IKEA case analysis Essay

* IKEA’s management philosophy; “Our vision is to create a better everyday life for the many people. Our business idea is to offer a wide range of well-designed, functional, home furnishing products at prices so low that as many people as possible can afford them.” and all its activities is founded on its mission of offering wide variety of functional furniture for the house, of a quality and at

In IKEA, the Unsolicited Proposal came from many directions. Firstly, in 1952 the boycott by Swedish retailers to IKEA, obliged to IKEA to seek new sources of furniture. Second, the Swedish furniture market demand fall by the early 1970s. Third, IKEA had identified as we said before two big markets to

This paper aims to demonstrate a detailed description of the elements of ‘IKEA’ company based on its famous name in the furniture industry.

Considering the previous mission statement with a unique customer vision IKEA is clearly antagonistic with specific customers’ needs. That lack of adjustment to customer needs is the main reason for not getting the same results in China than in Northern Europe.

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 problem was the company’s not paying attention to local needs and preferences. US market, IKEA’s management realized that a standardized product strategy should be flexible to respond to demands, and has adopted a more balanced strategic focus by giving priority to global and domestic concerns.The current approach emphasizes on global market coordination to reduce standardization of activities and acquire both economies of scale and scope. While overall its subsidiaries follow instructions from the corporate head office in Sweden, subsidiaries in the US are given more autonomy, to respond effectively to the local business

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

IKEA is considered to be a low cost, high quality producer in the furniture industry, therefore it is important to

Ikea, the world’s largest home furniture retailing company, was founded by Ingvar Kamprad. He built his business empire through developing a distinct corporate culture. The Ikean

IKEA is the largest furniture chain in the world, and in 2011 the Swedish company operated over 270 stores in 25 countries. In 2011 IKEA sales soared to over $35 billion, or over 20% of the global furniture market. Most of its stuffs believed IKEA will massive growth throughout the world in the coming decade because IKEA could provide what customer wanted: good design, and good made contemporary furniture with an affordable price. In one word, IKEA’s global approach focuses on simplicity, attention to detail, cost consciousness, and responsiveness in every aspect of its operations and behavior. (Jones, 2013)

IKEA is known as one of the world’s largest furniture retailer that focuses highly on cost control, operational process and product development. IKEA differentiates itself from most furniture retailers by offering a wide range of well designed array of home furniture at very attractive prices that remain affordable to a large group of diverse customers. There are some unique features of IKEA as compared to most furniture retail stores (IKEA, 2012)

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.

More important than the physical characteristics of the new IKEA store was the manner in which it revolutionized furniture manufacturing and selling. Kamprad continued the practice of selling most furniture in flat-pack form, as he said, "to avoid transporting and storing air." To make this possible, the furniture was specially designed by IKEA staff in workshops in the Älmhult headquarters and warehouse. For the mass production of the component parts of the flat-pack furniture, Kamprad had to bypass traditional furniture manufacturers and instead use specialist factories. Unfinished pine shelving, for example, came directly from saw mills, cabinet doors were made in door factories, metal frames came from machine shops, and upholstery materials came directly from textile mills. Almost all of the components of each piece of furniture could be

Ingvar Kamprad was able to identify the changing trend in consumer wants and adapted his products to these evolving needs. Consumers wanted well designed and well-made furniture at an affordable price. IKEA was able to reduce its cost through developing internal departments to complete task which are usually outsourced by its competitors.

IKEA established itself as the largest furniture retailer in Sweden by the early 1970s by reinventing the wheel of furniture manufacturing at that time. Majority of furniture manufacturers in Sweden produced expensive products with designs that were basic or passed down generation to generation, additionally other manufacturers stores where located in downtown congested areas. IKEA’s strategies which consisted of low cost low priced furniture, brave intricate designs, self-assembly,