Role of Culture and Ikea
Introduction - Company Background
IKEA furnitures, privately held, international, low-cost home products are an inevitable part of interior furnishings at many houses in the world. IKEA furnitures are marked for its modern utilitarian design. The company has 260 retail outlets around the world and more new stores are on the line to be opened in 2008 (Dhanyasree, 2007).
IKEA was founded in 1943 by a 17-year-old Ingvar Kamprad in Smaland, south of Sweden. IKEA formed its name from the founder 's initials (I.K.) plus the first letters of Elmtaryd and Agunnaryd, the farm and village where he grew up from a farmer to a businessman. Ingvar sold whatever he found could fill with a product at a reduced price under the brand name of IKEA (Dhanyasree, 2007). When Ingvar Kamprad outgrew his ability to make individual sales calls in 1947, furniture was introduced into the IKEA product range. Local manufacturers in the forests close to Ingvar Kamprad 's home produced the furniture. The founder of IKEA soon saw the opportunity of becoming a furniture provider on a larger scale and discontinued all the other products to focus directly on low-priced furniture. (Dhanyasree, 2007).
In 1953 the first IKEA furniture showroom was opened in Älmhult. In 1955, IKEA began designing its own furniture. Its products vary from upholstered furniture, coffee tables, beds, carpets, lightings, and a variety of other household furnitures (Dhanyasree, 2007). Much of IKEA 's furniture was designed to be assembled by the consumer rather than being sold pre-assembled. IKEA made a revolutionary change in the interior furnishings by reducing the price of quality furnitures to a minimum amount. The successful saga took a new turn as the first IKEA store in Norway opened outside Oslo in 1963. IKEA store opened at Zurich, Switzerland in 1973, in 1974 at Munich, Germany and the new store opening continued in each succeeding years at a new country (Dhanyasree, 2007).
Role of Culture in IKEA’s
IKEA furnitures, privately held, international, low-cost home products are an inevitable part of interior furnishings at many houses in the world. IKEA furnitures are marked for its modern utilitarian design. The company has 260 retail outlets around the world and more new stores are on the line to be opened in 2008 (Dhanyasree, 2007).
IKEA was founded in 1943 by a 17-year-old Ingvar Kamprad in Smaland, south of Sweden. IKEA formed its name from the founder 's initials (I.K.) plus the first letters of Elmtaryd and Agunnaryd, the farm and village where he grew up from a farmer to a businessman. Ingvar sold whatever he found could fill with a product at a reduced price under the brand name of IKEA (Dhanyasree, 2007). When Ingvar Kamprad outgrew his ability to make individual sales calls in 1947, furniture was introduced into the IKEA product range. Local manufacturers in the forests close to Ingvar Kamprad 's home produced the furniture. The founder of IKEA soon saw the opportunity of becoming a furniture provider on a larger scale and discontinued all the other products to focus directly on low-priced furniture. (Dhanyasree, 2007).
In 1953 the first IKEA furniture showroom was opened in Älmhult. In 1955, IKEA began designing its own furniture. Its products vary from upholstered furniture, coffee tables, beds, carpets, lightings, and a variety of other household furnitures (Dhanyasree, 2007). Much of IKEA 's furniture was designed to be assembled by the consumer rather than being sold pre-assembled. IKEA made a revolutionary change in the interior furnishings by reducing the price of quality furnitures to a minimum amount. The successful saga took a new turn as the first IKEA store in Norway opened outside Oslo in 1963. IKEA store opened at Zurich, Switzerland in 1973, in 1974 at Munich, Germany and the new store opening continued in each succeeding years at a new country (Dhanyasree, 2007).
Role of Culture in IKEA’s