Business Week 5 Assignment: Deliver the Value: the IKEA Case Study

Week 5
Assignment:

Deliver the Value: the IKEA Case Study

IKEA is a Swedish-owned global business
founded in 1943. The business generates annual revenues of 27 billion euros and
employs 139,000 people in 298 stores and 26 countries. The values and design
philosophy of the founder continue to underpin the brand. These values might be
summed up as frugal, democratic, environmentally aware, and design oriented.

IKEA has become synonymous with Swedish
lifestyle. The stores are virtually identical across the globe and sell a range
of globally sourced flat-packed furniture products as well as a range of
related furnishings for the home—the stores offer customers a Swedish
experience by incorporating restaurants and a variety of customer services
intended to simplify the shopping process (e.g., childcare). What is
interesting about IKEA is that customers have become a significant part of the
value creating process—customers play a key role in terms of logistics and in
production.

By performing the assembly of the
flat-packed furniture, customers complete the final stages in the production
process. In terms of logistics, the customer “moves” goods from warehouse-style
storage through the checkout, and then transports the goods home. The trade-off
for the consumer is lower prices and immediate gratification—furniture is
typically sold using just in time (JIT) inventory management, which means that
once a customer has placed an order, the furniture then goes into production
and is delivered to the customer’s home some 3–4 months later.

IKEA’s senior management has in the past
pursued an aggressive expansion policy, but management is currently changing
direction, adopting a slower rate of expansion and investing in existing
stores. The company plans to increase sales by 10% a year to 2020, thereby
doubling annual sales revenues. Management is concerned about how expansion in
the BRIC countries,specifically ‘India’,
is pursued. There are fears about preserving the company’s culture in these
huge markets (Milne, 2013).

Sources:

http://www.ikea.com/ms/en_US/this-is-ikea/company-information/index.html

Milne, R. (2013,
September 1). Ikea signals slower expansion.Financial Times.

What do you think? What would you do? What
problems do you foresee and how will this impact IKEA’s Swedish concept? Please
recommend a marketing solution that will help IKEA achieve growth in India
based on your understanding of the place P and how delivering the value is
evolving.

Use the case study guidelines below to
perform a brief analysis, identify the problem, suggest alternative solutions,
and make recommendations for the implementation of the solution that you
believe is the best fit.

Case
Study Report:

You have 2 deliverables:

1. Write a brief 5-section paper
(about 2-3 pages, double spaced, in addition to your title page, your table of
contents page, and your reference page).Some online research is expected. The IKEA
website is highly informative. Use APA format.Focus on addressing the 5 case
study section guidelines (below) …

2. Create 5 slides that are
“support graphics” (as if you will be reading/presenting the report
to Ikea’s senior management team at a meeting). In the report, simply indicate
when each slide should be displayed on the screen as you present … include
print-outs of the slides at the end of your paper (they are not to be
considered as part of your report’s 2-3 pages).

Case Study Section Guidelines:

1.
Analysis of the Current Situation—In one brief paragraph, establish the context for the case analysis;
then provide the three following sub-sections (with sub-headings) –

·
SWOT analysis sub-section with a SWOT box.

·
Research sub-section: Identify the key environmental
factors such as industry trends, level of competitiveness, customer
perceptions, legal considerations, and evolving technology at the outset of the
analysis.

·
Summarization sub-section: State the key aspects of the internal
environment of the firm in terms of strengths and weaknesses and the external
environment in terms of opportunities and threats to the firm in your SWOT box.

2.
The Target Market—Identify your target market: Who is your
target customer in India? In terms of demographics and lifestyle, what aspects
of consumer behavior provide insights into this group of customers? Present a
specifically-focused 2-column Market Segment Analysis chart … PLUS any
additional information you feel is pertinent.

3.
The Problem—Identify key problem(s). It
is easy to identify symptoms of problems while failing to identify the real
problems. For example, declining sales may be identified as a problem, when …
in fact …the decline is only symptomatic of more complex problems that are
harder to observe. Make a clear distinction between what is identified as the problem
and the symptoms of the problems.

