...Production/products 2) Suppliers 3) Customers 4) Workers 5) Environment 6) Local communities All of these factors have an impact on the workplace. Products/ Production: This is a print screen from the Ikea website and this shows that Ikea is very caring about the environment and they try to make sure that even at low prices that the quality of the product is still very good and they ensure they’re customers that products are safe, have good quality and are still designed to be efficient even if they are at low prices. This on they’re website ensures the customers because it is against the law to sell goods or services with the wrong description of the product and the customers will get they’re money back if the product isn’t what the description told them it would be. In my personal opinion I would trust Ikea’s ensurence of they’re products and the way they are made because my personal experience with Ikea is good every product my parents or my family has bought from Ikea lives up to it’s expectation and this proves to they’re customers that even with low prices their products have good quality, the materials used efficiently and that they are caring for the environment. If a customer’s still not sure weather they should buy an Ikea product then they can check reviews from other customers and based on their experience weather good or bad then they can decide weather to buy Ikea products or not. Source: http://www.ikea.com/ms/en_GB/about_ikea/our_responsibility/products_and_materials/index...
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...Executive Summary Background IKEA, the world’s largest home furnishings retail chain, was founded in 1943 by a Swedish entrepreneur Ingvar Kamprad. IKEA offers standardized products worldwide that are Scandinavian in design worldwide. The unique idea of this famous brand is to offer the option of assembling products to customers. The design of the furniture is very modern and light as it is made of particleboard. The products are of contemporary design and function with the concept that is based on low price. High quality, convenience, affordability, consistency, functionality and good design are the essence of this world class home furnishing retailer. Challenges IKEA faced many challenges in terms of culture and business practices as well as socio-economic and political conditions in China. The biggest challenges were pricing, copycat producers and cheap labor cost for assembled furniture. Alternatives To make the price more affordable for Chinese consumers IKEA has developed manufacturing units in China and collects raw materials locally. Due to country specific environment IKEA chose franchising in China. Because of cheap labor cost of Chinese assembled furniture IKEA offers reasonable fee-based assembling services. IKEA has built its stores near public transportation lines inside cities since only 20% of customers own cars in Shanghai. Recommendations IKEA needs to find more local suppliers to keep price lower. To understand local culture and purchasing habit,...
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...Case Study on IKEA Executive Summary The case study of IKEA has been read, analyzed; and the findings are presented in the report as required. The goal of the report was to analyze the case study of IKEA and then to present the findings as well as performing some tasks that are required in this report. Firstly, some terms that are closely associated with marketing has been described and analyzed. In addition to that, those terms are also discussed in relation with the case study. Brand, Business strategy, retail sector, price sensitive and franchisee are the terms that have been discussed in this report in the first section. In the second section, the required calculation for average number of customers of each sector and average spending of customers has been worked out. A new mission statement for IKEA has also been proposed there along with the justification for the mission statement. In the third section, the importance and nature of SWOT analysis has been discussed and elaborated. It is seen in the case study that IKEA performs a SWOT analysis that supports their process of building strategy. Moreover, the SWOT analysis of IKEA has also been performed and justified. In the fourth section, SMART objectives and some new marketing mix ideas for IKEA has been demonstrated. In the fifth Section, the concept of marketing model and minimizing the threats for IKEA has been included and demonstrated. Ultimately, the report contains what were required...
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...Stirling FK9 4LA, Scotland, UK Department of Business Administration, Lund University, P.O. Box 7080, SE-220 07 Lund, Sweden c Department of Communication Studies, Lund University, Campus Helsingborg, PO Box 882, SE-251 08 Helsingborg, Sweden b a r t i c l e in fo Available online 29 September 2010 Keywords: IKEA Retail internationalisation Retail marketing mix Standardisation Sweden the UK China abstract IKEA is often cited as an example of a ‘global’ retailer which pursues a similar ‘standardized’ approach in every market. This paper systematically assesses the degree of standardisation (and adaptation) of four commonly identified retail marketing mix activities – merchandise, location and store format, the selling and service environment, and market communication – within three countries. These countries – Sweden, the UK and China – represent different cultural settings and are markets in which IKEA has been operating for different lengths of time. The data upon which the comparison is based was generated from personal interviews, in-country consumer research, company documentation and third party commentaries. The conclusions drawn suggest that whilst IKEA operates a standardized concept, degrees of adaptation can be observed in customer facing elements, and in the supporting ‘back office’ processes which support these elements. These adaptations arise from differences in consumer cultures and the length of...
