IKEA (synthèse en anglais)

IKEA is a company that has a strong brand image across the world. The brand image stands for the good of the many people rather than a narrow group of consumers. The company has been so successful because of its ethical business practices; fulfilling consumer needs; empowering employees, so that they feel a part of the company and taking responsibility of the communities. With any good business the foundation is what makes a company strong. IKEA has a strong culture and puts a lot of emphasis on its values with its suppliers, developers and employees. They create a sense of belonging by working well and alongside its suppliers, developers and employees. IKEA is a success story because it follows the IKEA Concept of trying their best to give customers what they promised: low price, well-designed goods, creating a better everyday life for many people.

Like any company, IKEA has weaknesses and threats that they must deal with. The company’s management identified their strategic challenges and made attempts to overcome them. One of their biggest weaknesses is ensuring that their suppliers respect the IKEA IWAY. As mentioned earlier the IWAY is the code of conduct that all suppliers must abide by in order to do business with IKEA. One main concept in this code of conduct is the use of child labor or forced labor. We know this happens a lot in India, China and Pakistan. In order to try to prevent this, auditors visit these supplier plants unexpectedly to ensure that no child labor or forced labor is used. If rules aren’t followed and respected the supplier shall send a written corrective action plan to the IWAY Auditor. All corrective actions shall be completed within 90 days from the date of the audit. The supplier is responsible for correcting all non-compliant issues found during the audit according to the action plan. IKEA will help to ensure that corrective actions are implemented. If during the second verification audit that supplier is not (or will not be) able to modify working methods within the agreed implementation time the supplier shall be phased out and contract with the supplier shall not be renewed. IKEA also invests a lot of money in these countries in order to develop educational programs to get the kids into schools. This is a weakness that the company will always have to work on a continuously basis.

IKEA strategies in running their business give them a competitive advantage over their competitors. One important strategy is La stratégie de domination par les coûts. By being a cost-conscious company it has helped them keep their costs down. By ordering in large volumes, including the customer in the chain value, having goods that are easy to store and transport have benefited the company as well as the consumers.

This analyse strategique shows the importance and influence of vision within a company. Ingvar Kamprad’s original vision has provided IKEA with a clear set of goals and principles that have contributed enormously to the success of the company. His vision to provide home furnishings of good design and function at prices so low that the majority of people could afford them has led to a company culture which necessitates the best practice in not only the design of its products but the design of the company structure and its systems.

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