The Apple Consulting® Code of Conduct contains the standards of professional conduct for Apple Consulting® employees in their relations with potential or existing clients, colleagues, and partners.

Professional Attitude

Apple Consulting® employees commit themselves to the following:

• Put the interests of existing or potential customers above their own

• Preserve independence of opinions and actions

• Keep client information confidential

• Improve own professional level on a regular basis

• Follow high professional standards of management consulting and constantly develop them

• Preserve honour and dignity of the profession and adhere to the high standards of personal behaviour.

Core Obligations to the Client

1.1. We always put our clients’ interests above our own in an honest, competent and independent way. We hold an independent position and do everything possible to ensure that our advice rests on the unbiased consideration of all relevant facts and opinions.

1.2. We protect all information related to the client’s business and collected when performing our professional duties. We do not use materials or corporate information we receive in the course of business relations with clients for personal, financial or any other purposes. We allow no one to take advantage of this information.

1.3. We do not provide services to our client’s competitors. Only in exceptional cases, we may consider it possible to cooperate with a competing company if their services differ and our existing or potential client agrees.

1.4. We inform our clients of all our relationships, circumstances or interests that may affect our judgment or credibility of our services.

Agreement with the Client

2.1. We accept only those tasks that are in line with our qualifications and, in our opinion, may bring real benefits to the client. We involve qualified specialists who effectively analyse the problems and meet the client’s challenges.

2.2. We do not undertake tasks that we are unable to effectively cope with.

2.3. Before accepting the assignment, we collect and discuss in detail with the potential client as many facts as necessary to fully investigate and understand the problem. The preliminary study is confidential. Its circumstances and conditions are agreed upon by the consultant and potential client.

2.4. We always provide written project offers with the project objectives and goals, nature, content, terms and performers, as well as the cost and costing. All possible changes to the assignment are discussed with the client and we proceed to work only after obtaining a consent to such changes from the client, and, if necessary, all such proposed changes are fixed and approved on paper.

2.5. We treat each assignment on an individual basis and develop recommendations that cover specific situations and conditions of the client’s business. Our goal is to provide each client with practical and realistic solutions that can be promptly and efficiently implemented. Our specialists are willing to assist to bring the approved and adopted solutions to life.

2.6. We do not provide services to the client under circumstances or conditions that may affect our credibility, independence or impartiality; we reserve the right to refuse an assignment if the circumstances beyond our control will hinder success of the task.

2.7. Our client’s staff receives all information about the principles, methods and techniques we use to ensure that proposed or implemented improvements are followed and developed in a correct way when the joint project is completed.

2.8. After cooperation, we do not leave behind the problems and tasks of our clients and keep track of the work carried out to solve them. To this end, we keep relevant reports that the client may request if they need to recover information. All client documentation is protected from unauthorised access.

2.9. We do not take up an assignment for a client if at that moment he is serviced by another management consulting company, unless we receive convincing evidence that the contradiction between the two obligations is conscious and approved by the client. We do not try to oust another company or an individual consultant engaged in management consulting, having information about the agreement entered into by the client and another consultant, unless we receive convincing evidence that the client is aware of any contradiction between the two agreements.

2.10. We do not review the work of another company or an individual consultant engaged in management consulting, which has been performed for the same client, unless the work in question is completed or interrupted. However, even in this case, out of courtesy, we inform the consulting company or the consultant that we studied their work, provided that the client gives his consent.