recommendation to lessen the suicidal
attempt and increase job satisfaction.
IV. Review Related Literatures
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Life and Death at an Outsourcing Factory: A Case Study Analysis
The deaths of the workers in Foxconn have caused a lot of noise in the
IT world. Macs, iPods, iPhones and iPads are all assembled in Foxconn’s factory of
China. And now, without any explanations, workers who are assembling these gadgets
have gone crazy and some of them killed themselves. After the sixth suicide attempt
happened in April, Southern Weekly’s amateur reporter, Liu Zhi Yi, arranged to slip
into Foxconn’s factory ... while another senior reporter, Yang Ji Bin, conducted
interviews with the senior management. Together, they have found out the real living
conditions of Foxconn workers.
The sprawling factory compound, all grey dormitories and weather-beaten warehouses,
blends seamlessly into the outskirts of the Shenzhen megalopolis. Foxconn’s enormous
Longhua plant is a major manufacturer of Apple products. It might be the best-known
factory in the world; it might also might be among the most secretive and sealed-off.
Security guards man each of the entry points. Employees can’t get in without swiping
an ID card; drivers entering with delivery trucks are subject to fingerprint scans. A
Reuters journalist was once dragged out of a car and beaten for taking photos from
outside the factory walls. The warning signs outside – “This factory area is legally
established with state approval. Unauthorised trespassing is prohibited. Offenders will
be sent to police for prosecution!” – are more aggressive than those outside many
Chinese military compounds.
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Life and Death at an Outsourcing Factory: A Case Study Analysis
But it turns out that there’s a secret way into the heart of the infamous operation: use
the bathroom. I couldn’t believe it. Thanks to a simple twist of fate and some clever
perseverance by my fixer, I’d found myself deep inside so-called Foxconn City.
It’s printed on the back of every iPhone: “Designed by Apple in California Assembled
in China”. US law dictates that products manufactured in China must be labelled as
such and Apple’s inclusion of the phrase renders the statement uniquely illustrative of
one of the planet’s starkest economic divides – the cutting edge is conceived and
designed in Silicon Valley, but it is assembled by hand in China.
The vast majority of plants that produce the iPhone’s component parts and carry out the
device’s final assembly are based here, in the People’s Republic, where low labour
costs and a massive, highly skilled workforce have made the nation the ideal place to
manufacture iPhones (and just about every other gadget). The country’s vast,
unprecedented production capabilities – the US Bureau of Labor Statistics estimated
that as of 2009 there were 99 million factory workers in China – have helped the nation
become the world’s secord largest economy. And since the first iPhone shipped, the
company doing the lion’s share of the manufacturing is the Taiwanese Hon Hai
Precision Industry Co, Ltd, better known by its trade name, Foxconn.
Foxconn is the single largest employer in mainland China; there are 1.3 million people
on its payroll. Worldwide, among corporations, only Walmart and McDonald’s employ
more. As many people work for Foxconn as live in Estonia.
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Life and Death at an Outsourcing Factory: A Case Study Analysis
A new report by China Labor Watch, a New York-based labor advocacy group, and the
British newspaper The Observer claimed that a Foxconn factory in Hengyang, China,
had violated employment laws. The factory produces Amazon’s Echo smart speakers
and Kindle devices.
The observer’s report:
“Agency staff — known as dispatch workers in China — do not get sick pay or holiday
pay and can be laid off without wages during lulls in production. China changed its
labor laws in 2014 to limit their use to 10 percent of any work force in an attempt to
stop companies exploiting them to cut costs. The China Labor Watch investigation —
published on Sunday in association with the Observer — found that more than 40
percent of the staff in the Foxconn factory were agency workers. Those working
overtime were being paid at the normal hourly rate instead of the time-and-a-half
required by Chinese law and by Amazon’s own supplier code of conduct”.
