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Ike A World's Largest Furniture Retailer

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Case Summary IKEA is a multinational organization that designs and sells ready-to-assemble furniture, appliances, and home accessories. Founded in Sweden during the early 1940s by Ingvar Kamprad under the Stitching INGKA Foundation, IKEA ranks #45 on Forbes 2015 list of the world’s most valuable brands and ranked 269th as America’s Best Employers. It pioneered the flat pack design furniture at reasonable prices and had fast become one of the world’s largest furniture retailer. As of May 2015, Forbes listed IKEA’s estimated brand value at 11.8 billon. Quite an accomplishment for a 17 year old founder whose entrepreneurial career began as an odds and ends salesman (Bartlet & Nanda, 1996, p. 1). From its inception of what is often referred …show more content…

He is its patriarch. Kamprad’s imprint is visible on virtually every aspect of IKEA’s organizational culture. “He focuses on the human aspect. What motivates Ingvar is not profit alone but improving the quality of life of the people” (Bartlett & Nanda, 1996. p.3). From the store design to materials to long-term relationships with suppliers, Kamprad actively participated in its execution. Kamprad learned how to turn challenges into opportunities and as such benefitted in incredible revenue growth and globalization. IKEA’s culture, strategy and organization illustrates Kamprad’s vision and dedication to frugality. From requiring executives to work showroom floors to travel constraints to expansion into countries like the US as well as changes in leadership, IKEA has managed to not only survive but thrive (Bartlett & Nanda, 1996). Growing from a handful of stores to over 300 stores in 47 countries, critics wonder if IKEA can maintain its competitive strategy of target costing as well as its Scandanavian organizational culture without Kamprad at the helm? Moreover, should IKEA want to??? Case Study Analysis IKEA Success According to Michael Porter, “competitive strategy is about being different. It means deliberately choosing a different set of activities to deliver a unique mix of value” (1996, p.4). IKEA’s strategy was the epitome of different. Moreover, it’s initial advertising and marketing promoted its image as “those impossible Swedes with strange ideas”

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