Analyzing IKEA's Ethical Stance: Banning Single-Use Plastics by 2020

This report provides an in-depth analysis of IKEA's ethical performance concerning its initiative to ban single-use plastic products by 2020. It examines the problems related to environmental sustainability, legal responsibilities, governance, and responsible management. The analysis incorporates ethical theories such as social contract theory and stakeholder theory, evaluating IKEA's adherence to Carroll's levels of Corporate Social Responsibility. The report highlights the importance of sustainable practices, waste management, and stakeholder engagement in achieving IKEA's goal. It also addresses challenges associated with legal obligations, environmental regulations, and the need for alternative materials. The report concludes with recommendations for IKEA to enhance its ethical performance and ensure the successful implementation of its sustainability strategy. Desklib provides access to similar reports and solved assignments for students.

Running head: BAN SINGLE-USE PLASTIC PRODUCTS BY 2020
Ban single-use plastic products by 2020
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

BAN SINGLE-USE PLASTIC PRODUCTS BY 2020
Executive Summary
The prime purpose of the paper is to focus on the use of the ethical theories in the IKEA. The
paper will be focusing on disadvantages of using the single-use plastic products. The paper will
provide in-depth knowledge about the application of different types of ethical theories such as
the social contract theory and the stakeholder theory. The paper will be very much useful to
understand the importance of the ethical theories in the implementation of the strategies which
will be useful for this organization to achieve their goal of banning the use of plastic based
products by the end of the year 2020.

BAN SINGLE-USE PLASTIC PRODUCTS BY 2020
Table of Contents
Analysis of ethical performance......................................................................................................4
Problems in terms of Environmental Sustainability........................................................................4
Problems in terms of Legal Responsibilities...................................................................................6
Problems in terms of Governance....................................................................................................8
Problems in terms of Responsible Management...........................................................................10
Role of Carroll’s levels of Corporate Social Responsibility.........................................................11
Stakeholder Mapping.....................................................................................................................12
Recommendation...........................................................................................................................13
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................14
Reference.......................................................................................................................................16

BAN SINGLE-USE PLASTIC PRODUCTS BY 2020
Analysis of ethical performance
Problems in terms of Environmental Sustainability
New policies and legislation should be implemented among the internal and the external
stakeholders of this business organization as it will be beneficial for IKEA. According to
Andrady (2015), the biggest challenge considering the environmental sustainability of IKEA is
the efficient utilization of the natural resources as it is the prime aspect of IKEA. The author of
this resource focused on the importance Corporate Social Responsibility on the efficient
selection of the location where raw materials can be easily accessed and processed. This is a
major issue for this global business organization. The resource helps in understanding the impact
of the inefficient selection of location of the raw materials as it has a direct impact on the growth
and productivity of the organization (Lam et al. 2018). The researcher of this resource focused
on the importance of the sustainable business to solve this matter. The researcher focused on the
importance of the equal distribution of resources in the paper. The authors of this resource
focused on the importance of maintaining the ecological balance of the environment as the main
product of this organization is home furnishing which require wide range of woods but there a
huge risk of ecological failure as the wrong choice of supply chain have a direct negative impact
on both the corporation as well as the environment. The author of this resource also focused on
the needs of the local market considering environmental sustainability (Russell 2018). The needs
and requirement of the market depend upon the location of the consumers also, and since this is a
global corporation is found in most countries of the worked the environment of the market is
needed to be analyzed in details so that sustainable development can be achieved. According to
the author corporate conscience and corporate ethics strategy will be very much beneficial for
IKEA to deal with the issue considering the sustainable environment. The prices of the goods

BAN SINGLE-USE PLASTIC PRODUCTS BY 2020
and services should also be dependent on few environmental factors such as the location of the
productive units. The author of this resource focused on the importance banning of the single use
plastic products as it has a very harmful impact on the environment. The sustainability
development of this organization will be purposefully achieved with the help of the banning the
use of plastic products (Njuguna 2018). The main advantage of this paper is that it provides all
the parameters required for the sustainable growth of this corporation and the drawback of this
paper is that it is written in a generalized format rather than focusing on any particular negative
impact of the use of plastic based products.
Other authors have stated their opinion about the ban of the plastic based products in
order to achieve sustainable development. According to Rochman, Cook and Koelmans (2016),
every business organization similar to IKEA should be developing products which can be reused
and recycled so that sustainable development can be achieved. The problem associated with the
application of plastic based products can be solved purposefully with the use of recycling. The
authors of this resource focused on the use of the disposable plastics. Single use plastic bags
have a very negative impact once it integrates itself with the environment. Selling of the plastic
based products which are used in our daily life which have the capability to have negative impact
will be stopped in this organization (Buekens and Yang 2014). The main advantage of this paper
is that is provides detailed knowledge about the negative impact of the plastic based goods on the
environment. The paper has considerable drawbacks as it fails to state the impact of the use of
the plastic based products till date.
Thus it can be said that renewable energy products should be endorsed by IKEA so that
the products and services offered by IKEA does not lead to environmental pollution (Colton et
al. 2018). The release of the poisonous chemical from the plastic based is very much harmful to

