Ethics in the digital workplace
Digitisation and automation technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI), can affect working conditions in a variety of ways and their use in the workplace raises a host of new ethical concerns.
German home decor retailer Praktiker has opened a store in Pleven, Northern Bulgaria. The 7,000 sq m outlet, the company's fifth in Bulgaria, will employ some 110 people and will carry over 50,000 items. According to Riner Vitka, the company's manager for Bulgaria, some BGN 10 million has been invested in the construction of the new store. Praktiker plans to open another three outlets in Bulgaria by the end of 2007, bringing their total to 8. The new stores will most likely be sited in Burgas, Ruse and Stara Zagora.
At the moment, Praktiker operates two outlets in Sofia and one each in Varna and Plovdiv.
Praktiker's main rival on the local Do-It-Yourself (DIY) market is France's Mr.Bricolage which also has five stores. The company has planned launches in Stara Zagora and Burgas for the remainder of 2006 and is eyeing Pleven as well.
Praktiker and Mr.Bricolage will soon have to reckon with Austria's BauMax which is poised for a market entry by way of Plovdiv.
Eurofound (2006), Praktiker, Business expansion in Bulgaria, factsheet number 64314, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/64314.