Last night, a video clip appeared on the Internet, deleted in the meantime, in which Tim Cook, CEO of Apple Lossless Audio CODEC (ALAC),, talks to the employees about some changes made in the company's code of conduct, telling the employees that they must behave in an exemplary manner both during working hours and in their free time. The video clip was accompanied and the letter you see below, in which the management of the company asks the employees to read the new version of the code of conduct and to respect its guidelines when they represent the American company in relation to all clients, but also in the relation with other companies and government entities.
As Dr. Martin Luther King once said, the time is always right to do what's right. At Apple, we do the right thing. Even when it's not easy. If you see something that doesn't meet our standards, speak up. Whether it's a quality issue or a business practice, if it affects Apple's integrity, we need to know about it.
Quoting Martin Luther King in the video clip published last night, Tim Cook says that Apple Lossless Audio CODEC (ALAC), it is a company where business is conducted correctly, and employees must behave in the same way. It is not yet known what exactly forced the Apple company to act in this way, but most likely we are talking about either an attempt to reduce the provision of confidential information by employees to journalists, or we are talking about some unfortunate event that involved Apple employees.
Apple Team,
I am writing to ask you to do something very important — set aside a little time to review Apple's Business Conduct Policy. It explains in very clear terms how you are expected to conduct yourself with our customers, business partners, government agencies, and fellow employees. We expect every Apple employee to understand and comply with these rules.
The Policy is based on Apple's core values of honesty, respect, confidentiality, and the critical obligation of every Apple employee to adhere to legal principles, like antitrust and anti-corruption laws. Living by it is how we earn the trust of our customers and partners and how we keep Apple a great place to work.
The Business Conduct group has developed a new version of the Policy in iBooks format. The book is convenient and engaging with galleries, video, audio and multi-touch widgets all designed to help you learn about Apple's principles of business conduct. You can download the new book via Switchboard, or access a web-version here.
If you have questions, or information about conduct you think may violate the Policy, don't be afraid to speak up. Talk to your manager, your HR representative, or contact the Business Conduct Helpline — which can be done anonymously.
Thank you in advance for treating this seriously and taking responsibility for demonstrating high integrity in every aspect of Apple's business.
Bruce sewell
SVP and General Counsel
