Strategic analysis and proposal for IKEA

Strategic analysis and proposal for IKEA The name IKEA comes from the initials of Ingvar Kamprad, I and K, plus the first letters of Elmtaryd and Agunnaryd, which are the names of the farm and village where he grew up. Ingvar kamprad came with a unique idea to offer home furnishing products with good design and lower prices than other competitors. But he didnt want to compromise with the quality. So he used simple cut costing solutions. He tried to find every opportunity to reduce costs. Thats how IKEA concept began. IKEA is a home furnishing company with a fully integrated supply chain, including its own industrial groups Swedwood and Swedspan. The IKEA Group, directly or indirectly, also owns retail centres, always with an IKEA store as unique anchor tenant. The IKEA Group works in four basic areas: range strategy product development, production, supply and retail. The parent company of the IKEA Group of Companies, INGKA Holding B.V., is owned by Stichting INGKA Foundation in the Netherlands. The Stichting INGKA Foundation was established in 1982 by the founder of IKEA, Ingvar Kamprad, to create an ownership structure and organization that stand for independence and taking a longterm approach. It has two purposes to reinvest in the IKEA Group and to fund charity through the Stichting IKEA Foundation. The business idea is focused on the concept of help create a better life everyday life for many people. IKEA is a renowned global home furniture and household products retailer which is privately owned. IKEA was started by Ingvar Kamarad by 1943. Now the company owns more than 300 stores in 35 countries with more than 130,000 workers around the world. The company selling now a day more than 10000 products and the 190 million copies of catalogues distributed around all over the world. We can see how IKEA expanded by having more stores each year. Figure 1: IKEA stores expanding. To offer a wide range of well-designed, functional home furnishing products at prices so low that as many people as possible will be able to afford them. That is the business idea of IKEA. This concept of the IKEA is the base of their business operations which includes product designing, manufacturing, transportation, retailing and assembling. When IKEA develop their products, their starting point is the idea that, even with a thin wallet, people can create a beautiful home with well designed, functional, safe and healthy products. To understand the different living situations and needs of people all over the world is the key to success of IKEA. IKEA website had 712 million visitors and 676 million store visitors in 2010. And 197 million copies of catalogue were printed in 29 languages. Total sales in last year 2010 were 23.1 billion Euros as stated in graph and IKEA food services turnover is 1.1 billion Euros. Figure 2: Annual sales in billion Euros. (FY2010) Every single company tries to use unique, distinctive and effective business strategy which will help them to stay in very competitive market and especially in the global market. We will use different tools to provide a strategic analysis of IKEA. The analysis will be use SWOT analysis, Porters five forces model. SWOT analysis: SWOT analysis is strategic planning tool which helps business to focus on key issues. This tool helps to identify and evaluate of the strengths and weakness of a firm internally, threats and opportunities of external environment. Strengths and weakness is such internal aspects of the company which can be controlled. Usually these refer to marketing, finance, and manufacturing. In same way threats and opportunities are external aspects which cant be controlled. These refer to environment, local issue, government policy and others. Strengths Weakness Opportunities Threats Internal External Figure: SWOT analysis. Strengths: IKEA is one the leading strong global brand in household furnitures in its global operation which attracts consumer group and ensure the same quality and range with almost 10000 products in their all 300 worldwide stores. IKEAs interest in how peoples lives at home is the source of all their business. The key to the success of IKEAs business, understanding of peoples different living situation and needs of all people around the world. Their starting point of developing a product is how people can decorate their house with a thin wallet without compromising the quality. IKEA offers a wide range of functional household furniture in a low price that as many people as possible will be able to afford them. IKEA is completely committed to their vision to create a better everyday life for the many people. This commitment even extends to their suppliers. IWAY is the way of purchasing IKEA products. Buying bulk and large volume for long time keeps the price down from