Cross-cultural and diversity issues

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Cross-cultural and diversity issues
Group X Igamberdieva Inobat Kalko Olga Mifkova
Veronika Moravova Barbora Shamota Liudmila
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IKEA

• Founded in Sweden
• Furniture distributor with worldwide presence
• Offers furniture of decent quality with no delays
  in delivery
• Many of IKEAs innovations have become industry
  standards ( logistics, cash carry system,
  catalogues)
• Unique product design capabilities
• Unprecedented loyalty among its customers and
  employees
• Vertical integration as a competitive advantage
• The IKEA Way doing things differently

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The IKEA Way

• Balance between the optimal product design for
  low prices and suppliers need for profit through
  efficiency and long production runs
• Balance of strategic sourcing and marketing mix
• Specific design with universal appeal throughout
  the markets of the world
• Flexible in establishing parameters for
  international offices, but strongly sticking to
  Swedish cultural roots
• Learning by doing
• Informal, open and caring management style
  (hierarchy is not emphasized)

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IKEAs Swedish management style

• Egalitarian management style - strong preferences
  for informal relations regardless nationality
• Swedish managers are ambassadors of IKEAs
  mission who help international coworkers
  understand the uniqueness and the nature of the
  company
• IKEAs managers welcome participation in making
  decisions and taking responsibility by the
  employees of the company

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IKEA in the world
Source http//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/comm
ons/thumb/a/a1/IKEA-map.png/800px-IKEA-map.png
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IKEA in Germany

• The largest national organisation in the IKEA
  group
• Germans prefer precisely defined rules and
  instructions to taking on responsibilities for
  yourself
• Seeing the Swedish management as more
  target-oriented, not sufficiently assessing risks
  before taking actions
• Formal procedures and administration provide
  Germans with security.

7
IKEA in USA

• Different attitude of Swedish and American
  workers towards the emotions on the workplaces
• Cultural differences and emphasis on being
  Swedish made IKEA too complicated and difficult
  to adapt for Americans
• Americans expect managers to tell them what to do
  and to take responsibility for decision making
• American style implies detailed analysis of
  individual strengths and weaknesses, not shared
  by Swedish managers
• IKEA is considered to be more employee-oriented
  than average American employers

8
IKEA in Russia

• Necessity of hierarchy and strictly defined
  framework
• Adapting to Swedish style faced a lot of
  obstacles (motivation, making decision procedure,
  etc.)
• Russian way of employing people emphases on
  diplomas and degrees rather than on specific
  personal qualities (Swedish style)

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Problems and solutions

• Swedish style cant be implemented globally
• ? it should be more flexible to local
  features.
• Career ladder should be more opened for
  nationalities different from Swedish
• You cant be in a hurry to move up the ladder
  approach is not acceptable across all
  international offices of IKEA. It demotivates
  people.
• ? special award system should be created for
  the prominent employees.

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Problems and solutions

• IKEA provides its employees with possibilities to
  participate in daily decisions and take
  responsibility, that gives them a feeling of
  being important within the company. However, IKEA
  doesnt offer enough opportunities for personal
  growth.
• ? personal inputs of employees shouldnt be
  undervalued (work experience, successfully
  implemented innovations and decisions offered by
  individual, etc.)

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• Thank You for Your attention!!!
• Questions, please!!!

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References

• P. Grol, C. Schoch IKEA Managing Cultural
  Diversity. Centre of Perfektionnement aux
  Affaires, Paris, France, 1997
• http//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thum
  b/a/a1/IKEA-map.png/800px-IKEA-map.png
• The IKEA Way
• http//www.theikeaway.ca/en/wwd.html