China Labour Watch, a US-based workers’ rights organisation, reports that a worker
has died after jumping from a factory window on Saturday. Li Ming, aged 31, jumped
to his death from a building in the city of Zhengzhou, China, where he had been
working for Foxconn – formally known as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. Foxconn is a
major supplier to Apple and Chinese state media report that Zhengzhou is an important
hub for manufacturing Apple’s iPhones. About 350,000 Foxconn workers reportedly
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Life and Death at an Outsourcing Factory: A Case Study Analysis
work in the city producing half of all iPhones, at a rate of 350 per minute. Yet, poor
labour practices and worker suicides have been an on-going problem for Apple Inc and
Foxconn. Due to Foxconn’s rapid production lines, demanding employee targets and
long working hours, it was accused of forcing its workers to endure “sweat shop”
conditions. It was these conditions that led to a spate of worker suicides and protests
during 2010 and 2012. Despite claims by Apple that it had addressed such problems in
its supply chain, in 2017 Apple and Foxconn also admitted to abuse of Chinese student
interns abuses. Whereby student workers, also at a Foxconn factory located in
Zhengzhou, routinely had 11 hour shifts to assemble the new iPhone X before its
release. In fact as recently as November 2017, students were discovered working
overtime in Foxconn’s Chinese factory, violating local labour laws. Such abuses and
neglect by Apple and Foxconn have led SACOM, a Chinese labour rights organisation,
to start a campaign called ‘iSlave at 10’ to highlight what it calls “A Bloody Decade of
the iPhone”.
Amazon confirmed to the newspaper that its own audit of the factory this year had
revealed how Foxconn had been employing too many agency workers and that they
were not rewarded suitable overtime pay. “We immediately requested a corrective
action plan from Foxconn,” Amazon said in a statement.
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Life and Death at an Outsourcing Factory: A Case Study Analysis
Foxconn said that it was “carrying out a full investigation of the areas raised by that
report.” The company added that it “works hard to comply with all relevant laws and
regulations” in the markets where it operates and that “if infractions are identified, we
work to immediately rectify them.
Here’s a rundown of some of the issues that have reportedly plagued Foxconn’s
factories:
■ Suicides. The company was hit by a wave of worker suicides in 2010. Other incidents
have occured since.
■ Wage and hours exploitation. In 2012, Foxconn was accused of underpaying wages
and having its employees work excessive hours. In response, the compnay pledged to
curtail the length of shifts and raise wages.
■ Serious accidents. One Foxconn worker was left brain damaged after an electric
shock in 2011. An explosion in one factory killed four people and injured another 18 in
the same year.
■ Underage and illegal workers. Foxconn admitted to having hired teenagers as young
as 14 at one of its factories in 2012. Late last year, Apple confirmed that, at a plant
where its iPhone X is made, student workers were discovered to be working overtime
— in violation of local laws.
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Life and Death at an Outsourcing Factory: A Case Study Analysis
■ Riots. More than 1,000 workers were involved in a violent disturbance at one of the
company’s factories in 2012.
■ Poor living standards. The New York Times reported in 2021 that as many as 20
workers could be housed in three-room staff apartments.
Foxconn, for its part, has tried to address issues as they’ve come up, making its
factories safer and increasing pay to improve morale. But the new report from China
Labor Watch and The Observer suggests there is still some work to do.
Today, the iPhone is made at a number of different factories around China, but for
years, as it became the bestselling product in the world, it was largely assembled at
Foxconn’s 1.4 square-mile flagship plant, just outside Shenzhen. The sprawling factory
was once home to an estimated 450,000 workers. Today, that number is believed to be
smaller, but it remains one of the biggest such operations in the world. If you know of
Foxconn, there’s a good chance it’s because you’ve heard of the suicides. In 2010,
Longhua assembly-line workers began killing themselves. Worker after worker threw
themselves off the towering dorm buildings, sometimes in broad daylight, in tragic
displays of desperation – and in protest at the work conditions inside. There were 18
reported suicide attempts that year alone and 14 confirmed deaths. Twenty more
workers were talked down by Foxconn officials.
The epidemic caused a media sensation – suicides and sweatshop conditions in the
House of iPhone. Suicide notes and survivors told of immense stress, long workdays
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Life and Death at an Outsourcing Factory: A Case Study Analysis
and harsh managers who were prone to humiliate workers for mistakes, of unfair fines
and unkept promises of benefits.
