Working as a group… Calculate how much it costs to manufacture an iphone 4

Total component cost is $178 – Use the information below to calculate what percentage Apple make in profit from each iphone?

Apple doesn't make the iPhone itself. It neither manufactures the components nor assembles them into a finished product. The components come from a variety of suppliers and the assembly is done by Foxconn, a Taiwanese firm. Foxconn has its plant in Shenzhen, which is in the southern province of Guangdong in China. Task 1 - Use an atlas to annotate these two maps with the locations mentioned in the description above.

Task 2 - What do you imagine the life of someone who works in a factory which assembles an iphone to be like? Their pay? Their working hours? Their working conditions? Their accommodation? Their entertainment? Their hopes for the future?

1 Million Workers. 90 Million iPhones. 17 Suicides. By the end of the lessons it will be… Good if you know the location of Shenzhen Even better if you can identify the positive and negative impacts on people of iphone assembly. Amazing if you can justify your opinion on who might be to blame for the Foxconn suicides.

This dorm is one of the older ones on campus, built near the beginning. It's a men's dorm — women have separate facilities — and populated mostly by entry- level workers.

Since a spate of 11 suicides earlier this year, every building on the Foxconn campus is draped in netting. It is morbid, but seemingly effective: There have been no suicides since the nets were installed in May.

Hallways remain institutionally empty, kept dim to save energy, keep the temperature down and to allow workers who keep a late schedule to sleep with less interruption during the daylight hours

In this dorm room, eight workers sleep in four bunk beds in a room about the size of a two- car garage.

Toiletries are kept on a shelf in mugs.

A television viewing room is available on each floor. I joked with the Foxconn executive who was with me that of all the places in the world that could probably manage to get bigger TV screens installed, it was probably here at Foxconn, who make televisions for the world's largest brands.

Workout equipment is located in the spaces between buildings.

Newer dorm rooms share a sink on the balcony, where workers can wash their clothing and themselves. Management of the living quarters has recently been outsourced to a local operations company in an attempt to address concerns about employers overseeing living conditions of its workers. It's unclear how outside management will fundamentally alter the nature of on-campus living.

The Foxconn counseling centers provide employees with everything from life-size punching bags to music therapy— employees can even reload their calling cards.

Task 3 - Empty the cards out onto your desk Step 1 – Identify any words that you are unsure about the meaning of Step 2 – Work with a partner to decide on a suitable way to classify the information

Try these classifications... Location of plant and function Growth of Shenzhen Positive impacts on workers Negative impacts on workers Other?

Task 4 - Use the cards to make a basic list of all the positive and negative impacts on the workers at the Foxconn plant

Negatives for workers Suicides Long shifts Repetitive boring work Standing or sitting for long periods of time No choice with who you live with – sharing with up to seven others

Positives for workers Tasks get rotated Entertainment is provided in the plant Residential property management company Access to counseling services Access to discount stores Possibility of setting up a franchise

Task 5 - From your list describe what you consider to be the top three positive and negative impacts iphone assembly has on people Positive impactEvidence from cardExplanation Tasks get rotatedWorkers roles along production lines are varied so that all workers can become skilled at different tasks. This has a positive impact on workers because...

What is Apple’s view on this?

Task 6 - Who could we say is to blame for the suicides at Foxconn? Apple? Foxconn? The workers? Consumers of iphones?

Task 7 - Read the following...

Following the class discussion – who do you think is to blame (if anyone?) What actions would you recommend be taken by different groups to make sure something like this avoided in the future?

1 Million Workers. 90 Million iPhones. 17 Suicides. By the end of the lessons it will be… Good if you know the location of Shenzhen Even better if you can identify the positive and negative impacts on people of iphone assembly. Amazing if you can justify your opinion on who might be to blame for the Foxconn suicides.