References
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Friedman, Milton (2006) ‘The social responsibility of business is to increase its profits’, from Perspectives in
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Seglin, Jeffrey (2002) ‘Just because it´s legal, is it ethical?’, from Perspectives in Business Ethics, Laura P
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Question 1 (MS) – 10 points
Discuss the problems of legitimacy for unions in taking part in CSR activities and in not
taking part in CSR activities. Use the course literature.
Question 2 and Question 3 (NEZ) – 20 points
IKEA in Russia recently launched a competition where people should take a photo of
themselves and post on IKEA’s Russian webpage. People were then to vote on the photo they
liked the most. A month into the competition the photo below was leading the competition
with 1431 “likes”. The photo portrays four young individuals with “Pussy Riot” inspired
balaclavas (head wear). Pussy Riot is a Russian feminist punk-rock collective that is critical of
the President of Russia Vladimir Putin. On February 21, 2012, as part of a protest movement
against the re-election of Vladimir Putin, five members of the Pussy Riot collective held an
unauthorized performance in the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour of the Russian Orthodox
Church in Moscow. A film of the performance was later used to create a video clip for the
song, entitled "Punk Prayer: Mother of God Drive Putin Away". On August 17, 2012, the
three members of the Pussy Riot collective were (due to the unauthorized performance)
convicted of hooliganism motivated by religious hatred, and each was sentenced to two years
imprisonment. According to Wikipedia, “The trial and conviction have attracted considerable
criticism, particularly in the West.”
One month in to the competition, IKEA decided to remove the photo from their website and
from the competition. Sara Carlsson, IKEA’s Public Relations manager, explained that: “The
competition is now closed and we have decided to remove one photo. IKEA is a commercial
company that is politically and religiously independent and IKEA’s brand shall not be used
for political purposes” (according to Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet). When asked about the
Pussy Riot trial and conviction, Sara Carlsson responded that: “IKEA is a commercial
company, so IKEA has no position in these issues”.
Answer the following questions:
a) From a normative (moral) perspective, discuss whether or not it is reasonable to claim
(as IKEA does) that political issues are not part of IKEA’s responsibility. Use the
course literature.
b) Explain why IKEA decided to remove the photo from its website and from the
competition one month into the competition. Use the course literature.
c) If you were the manager of a Swedish stakeholder that wanted to force IKEA to
change its decision and have the banned photo win the competition, how would you
act to try to force IKEA to change its position? Use the course literature.