A newspaper revealed at the  beginning of year 2012 that some managers at IKEA France had spied on their employees and customers between 2003 and 2009. They asked a private security company to check in a confidential police files so as to get information about some of its employees’ criminal records or bank account information. IKEA’s high management denounced these practices and dismissed the managers allegedly involved in the spying affair.

The aim of the managers was to make sure that the persons they recruited were trustworthy and hadn’t done anything illegal in the past, which seems a fair concern. However, spying on people is illegal no matter the incentive, which is why this case is a real ethical issue. Can an employer go as far as to spy on his employees to ensure his company’s best interests? Law and morals would say no, but some owners and shareholders agree to that kind of actions.

Today, IKEA is involved in a new conflict with its employees in Turkey, where local managers are preventing the workers’ union from giving similar and decent working conditions to all.

Companies such as IKEA, which try to convey the image of a friends and family oriented company, really are affected by such ethical issues. IKEA has to respect its employees’ rights if it doesn’t want its credibility, therefore its sales, to decrease.

TS

[ Main articles used for this post : here, here and there. ]