The corporate response spurred further unease: Foxconn CEO, Terry Gou, had large
nets installed outside many of the buildings to catch falling bodies. The company hired
counsellors and workers were made to sign pledges stating they would not attempt to
kill themselves.
Steve Jobs, for his part, declared: “We’re all over that” when asked about the spate of
deaths and he pointed out that the rate of suicides at Foxconn was within the national
average. Critics pounced on the comment as callous, though he wasn’t technically
wrong. Foxconn Longhua was so massive that it could be its own nation-state, and the
suicide rate was comparable to its host country’s. The difference is that Foxconn City is
a nation-state governed entirely by a corporation and one that happened to be producing
one of the most profitable products on the planet.
“ If the boss finds any problems, they don’t scold you then. They scold you later, in
front of everyone, at a meeting”.
A cab driver lets us out in front of the factory; boxy blue letters spell out Foxconn next
to the entrance. The security guards eye us, half bored, half suspicious. My fixer, a
journalist from Shanghai whom I’ll call Wang Yang, and I decide to walk the premises
first and talk to workers, to see if there might be a way to get inside.
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Life and Death at an Outsourcing Factory: A Case Study Analysis
The first people we stop turn out to be a pair of former Foxconn workers.
“It’s not a good place for human beings,” says one of the young men, who goes by the
name Xu. He’d worked in Longhua for about a year, until a couple of months ago, and
he says the conditions inside are as bad as ever. “There is no improvement since the
media coverage,” Xu says. The work is very high pressure and he and his colleagues
regularly logged 12-hour shifts. Management is both aggressive and duplicitous,
publicly scolding workers for being too slow and making them promises they don’t
keep, he says. His friend, who worked at the factory for two years and chooses to stay
anonymous, says he was promised double pay for overtime hours but got only regular
pay. They paint a bleak picture of a high-pressure working environment where
exploitation is routine and where depression and suicide have become normalised. “It
wouldn’t be Foxconn without people dying,” Xu says. “Every year people kill
themselves. They take it as a normal thing.”
Over several visits to different iPhone assembly factories in Shenzhen and Shanghai,
we interviewed dozens of workers like these. Let’s be honest: to get a truly
representative sample of life at an iPhone factory would require a massive canvassing
effort and the systematic and clandestine interviewing of thousands of employees. So
take this for what it is: efforts to talk to often skittish, often wary and often bored
workers who were coming out of the factory gates, taking a lunch break or congregating
after their shifts.
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Life and Death at an Outsourcing Factory: A Case Study Analysis
The vision of life inside an iPhone factory that emerged was varied. Some found the
work tolerable; others were scathing in their criticisms; some had experienced the
despair Foxconn was known for; still others had taken a job just to try to find a
girlfriend. Most knew of the reports of poor conditions before joining, but they either
needed the work or it didn’t bother them. Almost everywhere, people said the
workforce was young and turnover was high. “Most employees last only a year,” was a
common refrain. Perhaps that’s because the pace of work is widely agreed to be
relentless, and the management culture is often described as cruel.
Since the iPhone is such a compact, complex machine, putting one together correctly
requires sprawling assembly lines of hundreds of people who build, inspect, test and
package each device. One worker said 1,700 iPhones passed through her hands every
day; she was in charge of wiping a special polish on the display. That works out at
about three screens a minute for 12 hours a day.
More meticulous work, like fastening chip boards and assembling back covers, was
slower; these workers have a minute apiece for each iPhone. That’s still 600 to 700
iPhones a day. Failing to meet a quota or making a mistake can draw public
condemnation from superiors. Workers are often expected to stay silent and may draw
rebukes from their bosses for asking to use the restroom.
Xu and his friend were both walk-on recruits, though not necessarily willing ones.
“They call Foxconn a fox trap,” he says. “Because it tricks a lot of people.” He says
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Life and Death at an Outsourcing Factory: A Case Study Analysis
Foxconn promised them free housing but then forced them to pay exorbitantly high bills
for electricity and water. The current dorms sleep eight to a room and he says they used
to be 12 to a room. But Foxconn would shirk social insurance and be late or fail to pay
bonuses. And many workers sign contracts that subtract a hefty penalty from their pay
if they quit before a three-month introductory period.