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...creating this process IKEA is one of the fiercest low-cost furniture competitors in the market today. IKEA’s process for developing a new product contains the following steps: pick a price, choose a manufacturer, design the product, ship it, and sell it. By understanding each of these steps, IKEA’s competitive priorities and exceptional value to its customers, as well as, store placement comes to light. Step One: Pick a Price IKEA’s relentless focus on quality and low prices begins from the very start of developing a product. IKEA assigns a price to a product from the very beginning of the product’s development. Developers must focus on several aspects of a product, at this point in time, including materials, colors, and design. From this price point, developers begin searching for materials to create the product. By using the IKEA Trading Service Offices, developers search all over the world for the materials at the right price needed to create the product. By searching for low cost materials all over the world, IKEA implements its competitive priority of low cost materials from the beginning of a product’s development. Step Two: Choose a Manufacturer Once the materials needed to produce the product at a low cost are discovered, the product moves into the process of choosing a manufacturer. In order to increase its manufacturer’s knowledge of IKEA’s demand and expectations, many of the manufacturers have worked with IKEA for years. During this phase, IKEA works with its suppliers...
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...The reason behind choosing the IKEA is because IKEA is one of the world’s most successful retailers. IKEA is a global furniture brand inspired by the egalitarian society of its Swedish heritage and appears to the public to be forever Swedish. It expands its retail stores all over the world including North American, European Middle East and Asian countries but also spreads a kind of its own a highly strong business culture and values with a strong Swedish image to other countries through the establishment of business there. History: IKEA was founded in 1943 in Sweden by Ingvar Kamprad. Kamprad was born in 1926 as the son of a farmer in Småland, a region in southern Sweden. At the age of five Ingvar Kamprad starts selling matches to his nearby neighbors and by the time he is seven, he expands to selling flower seeds, greeting cards, Christmas tree decorations, pencils and ball-point pens. In 1943, at the age of 17, Kamprad became an entrepreneur and created a commercial company called "IKEA." The word IKEA was an acronym of his name and “Ingvar Kamprad” and the address, the name of his farm and village: “Elmtaryd, Agunnaryd”. Company initially sold fish, vegetable seeds, and magazines to customers in his region. Then in 1950 IKEA added furniture and home furnishings to the product line. IKEA entered new markets around the globe in the 1980s. IKEA expands dramatically into new markets such as USA, Italy, France and the UK. Operating Environment: Ikea is the world's largest furniture...
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...Ikea offers a wide range of products like furniture (e.g chairs, tables, bedroom sets, cabinets), appliances (taps and sinks), textile (mattress, rugs, towels) and food. According to general manager, Erik Donker Duyvis, Ikea products are made out of high quality materials (Bani, 1998, Jan 02). Besides being a store solely selling furniture, Ikea also offers a restaurant right in the heart of the store. Duyvis also mentioned that Ikea offers furniture and household goods at a reasonable price (Bani, 1998, Jan 02). So how does Ikea promote their products and services? Ikea has its official website which keeps customers up to date on their current and upcoming products. Besides that, Ikea also promotes its products on various social media platform like Facebook and Twitter. With the advance of technology, Ikea also has its own mobile application which is available for smart phone users (Ikea, n.d.). Ikea also promotes their products through their annual catalogues (Ikea, n.d). The employees in Ikea are helpful and friendly. They are well-trained in providing information for their customers and also help them in looking for products that they want. For example, every product in Ikea has its own code so employees can search for it on the computer and help customers locate the desired item. Ikea is also a company that values its employees by providing perks and benefits like health insurance and discount to them.(Ikea, n.d.) People recognize Ikea by its huge words displayed...
