Need help with my writing homework on IKEA Inc. United Kingdom (UK) operation. Write a 2000 word paper answering; IKEA was founded in Sweden in 1943 by Ingvar Kamprad Elmtaryd Agunnaryd. The company’s name represents the initials of its founding father. Since the begging Mr. Kamprad had the vision of creating furniture products of good quality in which he applied low cost solutions to lower the prices. IKEA has grown tremendously over the years to become a global enterprise. Currently the company has 220 stores in 33 countries. In the United Kingdom the company has 15 stores. The product offering consist of over 11,000 articles. The great variety, innovative designs, and low prices are some of the reasons customers keep coming back to IKEA for their furniture needs. Exhibit A shows a graph of IKEA worldwide sales. In 2005 IKEA sales were 14.8 billion euros.

IKEA utilizes low cost, green furniture and e-retailing strategies to grow its business. The United Kingdom is a country with a strong economy that the company has targeted as a location to expand its business. Designing products to meet the needs of the customers and constant market research will allow the company to expand its global empire.

Political and Economic Forces

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is one the world’s most powerful nations. It is a member of the Group of Eight (G8), whose inclusion means the country is one of the top eight industrialized countries in the world.