SWOT Analysis of IKEA

Swedish company IKEA is  the world’s largest furniture retailer since the early 1990’s. It sold inexpensive furniture of Scandinavian design. The company operated in 55 countries with a workforce of 76000. IKEA offered nearly 12000 items to the home furnishings market worldwide. It sold a wide range of products including furniture, accessories, bathrooms and kitchens at 186 retail stores in 30 countries across Europe, North America, Southeast Asia, Middle East and Australia. IKEA is well known for its exclusive model, low price, wide range of product and flat packing. IKEA’s success was recognized to its vast experience in the furniture retail market, its product differentiation and cost leadership. The company sold its furniture in kits, to be assembled by the customers at home. In addition to furniture, IKEA also sold utility items such as utensils, hooks, clips, stands, etc. IKEA’s founder Ingvar Kamprad (Kamprad) had built an international furniture chain Continue reading

Case Study of Papa John’s: Quality as a Core Business Strategy

Would you recognize a Papa John’s Pizza sign from a distance? Many people would, given the distinctive green and red emblem and logo, which is designed to attract attention and place the store in a flattering fight Papa John’s began as a small, one-store operation that evolved out of the need to rescue a failing tavern. Quick success meant expansion to 4 stores in two years and 23 stores in five years. Currently, Papa John’s plans to complete more than 2,000 units with over $1 billion in sales in a mature industry most felt was saturated with competitors. In order to survive in a highly competitive market place, Papa John’s needed to develop a distinctive voice. One clear message was needed to penetrate every aspect of the business, including hiring decisions, selection of locations, and all business strategies and tactics. At the strategic level, each of the big three pizza Continue reading

Database Management System (DBMS) – Components, Advantages, and Disadvantages

A Database management system (DBMS) is software designed to manage and maintain large quantities of data. The DBMS serves as the mediator between the user and the database. The database structure itself is stored as a collection of files. The data in these files can only be accessed through the DBMS. A single, integrated view of the data in the database is shown to the user by the DBMS. All application requests received by the DBMS are translated into complex operations required to fulfill these requests. The database’s internal complexity is hidden by the DBMS from the application programs and users. The application program might be written by a computer programmer using a programming language, such as Visual Basic, NET, Java, or C#, or it might be created through a DBMS utility program. Components of a Database Management System A data definition language (DDL) allows users to define the database. Continue reading

Case Study: A Look at Tesla’s Challenges Despite Success

Tesla is the leading American vehicle company manufacturing electric cars, solar roof tiles, and solar panels. Tesla Motors’ foundation belongs to two engineers Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning, who established the company in 2003, attributing its name to Nicola Tesla. The integration of ingenious technologies and forward-thinking led to the creation of an environmentally conscious, powerful, and modern automobile, preserving the sustainability of energy. Elon Musk, as the CEO of Tesla Motors, managed to uplift the company’s name and the vehicles on the global level. Even though Tesla has been a successful manufacturer for over a decade, it still faces issues that are to be solved in the future. Among the main problems the car industry encountered was the issue of cash flows that turned into net losses according to the constant colossal investment in research and development of new vehicles. A currently best-selling model-Tesla 3-was a source of continuous Continue reading

Factors Contributing to the Growth of Derivatives

Factors contributing to the explosive growth of derivatives are price volatility, globalization of the markets, technological developments and advances in the financial theories. 1. Price Volatility A price is what one pays to acquire or use something of value. The objects having value maybe commodities, local currency or foreign currencies.   The concept of price is clear to almost everybody when we discuss commodities. There is a price to be paid for the purchase of food grain, oil, petrol, metal, etc. the price one pays for use of a unit of another persons money is called interest rate. And the price one pays in one’s own currency for a unit of another currency is called as an exchange rate. Prices are generally determined by market forces. In a market, consumers have ‘demand’ and producers or suppliers have ‘supply’, and the collective interaction of demand and supply in the market determines Continue reading

Reward System – Meaning, Objectives and Requirements

Reward is an objective way to describe the positive value an individual ascribes to an object, behavioral act or an internal physical state. Primary rewards include those that are necessary for the survival of species, such as food and successful aggression. Secondary rewards can be derived from primary rewards. Money is a common type of reward. Most of the times, organization rewards its staffs by pay increment or higher bonus. Money is the most direct and easiest way to reward the staff and create a sense of satisfaction. Nowadays, companies are making many modifications on their rewards system to adopt internal and external changes. Reward system is used as a critical tool for driving business growth and boosting staff morale. It is important to align the right measures and reward systems with firm’s structure and culture. However, the reward system is not emphasized when the operational system is designed. Finical Continue reading