suppliers. And suppliers feel secured also. Most of IKEA products come from supplier direct to store. That means low cost and less carbon footprint. Increasing use of renewable and smarter use of raw materials helps them to keep the price low. Customers contribute in keeping low price by collecting, taking home and assemble product by themselves. Initialization of flat packing and easy assembling made it possible. Now a day people can design their kitchen wardrobe and others household furniture themselves by IKEA computerized tools. Opportunities: IKEA states: There is a true business potential for IKEA in providing solutions that enable customers to live a more sustainable life at home. IKEA is developing effective solutions for customers in order to support them recycling or reusing used products, aiming at no products ending up at landfill and the recycled materials used in producing new IKEA products. IKEA Increases use of renewable and smarter use of raw materials helps them to keep the price low. By initialize of flat packing and easy assembling help the customer to take their product home and assemble themselves. These all business policy of IKEA is juts to ensure a quality product in low price but if we look deeply we can see that IKEA using their strengths to take advantages of opportunities. Now a days all over the world everyone is concerning about carbon footprint, greener products, low cost products. IKEA is making best out of these opportunities. Now a day demand is growing for low priced products. Current financial situation made consumers trading down from expensive stores. All most everyone is concerning about carbon footprint. IKEA most of product comes to store direct from supplier by which they gradually phase out wooden pallets and use of the most spaces of transport. Using of less transport which is less carbon emission. They keep redesigning products so that they take less space. This way they save costs and contribute to environment also. Other business may be has to change their business policy because of these global concerning. But IKEA is taking advantages of these opportunities. Weakness: Each single company tries to find out their weakness and try to resolve them. IKEA is a global brand with 300 stores globally. So the size and its scale of global business can be a problem. It could be hard eventually to keep up with their standard and quality. IKEA suppliers are in such country where government doesnt implement the legalization to control working conditions. It can affect business supply chain. On the other hand IKEA need low cost raw materials but good quality for their products. But because of global warming and other financial and environmental issues it could be hard to get the supply. Threats: Emerging a new household company with low price and its own food in the market will be a strong threat for IKEA. Though emerging a new company with such range and scale is not so easy, but by keeping their standard IKEA can held their position. Porters five factors: Porters five factors is a strong analytical tool. It helps us to understand business strength of current competitive situation and the strength of the position we are moving into. The outcome of this framework is five important factors which determine the competitive intensity, as it may in use of when creating strategy, plans or making decisions regarding investment about a business. Figure: Porters Five Forces model. Powers of buyers: IKEA make sure to satisfy their customers in every aspect by providing quality service. IKEA is global brand for household furniture for reasonable prices. The management of IKEA tries to keep the standard globally so their customer is happy about the quality and the prices. Furniture and other household has small alternative and consumers has limited choices which makes IKEA unique in his competitive market. Low price strategy is other way to response buyers needs. Powers of Suppliers: We have to consider power of supplier for our competitive situation. To ensure the quality and low price business policy IKEA must have some supplier who can supply according to the demand. IKEA set some rules for their supplier. IWAY is one of it. All suppliers should follow these set of rules. IKEA get the contracts with supplier for a long time. In this way supplier and IKEA both feel more secured. If something happens with the supplier IKEA also got time for supplement. So in this case supplier got limited powers. Competitive rivalry: IKEAs furniture competitors offer different functionality and design. However, the IKEA still holds the first position in his competitive market through his quality and low price policy in Sweden and globally also. Flat packing policy saved a lot in price and easy for customer to carry out. New entrants: There is less chance to enter

