Fundamentals of Economics. Доловова Н.Н - 23 стр.

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luxuries in his life and he says: ‘From time to time, I like to buy a nice shirt and
cravat and eat Swedish caviar’.
Mr Kamprad is one of Europe's greatest post-war entrepreneurs. What began as
a mail-order business in 1943 has grown into an international retailing phenomenon
across 31 countries, with 70,000 employees. Sales have risen every single year. The
Ikea catalogue is the world's biggest annual print run - an incredible 110m copies a
year. And Mr Kamprad has grown extraordinarily rich. He is worth $13.4bn (£8.7bn)
and is the 17th richest person in the world, according to Forbes, the US magazine.
The concept behind Ikea's amazing success is unbelievably simple: make
affordable, well-des igned furniture available to the masses. And then there is Mr
Kamprad himself - charismatic, humble, private. It is his ideas and values that are at
the core of Ikea's philosophy.
Best known for his extremely modest lifestyle, he washes plastic cups to
recycle them. He has just left his long standing Swedish barber because he found one
in Switzerland, where he lives, who charges only SFr 14 (£6) for a cut. ‘That's a
reasonable amount,’ he chuckles.
All Ikea executives are aware of the value of cost-consciousness. They are
strongly discouraged from travelling first or business class. ‘There is no better form
of leadership than setting a good example. I could never accept that I should travel
first class while my colleagues sit in tourist class,’ Mr Kamprad sa
y
s.
As he walks around the group's stores, he expresses the feeling of
‘togetherness’ physically, clasping and hugging his employees. This is very
uncharacteristic of Sweden. ‘Call me Ingvar,’ he says to staff. The informality and
lack of hierarchy are emphasized by his dress style, with an open-necked shirt
preferred to a tie. Mr Kamprad has had both personal and business battles. He has
fought against dyslexia and illness. One of Mr Kamprad's characteristics is his
obsessive attention to detail. When he vis its his stores, he talks not only to the
managers but also to floor staff and customers. A recent visit to s ix of the group's
Swedish stores has produced ‘100 details to discuss’, he says.
By his own reckoning, his greatest strength is choosing the right people to run
his businesses. He is determined that the group will not go public, because short-term
shareholder demands conflict with long-term planning. ‘I hate short-termist decisions.
If you want to take long-lasting decisions, it's very difficult to be on the stock
exchange. When entering the Russian market, we had to decide to lose money for 10
years.’
Mr Kamprad has been slowly withdrawing from the business since 1986, when
he stepped down as group president. He maintains that he is still ‘too much involved
and in too many details’, although he admits to a distinct reluctance to withdraw
altogether. The question is: can there be an eternal Ikea without Mr Kamprad?
Does the group depend too much on its founder? Will the empire continue, as control
of Ikea gradually moves to Mr Kamprad's three sons?
From the Financial Times

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