Ikea_in_China项目方案建议书.docVIP

PAGE PAGE 1 Case Review of Ikea Management in China In 1998, Ikea opened the first retail store in Shanghai. As a worldwide private company, Ikea specializes in furniture and home decoration. In Europe，the United States and other developed countries, Ikea is pointed to the public. Its products are positioned in the goal of “low-cost, elegant, and durable”. The ideas as well as Ikea’s products are so attractive to the public, especially the middle and low-income families in the western countries. However, it is not the same case in China. For more than a decade years, Ikea has not expanded its markets in China as quickly as it does in western countries. Therefore, there must be some reasons for this phenomenon, which is worth thinking about. From my opinion, there are three factors, that is, three problems, to explain this phenomenon. Moreover, the author also offers the solutions to these three problems. At first, it is the idea Ikea holds which is not so appropriate for Chinese traditional theories. In China, Confucianism has rooted in the minds of common people in grain. Moreover, Taoism holds the importance of the dialectic relation of “do” and “not to do”. The knowledge is transmitted by scholars or elders to the young from one generation to another. From the opinion of common people, novelty is so suspect. But Ikea brought its distinct organizational culture and retail strategies to China when it began its first full-scale standard store in Shanghai. Ikea emphasizes that every company needs a unique identity which should be distinct from the competitors and a brand image that customers can easily recognize. In China, Ikea successfully differentiated itself as a foreign company that provided modern furniture with elegant design. Nevertheless, the idea does not agree with the Chinese traditional theories people always hold. Therefore, it is no wonder that the products of Ikea can not be accepted so easily and quickly by Chinese people. Perhaps the idea of nove