Case Study : Market Screening Process

* Diversification can be a good way that IKEA does to sustain growth after it loses some cache. Product innovation and market development such as IKEA’s expanding goal in U.S. market. It is a risky strategy but with careful selection of the right kind of businesses, considerable improvements in profitability can be experienced.  To try and maintain growth, IKEA is considering diversification outside of the furniture market.

This report assesses the potential internalisation of Vitel Water’s prill beads into either the Vanuatu or Kiribati markets. Clean drinking water is scarce in both nations but they offer different advantages and risks. The purpose of this report is to assess the best market fit for the product.

The foreign market must offer a location advantage that makes it profitable to produce the product in the foreign country rather than simply produce it at home and export it to the foreign market. It includes resource endowments, economic and social factors, such as market size and structure, prospects for market growth and the degree of development, labour and input materials costs, the cultural, legal, political and institutional environment, government legislation and policies

All countries in the world have various political environment and regimes. Political systems differ in terms of the governance, power and the rule of law. A political regime can be defined as structures, activities and processes by which given countries in the world govern themselves. Political systems can be based on either collectivism or individualism. It is essential for business to look at a country’s political environment as a vital criterion in venturing or expanding the business or company to that country. This is because political systems differ and each has its own form of governance that impacts a business in terms of its growth. International companies carry out international manufacture and activity in that they

In IKEA’s history two different modes of entry were used. Both were met with big success and allowed IKEA to enter new markets very easily, and in a secure way.

The case I will analyze and discuss in this case study is “IKEA’s Global Sourcing Challenge: Indian Rugs and Child Labor”. I will begin with the vision, values, and strategy of IKEA and an internal analysis of the issues that they have faced as of the time of the case. Next, I will detail the issues IKEA faced in the years prior to the Indian rugs and child labor challenge. Then I will describe the Indian rug and child labor problem that IKEA faced

IKEA is rumored to be a very standardized retailer, i.e., a certain set of marketing strategies is used that are the same around the world. This indeed sets IKEA, operating on markets in Europe, US as well as Asia and Australia, apart among international retailers. Often the theoretical conclusions in international

Founded in 1943 by Ingvar Kamprad, IKEA is, over 60 years later, the world largest furniture retailer, providing products in a flat packing concept and at low prices. They have 226 stores in Europe, Asia, and America with revenues of $17.7 Billion as of August 2005. 70% of their marketing communication is based on their famous annual catalog. There are many environmental factors that affect IKEA’s global and domestic marketing decisions. An analysis of those factors, the influence of the global economic interdependency and the effect of trade practices and agreements, the demographic and physical infrastructure, the cultural differences, social responsibility and ethics versus legal obligations, the effect of political systems and the influence of international relations and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, and finally the effect of technology are discussed herein.

The cost of production of furniture are pretty low at the moment and so, new competitor will surface and it don’t take as much money as it did in the past to set up a furniture company. Economy recession is another factor that will threaten IKEA status as lesser people will be spending their money to replace their existing furniture.

The IKEA Group, one of the world’s top furniture retailers, has emerged as the fastest-growing furniture retailer in the US. Its unique business strategy has given it its strengths for its success today. However, like all strategies, IKEA’s strategy has its own flaws that can pose as weaknesses. IKEA also has a lot of opportunities in the marketplace such as expansions of their company and threats such as competitors in the same industry.

Measuring a potential business venture has many aspects which the international manager must be aware of in order to convey the correct information back to the decision makers. Being ignorant to any of the aspects can lead to a false representation of the project, and hence an uninformed decision being passed. In order for a business to survive it must grow. For growth to be optimal, management must first be able to identify the most attractive prospective leads. The country as a whole, specifically geography, government, and financial aspects must be looked at in order to yield the best possible picture of the market a company wishes to enter. Concentration should be placed on gathering reliable facts

At the outset, it may be useful to characterise IKEA in terms of the characteristics of demand (also known as the four Vs, see Slack et al. p 20). First, IKEA is clearly a high volume operation – as indeed most international retailers are – which lends to systematising operations but which implies capital intensive processes and therefore cost considerations will be crucial. Second, IKEA offers a large number of products (up to 14000 depending on the country/store) so there is high variety in the

4. What is IKEA’s strategy toward suppliers? How important is this strategy to IKEA’s success?

Political environment is significant to do business in other countries. There are different factors of political environment. These factors can influence the government decision making and other activities. For foreign investors every country set some rules and regulations. Investor need to maintain these rules and regulation to do business on certain country. Political factors can influence the government to change these regulations. So investors need to know the regulations and get the proper knowledge about political environment.

THE POLITICAL ENVIRONMENT: The critical concern Political environment has a very important impact on every business operation no matter what its size, its area of operation. Whether the company is domestic, national, international, large or small political factors of the country it is located in will have an impact on it. And the most crucial & unavoidable realities of international business are that both host and home governments are integral partners. Reflected in its policies and attitudes toward business are a governments idea of how best to promote the national interest, considering its own resources and political philosophy. A government control's and restricts a company's