Markering :: GCSE Business Marketing BTEC Coursework

Markering Introduction Steve Case founded America Online (AOL) in pre-Internet days when the networking of various computer systems was rather informal and difficult for all but the highly computer-literate to accomplish. His goal was to make accessing these networks easy enough for anyone to manage. Though AOL has changed dramatically since those days, ease of use has remained a primary consideration in all changes visible to the user. Much maligned by the more "serious" services (and their subscribers) in the past, AOL has risen to be the industry leader despite challenges and the image of being the J.R. Ewing of the Internet, the provider everyone "loves to hate." Advertisers complain of AOL's dictatorial policies, yet with more than 21 million subscribers (Anonymous, 2000), AOL is an advertising venue that they dare not ignore. Current Situation and Background All large organizations today have vision and mission statements, but only the most successful actually adhere to them. Many organizations sport rather cryptic mission statements, or they put great effort into devising one and then never consult it again. AOL appears to be cognizant of both its mission and vision statements in every addition it makes to its service. America Online's Vision: To build an interactive medium that improves the lives of people and benefits society as no other medium before it. America Online's Mission: To build a global medium as central to people's lives as the telephone or television... and even more valuable (America Online, 1999; p. 34). Corporate strategy is clear. Mission and vision statements reveal gross strategy; investment reports indicate that more narrow strategy also is effective. Several advertisers have complained about AOL's policies in the past, but the factors of which they complain are those that keep AOL's management – rather than the phenomenal growth of the Internet – in control of the company's destiny and its attainment of its goals. Senior management misjudged the response to its offer of flat-rate charges for unlimited use, and the company even suffered class-action lawsuits after their access systems were overwhelmed in many areas. Seeking the greatest number of subscribers and offering to highlight advertisers willing to pay for AOL's assistance is a strategy that ensures AOL's continued financial good health. AOL's functional strategy of being indispensable to subscribers is one that can work to ensure the company's continued growth. Already, AOL has more content than does any other ISP (Anonymous, 2000), and it seeks only to grow in scope.

Improving Performance & Effectiveness of your Company

A year ago, the administration has met the top eight managers of the company for a thorough departmental evaluation. The conference yielded outstanding overviews of where the company is, where it should be going, and how it can get where it should be. Each department head devised a plan on how to contribute to the vision of the company, which each department was able to materialize.A year later and the goals have been met. However, the overall state of the company stayed the same. If it moved forward at all, the move was too little and subtle to affect the company vigorously.This is why the management has decided to create an action plan which will homogenize the departmental plans that were created and now being observed so that the positive effects aid the company in moving forward. EXAMINATION OF THE VARIABLES The initial evaluation made by the managers is sufficient to zero in on department-specific issues and concerns. Initially, these issues and concerns of the individual emplo yees and the small group (departments) were considered the best determinant of the company’s progress meter. From these evaluations, the managers identified the problems and devised ways of solving them.Likewise, they uncovered opportunities that were not used before. Lastly, action plans have been created. While the managers succeeded in their implementation of their action plans, it did little for the company. The company remained stagnant as a whole even if the departments soared at meeting goals and exploiting opportunities. Solving problems, Meeting goals One important aspect of the process was identifying the problems in detail by specifying those which bothers each department. By looking into the details, the managers ensured building a strong foundation for the company.It is also by looking at these minute problems that the bigger ones are avoided. With a better foundation, a company is stronger and small problems are sure to not affect it. The identification of probl ems led to an evaluation for coming up with solutions. This further resulted in slating several goals which will keep the employees focused. Goals are important as it unites all the different activities that happen in the background of the company. The goals of the company became the guide line for the employees and managers alike. Opened opportunitiesThe evaluation also enabled the opening of opportunities which the departments have not identified before. By looking at these opportunities and exploiting them, the company was able to minimize the wastages. The opportunities also helped maximize the advantageous edge that the company already enjoys. Heterogenous However effective the departmental initiatives were, the problem was that the initiatives were definitive. Instead of helping the company as a whole, each department strived at achieving their own goals which were rather specific for their areas rather than focusing on the goals of the company as a whole.Thus, the positive re sponse received upon the action plan of the managers did little to grow the company. CONCLUSIONS The process, recommendations, and actions were good, but they were not good enough. The managers were effective on the task given to them, but putting off the focus on the company and concentrating on the areas was a bad choice. Instead, the vision and mission of the company as a whole should be a chief consideration for all initiatives big and small. With this, every little inch in which the company grows will be monumental and evident. RECOMMENDATIONSIt is worth for the initiatives of the managers to be carried on. Given that they have been effective in their respective areas, they should also be introduced in other departments in which they may also be needed; even though the need might not be obvious or immediate. To do so, another meeting with the managers should be called to order. Then, the managers will be prompted to share to the group the successes of their respective departmen t. From these sharing, the managers will be encouraged to adapt the initiatives of another department that are not yet applied in their own area.However, the initiatives that will be adapted should be fit to the department who is also adapting it. Meanwhile, marketing and advertising should be made available as well to boost sales which is primarily important for the business. EVALUATIONS A twelve-month recourse will be put into place, after which an evaluation will be made as to the progress of the company. If the company improved, the initiatives will be continued and even propagated with new ones. If not, a new proposition should be looked at.One would be evaluating for problems in the company as a while instead of by-area. The managers should also introduce new breakthroughs. Employee participation may also be encouraged later on, where the employees will be given the chance to voice out what they think and feel about improvements that can be made to the company. Employee welfar e will also be considered. With all the follow-up initiatives, a focal vision will give every action plan the effectiveness it needs. In return, it will also give the company the effectiveness it deserves.