BAN SINGLE-USE PLASTIC PRODUCTS BY 2020
the environment as the environmental pollution have a negative impact on both environments by
destroying the ecological balance as well as the causing respiratory problems among human
beings. According to the law of normative ethics certain practices of this corporation is
completely unethical as the customers are allowed to design their own products as they are given
the freedom to choose any kinds of products to meet their needs and requirements, this facility
provided by the corporation is not at all contributing to the sustainable development of the
organization.
Problems in terms of Legal Responsibilities:
Considering the stakeholder theory, it can be understood that the legal responsibilities of
this business organization should be updated according to business situations which keeps on
changing in this organization. The steps which are needed to be taken by each of the stakeholder
associated to this business organization can be identified with the use of this theory. As discussed
by Kopke, Bennison and Doyle (2015), use of the plastic based products is one of the greatest
threat to the environment so that legal responsibilities play a key role in dealing with this
scenario. The ethical theory which is needed to investigate the legal responsibility of IKEA is the
business ethics which states about the role of all the employers associated with the business as
they contribute equally in the legal responsibilities of this organization. Social awareness and co-
responsibility is the key aspect of the legal responsibilities to deal with the banning of the plastic
based products. The extensive development in the field of environmental science has revealed
that the lack of legal responsibilities by bigger global organization is one of the most important
factors of environmental pollution (Walker and Xanthos 2018). The author of this resource
focused on the illegal activities of these furnishing organizations which is the main reason behind
the need of the responsible management. The author of this resource focus on the main issues of

BAN SINGLE-USE PLASTIC PRODUCTS BY 2020
the legal responsibilities of this corporation. Efficient management steps can be very much useful
for this corporation. The author of this resource focused on the importance of numerous
verification process which will be helping the business organizations to fulfil their legal
responsibilities regarding the disposal of the plastic based products (Bauer et al. 2018). Illegal
logging of the forestry products is the other way by which this business organization causes
environmental pollution all around the globe. The author of this resource highlighted the
importance of the environmental friendly management processes which will be useful to manage
this issue (Disney et al. 2017). The environmental policies of every business organization should
be revised according to the annual environmental audit report. The natural resources which are
used by this organization should be minimized and the use of the plastic based product should be
totally banned
However according to Froidbise (2015), the legal obligation associated with the use of
the plastic-based products should be understood by both the internal as well as the external
stakeholders of IKEA. The researcher of this resource focused on the importance of the
application of the legal responsibilities of the workers of the organization who are involved in
selling or implementing any business process which involves the use of plastic based products.
The clients or the consumers of this business organization should also be aware of their legal
responsibilities while using any type of plastic based products and goods manufactured by IKEA.
The legal responsibility is very closely related to the diminished responsibility as stated by the
author so each of the stakeholders should be playing their role so that the organizational goal to
ban the use of the plastic-based products by 2020 is achieved (Agyeman and Badugu 2017).
According to the author the health, safety and the welfare of all the employees, as well as the
clients of this organization, should be considered before taking any step in disposing the harmful

BAN SINGLE-USE PLASTIC PRODUCTS BY 2020
chemical which are obtained from the plastic-based products. The author of this paper stated that
professional ethics should be maintained while maintaining the legal responsibilities.
Thus it can be said that there are lots of challenges associated with the legal responsibility
of banning plastic based products and services such as the stringent environmental rules and
regulations of each country. The waste management rules of every country should be understood
by the operational team of IKEA. The legal responsibilities of the internal stakeholders of this
business organization such as maintaining the industry standards while developing the plastic
based products is very important for maintaining legal responsibility of IKEA. The maintenance
of the legal responsibilities will lead to a better everyday life for most of the consumers of IKEA
(Xanthos and Walker 2017). The home furnishing products which are developed by this business
organization should be maintaining all the protocols of the legal responsibilities. Societal
behaviour is a very important aspect of the legal responsibility regarding the ban of the use of
plastic based services. Co-responsibility should be maintained by all the concerned personnel's
involved with the use of the plastic based services. The social, technical and management policy
should be created and implemented in such a way that legal responsibilities are all covered up.
Debate sessions is a very important aspect for understanding and implementing the legal
responsibilities which will be very much beneficial for the environment. Government
organizations also should be focusing on how to make people know about the effectiveness of
the legal responsibilities.
Problems in terms of Governance
As per the Friedman’s individualism theory, the practices of the management team is
completely unethical as the steps they are taking to minimizing the use of the plastic based
products are needed to be revised by effective alternative such as the use of liquid glass in place

