Ikea

Ingvar Kamprad, Swedish born citizen and founder and former CEO of Ingvar Kamprad Elmtaryd and Agunnaryd or better known as IKEA. Kamprad created a one of a kind furniture company that has become the largest furniture store in the world. The uniqueness is because they company specializes in everything being able to be broken down and shipped, “from furniture to the now famous mobile kitchens- could be packed in flat, stackable boxes (Nelson and Quick, 2011-438)”. His way of running the company is based on creativity, hard work and being frugal in his own life as well as the way he runs his company. So frugal that when employees travel they must share hotel rooms, a policy not carried in any major company. The

Established in Sweden in 1943, by a 17-year-old Ingvar Kamprad, IKEA is a multinational group of companies that focus on ready-to-assemble furniture, appliances, and home accessories. The very first IKEA store named Möbel-IKÉA, opened in Almhult, Smaland(Möbel means “furniture” in Swedish), to currently, September 2016, have 389 stores in 48 different countries. With the 389 stores, IKEA successfully creating over €30 billion and over €3.5 billion net profit with the continuous development and expansion.

The high level of customer involvement is one of the key features of the IKEA concept. With their unique self-serviced warehouses, customers are required to collect their flat-packed items before proceeding to checkout. Customers are also involved in the assembly of their purchases after transporting them home in their private car. Because the company’s furniture are designed to be shipped disassembled and sold to the customer flat-packaged boxes IKEA saves a lot on shipping costs. As one of the company’s mantras said; “We don’t want to pay to ship air”.

Since its 1943 establishing in Sweden by Ingvar Kamprad at 17 years old years, IKEA has offered home furniture and frill of good outline and capacity at low costs so most of the general population can manage the cost of them. IKEA 's vision is to: "Make a superior regular life for the numerous individuals" Its business thought is "To offer an extensive variety of all-around outlined, practical home outfitting items at costs so low that whatever number individuals as could be expected under the circumstances will have the capacity to bear the cost of them"(IKEA 2004)

Pens, wallets, watches, jewellery, picture frames, table runners, nylon stockings and meeting needs with goods at reduced prices are originally sells in IKEA. The first IKEA advertisements arise in 1945. Ingvar Kamprad’s business outgrows his capability to make personal sales calls and so he starts publicizing in local newspapers and operational a makeshift mail-order service. He also uses the local milk truck to hand over goods to the nearby train station. After 35 years, IKEA spreads notable into new bazaar such as USA, Italy and UK. More IKEA classical reach such as LACK and MOMENT. IKEA starts off to take the situation of today’s modern IKEA.

It all started in 1943, when Ingvar Kamprad opened his first commercial business in the name of IKEA, which derives from his initials and of Elmtaryd and Agunnaryd, the names of his family farm and the parish he grew up in. At first, it was just a “mail-order business selling pencils, postcards, and other merchandise” (“Milestones”). The company first introduced furniture as a complement to the general merchandise in 1948, and it was an immediate success. As a result, the company “started exploring innovating solutions such as furniture design, self-assembly, and advertising” (“Milestones”).

IKEA founded by 17 year old Ingvar Kamprad, in Sweden. The company's name is drawn from the initials of Ingvar Kamprad, Elmtaryd (the farm where he grew up), and Agunnaryd (his hometown in Småland, southern Sweden).

A different approach about Ikea’s success is given by Sara Kristofferson in her book Designed by Ikea, London 2014. In the first chapter, Kristofferson refers to the relationship between the swedish goverment and Ikea.

IKEA’s vision is to design a better life at home. Making it affordable as possible so that many people could have admirable furnishing. IKEA use function, quality, design and value to obtain their customer needs. IKEA learn to synchronise the contingency of the supplier and needs of the customers. Using that strategy to sustain the low prices. In order to gain a good condition of a product, IKEA go in for highly automated production. Together with mass producing and keeping long-term relationship with the supplier, IKEA is able to prolong their vision and aim to serve their customers. (Ikea.com/sg)

Ingvar Kamprad, an entrepreneur, founded the Swedish furniture company IKEA in 1943 (Chu, 2013). Kamprad was only 17 years old when he founded the IKEA company. He named the company after the initials of his first and last name and the first letter of the farm and hometown he grew up in (Bhasin). In the years following, the Swedish furniture giant has grown to 328 stores in 28 countries as of August 2015. This includes 1.9 billion visits to IKEA.com, 771 million store visits, 213 million catalogs printed in 32 languages and 155,000 co-workers across 6 continents. According to IKEA’s website, their vision is “To create a better everyday life for the many people”. An interesting fact about IKEA is that its furniture production consumes one percent of all the wood produced on earth (Bhasin). The site goes on to explain how they optimize their entire value chain to provide affordable quality to their customers. IKEA expanded into China and other countries so that they could continue to attain their goal of creating “a better everyday life for the many people”. A unique aspect with IKEA is their product packaging. The product is a flat package, so it is easy for the consumers to take the product home and assemble it themselves.

IKEA is recognized as one of the reputed brands of Sweden, operating in the segment of ready-to-assembled furniture’s, fittings, appliances, and many others designed accessories and equipments. Although it entered in this segment in the year 1943 in Sweden but very quickly it expanded its operations in the markets of China as well. It is mainly due to its modern architectural stylish designs and eco-friendly nature. This helped Ikea to improve its brand image and profitability by almost 50 percent as compared to previous years. This proved extremely effective for Ikea to enhance its customer bases and reliability in the market among many other rival players (Inter IKEA

IKEA is a privately held Swedish company registered in Netherlands, international home products retailer that sells ready-to-assemble furniture at affordable prices. The 17-year-old Ingvar Kamprad, who was listed as the world richest man in 2013, is the IKEA founder. IKEA stands for Ingvar Kamprad, Elmtaryd (his farm name) and Agunnaryd (his townhome). IKEA history are over six decades, it’s when they went from the woods of Sweden to a most popular retail experience in the 40 countries and territories around the world. IKEA story starts in 1926, when Ingvar Kamprad founded IKEA. Ingvar was born in southern Sweden when he was thinking of developing a new business.

The history of the company is very colorful and interesting. IKEA was founded in 1943 in the south of Sweden in Smaland. Its founder was seventeen - Ingvar Kamprad. The boy had a great deal of business, and IKEA was not his first venture. Previously, he was selling matches in his hometown. His capital for the establishment of IKEA comes from his father, who rewarded him for good academic performance. He called his company IKEA from the first letters of his name, and the names of the family farm and the village Agunnaryd Elmtaryd. The company initially dealt with the sale of feathers, frames, wallets, tablecloths, watches, jewelry, stockings and fine furniture. Kamprad to transport their goods, borrowed a truck from the local milkman.

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,

Swedish company IKEA is a mass market producer of cheap and stylish home furnishings that appear to transcend national boundaries. The company was founded in 1943 by Ingvar Kamprada small town handyman from southern Sweden, who devised the company name by combining his initials with the first initials of his farm (Elmtaryd) and the parish (Agunnaryd) where he was raised. Today IKEA’s business mission is clear. In the words of the company founder, “We shall offer a wide range of furnishing items of good design and function, at prices so low that the majority of people can afford to buy them.”