Marketing Strategy Essay

Marketing Strategy Essay Marketing Strategy Essay Marketing Strategy Enron - The Smartest Guy in the Room Enron was once the seventh largest company in the world, they were even featured in fortune magazine as America’s most innovative company for six years in a row from 1996 to 2001, but somehow they allowed their greed and arrogance to get the better of them. Though they have been successful for many years, it took very little time for them to go bankrupt. Enron’s demise is a result of implementing outrageously unethical and unrealistic strategies such as their â€Å"Mark to Market† strategy, and manipulating situations such as the California electricity crisis; just to name a few of the many unethical things that they engaged in. One of their most outrageous accounting strategies was their mark to market method. This strategy allowed them to forecast what earnings will be in the very distant future and treat those forecasted earnings as current profit. They practiced this despite the fact that those earnings may not be collecte d for many years, neither are they guaranteed. Enron appeared to be very profitable in the public’s eye and their stocks kept increasing in value, but in reality they were sinking deeper and deeper in debt. Enron managed to cook the books through their mark to market strategy. Enron went above and beyond when they manipulated the California electricity system. They took advantage of the state’s deregulated energy market and deliberately created blackouts and shortages in order to increase prices many times more than the current price. California was their way out when they needed profits. Enron’s unethical and outrageous behavior caught up with

How to Talk About Failure in a Job Interview

How to Talk About Failure in a Job Interview When you’re putting together your resume and getting ready for an interview, you focus on making yourself look as perfect as possible. This is not a process where you want to let self-doubt and self-esteem issues creep in. Yet all that positive thinking and prep can be undone by one or two little questions in an interview. â€Å"Where could you use some improvement?† Or, â€Å"Can you tell me about a time when you failed.† After positioning yourself as kind of an uber-candidate, this can be a tricky navigation. You want to show an appropriate amount of honesty and humility, but who likes reliving past failures, let alone disclosing them to a potential employer? There are ways to do it that can help you get past these spots, without derailing your image as a confident, competent interviewee. Here are some things to consider when you talk about failure in a job interview.DO take it seriously.â€Å"I’m addicted to Mountain Dew† is not the way to go her e. The interviewer is trying to get a sense of your level of self-awareness, and whether or not there are any red flags or major gaps.DON’T use a clichà ©d comeback.â€Å"I care too much.† â€Å"I work too hard.† â€Å"I am too dedicated to my job.† The interviewer isn’t looking for a beauty pageant answer†¦he or she is looking for someone who can be frank about shortcomings, and self-aware enough to try to overcome them. Backdoor bragging that tries to show that you’re just too well-liked or too diligent at work will most likely earn you an eye roll.DO be honest†¦It’s okay to admit you’re not perfect. This is one question in an interview that is 99% about your accomplishments and qualifications, so approach it honestly and candidly. The interviewer will appreciate your candidness.†¦But DON’T treat it like a confession.This is not the time to list all of your drawbacks. (Unless you’re applying for the CIA, in which case you might as well be honest, because they will find out.) Ahead of time, think about one or two areas where you know you need improvement, and make sure they’re not red flag-worthy. For example, if you’re not great with numbers, don’t answer the question with, â€Å"I suck at math.† Basically, anything that makes you seem â€Å"bad† at something is not the right choice here.DO perform the spin-pivot move.Whatever you do go with, make sure you use it to emphasize strengths you do have. With the bad-at-math example, you can emphasize that you prefer creative problem solving to hard-and-fast numbers. Frame it as a choice between A (weakness) and B (strength), and talk about how you’d choose B.DON’T use anything in the basic job description as your weakness.If you despise being around kids, and are applying for an elementary school position, well- what are you doing there? But more importantly, if you’re aske d about an area where you could improve, mention that you’re always looking to improve your ability to relate to students.DO emphasize that you’re a work in progress.Part of what an interviewer is trying to assess is your growth potential. When you talk about any challenges or areas of improvement you have, be sure to say that you’re aware of your limitations in X area, and that you’re constantly seeking to be better/more efficient/stronger.DO avoid using words like â€Å"weakness,† even if the interviewer uses it first.Instead, frame it as a challenge, or avoid using negative nouns altogether.Getting past this moment in an interview can be awkward, but if you do some thinking ahead of time about your challenges and how you plan to turn those into strengths, you should be back in safe, â€Å"I’m awesome† territory in no time.

