• IKEA’s Marketing (1 page)
  
  Corporate strategy begins with marketing and understanding the key elements of the marketing plan. For IKEA, describe the following elements of its marketing strategy:
  • How do IKEA’s products, services, and related attributes satisfy the wants and needs known as its value proposition?
  • How does IKEA create a well-defined market position that appeals to customer wants and needs and differentiates its offering from competitive offerings in a process known as positioning and differentiation?

• Assess IKEA’s strategy using the criteria listed below:
  • Value Chain (1 page)
    
    Analyze the three sources of value (economic, social, and environmental) in IKEA’s value chain.
    • Explain sources of value as they relate to the wants and needs of IKEA’s core customer.
    • Explain how IKEA’s supply chain supports its value proposition.
    • Explain how IKEA’s focus on customer value (economic, social, and environmental) is reflected in its supply chain.
  • Intangible Products (1 page)
    • Explain IKEA’s intangible products and benefits.
    • Explain how other firms employ this concept of intangibles to erect barriers to entry for competitors.
    • Explain how the concept of intangible benefits is used to increase profits.
  • Customers (1 page)
    
    IKEA considers the customer to be a critical stakeholder. The IKEA message is directed to the majority of people and what they can afford, and its pricing is dependent on the economic values that serve a majority of its customers.
    • Explain how this approach may or may not maximize profits for IKEA.
    • Explain if this premise is at odds with supply and demand economics. Give reasons for your answer.
  • Performance Measures (1 page)
    
    Suppose you are a vice-president of manufacturing for IKEA and are responsible for establishing operating performance measures.
    • For all of the performance factors other than quality and cost, create a set of 4–6 performance measures for evaluating your managers that integrates IKEA’s values (economic, social, and environmental) as discussed in the article written by Edvardsson.
    • For each performance measure, identify one specific process measure that demonstrates how well these values are being upheld in the manufacturing activities including suppliers of the company.
    • Recommend how you would develop the workforce to livethese values in the workplace. Suggest types of hiring, training, and performance management criteria that you will apply to the workforce.

Write a 6–8-page paper in Word format. Please use 3–7 scholarly articles in your research.