...IKEA’s Global Sourcing Challenge: Indian Rugs and Child Labor Nathan Johnson Case Analysis MGT 400 – 10/27/09 1) How should Marianne Barner respond to the invitation for IKEA to have a representative appear on the upcoming broadcast of the German Video Production? The offer to have a representative appear on the upcoming broadcast of the German Video Production seems like a total setup. This movie sounds like it is totally geared towards tearing down the corporation’s credibility, etc. If a representative goes, most likely there will be set questions created by the group that made this video in attempt to incriminate IKEA on camera. I would recommend that Marianne Barner thank the German Video Production company for the invitation but to politely decline and say something to the extent that IKEA is currently investigating the operations of its suppliers to ensure compliance with IKEA’s policies. Thereby, as kindly as possible you extend politeness and it is implied that IKEA is now aware of the child labor IKEA is actively seeking to resolve the issue. 2) What actions should she take regarding the IKEA supply contract with Rangan Exports? The most logical approach towards addressing this issue would be to perform some sort of investigation on ALL of IKEA’s suppliers to make sure that all of them are in compliance. If IKEA singles out Rangan Exports, they could risk some sort of discrimination suit. Additionally, if there are more suppliers in violation of their...
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...The Fight against Child Labor International Business Tamara Ramsey May 9, 2012 Abstract Child labor has recently become a very touchy subject throughout the world. Well known corporations and clothing and sporting goods distributors that have for decades been taking advantage of cheap labor in third world countries are seeing their names and images tarnished by allegations of child labor practices and obscene working conditions. Child labor is nothing new to the world. It has been a part of almost every society in recorded history. From ancient times, children have been a part of the economic survival of their families, particularly in industries like the farming and crafting industries. Child labor is meant to define unfair, abusive work whereas work is an important part of the sculpting of most children. There is no question in society that some forms of labor are acceptable and some are not. Children may work without being abused and in many countries and even some American cultures; it is both necessary and integral that children perform some laborious duties. The line between work and child labor is most commonly drawn where normal tasks are replaced with exploitative tasks and children are expected to do things that go well beyond the borders of inhumane. When you think about children, chances are you think of them getting up in the morning, going to school, then coming home and going outside to play. Sadly this isn't always the case. In many countries...
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...Child labor was and is still an existing practice in the world today. Manuel, a five-year old worked at a seafood cannery in Biloxi, Mississippi, with a shrimp pail in each hand and a mountain of oyster shells behind his back. He is typical for thousands of working children in the years before the civil war, especially the turn of the century. America's army of child laborers had been growing steadily for the past century. The nation's economy was expanding. Factories, minds and mills needed plenty of cheap labor. Around 1911, more than two million American children under the age of 16 years of age were a regular part of the work force. Many of them worked twelve hours or more a day, six days a week, for pathetic wages under unhealthy and hazardous conditions. Thousands of young boys descended into dark and dangerous coal mines every day, or worked aboveground in the dust of coal breakers, picking slate from coal with torn and bleeding fingers. Small girls tended noisy machines in the spinning rooms of cotton mills, where the humid, lint-filled air made breathing difficult. They were actually kept awake by cold water being thrown in their faces. Three-year-olds could be found in the cotton fields, and twelve-year-olds on factor night shifts. Across the country, children who should have been in school or at play had to work for a living. By the early 1900's, many Americans were calling child labor "child slavery" and were demanding an end to it...
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...society and labor force face an “industrial” change in which allows for the development of coal mining, working the railroads, in addition with a variety of other jobs. Correspondingly, when these new jobs come to the American hand, union groups begin to come along with them such as the Knights of Labor and later the American Federation of Labor. However, it is also during this time that America undergoes a great migration wave in which brings a significant amount of Italians, Germans, and Irish to the eastern coast which created great competition on the job market. Moreover,...
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...brought with it. Children lived in horrifying conditions before reform was achieved in the early 20th century. They often worked in coalmines or sweatshops for up to twenty hours a day. This helps understand the perspectives of the people living at this time, towards children, as the children weren’t too different from adults, earning wages by spending their days working. In some cases, children worked for weeks in factories without receiving any pay. They did this for the hope of receiving employment after the weeks in which they worked for free. However, employers were well aware of this and often took advantage of the children by either not hiring them in the end of their free labor, or moving after the few weeks to a different area to find more free labor. Outside of being mistreated for labor, children often did not receive care from their parents at home. High infant mortality rates and large family size contributes to this, as it’s harder for a mother of ten to care for all her children, knowing a few are bound to die....
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...Assignment #6: Child Labor: Rights, Risks, and Realities Li-Chung Pan Boston University Metropolitan College AD746 Business Law & Regulation in a Global Environment Prof. Martin L. Saradjian February 20th, 2013 1. Child labor was used extensively before laws and legislations were enacted to abolish child labor. Nowadays, child labor is used in developing countries where child labor laws are not strictly enforced or there aren’t any child labor laws. Where child labor still exists is found in rural settings in developing countries where they are forced to work by their parents or their labor is used to repay debt incurred by their parents. Child labor is used in mostly unskilled labor and is much cheaper than adult workers. 2. Various cultural factors contribute to children working in hazardous conditions. According to “Child Labour: Rights, Risks & Realities” some ethnic and lower classes believe that some are born to rule and others are born to work. This includes children, where their lower caste excludes them from certain rights afforded to other children from a higher caste. If children from these castes drop out of school to work, it is seen as their destiny to do so. 3. The Rotary International is trying to change public attitudes of how some cultures perceive child labor. Rotary clubs around the world are trying to improve the conditions of children by fighting poverty and providing education. 4. The Convention on Rights of the Child is ratified...
