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A Global Working Place – a Case Study of IKEA A Global Working Place – A case study of IKEA Author(s): Emma Beijerstam, Tutor: Carina Bärtfors Tourism Programme Subject: Business Administration Johanna Berglund, Tourism Programme Level and semester: Bachelor Thesis Spring 2010 Acknowledgements It has been a nice thesis process and we have learned a lot on the way. In the developing process of this thesis we have gained deeper understanding of international marketing and how globalization, expansion and corporate culture are intertwined. We have been privileged to follow one of Sweden's leading companies. We would like to thank all of our respondents who have helped us towards the goal. We would also like to thank our tutor Carina Bärtfors for her dedication and good advice. Hope you will enjoy the reading as much as we enjoyed creating it! Kalmar, spring semester 2010 Emma Beijerstam Johanna Berglund 2 Summary Title A Global Working place – a case study of IKEA Authors Emma Beijerstam, Johanna Berglund Tutor Carina Bärtfors Course Business Administration, Marketing level III, spring semester 2010, Linnaeus University Keywords Globalization, Expansion, Corporate Culture Purpose The purpose of this thesis is that through a case study examine the connection between globalization, expansion and corporate culture. We want to specifically highlight how globalization and expansion affect the company's corporate culture. In order to do this we intend to demonstrate by using IKEA as a case study. Method We have used a qualitative research method using four respondents whom have close connection to the research focus. The thesis has influences of an abductive approach. We chose a case study- approach using IKEA. The reason for focusing on IKEA is the highly international characteristic the company has today. Conclusions It is difficult to generalize the interconnection of the three themes when using a qualitative method. But the analysis made for each theme and conclusion is both interesting and informative. Throughout the thesis focus will be on the three cross-cutting themes that constitute our purpose. These themes are: Globalization, Expansion and Corporate Culture, and we will look into their interconnection. Focus will be on how IKEA handles external changes, changes due to globalization and expansion, and how these issues affect the corporate culture of IKEA. Everything will then be compiled in chapter six, where we also created a model to demonstrate our own conclusions. 3 Sammanfattning Titel A Global Working place – a case study of IKEA Författare Emma Beijerstam, Johanna Berglund Handledare Carina Bärtfors Kurs Företagsekonomi, Marknadsföring nivå III, VT-2010, Linneúniversitetet Nyckelord Globalisering, Expansion, Företagskultur Syfte Syftet med denna uppsats är att genom en fallstudie undersöka sambandet mellan globalisering, expansion och företagskultur. Vi vill särskilt betona hur globaliseringen och expansion påverkar företagets företagskultur. Vi avser att göra detta med hjälp av IKEA som en fallstudie. Metod Vi har använt en kvalitativ forskningsmetod med hjälp av fyra respondenter som har nära anknytning uppsatsens syfte. Uppsatsen har influenser av en abduktiv ansats. Vi valde att göra en fallstudie av IKEA. Anledningen till att IKEA är i fokus är pågrund av företagets mycket internationella karaktär. Slutsats Det är svårt att generalisera när man använder en kvalitativ metod när det gäller sammankopplingen av de tre teman. Men de analyser som gjorts för varje tema och slutar slutsats är både intressant och upplysande. Under hela uppsatsen fokuseras det på de tre genomgående teman som utgör vårt syfte. Dessa teman är Globalisering, Expansion och Företagskultur och vi kommer att titta närmare sammankoppling av dessa. Fokus kommer att ligga på hur IKEA hanterar förändringar i omvärlden, förändringar som beror på globalisering och expansion, samt hur dessa aspekter påverkar företagskulturen inom IKEA. Allt kommer sedan att sammanställas i kapitel sex där vi även skapat en modell för att styrka våra egna slutsatser. 4 Table of Contents 1. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................... 8 1.1 Background ................................................................................................................................... 8 1.1.1 Globalization .......................................................................................................................... 8 1.1.2 Expansion ............................................................................................................................... 9 1.1.3 Culture .................................................................................................................................... 9 1.2 Problem discussion ...................................................................................................................... 10 1.3 Research Questions ......................................................................................................................11 1.4 Purpose ........................................................................................................................................ 12 1.5 Limitations................................................................................................................................... 12 1.6 Choice of disposition ................................................................................................................... 12 1.7 The case company ....................................................................................................................... 12 2. METHOD .......................................................................................................................................... 14 2.1 Qualitative method ...................................................................................................................... 14 2.2 Case study.................................................................................................................................... 15 2.3 Induction, deduction and abduction ............................................................................................ 16 2.4 Collection of data ........................................................................................................................ 17 2.5 Process of knowledge .................................................................................................................. 19 2.6 Scientific criteria ......................................................................................................................... 21 2.6.1 Validity and Reliability ......................................................................................................... 21 2.6.2 Method Criticism .................................................................................................................. 21 3. GLOBALIZATION ........................................................................................................................... 22 3.1 Theoretical framework ................................................................................................................ 22 3.1.1 Definition of Globalization ................................................................................................... 22 3.1.2 MNCs – Multinational Companies ....................................................................................... 23 3.1.3 Globalizations impact on Core Values and Corporate Culture ............................................. 26 3.1.4 Opponents of Globalization .................................................................................................. 28 3.2 Empirical data and Theoretical analysis ...................................................................................... 29 3.2.1 Definition of Globalization ................................................................................................... 29 3.2.2 MNCs – Multinational Companies ....................................................................................... 29 3.2.3 Globalizations impact on Core Values and Corporate Culture ............................................. 32 3.2.4 Opponents of Globalization .................................................................................................. 34 3.3 Personal reflections ..................................................................................................................... 34 3.3.1 Definition of Globalization ................................................................................................... 34 3.3.2 MNCs Multinational Companies .......................................................................................... 35 5 3.3.3 Globalizations impact on Core Values and Corporate Culture ............................................. 37 3.3.4 Opponents of Globalization .................................................................................................. 37 4. EXPANSION ..................................................................................................................................... 39 4.1 Theoretical framework ................................................................................................................ 39 4.1.1 Market-entry mode ............................................................................................................... 39 4.1.2 Strategies .............................................................................................................................
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