Environmental Factors - Research Paper Example

Being a dominant player in the furniture industry, IKEA had assumed its duty of educating and training its workforce so that ethical trade practices and agreements are not ignored. It also educates and trains its supplier base to improve efficiency in operations. Not going by the traditional business practices, IKEA had always tried to differentiate itself through its unique and specific products and its cost leadership. This is achieved through its strategic and collaborative relations with its suppliers who are equivalent partners in profit sharing.

It had marketed its products at lesser profit margins in developing and underdeveloped countries that wished to own Western furniture but could not afford. This has made it earn an image of a corporation that believes in equality and possession of products equally. Being a home furnishing brand, IKEA always needed big and spacious locations to arrange for its warehouses and showrooms. As such, it never set up full fledged assembling facilities in any nation. It always went for outsourcing decisions where by the use of skilled and expert people, parts and components were manufactured elsewhere while the assembling task was completed at the destination location.

Also it had communicated its product range across nations that match the perceptual structure of the residents. For US citizens, its furniture is stylish and stable, while for China, it is homely and giving a feeling of togetherness. Culture is something that cannot be created. It has to be learned and percolated down to ages. IKEA had been very strategic in weaving a story around itself every time it entered in a new market and aligned its marketing campaign accordingly. It had varied the sensibility of its marketing significantly across varying cultures.

For instance, its European advertisements are more straight-forward unlike North-Americans, which are more witty. Cultural differences also arise