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...BUSINESS LAW I APPLIED RESEARCH Child Labor Laws Shane T. Martin Doctor Aaron Bazzoli Park University Internet Campus A course paper presented to the School of Arts and Sciences and Distance Learning In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Baccalaureate Business Law I Park University December 2012 Outline - Introduction - Early America o Placed children were employed o Agricultural jobs o Lack of safety standards o Lost educational opportunities - Opposition o 1900 Census report opened America’s eyes o National Consumers League started campaigning for children’s rights o National Child Labor Committee formed in 1904 - Laws Regarding o Problem too pervasive to “law down” o Federal regulation needed to prevent employers from taking business across state lines o Beveridge and Parsons introduce legislation in 1906 ▪ Debated but not put into law o Many tries by Congress but no laws that stuck o Roosevelt elected ▪ National Industrial Recovery Act passed in 1933. • Banned industrial homework and eliminated child labor • Ruled unconstitutional in 1935 ▪ Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1933 • Ruled unconstituational ▪ Walsh-Healey Act required government restrict their purchases to companies...
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...Dear Aunt Bessie, I have found pleasure in making people in need happy. From your asking to give away one million dollars I will choose wisely and make your acquirements expectable. I have seen the other side of America as something that I never thought I would have ever see. We have talked about deforestation, child labor, women’s suffrage, and food safety. I have made my decision to give $600,000 to Child Labor, $300,000 to Food Safety, and $100,000 to Deforestation. I made my decision to give away $600,000 to Child Labor. My reason for giving away so much money to something that most people may think isn’t necessary of any reason. Well, you may not know the things that I know. I have learned that Child Labor isn’t just children get a little paper cut or a scrap. According to Lewis Hine’s, National Child Labor Committee Report, 1911, “One was badly burned and the other smothered to death” (Doc B.) This means there are children in our world that may get injured badly or even killed. Dennis McKee was one of them. Some of the boys working in mines had little chance to relax or even get some fresh air. “He continues to cough up black coal dust” being in such a small area and especially working with coal you’ll most likely inhale the coal dust and can lead to serious problems like the common diseases such as black lungs. But it is just from working in mines it...
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...Background: IKEA was founded by Ingvar Kamprad who embedded his strongly held values and beliefs in IKEA’s culture. IKEA was created out of Kamprad’s family kitchen selling goods such as fountain pens, cigarette lighters and binders that later turned into a catalog business operations selling furniture. In developing IKEA’s furniture retailing business model, Kamprad was confronted with a cartel of furniture manufacturers that kept prices high by controlling the Swedish industry. This issue later became the vision of the company “creating a better life for the many people”. IKEA also introduced their key feature of self-assembled furniture where customers bought furniture in flat packages and put them together at home. This was known as the “knockdown” concept that allowed IKEA to save on transportation and storage costs. Conflict with the cartel of furniture manufacturers in Sweden forced IKEA to source materials from abroad. To maintain IKEA’s quality and delivery, IKEA taught their processes and provided machinery to their suppliers in Poland. After expanding their suppliers globally, IKEA created a general procurement principle that that stated IKEA should develop close ties by supporting its suppliers with a long-term relationship. By the mid-1990s IKEA worked with 2,300 suppliers in 70 countries. IKEA has 24 trading service offices in 19 countries that monitor production, test new product ideas, negotiate prices, and check quality. Since 1980’s IKEA has been looked upon...
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...1995, IKEA met a problem that its main supplier, Indian rugs, used the child labor to produce products, although they had signed an attachment of the contract to ban employing child labor. In addition, a German documentary maker was about to broadcast the problem of child labor on German television and also invited an employee from IKEA to have a live discussion in the TV program. Marianne Barner, the leader of IKEA, must find a great solution to this serious issue to both save her business and the corporation’s brand image. In this issue, IKEA was not the one who produced products, so they might not realize the use of child labor in the process of production. In addition, child labor did not attract lots of attention from the society at that time, so they did not pay attention to the use of child labor when they were finding their suppliers. However, they sold terminal products so they were to blame. As a result, Marianne had to make several decisions, respectively about whether IKEA should accept the invitation to join the TV program, how to deal with the broken contract with Rangan Exports, how to deal with the child labor on the long term and whether IKEA should use Rugmark. To address this problem and make these decisions, IKEA has four choices. One is that IKEA could utilize its own relationship with its suppliers to solve the issue. The second choice for IKEA is to invite Rugmark Foundation on its behalf to monitor the use of child labor. The third one is that IKEA could...