4.
Alternative Solutions—Identify and evaluate alternatives that
were also considered (but in the end; not recommended). View these as reasonable alternatives and
evaluate them in terms of their feasibility, projected costs advantages,
disadvantages, and potential short-term and long-term consequences.

5.
Recommended Course of Action—Present your selected ‘Marketingcourse of action’ and introduce the
appropriate strategies and tactics to accomplish the chosen course. Justify
your choice in terms of your analysis. As most practitioners know, charting a
course of action can be a difficult job, but implementation is the true
challenge. Produce a workable action plan overview which would have a
reasonable probability of success in the implementation phase.

Format
Guidelines:


Every assignment is to be formatted per APA guidelines
and must include:

• Correct content – In each
  draft of your plan, Submit only the content asked for in the specific
  assignment.

• Title Page – Include plan
  title, course name & number, student name, & submission date)

• Page header & running
  head, and page numbers on every page;

• Table of contents (with page
  numbers);

• Double-spaced text using
  Times New Roman 12-point type;

• Section
  Headings using Times New Roman 16-point,Upper & Lower Case,flush left;

• Sub-Headings (within
  sections) using Times New Roman 12-point, Upper & Lower Case, Bold
  Face, flush left;

• Graphics & charts – must
  be easily readable and imbedded into the document at the appropriate
  locations. They cannot be attached as separate documents.

·
Reference Page (presented in APA style). This page mustbe formatted
exactly as described in doc #14 in doc sharing and have a clear referential connection to specific document content.See APA guidelines in doc sharing.

Slide
Guidelines:

Your supporting slides must be presented within your case
study ‘word’ document at the appropriate spots within your document(do not submit a separate PowerPoint document).

A professional Marketing slide presentation should be
based on high quality content; and your slides should be clear and compelling –
it is important to engage your audience and convey all of the important points
that you have developed in your written report. Include inviting and
appropriate graphics & artwork on each slide that relates to your verbiage
– this is what your audience will want to see.

GRADING
GUIDE:

CASE STUDY ASSIGNMENT: (week #5)	Content & Format Guidelines	Possible Points
SECTIONS: 1. Analysis of the Current Situation.	· Research &Identify the key environmental factors such as industry trends, level of competitiveness, customer perceptions, legal considerations, and evolving technology at the outset of the analysis. · Summarize the key aspects of the internal environment of the firm in terms of strengths and weaknesses and the external environment in terms of opportunities and threats to the firm in your SWOT box.	15
2. The Target Market.	Who is your target customer? . Their demographics – .Their lifestyle – .Their Psychological characteristics –	15
3.The Problem.	Identify the “True” problem(s). For example, is declining sales a problem, or is it only symptomatic of more complex problems that are harder to observe. Make a clear distinction between what is identified as the problem and the symptoms of the problems.	20
4. Alternative Solutions.	Identify and evaluate alternatives. Develop reasonable alternatives and evaluate them in terms of feasibility, projected costs advantages, disadvantages, and potential short-term and long-term consequences.	10
5. Recommended Course of Action.	Clearly state your recommended course of action and provide the appropriate strategies and tactics to accomplish the chosen course. Justify your choice in terms of your analysis. As most practitioners know, charting a course of action can be a difficult job, but implementation is the true challenge. Produce a workable action plan that would have a reasonable probability of success in the implementation phase.	20
SUPPORTING SLIDES 1. Design & Layout Effectiveness.	Attractiveness and appeal of layout, graphics, & verbiage.	10
2. Content Quality & Focus.	Quality, brevity, & focus of wording.	10
Format Point Deductions:	A quality paper’s format must meet assignment requirements (2-to-4 points deducted for each oversight).
Late Submission Point Deductions:	Here, you will receive a late submission penalty of 5% of the assignment points per day up to seven days. After that, the assignment cannot be accepted, and you will receive a “zero” grade for the assignment.
GRADE:	Content total points minus Format point deductions.	100