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...Success Factors of IKEA 1 The Key Success Factors of IKEA Advanced English Writing 2 Abstract Taking advantage of three mayor cost-cutting strategies, IKEA has been able to maximize its profit and to succeed internationally with its concept. The self-service and do-it-yourself approach to selling furniture is one of the critical success factors IKEA uses to save costs and increase profit margins. Furthermore, it has a complicated company structure, partially in order to avoid taxes, but also to allow for some flexible management decisions to be made, based on the international needs. The third key success factor that can be held responsible for IKEA’s international triumph is its production and ordering system. The company uses recycled materials and wood alternatives in its mass productions, attracting customers from all kinds of layers of society. IKEA Key success factors International franchise Success Factors of IKEA 3 Table of Contents 1. Table of Contents ..................................................................................... 3 2. Introduction .............................................................................................. 4 3. Discussion ................................................................................................ 4 3.1 The Self-Service Approach ............................................................. 4 3.2 Advantageous Tax Planning and Decentralized Management ........ 5 3...
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...Case Report Marketing Case 8: IKEA’s Global Strategy: Furnishing the World I.Situation Analysis IKEA is a privately-owned international furniture manufacturer known for its low prices and unique style. The company’s vision is to create a better everyday life for its customers by offering a great selection of well-designed, practical home furnishings. Since IKEA has chosen this sort of affordable and distinctive marketing strategy, the company has been very successful in its expansion throughout the world. IKEA has been successful with a relatively standardized product and product line in a business with strong cultural influence. This is because: The founder formulated IKEA’s mission which states that IKEA offers wide variety of home furnishings of good design and function at prices so low that the majority of people can afford them. Such wide variety could fit a wide variety of cultures and tastes. The case studies also states that the assortment of goods are universally accepted. The principal target market of IKEA is similar across all countries and regions and is composed of people who are young, highly educated, liberal in their cultural values,white collar workers, and not especially concerned with status symbols.Most people in the IKEA target market are liberal in their tastes,preferences and cultural norms hence making them easy to accept and appreciate IKEA’s standardized products. II.Problems Found in Situation Analysis ...
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...Executive Summary IKEA is the world's largest furniture retailer and the world's third-largest consumer of wood, behind The Home Depot and Lowe's. The company is known for its modern architectural designs on various types of appliances and furniture, often associated with a simplified eco-friendly interior design. They are owned and operated by a complicated array of not-for-profit and for-profit corporations. The corporate structure is divided into two main parts: operations and franchising. Older IKEA stores are usually designed in a one-way layout, designed to encourage the customer to see the store in its entirety as opposed to a traditional retail store. IKEA has suppliers in 50 countries, roughly ⅔ of purchasing is from Europe with about ⅓ from Asia but for most of its products, but the final assembly is performed by the end-user. They also have 28 distribution centers and 11 customer distribution centers in 16 countries using flat packs, transporting goods where possible by rail and sea, and utilizing fuel-saving techniques that allow them to be cost-effective and environmentally friendly. Their consumers are often the means of out-bound logistics, responsible for picking up and transporting the products. There's no room for wasted space in product packaging. Logistics roles exist at every stage in the supply chain at IKEA, from the moment a product leaves the manufacturer to the moment it is in the hands of the customer. The in-store logistics manager uses a proprietary...
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...corporation. Other companies will already have something in place that just needs improvement. In order for a company to be successful with theses strategies they need to know what kind of competition is out there. A corporation’s competitor can usually dictate what strategy fits the corporation best. Once a corporation has figured out what strategies to use then they can move forward with building a successful firm. 1. Analyze the business-level strategies for the corporation you chose to determine the business-level strategy you think is most important to the long-term success of the firm and whether or not you judge this to be a good choice. Justify your opinion. The company that was chosen to be researched is IKEA. IKEA is a well known furniture retailer. IKEA was founded by Ingvar Kamprad in 1943 (ikea.com). Ingvar, at the age of five began selling matches to the local community. He then found out that he was able to buy matches from Stockholm in bulk at a cheaper price and sell it back at a lower price and still make a good profit. Ingvar’s entrepreneurial style brought him to the furniture business. He was able to build the furniture locally, close to his family farm. By having the local manufacturers produce his product designs, the price was kept very low. This enabled Ingvar to sell the furniture at a low price and still make a profit. This type of strategy is known today as cost-leadership. Cost leadership strategy involves the firm winning the market by focusing...
