Introduction
From its very beginning, IKEA, the world’s largest furniture retailer, experienced much success (Loeb). Similarly, “Pan American World Airways, or ‘Pan Am,’ was the principal international air carrier of the United States for most of its lifetime” (Banning). However, when Pan Am went bankrupt in 1991, the company became known as one of the biggest failures in the industry. To examine why IKEA and Pan Am had such different outcomes despite their similar beginnings, one must start with learning the history of each company.
History of 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 in which he grew up. At first, it was just a “mail-order business selling pencils, postcards, and other merchandise” (“Milestones”). When the company first introduced furniture as a complement to the general merchandise in 1948, it was an immediate success. As a result, the company “started exploring innovating solutions such as furniture design, self-assembly, and advertising” (“Milestones”).
The 1950s marked many milestones for the company. In 1951, IKEA published the first annual IKEA furniture catalogue, and in 1953, it opened its first showroom (“Milestones”). In 1958, the first IKEA store opened in Älmhult, Sweden. The IKEA brand started to take shape in the 1960s and 1970s, as new stores opened and the company
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
IKEA is an abbreviation of Ingvar Kamprad Elmtaryd Agunnaryd. The initials come from the name of the founder, the farm where he grew up and his home parish. The firm has grown rapidly since it was founded in 1948. From a very young age, Kamprad started selling furniture and he always kept his low costs - so low that other furniture stores pressured the National Association of Furniture Dealers in Sweden to stop providing Kamprad with products. The first store of IKEA was opened in Almhult, Sweden. The next stores are in
IKEA Company was founded in 1943 by Ingvar Kamprad. The name of IKEA is originally formed from the first letter of the founder’s name and the names of the property and the village where he grew up. At the beginning, IKEA produced and sold simple things (such as pens, wallets, table, pictures frame, watches and jewellery) in the base of low price. The production of furniture in IKEA began during 1947 and in 1955 IKEA Company started to design its own furniture. Based on the company’s motto “Well designed and affordable quality furniture for everybody,” IKEA has been able to grow into fame company
IKEA is a unique Swedish furniture company. The company we so widely recognize today for selling good quality budget friendly Scandinavian style furniture began in 1943 as merely selling pens picture frames and wallets. Ikea was founded by a then 17year old Ivor Kampard, of the farm Elmtaryd near the small village of Agunnard in Smaland, hence giving rise to the name IKEA. This area is know for its thrifty and hard working ethos and Kampard very much incorporated this into his business venture. His innovative idea was to offer home furnishing products of good function and design at prices much lower than competitors by simply using cost-cutting solutions that did not affect the quality of products.
The founder of IKEA, Ingvar Kamprad registered his firm 1943. In 1958 he opened his very first IKEA store in Älhult, Sweden. From that moment, IKEA have continuously expanded by invaded new countries and opening new stores. Today IKEA is one of the leading home furnishings brands in the world with more than 235 stores in more than 30 countries. From being a one man enterprise IKEA now have astonishing 110,000 co-workers and a turnover of over 20 billion Euros on a worldwide basis (IKEA website 2008).
IKEA is a privately held, international home products company that designs and sells ready to assemble furniture such as beds and desks, appliances and home accessories. The company is the world's largest furniture retailer. Founded in 1943 by 17 year old Ingvar Kamprad in Sweden, the company is named as an acronym comprising the initials of the founder's name (Ingvar Kamprad), the farm where he grew up (Elmtaryd), and his home parish. IKEA has 300 home furnishing superstores in 35 Countries and was visited by some 583 million shoppers. IKEA’s low priced elegantly designed merchandise displayed in large warehouse stores, generated sales of $21.2 billion in 2008, up from 4.4 billion in 1994. The fledgling company sold fish,
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)
The debate about standardization and adaptation for international markets has continuously attracted more attention from multinational companies for several years. The case of IKEA has however tried to help me in understanding the argument involving these two marketing strategies as applied in the international markets.
1. Design- IKEA designers work in exactly the opposite way from their competitors. They design their products in such a way so that they can keep the prices low. IKEA designers design every product starting with a functional need and then decide on price. With the help of their vast knowledge in innovation and low-cost manufacturing processes through a large network of suppliers, they design the final product which can fulfill consumer’s functional needs. Large volumes are purchased to push prices down even further by distributing the R&D cost. Most IKEA products are designed in such a way so that they can transport in flat packs and assembled at the customer's
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”).
In this business report on the global retail business IKEA, it will cover the nature of business, influences on operations, operation processes, operation strategies and how the business can sustain competitive advantage. IKEA was founded in 1943 by Ingvar Kamprad in Älmhult, Sweden. The business established after and with the money his father awarded him for succeeding in his studies, Kamprad sustained a cash inflow by selling pens, wallets, watches, picture frames, table runners, jewellery and nylon stockings at reduced prices to customers. Although, later on in 1958, IKEA was introduced as a leader of Swedish Furniture Company as they started to produce local furniture by the Swedish local manufacturers, which gained positive attention from their customers. Eventually, developing flat packs of furniture for storage and self assembly, making their signature style of IKEA and turning the small business into a global sensation.
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
The Case study displayed the History of the founder "Ingvar Kamprad", the Swedish Entrepreneur, billionaire, who considered one of the richest people in the world and how he began his career since he was five, selling matches until he made this successful venture and named it IKEA (I stands for Ingvar, K stands for Kampard, E stands for Elmtaryd "the name of the farm he grew up in" and A stands for Agunnaryd "The Swedish village he grew up in". Although, he was neither trained doing business nor he read books on the subject. But by his hard working and personal experience, he was the founder of one of the most successful furniture retailer in the world.
The intrapreneurial organization that I have selected for my individual report is IKEA. IKEA is a Swedish home furnishing company which produces ready to assemble furniture as well as different home and office appliances. It is the world’s largest furniture retailer. IKEA was established 73 years ago in 1973 by 17 year old Ingvar Kamprad. IKEA means I for Ingvar, K for Kamprad, E for Elmtaryd, the farm where he grew up and A for Agunnaryd, his hometown in Smaland, Southern Sweden. “To create a better everyday life for the many people”, is IKEA’s vision. IKEA is known for its innovative architectural designs and eco-friendly interior designs. The company is well known for its focus on price control, continuous product development and other corporate attributes which allowed it to lower its prices on an average of 2 to 3% over the decade to 2010 during the period of global expansion. To date IKEA operates 328 stores in 28 countries with operations spanning 43 countries having an annual turnover of 32.7 billion euros in 2015. The entire IKEA range consists of 9,500 products which can be seen on its website. It is the user of 1% of the world’s commercial wood resources.
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,