BAN SINGLE-USE PLASTIC PRODUCTS BY 2020
of plastics. The accountants of IKEA can be analyzed with the help of the steward theory as its
states about the utilization of the functions used in this business corporation (Brooks, Wang and
Jambeck 2018). The utilization of the natural resources is a major concern for this company. This
concern can be judged with perspectives of each of the stakeholders associated with the business.
The clients of IKEA who are the prime stakeholders associated with business need to know the
drawback of using the plastic based products in order to achieve the organizational target. The
success of IKEA will be depending upon the satisfaction level of the stakeholders (Williams
2017). Alternative technique should be applied for plastic based goods. Individual aspirations
and the aspiration of the organization should be highlighted to a huge extent so that problems in
terms of governance can be minimized. According to this ethical theory the role of the top
management is very much important so that the organization goal of banning plastic based
products can be achieved. Position of the employees and the associated autonomy is very much
important to deal with this problem.
However, according to Dauvergne (2018), other bigger corporations are reusing the waste
material of the production units as this method are significantly helpful in minimizing the use of
the plastic based services. The grocery bags and the micro leads are the very much harmful to the
environment. Fragmentation of the governance plan are very much important for the
minimization of the use of plastic. According to the author, plastic pollution is a very aspect of
every furnishing organization and each of the self-regulation plan adopted by business
organization always tends to harm the environment by overlooking the governance plans as
proposed in the primary stages.
Thus it can be said that since this IKEA is spread all over the world, each country having
a unique norms regarding the environmental stability should be getting accustomed to their rules

BAN SINGLE-USE PLASTIC PRODUCTS BY 2020
and regulations (Venkatesh and Suryakantha 2015). The social contract theory can be used to
analyze the governance mode from the point of view of the clients so that the necessary changes
can be implemented in the marketing strategies of the company.
Problems in terms of Responsible Management
Considering Friedman’s individualism theory, it can be stated that the practices used in
this corporation is completely unethical as it applies thick plastic in their production unit which
is very harmful to the environment. According to Garlapati (2016), responsible management is
one of the most important aspect which is needed to be considered by IKEA. The prime aspects
of the business ethics used to investigate the importance of responsible management in banning
the use of plastic by the year 2020 are honesty, integrity, fairness and law bidding. The
researcher of this resource focused on the importance of the management plan to solve the issues
raised from the use of the plastic materials (Sun et al. 2017). The organizational target of IKEA
can be achieved with the help of the effective planning. The non-recyclable multilayered plastics
should be aborted in the first place.
However, Skariyachan et al. (2015), multiple view points in the top level meeting of this
business organization is very important for the responsible management of this corporation. The
researcher focused on the importance of the CSR related communications. The authors of this
resource focused on the importance of the stakeholder theory which can be used to analyze the
responsible management of this organization. The researcher focused on the importance of the
internal and external stakeholder regarding the responsible management. Internal stakeholders of
this business organization such as the project managers, auditors, sales and marketing team and
store operation should be providing their suggestion about necessary steps which are needed to
be changed to ban the use of the plastic products. The external stakeholders of this business

BAN SINGLE-USE PLASTIC PRODUCTS BY 2020
organization such as the clients, distributors and supply chain should be working on the basis of
business ethics (Prihandini 2018). The main advantage of this resource is that it states the
advantages associated with the implementation of the stakeholder theory among the stakeholders
of this business. The main drawback of this paper it that it fails to focus on the issues and
challenges faced by the business organizations which tries to implement this theory on its
working environment.
Thus it can be said that the responsibility management is a very important aspect for this
organization to ban the use of plastic based products by the year 2020. The social contract theory
can be used for analyzing the responsible management of this business (Vince and Hardesty
2018). The social agreements between the stakeholders are very much important to complete the
mission and vision of the organization which is to ban plastic product by the end of the year
2020. The power and legitimacy of the stakeholders should be authorized by the management
team so that there are no complexities with the formation of the strategies such as the
implementation of the CSR in the organization.
Role of Carroll’s levels of Corporate Social Responsibility
The Carroll’s levels of Corporate Social Responsibility can play a huge role for IKEA to
get closer to their organizational objective which is to ban the use of single use plastic products
by the end of the year 2020. The four levels such as the legal level, the ethical level, the
economic level and the philanthropic level can be applied in the environment of this organization
so that their production along with the involved stakeholders and responsibilities can all
contribute to the organizational objective.

BAN SINGLE-USE PLASTIC PRODUCTS BY 2020
The activities which are practiced in the working environment of IKEA contributes to the
growth and development of the society. The core values of IKEA such as the leadership
qualities, innovation solutions to customer demands, cost consciousness, humbleness and
delegation of responsibility all follows the Carroll’s levels of Corporate Social Responsibility.
Philanthropic: The expectations of the consumers are understood in the first place so that it is
easier for the organization to make any kinds of changes for the development and benefit of the
society itself. The practices are not only for the customers but also for the other people around
the world who are not connected to the system. QoP is important in this organization as it is
important for this organization to produce high quality products even after their proposed
changes considering banning the use of single use plastic products.
Economic: It is the primary corporate objective among the other three levels, it looks after the
economic profits of all the stakeholders associated with the organization as stronger financial
again will help this organization to take any decision for the betterment of the society. The
partnership with the other subsidiary organizations is also very much beneficial for all the
stakeholders as well as the society.
Legal: The stronger economic stability among the different stakeholders of the business is
followed by the legal compliances as it may have a direct impact on the reputation of the
organization. The sustainability goals of this organization is very much considered in this level
of the Carroll’s levels of Corporate Social Responsibility. The investments of this organization in
sectors such as wind firms and solar panels also contributes to the development of the society in
a legal way.