“The body-catching nets are still there. They look a bit like tarps that have blown off
the things they’re meant to cover”.
On top of that, the work is gruelling. “You have to have mental management,” says Xu,
otherwise you can get scolded by bosses in front of your peers. Instead of discussing
performance privately or face to face on the line, managers would stockpile complaints
until later. “When the boss comes down to inspect the work,” Xu’s friend says, “if they
find any problems, they won’t scold you then. They will scold you in front of everyone
in a meeting later.”
“It’s insulting and humiliating to people all the time,” his friend says. “Punish someone
to make an example for everyone else. It’s systematic,” he adds. In certain cases, if a
manager decides that a worker has made an especially costly mistake, the worker has to
prepare a formal apology. “They must read a promise letter aloud – ‘I won’t make this
mistake again’– to everyone”.
This culture of high-stress work, anxiety and humiliation contributes to widespread
depression. Xu says there was another suicide a few months ago. He saw it himself. The
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Life and Death at an Outsourcing Factory: A Case Study Analysis
man was a student who worked on the iPhone assembly line. “Somebody I knew,
somebody I saw around the cafeteria,” he says. After being publicly scolded by a
manager, he got into a quarrel. Company officials called the police, though the worker
hadn’t been violent, just angry.
“He took it very personally,” Xu says, “and he couldn’t get through it.” Three days
later, he jumped out of a ninth-storey window.
So why didn’t the incident get any media coverage? I ask. Xu and his friend look at
each other and shrug. “Here someone dies, one day later the whole thing doesn’t exist,”
his friend says. “You forget about it.”
‘We look at everything at these companies,” Steve Jobs said after news of the suicides
broke. “Foxconn is not a sweatshop. It’s a factory – but my gosh, they have restaurants
and movie theatres… but it’s a factory. But they’ve had some suicides and attempted
suicides – and they have 400,000 people there. The rate is under what the US rate is,
but it’s still troubling.” Apple CEO, Tim Cook, visited Longhua in 2011 and reportedly
met suicide-prevention experts and top management to discuss the epidemic.
In 2012, 150 workers gathered on a rooftop and threatened to jump. They were
promised improvements and talked down by management; they had, essentially,
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Life and Death at an Outsourcing Factory: A Case Study Analysis
wielded the threat of killing themselves as a bargaining tool. In 2016, a smaller group
did it again. Just a month before we spoke, Xu says, seven or eight workers gathered on
a rooftop and threatened to jump unless they were paid the wages they were due, which
had apparently been withheld. Eventually, Xu says, Foxconn agreed to pay the wages
and the workers were talked down.
When I ask Xu about Apple and the iPhone, his response is swift: “We don’t blame
Apple. We blame Foxconn.” When I ask the men if they would consider working at
Foxconn again if the conditions improved, the response is equally blunt. “You can’t
change anything,” Xu says. “It will never change.” Wang and I set off for the main
worker entrance. We wind around the perimeter, which stretches on and on – we have
no idea this is barely a fraction of the factory at this point.
After walking along the perimeter for 20 minutes or so, we come to another entrance,
another security checkpoint. That’s when it hits me. I have to use the bathroom.
Desperately. And that gives me an idea.
There’s a bathroom in there, just a few hundred feet down a stairwell by the security
point. I see the universal stick-man signage and I gesture to it. This checkpoint is much
smaller, much more informal. There’s only one guard, a young man who looks bored.
Wang asks something a little pleadingly in Chinese. The guard slowly shakes his head
no, looks at me. The strain on my face is very, very real. She asks again – he falters for
a second, then another no.
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Life and Death at an Outsourcing Factory: A Case Study Analysis
We’ll be right back, she insists, and now we’re clearly making him uncomfortable.
Mostly me. He doesn’t want to deal with this. Come right back, he says. Of course, we
don’t.
To my knowledge, no American journalist has been inside a Foxconn plant without
permission and a tour guide, without a carefully curated visit to selected parts of the
factory to demonstrate how OK things really are.
