make a five forces analysis using this text. IKEA, founded in $1943$ in Agunnaryd, Sweden by Ingvar Kamprad, was originally a door$-$to$-$door retailer of reduced$-$price pens, wallets, picture frames, table runners, watches and jewellery. In $1948$ IKEA started to sell furniture, produced by local manufacturers in forests near Agunnaryd, and by $1953$ had opened the first IKEA showroom. In $1956$ IKEA designed and sold their first flat$-$packed self$-$assembly piece of furniture, so that customers could fit IKEA products into their cars to take home.

By the $1960$s$,$ IKEA had become synonymous with low$-$cost$,$ functional yet stylish, furniture and had started to open stores internationally across Scandinavia. Through the $1970$s expansion continued across and outside Europe. Classics such as the Billy bookcase and the Klippan sofa, still available to purchase today, were launched in $1979.$ The $1980$s saw further expansion into the UK and the US and the launch of the Family Card loyalty scheme. In $1990$ the company launched its first environmental policy and began to expand into Eastern Europe. By $2000$ IKEA had $158$ stores in $29$ countries and $50,000$ employees. Since then, IKEA has continued to expand across the world and currently has $433$ stores worldwide.

Current Operations

IKEA is known for its stores and showrooms providing affordable flat$-$packed furniture for assembly at home. The showrooms contain large spaces, with sections for different rooms such as kitchen, lounge, bedroom, home office and bathroom. Each store also has a marketplace, which sells smaller items such as lamps, kitchen utensils, plants, pictures and picture frames. Customers walk through the showroom, writing down the number and location of the item they wish to purchase. When they have walked through the showroom and the marketplace, they enter the warehouse where goods can be found in packages small enough to fit inside a family car. It is possible to order goods online and have them delivered in some locations. The stores also contain a restaurant and a play area for children, and a small takeaway caf$$ and, by the exit, a food market selling typically Scandinavian items.

IKEA$$s vision is $\text{'}$to create a better everyday life for many people'. In explaining their vision, they state the following on their website:

'While the IKEA vision expresses why we exist, the IKEA business idea says how we realise the vision. We want $$to offer a wide range of well$-$designed, functional, home furnishing products at prices so low that as many people as possible will be able to afford them$.$ We love these words because they capture the very essence of the IKEA brand. To live up to them, we apply five dimensions: low price, function, form, quality and sustainability. Together, these dimensions make up what we call Democratic Design. Democratic Design helps us create products we can stand behind and realise our business idea.$\text{'}$

The working culture at IKEA prizes innovation and continuous improvement, and provides employees with good$-$quality training and opportunities to work in many different locations and departments. International expansion has been achieved through a franchise system, where businesses are owned and operated locally to deliver the IKEA concept in a given market or territory. This approach allows IKEA to maintain an internationally consistent experience while, at the same time, adapting products to local needs. When IKEA entered Morocco, for example, more than $100$ home visits were conducted to understand the needs of local customers in relation to the IKEA range.

Sustainability

IKEA has often been at the forefront of corporate citizenship, launching $($in $2000)$ a code of conduct for suppliers, covering issues such as working conditions, active prevention of child labour, external environment and sustainable forestry management. IKEA has in the past cooperated with organisations like Greenpeace and the World Wildlife Fund, phasing out the use of bleach and PVC in products, as well as working towards protecting natural, intact forests. Since $2004$ they have published a Social & Environmental Responsibility Report and have recently started moving towards using $100\%$ recycled materials in furniture production.

IKEA states that they aim to be $$climate positive$$ by $2030,$ which they define as being $100\%$circular$$ in terms of their impact on the environment and outside their own value chain. IKEA also works with social entrepreneurs to promote and support small local businesses and employment. Despite these efforts IKEA and others in the industry have recently come under fire for encouraging a $$fast furniture$$ culture that has a negative impact on the environment and encourages waste. Further, in $2016,$ questions were raised in the European parliament about IKEA$$s opaque ownership structure and avoidance of corporate tax payments.