Child Rape in South Africa Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Child Rape in South Africa - Essay Example Crime is occurring at an unprecedented rate and South Africa now boasts some of the highest rates of violent crime in the world (De Capua & Robertson 2009). Yet, one of the most pressing social issues to emerge is the sexual violence of children. Child rape is occurring at unprecedented proportions resulting not only in the trauma of children but in the increase of HIV/AIDS infections. The South African legal system is struggling to cope with the number of child rape cases and many children's rights advocates argue that the system is flawed in its handling of sexual abuse victims, in particular children. This paper seeks to examine the issues surrounding child rape in South Africa including the role of the legal system in combating this issue. Apartheid emerged in 1948 and was a legalized system of segregation separating the white Boer minority from the Black, mixed-race and Indian majority (South African Government Information 2008). It was a complex set of laws that resulted in the oppression and marginalization of all non-whites in South Africa. Apartheid was brutally enforced by the white minority and state-sponsored violence was commonly used to maintain order and suppresses social uprisings. With the end of Apartheid in 1994, this legacy of social and economic inequality has remained resulting in extremely high levels of violence of which women and children are often victims (Human Rights Watch 2001). Due to social inequality, women and girls are often the most vulnerable victims of violence, in particular, gender-based violence such as rape and sexual abuse (Human Rights Watch 2001). Apartheid was deeply entrenched in South African society and it continues to impact the political, social and economic conditions of the country. Schools, in particular, have felt the brunt of the pervasive violence that has wrecked havoc on the country and its people. According to Human Rights Watch, "the South African education system today is still scarred by the racially discriminatory policies of apartheid and in particular the system of 'Bantu Education' imposed by the National Party government" (2001). During the period of resistance, where freedom fighters waged war against the oppressive Apartheid system, "schools were often transformed into sites of political struggle and frequently become violent spaces" (Human Rights Watch 2001). Since the dismantling of Apartheid, the government has struggled to compensate for the lack of professional teachers.

BlackBoard Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

BlackBoard - Assignment Example Such tools include chat rooms, wikis, blogs, peer assessment, groups, and discussion boards. Therefore, the core aim of the research is to dig out into the significance of the virtual blackboard in modern learning. In achieving the objectives, various scholarly sources will be analyzed. Moreover, various case analysis will be conducted on various institutions that have shown adoption to the program, counterchecking the advantages, shortcomings, effectiveness, and the diverse features facilitating its use. The discussion board does enhance communication. All the students can engage in discussions, a tool that leads to creativity and innovation. Forums are different discussion topics students can engage in at a time. Some discussion features enables the instructor to follow up on what the student has done over time, hence perfect evaluation tools. Additionally they empower students, promote exploratory learning, and enhance reflection. Chat rooms lead to generation of ideas arising during and after classwork. Blackboards groups are the foundation of collaborative learning. They contribute to diversity, interpersonal growth, active learning, and opportunity to feedback provision. They come along with other features such as members’ enrolment key, groups’ creation, personalization, and disabling vs. enabling protocol. The peers’ assessment tool promotes the listening, analysis and critique aspects among students and their work. The assessment aids in fairness maintenance during assessments, judgment skills development, and workload reduction for instructors and acts as a learning opportunity. Blogs are online platforms whose role is to facilitate interaction via leaving the comments on the materials provided. Students who may fail to be active in class may divert their attention to blogs. As collaborative tools, they enhance consistent