Live your life, love your home.

The First Days of IKEA Group IKEA was founded in Älmhult, Sweden in 1943 by Ingvar Kamprad, then 17. The company name is a composite of the first letters in his name in addition to the first letters of the names of the property and the village in which he grew up: Ingvar Kamprad Elmtaryd Agunnaryd. This acronym is incidentally similar to the Greek word οικία [oikia] (home) and to the Finnish word oikea (correct, right).

The Brand The IKEA brand is the sum total of the emotional and rational values that consumers associate with the IKEA tradesmark and the reputation of the company. The brand image is the result of over 50 years work by IKEA co-workers at all levels all over the world.

Organization IKEA is a privately held international low cost home furnishings retailer. The retailer was founded in Sweden, but is owned by a Dutch-registered foundation, controlled by the Kamprad family. Inter IKEA Systems B.V. is the owner/franchiser of the IKEA trademark and the IKEA Concept. It is a Dutch-registered company, with offices in the Netherlands, Sweden and Belgium.

Leadership of the IKEA Group Of the 243 IKEA stores in 34 countries, 216 are run by the IKEA Group. The remaining 27 stores are run by franchisees outside of the IKEA Group. The IKEA has its main center in Leiden, South Holland, The Netherlands

Marketing Strategy The IKEA vision, business idea and market positioning statement provide a framework for all IKEA marketing communication worldwide. The IKEA vision is "To create a better everyday life for the many people.“ The IKEA business idea is "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.“ The IKEA market positioning statement is "Your partner in better living. We do our part, you do yours. Together we save money."

The IKEA Catalogue The IKEA catalogue serves as a permanent invitation to the IKEA store. It provides constant inspiration, and serves as an invaluable source of product information throughout the year. It also contains details on how to get to the nearest IKEA store and its opening hours.

Catalogues Distribution The IKEA catalogue is mass distributed to a substantial nuber of households in the IKEA store’s Primary Market Area, year after year , door-to-door, free of charge.

Three cornerstones in IKEA’s environmental work: The IKEA Concept IKEA has always tried to do more with less. This goes hand in hand with environmental work-to-use resources in an economical and careful way. Three cornerstones in IKEA’s environmental work: Recycle Information Resource efficiency Forestry

An Example of the IKEA Ethic IKEA found out a few years ago that a supplier was giving them wood from rainforests; so they stopped using that supplier, bought their own forest, and now plant their own trees to use.

Future Challenges for the IKEA Group The complexity of the logistics system will increase. It will be more difficult to respond to national needs and cultural sensitivity issues. Franchisees may demand more control over operations. With all these challenges emerging, it will be very difficult to maintain a global organizational structure. The best approach to meet these challenges is to find the proper balance between country level autonomy and centralized intervention.