Case : IKEA

IKEA is the largest home furniture store in the world. This store has been known for
years for its cheap price but with good design & quality. IKEA's success so that it has survived to
this day is due to several factors. In my opinion, IKEA's ability to see opportunities and analyze
those opportunities is one of them. Coupled with an ambitious but still realistic spirit, IKEA
continues to be able to innovate and even expand. IKEA also has a great leader. Ingvar Kamprad
did not give up easily and was able to channel his enthusiasm to his workers. Kamprad has
strategies that have also led to the success of IKEA, one of which is the strategy to make savings
so that prices also remain cheap. Being able to negotiate with related parties is also an element of
savings. He is able to turn threats into opportunities very well. In addition, he also tried to
maintain relationships with suppliers and workers. When competitors try to meet the needs of
many people (mass market), IKEA chooses to focus on niche markets. Kamprad set clear goals
when looking at opportunities, namely young families who want to prepare their first home. The
uniqueness of the product design and the “self-service” & “cash & carry” concept offered, as
well as the marketing that is carried out are also able to attract the attention of the public to shop
and even just looking for inspiration at IKEA. Not only that, Kamprad is able to recognize the
needs of its customers, such as parking lots, restaurants, children's playgrounds, and others.
IKEA continues to innovate and even keep up with technological developments, such as by
creating the concept of "click and collect" that can facilitate customers. Even more, IKEA can
adapt itself and its products to the different cultural environments in each country. IKEA is able
to monitor each branch and even suppliers so that they have standards according to the
agreement. Those things make IKEA remain in countries with also monitoring.

For me, there is no downsides to shopping at IKEA. Mostly, are fine. But, sometimes I found
that it is hard to do “self-service” when we want to buy big goods, such us bed, wardrobe, etc.
without any help from IKEA (to build it). But nothing feels so bad. In my opinion, IKEA is a
disruptive innovation because when we look to Disrupt -o- Meter, it got 10 point at almost all
area. As it’s said before, IKEA has a clear target, which is a niche market. At first, their products
are not perfect, but they keep doing their best. IKEA decided to go with low-price strategy as
their products are aimed to fulfill the needs of newly-wed family. When the customers have to
wait weeks after they make any purchases at the competitors (which creates non-consumer),
IKEA creates “cash and carry” model so that customers no need to wait.

I can’t clearly see what is going to be IKEA’s biggest threat in the future, but one thing that I
know, IKEA has to keep up the trends and also technological development. IKEA must also pay
attention and guard against plagiarists, or similar small businesses that have the potential to
defeat IKEA. IKEA can also see other market opportunities to become the next target market.
From this case, I learned to be able to channel the ambitious spirit into real work through some
understanding, assessment, research, and planning, such as building the best strategies for the
company. In addition, learning to know is able to see opportunities and continue to innovate, and
stay afloat despite pressure. Leaders must also be able to communicate their enthusiasm and
vision, see opportunities, negotiate, and continue to encourage companies to move forward.