ETHICS ACROSS TIME AND CULTURES

Going King Sized in the United States and Crashing on the Couch in China

IKEA is a multinational corporation with a proven track record of listening to stakeholders in ways that improve relationships and the bottom line. The Swedish company has had success in the United States and, more recently, in China by adapting to local cultural norms. For example, in the United States, IKEA solicited the concerns of many of its approximately fifty thousand in-store customers and even visited some at home. The company learned, among other things, that U.S. customers assumed IKEA featured only European-size beds. In fact, IKEA has offered king-size beds for years; they simply were not on display. IKEA then began to focus on displaying furniture U.S. consumers were more familiar with and so grew its bedroom furniture sales in 2012 and 2013.22 As IKEA expands into China, it has welcomed a different trendpeople taking naps on the furniture on display. While snoozing is prohibited at IKEA stores elsewhere, the Swedish retailer has long permitted Chinese customers to doze off, rather than alienate shoppers accustomed to sleeping in public.23 Adapting to local culture, as these examples demonstrate, is one way a company can respond to stakeholder wishes. The firm abandons some of its usual protocols in exchange for increasing consumer identification with its products. IKEA appears to have learned what many companies with a global presence have concluded: Stakeholders, and particularly consumer-stakeholders, have different expectations in different geographic settings. Because a firms ethical obligations include listening and responding to the needs of stakeholders, it behooves all international companies to appreciate the varying perspectives that geography and culture may produce among them.

1Who is the stakeholder discussed mainly in the story?

2What did Ikea do for the U.S. customer? How do we consider Ikea's approach ethical?

Discussion Question

Explain how you would balance demands from different stakeholders that are at variance with each other.

Come up with an example of how customers in your country would be different compared with South Korean customers. Take an example of any industry to show your case. ( explain both questions answers in detail (Lenth 10 page please answer this as soon as possible)