BSNS7730: IKEA's Sustainability Initiatives and the TNS Framework

This report examines IKEA's sustainability initiatives through the lens of the TNS (The Natural Step) framework. It discusses the four system conditions, backcasting, and the TNS funnel, illustrating how these concepts apply to IKEA's operations. The analysis covers IKEA's actions such as shifting to LED lighting, sourcing sustainable cotton and wood, leveraging renewable energy, and providing eco-friendly solutions. It relates these actions to the TNS model, particularly the four system conditions and the A-B-C-D process for implementing sustainability. The report also addresses the planetary boundary of climate change and suggests further actions IKEA could take to reduce its impact, highlighting the potential for long-term profitability and stakeholder engagement. References to academic sources are included to support the analysis. Desklib provides students access to a wide array of academic resources.

S U B M I T T E D B Y:
Sustainability in business

Elements of TNS Framework
 Four Systems Conditions
 Backcasting
 TNS Funnel
Four System Condition
“In sustainable society, nature is not subject to systematically increasing …
 … concentrations of substances extracted from earth crust.
 … concentrations of substances produced by society.
 … degradation by physical means.
 … human needs met worldwide.”

Backcasting
 Helps in identifying needs of product, service or organization.
 Helps in identifying stakeholders
 Helps in analysing current situations and conditions
 Helps in developing future scenarios
 Helps in identifying and implementing strategies
TNS Funnel
TNS funnel is conceptual representation of availability and use of resources. It helps
in illustrating that as population and resource demand increases or population and
resource usage rises, resources which are reachable to us will decrease and the
freedom will become restricted.

TNS A-B-C-D process of implementing sustainability
 Awareness building and understanding- The business organizations are synced with
general interpretation regarding sustainability.
 Baseline Mapping- Business organizations evaluates their materials and energy flow and
influence of organization over community by using 4-step condition.
 Creating and vision and strategic plan- A long term vision is developed by organization in
a sustainable community. A strategy is promoted from attitude of having attained
sustainability and looking backwards. This step of the A-B-C-D process utilises backcasting
and recognises every step of solution in order to move an organization from present position
to more sustainable position.
 Down to action- In the last step of this process, organizations implement actions. The
process of backcasting is utilised to continuously evaluate decisions in order to facilitate that
organizations achieve the vision which was created by them in the first stage of the process.

Sustainability Actions of IKEA
 Shifting total lighting to energy effective LED solutions
 Procuring all the cotton utilised in their products from more sustainable sources
 Leveraging towards 100% renewable energy and accordingly creating as much energy as they
exhaust in their operations (Cosmo & Yang 2017).
 Procuring all the wood required by the company from sustainable sources
 Providing economical products and solutions for water effectiveness, energy effectiveness,
renewable energy and waste seperating solutions
 Implementing new commitments which add up to $1 billion for climate action.

Relation with TNS model
Four system condition- The company utilizes human
resources and regenerates the resources while meeting
customer demands
A-B-C-D process of implementing sustainability- It build
awareness in the society, identifies impact of its operation,
develops vision and strategic plan and take actions
accordingly. (Perrott 2015)

Planetary boundary addressed
Climate change- The action which IKEA could take in
order to reduce its impact in context of climate change is
by using renewable sources of energy for all of its day to
day business operations and by regenerating the resources
which are required by the company.
Will help in promoting environmental sustainability
High initial costs but profitable for the company in the
long run.
Will improve the involvement of the stakeholders in the
operations of the company.

References
Cosmo, D. E., & Yang, K. (2017). A further strategic move to
sustainability-A case study on IKEA. Journal of Strategic
Innovation and Sustainability, 12(2), 39-47. Retrieved
from
https://search.proquest.com/docview/1990802127?accoun
tid=30552
Perrott, B. E. (2015). Building the sustainable organization: An
integrated approach. The Journal of Business
Strategy, 36(1), 41-51. Retrieved from
https://search.proquest.com/docview/1642189466?accoun
tid=30552