Scribd Logo
Upload

Welcome to Scribd!

  • 332 views

    Closing Case IKEA's Global Strategy

    Uploaded by

    Bucin Youngblood
    IKEA's Sweden-centric approach has helped form the foundation of its competitive advantage and brand identity. However, to succeed in foreign markets, IKEA must standardize products based on each country's culture to make their offerings more accessible globally. While IKEA's maze-like store layout provides a unique shopping experience, it risks losing customers if they find it tiresome. IKEA could mitigate this by expanding its online and delivery services. Managing over 1,000 global suppliers brings complexity, but signing long-term contracts would help ensure quality control of IKEA's products and reduce costs through stable partnerships.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Closing Case IKEA's Global Strategy

    Uploaded by

    Bucin Youngblood
    332 views1 page
    IKEA's Sweden-centric approach has helped form the foundation of its competitive advantage and brand identity. However, to succeed in foreign markets, IKEA must standardize products based on each country's culture to make their offerings more accessible globally. While IKEA's maze-like store layout provides a unique shopping experience, it risks losing customers if they find it tiresome. IKEA could mitigate this by expanding its online and delivery services. Managing over 1,000 global suppliers brings complexity, but signing long-term contracts would help ensure quality control of IKEA's products and reduce costs through stable partnerships.

    Copyright

    © © All Rights Reserved

    Available Formats

    DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Did you find this document useful?

    Is this content inappropriate?

    IKEA's Sweden-centric approach has helped form the foundation of its competitive advantage and brand identity. However, to succeed in foreign markets, IKEA must standardize products based on each country's culture to make their offerings more accessible globally. While IKEA's maze-like store layout provides a unique shopping experience, it risks losing customers if they find it tiresome. IKEA could mitigate this by expanding its online and delivery services. Managing over 1,000 global suppliers brings complexity, but signing long-term contracts would help ensure quality control of IKEA's products and reduce costs through stable partnerships.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    332 views1 page

    Closing Case IKEA's Global Strategy

    Uploaded by

    Bucin Youngblood
    IKEA's Sweden-centric approach has helped form the foundation of its competitive advantage and brand identity. However, to succeed in foreign markets, IKEA must standardize products based on each country's culture to make their offerings more accessible globally. While IKEA's maze-like store layout provides a unique shopping experience, it risks losing customers if they find it tiresome. IKEA could mitigate this by expanding its online and delivery services. Managing over 1,000 global suppliers brings complexity, but signing long-term contracts would help ensure quality control of IKEA's products and reduce costs through stable partnerships.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    of 1

    Name : Deva Fabiola

    International Business – Closing Case IKEA’s Global Strategy

    Case Discussion Questions

    1. IKEA is very Sweden-centric; that is, they like doing it the Swedish way, from the names of the
    furniture to the management of the company. Sweden is a neutral country so maybe this is the
    way to go for a global company, but, really, is it smart to be too centric to a specific country when
    you are a global corporation?

     I don't think that's a problem, but it's not the right thing either. Sweden-centric IKEA is a
    hallmark of IKEA. The Swedish-centric IKEA system is a form of the company's skills in
    performing core competencies to form the foundation of competitive advantage for IKEA.
    With this characteristic, it is difficult for their competitors to match or imitate concepts or
    products from IKEA. However, if a company is too country-centric, it won't be easy to enter
    foreign markets. This is because each foreign market has its product standardization. For
    example, suppose IKEA enters the US market. In that case, it will be difficult for US people to
    choose a product design because they need to familiarize themselves with their bed
    measurement system. So, IKEA must be able to carry out a standardization process by first
    determining the cultural influences in each country and creating value in its products.

    2. IKEA is also very “IKEA-centric.” For example, the IKEA store itself will be laid out as a maze that
    requires customers to walk through every department before they reach the checkout stations.
    This forced path can seem constraining to their customers who naturally are more free spirited
    than the IKEA management model. Can this spell trouble in the near future, or is the IKEA way a
    sustainable business model?

     IKEA, which is "IKEA-centric," can be said to be a form of sustainable business model because
    the idea of this labyrinth arrangement is an idea that will provide a positive experience for
    some people. This structure attracts the attention of consumers because here, they can get
    various ideas, feel these ideas, and finally, encourage consumers to buy the product.
    Meanwhile, on the other hand, this structure can also cause problems shortly because the
    layout from IKEA is quite tiring. If they can't manage it properly, then IKEA will gradually lose
    its customers because they have lost their interest in the product they want. However, there
    are several other alternatives so that IKEA can sustainably run its business, namely, with an
    online shopping system or a home delivery and assembly system.

    3. Strategically, having more than 1,000 suppliers result in a complex task of managing those
    suppliers, ensuring the quality of the products, and maintaining the IKEA brand. While we will
    address global supply chains later on, from a global strategy standpoint how would you manage
    IKEA’s global suppliers?

     Managing global suppliers is not easy. Therefore, we need to commit to suppliers by signing
    long-term contracts. With this cooperation contract, it will further reduce product prices.

    You might also like