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...more than a decade, WRI’s Sustainable Enterprise Program (SEP) has harnessed the power of business to create profitable solutions to environment and development challenges. BELL, a project of SEP, is focused on working with managers and academics to make companies more competitive by approaching social and environmental challenges as unmet market needs that provide business growth opportunities through entrepreneurship, innovation, and organizational change. Permission to reprint this case is available at the BELL case store. Additional information on the Case Series, BELL, and WRI is available at: www.BELLinnovation.org. IKEA AND THE NATURAL STEP In September 1995, Jan Kjellman took over as president of IKEA North America, the U.S. and Canadian subsidiary of the Swedish furniture giant. At IKEA s headquarters outside Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Kjellman sat at his desk, located in an open, brightly sunlit bay. His assistant, also the service center office manager, sat at a nearby desk a few feet away. Co-workers walked through one side of the bay, heading for the coffee room. On the landing below the president s office was a pedestal bearing a large gray rock. It was from the rocky and poor land in ˜lmhult, a small village in the province of Sm land, Sweden, where IKEA s founder was born and where the design and production core of IKEA s business was still located. Kjellman pondered the success of his predecessor, Gor n Carstedt, who had moved back to Sweden to...
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...segments: IKEA positions itself as a leading international furniture retailer that provides economical, well-designed and functional furniture. As IKEA’s biggest competitive advantage is the low price, IKEA tries all its best to lower the fixed cost and the variable cost, like building supplier relationships in developing countries to reduce labor and production cost; flat-packaging to reduce the freight fee; use materials in a cost-efficient way and in-house design also reduce the resign cost for IKEA. IKEA also differentiate itself with appealing shopping experience, self-service, as well as developing facilities like childcare, restaurants, and lounge rooms. The Scandinavian design and style is also a niche for IKEA. The target segments of IKEA is price-conscious people, who have tight budgets, like college students, younger adults and new families, who want to make the first furniture purchase, then the IKEA may be a very good choice for them due to its price advantage. Another target segment for IKEA is early adopters. For the modern design and unique shopping environment, people who like innovative things will likely to give it a try to IKEA’s furniture. Benefits & drawbacks to IKEA: The benefit that IKEA gains from its strategy: 1. Its price advantage is very obvious compared with other furniture retailers, which can attract large amount of price-conscious customers. 2. The hip Swedish design and appealing shopping experience is a niche for IKEA. 3. All the IKEA stores...
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...ABSTRACT Distribution logistic plays an important role in international companies or in Multinational Corporation. It is because most company preferred more competence in the complex and global market. Nowadays customers more concern about how long their ordered product reach to them rather than worrying how the company will deliver the products. As a consequence, time can be used as an indicator in distribution logistic. This research is conducted to explain the consequences of distribution logistic and the way IKEA will gain competitive advantage by utilizing it. We will identify the key elements in distribution logistics and find the competitive advantages of IKEA through analyzing the case study of IKEA and they are: speed, dependability and last but not least is flexibility. Keyword: IKEA, Distribution logistic, Competitive advantage. INTRODUCTION 1.1 BACKGROUND Logistics management is the governance of supply chain functions. Logistics management is important not solely to producing and assembly industries, that are goods-oriented, however conjointly to selling, transport and alternative distribution or service- oriented industries. Daskin (1985) defined logistics as “the design and operation of the physical, managerial and informational systems needed to allow goods to overcome time and space”. Another definition promulgated by the Council of Logistics Management Ballou (1992) is: the process of planning, implementing and controlling the efficient, cost-effective...
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...company is a specialty store but rather the breadth of their product offering. If a company could be considered an expert in a certain type of good, it is a specialty store. (www.educationportal.com) Company Introduction IKEA is one of the best private furniture based companies in the world which started in a small village of Agunnaryd in Sweden. A company which has the experience of working for more than 6 decades around the globe, which currently is operating in 40 countries around. IKEA is a company which has always focused itself towards creating a better future for the people by producing reliable furniture at a low cost. The basic concept of the company is based on southern Sweden which has thin soil and poor people and they use their hard work to survive. The genius behind the company made sure that all these values were transferred to the company and its core values were designed around the basic inherited values. IKEA is a privately-held, international home products retailer that sells flat pack furniture, accessories, and bathroom and kitchen items in their retail stores around the world. The company, which pioneered flat-pack design furniture at affordable prices, is now the world's largest furniture retailer. IKEA was founded in 1943 by 17-year-old Ingvar...
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