Maybe the most striking thing, beyond its size – it would take us nearly an hour to
briskly walk across Longhua – is how radically different one end is from the other. It’s
like a gentrified city in that regard. On the outskirts, let’s call them, there are spilt
chemicals, rusting facilities and poorly overseen industrial labour. The closer you get to
the city centre – remember, this is a factory – the more the quality of life, or at least the
amenities and the infrastructure, improves.
A couple of workers on smartphones drift by us. We get close enough to see the gadgets
through the plastic and, nope, not iPhones either. They look like Apple TVs, minus the
company logo. There are probably thousands stacked here, awaiting the next step in the
assembly line. If this is indeed where iPhones and Apple TVs are made, it’s a fairly
aggressively shitty place to spend long days, unless you have a penchant for damp
concrete and rust. The blocks keep coming, so we keep walking. Longhua starts to feel
like the dull middle of a dystopian novel, where the dread sustains but the plot doesn’t.
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Life and Death at an Outsourcing Factory: A Case Study Analysis
We could keep going, but to our left, we see what look like large housing complexes,
probably the dormitories, complete with cagelike fences built out over the roof and the
windows, and so we head in that direction. The closer we get to the dorms, the thicker
the crowds get and the more lanyards and black glasses and faded jeans and sneakers
we see. College-age kids are gathered, smoking cigarettes, crowded around picnic
tables, sitting on kerbs.
And, yes, the body-catching nets are still there. Limp and sagging, they give the
impression of tarps that have half blown off the things they’re supposed to cover. I
think of Xu, who said: “The nets are pointless. If somebody wants to commit suicide,
they will do it.”
We are drawing stares again – away from the factories, maybe folks have more time
and reason to indulge their curiosity. In any case, we’ve been inside Foxconn for an
hour. I have no idea if the guard put out an alert when we didn’t come back from the
bathroom or if anyone is looking for us or what. The sense that it’s probably best not to
push it prevails, even though we haven’t made it on to a working assembly line.
With over 400,000 workers in the Foxconn factory of China, it will be a mess if
workers are mistreated badly. It’s definitely a pity for them to carry out mass
production of iProducts while not being able to afford one. Some of them even killed
themselves from the working pressure and I wish Foxconn could produce a better
working environment like providing shopping malls, cinemas or karaoke to entertain
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DR. YANGA’S COLLEGES, INC.
Life and Death at an Outsourcing Factory: A Case Study Analysis
them. Destress rooms are probably not enough to fix their stress and I’m afraid it’s a
silly idea since it may lead the stressed worker to kill someone else. Also, Foxconn
needs to give more human rights to their workers and show more concern for them.
Foxconn, please don’t treat your workers like dogs. If Foxconn does not solve the
problem, there will be more suicides. The workers definitely need beer, romance, and
slightly higher pay. To put it simply, just make them happy.
V. Theories and Concepts
Theories
This paper presents the situation of factory workers in an outsourcing
company that faced life and death situations. This study shows how the proponents
came up with the result regarding to the problem. Foxconn Complex is an example of
outsourcing company who is responsible for making Apple products, Dell and Hewlett
Packard. This outsourcing company hired over 50,000 people to work for them but
most of them are young and are even away from their families.
The objective of this study is to develop a solution to lessen the suicidal attempt and
increase job satisfaction and motivation of the employees. All of the information is
analyzed to see if there is an alternative solution to boost worker's motivation and
lessen suicidal attempts.
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Life and Death at an Outsourcing Factory: A Case Study Analysis
The main problem in the workplace nowadays is no one tells you what to do, they will
just leave you tons of papers and tasks but they will not tell you anything on how to do
it properly, it is important to support workers and communicate to them properly about
the tasks. Motivation is an important thing in a workplace nowadays, motivation can do
a lot of things and can affect worker's productivity and willingness to work in a good
way. Giving rewards is also a good way to give back for the employee's effort for
making the company succeed, it will also make them feel that they are valued and may
also lead them to exert more effort in their tasks.
Show the right attitude towards the employees and workers will boost their willingness
to work. Higher position employees attitude may affect their co-workers in either
positive or negative way. Positive attitude is important in a workplace because it will
surely help each of them to be more productive.
