Introduction
The familiar blue and yellow colours of the IKEA logo (also the colour of the Swedish flag) can be seen on stores in 18 retail parks located throughout the UK. Founded in 1943 by Ingvar Kamprad in the farmlands of Småland Sweden, the IKEA name combines his initials (IK) with the first letters from the names of the farm and village where he grew up – Elmtaryd and Agunnaryd (EA). From these small beginnings, IKEA today has 135,000 employees (co-workers) working in its 303 stores in 26 countries across the world. In 2013, 212 million copies of its well-known catalogue were printed in 29 different languages.
To be so successful IKEA has developed over time, a wellplanned global network manufacturing operation that distributes its products in a productive and efficient way. With the vision “To create a better everyday life for the many people”, IKEA’s business strategy is “to offer a wide range of well-designed, functional home furnishing products at prices so low that as many people as possible will be able to afford them”.
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