Ikea Cultural Analysis

In this essay, I will firstly talk about IKEA Singapore’s ‘espoused values’, its heavy influence from its founder, 20th Century Swedish politics and Swedish culture, and then talk about how those espoused values and thus, Swedish culture are reflected on the store. To have a well-rounded answer when talking about IKEA’s espoused values, I cannot discount the influence of Swedish, thus I will talk about how Swedish culture is also reflected in the store as well, and at the same time, identify the various cultural artefacts. Next, I will argue on the reasons why IKEA focuses on Swedish culture. I will then talk about the prominence of local culture in IKEA Tampines, and the interaction between local culture and IKEA’s espoused values, and conclude

It is how the members represent the organization both to themselves and to others. This is often expressed in official philosophies and public statement of identity’ (Schein, 2004). IKEA’s culture, beliefs and values can be found at their company’s website. According to the website, IKEA’s vision is to “To create a better everyday life for the many people”. And that they believe that “…every individual has something valuable to offer. At IKEA, we respect each other, our differences are open to everyone making a contribution…” Also, IKEA culture reflects Swedish roots coming from Småland – home town of its founder, Ingvar Kamprad. in southern Sweden. According to the website, “People living here are hard-working, down-to-earth, help each other and live in a close contact with nature

It creates a sense of wonder for the child to think of a trip to IKEA as a sort of excursion rather than a trip to a furniture mall. But the play area being at the entrance is also symbolic, because the IKEA story starts in a rural and wondrous place called Småland, Småland functions as a denotative symbol for Sweden. IKEA’s premise, then, in situating Småland symbolically at its entrance, is that everything you are about to experience as a customer is a direct result of indigenous Swedish ingenuity, brought over from the mystical land of Småland, which can be a thought of as a connotative symbol for the mystic and brilliance of Swedish