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...Marianne Barner respond to the invitation for IKEA to have a representative appear on the upcoming broadcast of the German video program? I suggest Marianne Barner to refuse to appear on the upcoming broadcast of the German Video Program. Every coin has two sides. Accepting this invitation is the opportunity for IKEA to quickly response the child labor issue in public media. In this way, IKEA could assure that they will be more aware of social responsibility and potential upcoming social issues in the future. However, the German Video Program won’t allow the company to preview the video and that the program clearly “planned to take a confrontational and aggressive approach aimed directly at IKEA”. If they go to the invitation with no preparation of what kinds of issue and questions could probably be faced with, it might potentially mislead by the videos or questions they answered in the show. Therefore, Marianne Barner should politely refuse the invitation and respond the video when they have a chance to review and verify the truth in the video. While, in the meantime, IKEA have time to investigate the truth and assign more policies to against child labor issue for their suppliers. 2. What actions should she take regarding the IKEA supply contract with Rangan Exports? IKEA should sent out the investigation term to figure out the truth whether the Rangan Exports failed in compliance with the ethical standard that laid out by IKEA. Additionally, they should perform this...
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...Executive Summary IKEA is a “privately held, international home products company that designs and sells ready-to-assemble furniture such as beds and desks, appliances and home accessories”. The company was established in Sweden in 1943 by a 17-year-old Ingvar Kamprad, who is one the world's richest people in 2013, the company's name is an acronym that consists of the initials of Ingvar Kamprad, Elmtaryd (the farm where he grew up), and Agunnaryd (his hometown in Southern Sweden). IKEA is currently the world's largest furniture retailer and arguably the most successful global retailer. Being one of the biggest global retailers, IKEA benefited a lot by the globalization of its business; IKEA’s target market is the global middle class who is looking for low-priced but attractively designed furniture and household items. The company started as a home-furniture retailer in Sweden over 60 years ago. Throughout the years with the use of effective globalization, “IKEA managed to increase its business revenue and profit by selling and making home-furniture in different countries all over the world, and it has over 300 retail stores in more than 30 countries”. Other than that, they sell roughly 10,000 different products, which attract customers from different places all over the world. The basic assumption behind IKEA's global strategy was “one-design-suits-all”. This case “IKEA’s Global Sourcing Challenge: Indian Rugs and Child Labor ” is about IKEA’s development from a...
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...Barner respond to the invitation for IKEA to have a representative appear on the upcoming broadcast of the German video program? For IKEA and Barner, appearing in the program has a lot of pros and cons that could heavily affect the public perception of the brand. One critical aspect of attending is that Barner shouldn’t be the only representative of IKEA present, given the high status of this issue, she should be accompanied by a senior level individual to show that IKEA takes the issue seriously and they are heavily prioritizing the assuagement of this injustice. The team that would represent IKEA should clearly acknowledge the issue of child labor and understand that they are walking on eggshells. Preparation is key...
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...Marianne Barner respond to the invitation for IKEA to have a representative appear on the upcoming broadcast of the German video program? To tackle this knotty problem, it is highly recommended that IKEA should participate in the program. The first thing should be taken into account is that this documentary was produced by a noted German company, which further meant gaining high credibility and extensive influence too dangerous and can be harmful for Marianne Barner to underestimate or ignore. Consequently, a heads-on response is not merely necessary but also imperative. Further to that point, the company does have gained some positive accomplish ents to the child labor issue since the problem was first raised by Swedish television. IKEA could analyze and discuss the information it had collected so far from UNICEF and the ILO and demonstrate its same attitude as the director of the documentary film as well as pursuing the same goals of eradicating child labor. It could turn the baffling problem around by showing its gratitude to the director for helping spot the child labor at the company’s manufacturing and could never to be too emphasize that the company is going to study the case thoroughly. Furthermore, what Marianne Barner should point out is that as the IKEA’ s philosophy goes: Anyone can make mistake but one should take the responsibility of making a mistake. Taking responsibility has been served as a privilege. Since the IKEA was unaware of making the mistake by acc...
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...eaElena Fischer Case: Ikea’s Global Sourcing Challenge 1. Should Ikea dissolve its relationship with its carpet supplier? I think IKEA should in fact, exit the Indian rug market. While it would translate to higher cost for consumers, it would remove any conflict of interest for both society and management in terms of child labor. With the public knowledge that IKEA rugs have in fact been made using child labor, rug sales will decrease and customers will feel uncomfortable purchasing products with the wonder of whether or not child labor was used to create the product they are about to purchase. If IKEA dissolves the relationship, socially conscious consumers will feel ease when buying a rug, with the knowledge that no children were used to weave the rug, even with the slightly higher price. Exiting this market will also put pressure on Indian government to take more efforts in preventing child labor by implementing more labor laws, or better enforcing the current ones. While the Rugmark Foundation programs implemented with suppliers to supervise the use of the label helps regulate child labor, it does not get rid of it all together and is only a short-term fix. The only way I see IKEA saving their image, following their values and ethics, and preventing the use of child labor in the making of their rugs, they need to withdraw because it is the only action that truly shows their seriousness with the issue and zero toleration policy in being a part of their company....
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