Ikea Global Sourcing Challenge Essay - 2099 Words

Ikea Global Sourcing Challenge: Indian Rugs and Child Labor IKEA and Marianne Barner are facing a very challenging issue. Because they were blind sided by the child labor issues with their supplier, they had to scramble to respond to the issues in a quick and appropriate manner. IKEA sent a legal team to Geneva to seek input and advice from the International Labor Organization on how to deal with the problem and to find out more about the child labor issues. They also hired a third party agent to monitor child labor practices in India and Pakistan and to conduct random audits to ensure there were no children working. They had all their suppliers sign a legal document stating that if a supplier employed children under legal working†¦show more content†¦Because their employees understand the culture they will be more comfortable in ambiguous situations and know how to choose the right decision and even if it is a difficult social or ethical decision they know the company will support them. IKEA also needs to teach employees to fo llow the business goals as well as the organization goals; they need to learn how to make sure they are tied together in the best possible way. Without the companies guidelines on code of conduct and possible limitations, the employee can end up being confused and not know how to make the best possible decisions. IKEAs corporate strategy comes directly from their vision statement To create a better everyday life for the many people. There strategy was to provide a low cost product for their customer. In order to achieve this goal they had a management process that stressed simplicity and attention to detail, a willingness to assume responsibility and to help as evidenced by the formaldehyde and the child labor issues. Because of their willingness to admit fault, IKEA stepped up to the plate to try to monitor and maintain the relationship with their supplier. India is the largest purchasing source for carpets and rugs, because of this Barner did not initially feel she should just cancel the contract with the offending supplier. She researched the issueShow MoreRelatedIkea Global Sourcing Challenge2551 Words   |  11 PagesIKEAs GLOBAL SOURCING CHALLENGE EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The IKEA Group, one of the world’s top furniture retailers, has emerged as the fastest-growing furniture retailer in the US. Its unique business strategy has given it its strengths for its success today. However, like all strategies, IKEA’s strategy has its own flaws that can pose as weaknesses. 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A recent addendum was signed by all IKEA suppliers which forbid the use of child labor (Bartlett amp; Sjoman, p. 1, 2006), so this incident has called the company to make an actionRead MoreIkea Case Study Essay1076 Words   |  5 PagesIKEA Case Study IKEA Case Study The founder of IKEA, Ingvar Kamprad, established the IKEA brand in Sweden when he was only 17 years old. It was 1943, and the IKEA brand started its enterprise journey by selling items such as seeds from Kamprad’s family’s farm and Christmas magazines. By 1948, the IKEA furniture line came to life. Kamprad’s concept was â€Å"good furniture could be priced so that the man with that flat wallet would make a place for it in hisRead MoreOutline Of A Business On Ikea1094 Words   |  5 Pages IKEA Aimee Valdes Palm Beach State College Chapter 1: Research Proposal and Introduction Introduction Corporate name, founding date, founding leaders. IKEA, one of the most successful retailers in the world, was established by Ingvar Kamprad, in 1943, in Sweden (Hill, Jones Schilling, 2015). Essential events and critical incidents. In 1948, after adding furniture to IKEA’s product line Kamprad published the first catalog which is distributed free to this day (Hill et.alRead MoreIkea Children Labour6495 Words   |  26 Pages9-906-414 REV: NOVEMBER 14, 2006 CHRISTOPHER A. BARTLETT VINCENT DESSAIN ANDERS SJÃâ€"MAN IKEA’s Global Sourcing Challenge: Indian Rugs and Child Labor (A) In May 1995, Marianne Barner faced a tough decision. After just two years with IKEA, the world’s largest furniture retailer, and less than a year into her job as business area manager for carpets, she was faced with the decision of cutting off one of the company’s major suppliers of Indian rugs. While such a move would disrupt supply and