Communicating to workers about their problems, suggestions and feedbacks will hel
the company and the worker itself, once a worker feel that that they are valued they will
put their passion in everything they do for the company and they will surely be satisfied
in their job they may also feel dedicated to their tasks.
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DR. YANGA’S COLLEGES, INC.
Life and Death at an Outsourcing Factory: A Case Study Analysis
Concepts
Valued and heard
feedbacks of
workers
Involvement of
organization to
their employees
and workers
Rewarding
employees as a way
of giving back to
their efforts and
giving them day for
rest
VI. Assumptions and Limitations
Assumptions
Less suicide cases of
workers and
increased number of
motivated
employees
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DR. YANGA’S COLLEGES, INC.
Life and Death at an Outsourcing Factory: A Case Study Analysis
In our lives, we all have challenges. These challenges would test and make
us experience things. The paper is about the life and death at an outsourcing factory.
There is this company known as a major outsourcing firm, it is also revealed that there
are incidents have happened here; labor unrest, industrial accidents, and worker
suicides. These are all very alarming especially that the workers are young. If the
organization don’t make an action about it, a lot more incident would be made.
Limitations
The incident happened in this outsourcing factory is not a joke. We are
talking about life and death. Everyone knows how important life is. Talking about
careers, we also know the importance of it, but nothing is more important than
ourselves. A person should not be pushing themselves to their limit especially if they
know that it would be hard for them. We all have self-discipline. We deserve rest. We
deserve our peace of mind. Therefore, actions to make the happenings stop should
begin.
VII. Alternative Courses of Actions
1. With the number of incidents happening at the said factory, the supervisor points out
that the firm provides counseling services.
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DR. YANGA’S COLLEGES, INC.
Life and Death at an Outsourcing Factory: A Case Study Analysis
Advantage: There are lots of young workers in the factory which means they would be
far from their parents, from their home, from their comfort zone. With the counseling
service, it will help them understand the importance of their job and especially their
lives.
Disadvantage: The counseling service is a great idea but it wouldn’t change the
numbers of killings that have happened on the factory. It would also be time consuming
since it is death we are talking about here.
2. Consumers should be knowledgeable and smart of buying the products made by
these young workers from the factory. They should stop supporting or buying products
from these factories who don’t treat their workers properly.
Advantage: It will lessen the pressure to the young workers. They could have more
time for themselves. The firm would also focus on having good teamwork for their
business.
Disadvantage: The sales of their products would decrease and that could be a reason to
make their workers work more. Then, more incidents might happen.
3. Make the factory notice the incidents happening inside their firm, such as protest.
Advantage: If the people made a scene, then it the firm would focus on it more.
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Life and Death at an Outsourcing Factory: A Case Study Analysis
Disadvantage: It could bring burden or pressure to the workers as the handlers might
get angry of such scene thinking it would be a bad image for them, and their products
might go down.
VIII. Recommendation and Conclusion
Due to Foxconn's rapid production lines, demanding employee targets and
long working hours, it was accused of forcing its workers to endure “sweat shop”
conditions. It was these conditions that led to a spate of worker suicides and protests
during 2010 and 2012. In 2010, 14 workers committed suicide at factories in China
operated by Hon Hai Precision Industry, better known as Foxconn. These are the giant
facilities that produce consumer electronic devices for Hewlett-Packard, Dell and, most
famously, Apple. They keep their employees in overcrowded dormitories run by
military-like security forces. People work excessive hours, often with no compensation
for overtime, which the company claims is done voluntarily. Management controls
every aspect of workers' lives, interfering with their privacy. Apple supplier Foxconn
has steadily improved the working conditions at three of its Chinese factories following
a February audit, by reducing employee overtime work and updating maintenance
policies and safety procedures.
I concluded that Foxconn should think the employees health and they
should not ignore their opinions. Employees are still a human. The company should
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Life and Death at an Outsourcing Factory: A Case Study Analysis
increase their salary and give them a enough rest. Foxconn should not control their lives
. The employees still have a life and they deserve to be happy and take a rest. It’s good
when they said that they’re working on improving the employees working schedule and
increasing their salary.
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Life and Death at an Outsourcing Factory: A Case Study Analysis
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Life and Death at an Outsourcing Factory: A Case Study Analysis
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