BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//wp-events-plugin.com//7.4.0.1//EN TZID:Europe/Berlin X-WR-TIMEZONE:Europe/Berlin BEGIN:VEVENT UID:6@agbc-munich.com DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Berlin:20190925T183000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Berlin:20190925T220000 DTSTAMP:20191007T135536Z URL:https://agbc-munich.com/events/agbc-september-monthly-event-ikea-swede ns-commercial-icon SUMMARY:AGBC September Monthly Event – IKEA\, Sweden’s Commercial Icon DESCRIPTION:\n\nSpeaker: Michael Lenski\, IKEA Deutschland GmbH &\; Co. KG\, Store Manager Niederlassung Eching\n\nQuotation on IKEA – IKEA Foun der Ingvar Kamprad:  “The word ‘impossible’ has been and must remai n deleted for our dictionary.”\n\nIKEA is a well-known brand all over th e world. What makes IKEA different from other companies and why is IKEA li nked with Sweden … and Sweden similarly with IKEA?\n\nPlease join us to learn more about IKEA and the special relationship between Swedish culture and the Company’s culture.  And to learn how IKEA integrates its Swedi sh origin into its global commercial successes.\n\nStarting with its Visio n to create a better everyday life for many people\, IKEA has built a stro ng business idea:  to offer a wide range of home furnishings with attract ive design and functionality at prices so low that as many people as possi ble are able to afford them.\n\nA key component of IKEA’s corporate iden tity and branding is its Swedish origin. The stores can be recognized all over the world by the blue-yellow appearance and the Swedish flags. In the furniture store\, all employees wear blue and yellow uniforms\, huge wall photos show Swedish landscapes\, and the products have Swedish\, Scandina vian or at least Swedish-sounding names.  In addition\, with special mark eting programs\, IKEA and its Customers celebrate typical Swedish festival s and traditions like Midsommar\, Julboard or crayfish festival.\n\nStarti ng from the idea of a social welfare state\, Sweden has a strong tradition of taking care of citizens. IKEA has integrated this concept into the com pany culture\, one that features its IKEA Key Values\, its IWAY guidelines for Suppliers\, and its employee standards.\n\nA central feature of its c ulture is its sustainability strategy – IKEA People &\; Planet Positi ve – which was launched in 2012 with ambitious goals to transform the IK EA business as well as industries in the IKEA value chain plus life-at-hom e for people all across the world. Designed to stimulate future action ac ross the IKEA ecosystem\, this sustainability strategy is an agenda for ev eryone in the IKEA franchise system and its value chain with targets and commitments set for 2030 in line with the UN’s plan for Sustainable Deve lopment.\n\nIn achieving this strategy\, IKEA’s is committed to become a circular business\, one that focuses on avoiding waste while regenerating and recycling materials.  Among the key elements are:\n\n Design 100% o f its products according to its circular design principles by 2030.\n Use of only renewable or recycled materials in making its products by 2030.\n Develop new ways to Customers to acquire\, use\, care for and then pass on their products for further use.\n Take the lead and work together with others to promote a circular economy.\n\n \;\n\nIn addition\, among t he key features of IKEA’s commercial strategy are effective corporate me ssaging and its steps to benefit from today’s evolving shift to more onl ine purchasing world (e.g. with smaller in-town stores).\n\nDipl. Kfm. Mic hael Lenski commenced his work at IKEA 25 years ago after completing his s tudies at the University of Cologne.  Starting in the HR department at IK EA Cologne\, he next helped open new Stores as HR Manager in Freiburg and Ulm. After 10 years in HR\, he became Store Manager at IKEA Regensburg\, a nd then at IKEA Munich-Brunnthal. For the past three years he has been res ponsible for around 400 co-workers at IKEA Eching\, the oldest IKEA store in Germany.  In addition to his job as Store Manager\, he worked on vario us national and international IKEA projects and as Coach in the internatio nal IKEA Store Manager Program.\n\nIKEA Background – Found in 1943\, IKE A founder Ingvar Kamprad started selling furniture made by local manufactu rers. By 1955\, manufacturers began boycotting IKEA\, protesting against K amprad’s low prices and compelling him to design home furnishings in-hou se.  He soon developed his revolutionary innovation\, the flat pack – s imple-to-assemble\, attractive\, and affordable furniture\, packaged in a flat-pack and sold in-house.  The driving idea behind IKEA was\, and is\, that anyone should be able to afford stylish\, modernist furniture.\n\nIK EA’s business grew. And grew\, expanding first throughout Sweden\, next into Norway and Denmark\, then via Switzerland (1973) into continental Eur ope (e.g. Germany in 1974)\, and finally into many countries outside Europ e.  When IKEA opened in Shanghai\, 80\,000 people visited the store. By 2 018\, IKEA had 422 stores – in more than 50 markets.  And Ingvar Kampra d never borrowed money or issued stock.  IKEA's global sales in 2018 wer e €38.8 billion (US$44.6 billion).  Its website contains about 12\,000 products\, annual store visits totaled 957 million\, and there were over 2 .5 billion visits to IKEA's websites. CATEGORIES:Monthly Meeting LOCATION:Marriott Hotel\, Berlinerstr. 93\, 80805 Munich\, Germany X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=Berlinerstr. 93\, 80805 Mun ich\, Germany;X-APPLE-RADIUS=100;X-TITLE=Marriott Hotel:geo:0,0 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:Europe/Berlin X-LIC-LOCATION:Europe/Berlin BEGIN:DAYLIGHT DTSTART:20190331T030000 TZOFFSETFROM:+0100 TZOFFSETTO:+0200 TZNAME:CEST END:DAYLIGHT END:VTIMEZONE END:VCALENDAR