1.

IKEA’s core competencies are the low-price furniture, the designing of their own products
which they can easily adapt to foreign cultures to meet their demands and the warehouse
idea. The end products are assemble-it-yourself furniture, packaged flat. This is another core
competency because they differ from other furniture suppliers by giving the option for
customers to take the product with them immediately. The core competencies and end
products are linked because the service that IKEA provides differs them from other
companies, from the way IKEA is set up to the way they make the products available (flat
packaging)
2. IKEA diversified firstly, by selling products from jewelry to picture frames. IKEA then
proceeded to focus on selling furniture. They differed themselves by having low-cost
products and the showroom concept. They implemented ‘flat packaging’ and designed the
needs of children in IKEA and started producing child-friendly products. IKEA also adapted to
local needs of new countries where they located themselves. They added a new line of
kitchen appliances and plans to add a line of private label grocery specialties.
3. IKEA started in Europe and later expanded to Australia and Canada. They firstly didn’t adapt
to local needs, the way they set up IKEA was almost exactly the same as in Europe, this did
not work out as they led massive losses. After a while IKEA did adapt to local needs and after
a while they finally made profits.
IKEA managed to maintain a focus on core competencies while simultaneously adapting to
local needs because they adapted it’s routines in the US by buying their furniture from
American manufacturers while still sticking with their low-price focus.
4. The core competencies are until this day the same as they have always been. They differ
themselves from other companies by having these core competencies so it wouldn’t be
smart to change the core competencies. The one thing that IKEA strives for, is a more
sustainable future. They want to have a more positive impact on people and planet. They are
trying to achieve this by switching the lighting range to LED lights and by striving for 100%
renewable energy.
Source: https://www.ikea.com/ms/en_US/this-is-ikea/people-and-planet/index.html