Eco-efficiency for sustainability : IKEA's environmental policy in Russia

Sammanfattning: In the modern world businesses are seen more often not only as carriers of technological development, innovations, capital investments and profit makers. The present-day situation with growing ecological problems has put a high demand on organizational environmental responsibility of small, medium, large and transnational enterprises all over the world. IKEA is a well known furniture and textile retailer operating worldwide. The company has received a great amount of publicity concerning its leadership in adopting more environmentally friendly measures in manufacturing process and operations. The company issues its global sustainability report yearly and is very popular with the media; however, the actual environmental impact of IKEA’s production and operation may be more damaging than it is usually perceived. The following research work aims to provide the answer whether IKEA is really eco-efficient and looks with more detail to its operation in Russia. A sound theoretical background is provided concerning the definition and means of measuring eco-efficiency, as well as its place in the concept of sustainable development. A great emphasis is placed on comparing IKEA initiatives worldwide and in Russia, as well as discussing their actual environmental impact. Finally, barriers and challenges IKEA faces when implementing its environmental policy in Russia are defined and conclusions are drawn.