Abstract
Ikea is an international retailer which has set up outlets which are running successfully all over the world for the last twenty five years. Today Ikea is an undeniable leader in the home product industry in the United States, Asia, Europe and Middle East, thanks to an innovative strategy which is in step with the structure of the company.
All the companies of the Ikea Group are owned by the Ingka Holding B.V. which belongs to the Dutch foundation Stichting Ingka. This foundation is officially dedicated to innovations in architecture and interior design, and is controlled by the Kamprad family . At inception, Ikea was a Swedish company, and was thus strongly influenced by the Scandinavian style and culture regarding design, business and management. Ikea has successfully preserved its identity despite its growing activities overseas, so that the success of the company has led to the formulation of the "Ikea way". According to Ikea's managers, there is always a way of doing things better and the "Ikea way" makes methods and approaches converge to reach this perfect process. There are almost no differences between stores operation in different countries or cultures, so much so that management, structure and organization are very similar from one store to another.
