Summary Ex.1--"It’s Swedish for Invincible"

After investigating the miracle of IKEA, L. George wrote the article “It’s Swedish for Invincible”(Macleans, 14th Aug, 2006, p33) to demonstrate the successful keys of IKEA.

On observing the reputation IKEA got all over the world, George concluded that “IKEA is not so much a furniture store as it is an economic and cultural phenomenon”(p33). This meant IKEA not only succeeded in making profit, but also in spreading cultural influences.

As George noted, the unique shopping environment made people feel friendly. People could test and feel the merchandise without worrying about the interruption of sales staffs. What’s more attractive, The arrangement of the structure of the store was carefully designed, which offered customers to immerse themselves into the Scandinavian’s food and culture. All of these, as George indicated, made shopping in IKEA an incredible joyful experience.

But IKEA didn’t get its reputation just because of culture. According to the author, IKEA got a high grade on account sheets. Its international sales “topped US$18.3 billion, up 17 percent over 2004” (p34). The secret lied in the business principle of IKEA. It consist of resistance towards luxury, uniqueness in merchandise, as well as the DIY spirit which coincide with the instincts of man, according to the author’s statement. Based on these characteristics, IKEA was so attractive that people became its “Tokigs(Swedish for fans)” (p34). In George’s opinion, this made it possible for IKEA to open stores outside big cities, which could save a lot of money. All these things came together and made the incredible increase of IKEA’s profit.

According to George, the IKEA philosophy made the most contribution to its success. He indicated that Kamprad’s (the founder of IKEA) instinct to save money influenced IKEA’s way to do business. Then the “stringent economy” principle came into the blood of IKEA and helped it to maximize profit. In addition, as George claimed, IKEA was not so blamed by the protestors of Globalization, because IKEA was a “democratic and people’s furniture company”. At last, the author argued that there seemed to be some contradictions lied between IKEA’s principle and its real deed, which was tolerable for those IKEA fans.

At last, it is previous that George had done a thorough survey about IKEA’s history, business mode and cultures. Based on enough evidence, he predicted that IKEA “may well be the perfect 21st-century brand” (p34).