EVALUATION OF IKEA AS A SUSTAINABLE FORESTRY ACTOR IN THE CONTEXT OF INDIA

Abstract: The ubiquity of the concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR) allows for it to be carried across all spectrums of society and moulded to fit a variety of different norms and understandings. Despite the lack of a universal definition, the modern-day understanding of CSR is heavily based upon corporation’s environmental and sustainable development practices. However, it is continuously criticised for its legitimacy and the corporation’s core intentions, as large corporations across the world have used the term ambiguously in order to legitimize their corporate identity, while dismissing their social responsibility to the environment and society. On the other hand, corporations such as IKEA believes that their business model and CSR practices work interdependently, which has consequently been reflected in their global image as an environmentally and socially conscious corporation. As much of IKEA’s products rely on wood, much of their CSR is focused on sustainable forestry and they disclose lengthy reports concerning their environmental statistics and results. Thus, one might question around the degree of their legitimacy; are their report disclosures present external stakeholders a holistic image of the corporation? Therefore, this paper will analyse IKEA as a single case study, with the intent is to determine the legitimacy of IKEA’s portrayal as a sustainable forestry actor in the context of India. In doing so, an examination of external stakeholder’s perspectives will be evaluated to create an alternative dimension to the topic in question.