National Responsiveness - Why Ikea succeeded and Disney did not

908 Words4 Pages
In IKEA and Disney’s strategies to enter foreign markets, they both faced issues in adapting their product offerings. However, IKEA was much more successful in dealing with national responsiveness than Disney. IKEA – Successful Multi-Domestic Strategy Ikeas concept is to supply furniture and other items at lower prices than competitors to young families and price conscious groups. IKEA offers the same products worldwide. Most items are flat-packed and have to be assembled by the customer. IKEA has built its own distribution network. Outlets are outside the city limits of major metropolitan areas. IKEA was responsive and successful in dealing with the issues of foreign market entry; there are a number of reasons for this. IKEA created beachheads in each country. This consisted of a team of trusted and experienced Swedes who could solve problems and make decisions quickly. Their job was to supervise the set up of new stores until local managers learned how the stores worked and until operations stabilised. This ethnocentric approach was similar throughout IKEA with most of the senior management being Scandinavian. This ensured a consistency of vision and deployment. Another reason for success was that domestic positioning differed from overseas. Overseas it was a niche player, appealing to the middle upper income level group, whereas domestically it was positioned on a volume basis. IKEA had a very strong corporate brand internationally; this helped to attract customers and employees and varied from country to country. Through owning many large stores on the outskirts of cities, IKEA managed to achieve globalisation through organic growth. They also developed efficient distribution networks which cut costs. IKEA had to adapt products/marketing etc to fit each countries needs. This national responsiveness increased costs so IKEA was careful
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