Service, operations and management : Ikea

Résumé du document

Almost everyone has had an experience of a visit to an IKEA store. Every day, 1 million visitors frequent these stores. What hides behind this yellow and blue logo? What makes it so typically Swedish? To answer in a simple succinct and synthetic way about these interrogations within a framework of ten pages is not an easy thing. Indeed, the success of a company and its competitiveness, and its failures and its disappearances are generally explained by an important whole set of factors or elements. These last ones retroact with the others, as the various elements or subsets would do it to compose a 'system'. By this observation, many theorists like Philippe Bernoux could assimilate companies to systems, for example, a whole set of elements in interaction, dynamic and organized according to a goal. Other theorists gathered in 'the school of the contingency', showed that the evolutions of these systems which are the companies, are strongly influenced by 'contingencies' i.e. with particular constraints. The whole of these constraints constitutes the environment in which companies evolve, and which can be apprehended through the angles, economic, social, technological, and also more particular aspects, for example, the regulation or the evolution of desires or the practices of the consumers.

Extraits

[...] The internal management methods must also be studied again. A development in the recruitment methods should be envisaged. The fact that key positions within the company are exclusively held by Scandinavian people creates problems as far as internationalisation policy is concerned. For instance, adapting management to different cultures by recruiting local head managers, would allow a better implantation in various countries (acknowledgement), and a better knowledge of local consumption habits. That could also reduce the margin of error during the implantation and avoid intercultural managerial problems. [...]

[...] The lower prices, associated with functional and aesthetic products. This focuses their choice of products. Each new product "is evaluated at the stage of the drawing according to criteria relating to the function, an effective distribution, quality, the respect for the environment and lowest price". IKEA has 43 offices of purchase which are found in 33 countries. They follow the production on the spot, in order to test new ideas, to negotiate the prices, to control the social quality and terms of employment of the 2000 suppliers divided in 55 countries. [...]

[...] A production adapted to the expectation of the consumers The flat packages and large volumes represent only one part of the secrecy of the lower prices at IKEA. The lower prices are also the result of the famous ingeniousness of the inhabitants of the province of Småland in Sweden, where IKEA was born. IKEA deliberately chose to be on the side of the greatest number, in particular of all those which have a weaker purchasing power. While working on the development of the products, manufacture, the purchases, logistics and the distribution, we can maintain the costs on a bottom grade with each stage of the process. [...]

[...] Thus IKEA has got enough assets to succeed on the national level as well as to expend itself on the international level. Organization, management: tradition and modernity 1 The will to preserve identity and traditional value of the company Originality of IKEA - Protect Identity of IKEA In order to preserve IKEA's identity, that is challenged since its founder left, it would seem necessary for his replacement to communicate better with his employees and with the management teams of the group. [...]

[...] Human relationships are very good, and inspired of the Sweden system. For example, one day, Ingvar Kamprad, the boss of Ikea, came to the warehouse; he wore a straw hat, old shoe, and short. He wanted to gather us for a handshake to thank us. Which is your perception of the human relations within the company? With regard to the hierarchical relationship with your superiors? The relationships are very friendly, we have made a lot of party together, but the word stayed at the warehouse . [...]