IKEA Case Study

Around the world, there are many organizations trying to eliminate child labor, by promoting policies that heavily tax goods created by child laborers, or by persuading people not to buy products made by children. The premise is good, and it can work; however, it can also aggravate the situation, because it can leave a child jobless with no way of earning money to survive.

Child labor is a serious problem that affects children from third-world countries all over the world. These children are exploited by multinational corporations ,for their cheap labor all over the world. People, then buy products that come at a cheaper price, from these multinational corporations.These children are often overworked and treated unfairly. People need to stop buying items from countries that endorse child labor.

IKEA does a lot of effort to implement their new company’s strategy for 2020, so called, Positive & Planet Positive Strategy. In spite of IKEA’s commitment to human rights, it is difficult for them to control their entire global supply chain. IKEA with other of retailers, were lighted on having suppliers in India which employ labor. However, IKEA declares that those proves were found in carpets producer from India from only four suppliers. (Max Ebnother, 2014)

IKEA is an abbreviation of Ingvar Kamprad Elmtaryd Agunnaryd. The initials come from the name of the founder, the farm where he grew up and his home parish. The firm has grown rapidly since it was founded in 1948. From a very young age, Kamprad started selling furniture and he always kept his low costs - so low that other furniture stores pressured the National Association of Furniture Dealers in Sweden to stop providing Kamprad with products. The first store of IKEA was opened in Almhult, Sweden. The next stores are in

has ,thusfor failed to pass legislation banning the importation of goods poruced with child labor(zoltan , melania barton).Child labor is a significant in developing countries across the globe(walter andrew).These protocols can be ratified by a country once it has enacted laws and appropriate enforcement measures designed to eliminate child labor practices(walter Andrew).One of the often -cited examples of child labor abuse occurs in manufacturing industries ,whether industialor hand craft (walter andrew). Ultimately, the problem of child labor will not truly be solved until the poverty conditions that lead to such labor practices are solved. Developed countries can help end child labor not by punishing the countries that engage in the practice but by examining the reason why child labor is so widespread in these areas, and then providing assistance to help solve the underlying problems (walter andrew).

Child labor is very demanding throughout many countries around the world, especially those were the economic status is not doing so well at the time. As in the United States there are some very strict laws and guidelines that the employers has to follow or they will get fined. The fines that the company may get are not cheap and increase each time they violate the law. As in fines, if the employers violates these laws that are put into place to protect children then can either get fined or even imprisonment if the Justice Department sees fit to do so. These laws and guidelines will help the individual child themselves, the economy and society down the road later on. In this paper we will see what child labor is, some laws that protect the

The next time when you are out on your shopping trip, chances you may have support a business that exploits children. It is very disturbing and heartbreaking to learn many children are chained to looms for 12 hours a day because families need to have their child bringing home a small amount of moneys. Child labor has always been a difficult subject to address, the topic have become much more complicated and prolific.

The International Labor Organization (ILO) recently started looking at the child labor dilemma. It started notifying and forcing countries that are using the children labor to prevent the abuse that the children’s go through every day in their life in term of slavery, prostitution, pornography, drug trafficking and all other forms of criminal exploitation. The first nation to approve that kind of enforcement is the United State of America when United States Senate approved it and it was first signed by President Clinton.

IKEA is the world’s largest furniture store that offers well-designed, functional home furnishing products at low prices. The store offers home furnishings to meet the needs of everyone. The company vision is to create a better everyday life for the many people. Ikea is able to back their vision with their products and prices.

The case I will analyze and discuss in this case study is “IKEA’s Global Sourcing Challenge: Indian Rugs and Child Labor”. I will begin with the vision, values, and strategy of IKEA and an internal analysis of the issues that they have faced as of the time of the case. Next, I will detail the issues IKEA faced in the years prior to the Indian rugs and child labor challenge. Then I will describe the Indian rug and child labor problem that IKEA faced

public image and to show that IKEA is serious about the issue of child labor in the supply chain I

In the United States, child labor and sweatshops are illegal, and society frowns upon any business that exploits children in the production of goods. Though most would say that they would not support a company that uses child labor to produce its goods, almost everyone has, in fact, knowingly or unknowingly, supported these businesses in one way or another. Children are involved in the production of many of the everyday goods we import from overseas, including the manufacturing of clothes, shoes, toys, and sporting equipment, the farming of cocoa, cotton, sugarcane, and bananas, and the mining of coal, diamonds, and gold (The U.S. Dept. of Labor). Often, we are blinded to this fact.

IKEA began as a small company in Sweden selling small household items but in 1945 began selling furniture. IKEA has expanded to other European countries, Canada and Australia. Currently, IKEA is the market leader in the distribution of furniture and home decorative items. IKEA entered the Russian market in 1991 but did not open its first store until 2000 in Moscow.

The history of the company is very colorful and interesting. IKEA was founded in 1943 in the south of Sweden in Smaland. Its founder was seventeen - Ingvar Kamprad. The boy had a great deal of business, and IKEA was not his first venture. Previously, he was selling matches in his hometown. His capital for the establishment of IKEA comes from his father, who rewarded him for good academic performance. He called his company IKEA from the first letters of his name, and the names of the family farm and the village Agunnaryd Elmtaryd. The company initially dealt with the sale of feathers, frames, wallets, tablecloths, watches, jewelry, stockings and fine furniture. Kamprad to transport their goods, borrowed a truck from the local milkman.

IKEA established itself as the largest furniture retailer in Sweden by the early 1970s by reinventing the wheel of furniture manufacturing at that time. Majority of furniture manufacturers in Sweden produced expensive products with designs that were basic or passed down generation to generation, additionally other manufacturers stores where located in downtown congested areas. IKEA’s strategies which consisted of low cost low priced furniture, brave intricate designs, self-assembly,