According to Chapter 9, IKEA does not condone the use of child labor by its suppliers. Although child labor is relatively cheap, and can even help IKEA its cost of production, the company has the view that it is not prudent to use such labor. If IKEA condones the use of child labor, most of the children would drop out of school, and even breadwinners of their families. I think IKEA’s position on business ethics is in line with ethical universalism, which requires basic ethical standards to run across the whole world (Demuijnck, 2015). In this case, IKEA forbids the use of child labor by its suppliers, regardless of the country they come from. Therefore, IKEA maintains that children below the age of 18 should not be subjected to any kind of labor but instead be allowed to have access to education, and other amenities.
Another company that follows IKEA’s principle is Apple. Apple is a technology company that manufactures computers, mobile phones, among other gadgets. Apple has a code of conduct, which its suppliers and retailers are supposed to observe. Some of the things the retailers and suppliers are supposed to observe include: fair compensation, environmental conservation, and not using child labor (Singh & Kaur, 2016). Secondly, jewelry manufacturing companies such as Goldstar and California Jewelry are opposed to the use of child labor in mines. The objection comes in the wake of conflict and deplorable living conditions for people working in the mines, especially in Africa (Du Plessis, 2017). A significant number of these people are children who have to drop out of school to fend for themselves and their families. Although these companies deal with different products from those of IKEA, they all agree that the rights of children ought to be protected across the globe. Therefore, all of them subscribe to the principle of ethical universalism.
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References
Demuijnck, G. (2015). Universal values and virtues in management versus cross-cultural moral relativism: An educational strategy to clear the ground for business ethics. Journal of Business Ethics , 128 (4), 817-835.
Du Plessis, W. (2017). Responsible Mining: Key Principles for Industry Integrity by Sara Bice (Routledge Earthscan London 2016).
Lecture materials. Chapter 9. IKEA’s Global Supplier Standards
Singh, B. J. R., & Kaur, M. P. (2016). Corporate social responsibility in India. International Journal of Higher Education Research & Development , 1 (1).
