http://www.forbes.com/sites/peterdetwiler/2014/02/07/ikeas-aggressive-approach-to-sustainability-creates-enormous-business-opportunities/
This article looks at the approaches IKEA takes to approach sustainability. The article focuses on IKEA’s methods to improve energy efficiency and decrease carbon emissions by six or seven fold. the general idea lies in sustaining their own energy resources as a means of purchasing it, though doing so may increase costs IKEA has always looked at these situations from a long run point of view. As of now the amount of renewable energy sources IKEA owns is on par with some energy companies. with over 157 wind turbines and over 500,000 solar panels. As of now over 90% of their locations are being powered by such means, even before this they have been able to save over $53 million dollars through friendly light bulbs and by other means.
What interested me in this article were the though processes in these decisions and the importance of large multinational companies being sustainable. Being able to obtain these numbers requires extreme amounts of investment with a total over $150 million dollars. There is also a degree of risk where malfunctions can have a negative effect on performance and other factors. The most interesting part is the desire for a good image, it was stated by the sustainability manager that by doing what they did, it helps establish good reputation and good press reviews which ultimately result in better brand image. IKEA may like to look at the long run and be more sustainable but its possible that underneath all that, the better brand image will be used to attract more consumers.
My personal opinion on what IKEA has done is these situations of global climate change is very admirable. Yes, costs will definitely increase if something of such a scale were to be pulled off, but I also believe that brand image is the key to a firms success. Putting the money aside, in this global change in climate, I think it is very important for other firms to make use of their resources and follow a similar route which IKEA has taken, sustainability in the long run is just as if not more important than the profits itself. Research and development in the area of sustainability is a key area where all industries should take a stand and attempt to implement it.