Strategic Management Ikea Case Study

Strategic Management

IKEA Case Study

Table of Contents

Introduction Page 3

IKEA Strategy Description: Porter’s Generic Strategy Options Page 4

IKEA Strategy Description: Ansoff Matrix Page 7

IKEA Strategy Evaluation: Suitability Page 9

IKEA Strategy Evaluation: Porter’s 5 Forces Page 9

IKEA Strategy Evaluation: Capabilities Page 11

IKEA Strategy Evaluation: SWOT-Analysis Page 12

Stakeholder Expectations: Page 14

Conclusion: Page 15

References: Page 16

Introduction

IKEA has been one of Europe’s greatest recent success stories. Founded by a Swede of German origin in the 1940’s, the company has grown to become one of the largest and most profitable corporations in the world, and elevated its founder to the rank of being one of the richest human beings in the world (Forbes Magazine, 2006).
IKEA came to the United Kingdom during a time of great expansion for the company – the 1980’s. Initially only operating one store, the furniture giant now operates 18 within the region, with a UK revenue of £1.15 billion in 2011 (Cripps, 2012; BBC News, 2012). IKEA is now the most popular furniture store in the UK, and has achieved phenomenal growth throughout the European continent – it is estimated that 1 in 10 Europeans are now conceived in an IKEA bed (Rohrer, 2005).
In this case study, IKEA’s business level strategy in the UK market will be described and evaluated.
A business level strategy refers to how a company intends to compete and sustain competitive advantage over its rivals in an industry, whilst a corporate level strategy refers to a far broader outlook such as whether a company should be operating in a given industry in the first place (Johnson et al, 2011). Only IKEA’s business level strategy for the UK will be analyzed in this work, a detailed description of which will be achieved through Porter’s Generic Strategy Options and the Ansoff Matrix. Through the Generic Strategy Options, IKEA’s corporate

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