Ikea Case Study Questions

Chapter 3 – IKEA case study questions

1. What are IKEA's competitive priorities?

Ikeas competitive priorities include the need and want to deliver products that are functional and affordable. IKEA focuses on making products more affordable without making the customer feel like they are getting a cheap product. IKEA is able to keep the cost lower because they focus on minimizing the cost throughout the entire process. Jacobs and Chase (2011) state that a purpose of value analysis is to

2. Describe IKEA's process for developing a new product.

IKEA has a well engineered team that is behind manufacturing new products. There are a lot of people involved in the process and it is a collaborative team that works together and engages in communication openly about what is needed/wanted. IKEA focuses on the logistics on how to keep their products affordable and available to the customers. Jacobs and Chase (2011) mention that a purpose of value analysis is to provide a better product at a lower cost. This also seems to be a value of IKEA.

3. What are additional features of the IKEA concept (beyond their design process)that contribute to creating exceptional value for the customer?

IKEA is also concerned with cutting cost not just in the manufacturing stage but they also focus on cutting cost when they ship the products and try to "get more bang for their buck" by ensuring the pallets and shipments are completely full. Since IKEA collaborates with their team of manufactures they know what expectations need to be met. Therefore the supplier also assists IKEA with these ideas about what should be produced. Then they focus to find a manufacture for the product and they do so keeping in mind the quality and cost they are looking and needing to achieve.

4. What