IKEA is just Kamprad

IKEA which is the biggest furniture company established in 1943 Sweden by Kamprad. He had a unique philosophy of management at that time. This is a very simple and a deserved thing but it is hard to do for company’s profit. Making a good quality and low cost products is the purpose of the business in IKEA. Nowadays, he’s management is the good example to other many companies. IKEA has been bigger and bigger until now. It has big 190 malls in 30 countries, sales over 15 billion dollars per year.

What is the main reason of success? CEO-Kamprad is the key of success himself. Here are several his principles.

1. Variety but do not lose IKEA’s true colors.
Personally, I think that this principle has been truly working now. There are all kinds of furniture from kitchen to kid’s room. And even sell a lot of interior small pieces such as the toys, dishes, pictures, trash can. Even though there are countless goods, I can always distinguish IKEA’s product. IKEA has its own color.

2. Practical philosophy and Realism.
IKEA’s furniture is very simple and practical. Their furniture has a unique idea for consumer and it makes people comfortable in their life.

3. Profit is a source for management.
I am very impressed about this principle. Making a profit is not just for personal interest but for company and its development.

4. The smallest input and the biggest output.
IKEA only use a catalog for P.R until now. It is the cheapest marketing method but it is working so much well. In catalog, cheap and pretty stuff is decorated and it attracts people to IKEA.

5. Frugality (simplicity) is the virtue.
The CEO, Kamprad live frugally. He lives in a small house, uses a compact car even though he is one of the richest in a world. This kinds of personality of CEO reflect IKEA’s business.

6. Endless bright ideas.
IKEA’s furniture is not just normal furniture. The unique and bright ideas make the products unique and it is the IKEA’s market power.

There are many analysis information of IKEA’s business. For example, how to reduce the cost of production and operating or how to find a larger market abroad. However, I just want to focus on the Kamprad’s principle. This is like a frame of IKEA’s all kinds of marketing. And I do know that all elements doing in IKEA are fit in this frame. If the company has no its own clear color, no definite principle of business, this company cannot impress its customer.

http://cafe.naver.com/sgmba54mu4.cafe?iframe_url=/ArticleRead.nhn%3Farticleid=138

20600171 - 8th entry

Local Currency Program

Steve Carlotta, owner of the three-employee Great Barrington (Mass.) camera store Snap Shop, had been losing business for the last five years to discounters on the Internet. Then, in September, 2006, his town launched a currency program called “BerkShares” designed to strengthen the local economy by encouraging consumers to support local businesses. Participating businesses agreed to offer shoppers who used the program's BerkShares paper scrip instead of dollars a 10% discount on all purchases.
The program works like this: Shoppers visit one of 10 branches of four participating local banks and convert their cash into BerkShares scrip. For every 90 cents, they receive one BerkShare note, that is accepted at some 280 participating area businesses; it's also honored at about 250 other businesses throughout the Southern Berkshires region that aren't officially registered, but still do some business in BerkShares.

Some research has pointed to devastating effects of big-box stores on local communities. One study in Maine by the ILSR found that, for every dollar spent at a big-box store, about 14 cents stayed in that state. The researchers then compared that to locally-owned businesses, where they found that 54 cents of every dollar stayed in the state. "If you can shift 10% into retail businesses, you generate more jobs and income. Community currencies can be an effective tool for that as they allow people to see what happens to the dollar," says Mitchell.
But starting a new currency is no picnic. For local merchants it involves more difficult accounting, and possibly separate cash registers to keep the community currency and federal currency separate. Organizations that produce local currencies are prohibited by U.S. law from producing coins or printing bills that resemble federal dollars. There are also some minor complications with reporting sales tax to the state, which Carlotta says takes him about one extra hour a month to sort out. Perhaps most importantly, merchants have to devise a way to spend the currency, which can be a problem if they're using suppliers out of their local area.

Refrences:Businessweek.com

20300780 Entry 8

Popular vidio games players doing well

          The competition has been always tight in the video game consoles market in the states, targeting upcoming Children's Day on May 5th, the new spark is lightening up in Korea as well. There are three hot video game consoles in the market; they are Wii from Nintendo, Xbox from Microsoft, and PlayStation 3 from Sony. Since all three companies are spending a lot promoting their consoles for the holiday with new releases of games, the competition is expected to boost up a lot more.
          One of the most aggressive spender in the market is Nintendo who just launched it world-wide popular game console Wii on April 26. With a famous Korean actor Won Bin in their TV commercials, magazine and newspaper ads, experts is estimating more than 10,000 units were sold for the first four days of its launch. Since people spend a lot of money buying presents for their children, Nintendo is forecasting sale increase over the holiday weekend.
          For Nintendo DS player, which is sold more than 1.5 million units in Korea, has been a most loved portable game player among young boys and girls, people have a great interest on Will because of its uniqueness and convenience. Unlike other game consoles which use joysticks or pads, Wii has “… a motion-sensitive remote controller, called ``Wiimote,'' with which gamers can imitate various actions, such as swinging a baseball bat, hurling a bowling ball or pointing a rifle at a target” (KoreaTimes).
          Wii is currently sold at 220,000 won whereas Xbox is 369,000 won, which has been lowered by 20,000 from its first launch last year. Xbox has been the leading game console in Korea selling 50,000 units more than Sony’s PlayStation 3. Sony, on the other hand, is selling PlayStation 3 for 348,000 won and by partnering with KT, people who first subscribe cable or internet service from KT can purchase PlayStation for only 90,000 won.
          However, there are some complains about Wii; people cannot play game CDs that are purchased outside of the countries and does not allow language translation between games in English or Japanese to Korean.
          I’m not an aggressive game player anyway, but every time I pass by game stores in the mall, these game consoles always grab my attention because of their high quality game functions and graphics. Some of them I believe to have a better visual effect than high tech personal computers. My friend owns Wii from Nintendo, and he loves it because you don’t just sit and play the game for hours like an couch-potato; you actually have to swing, turn, and trigger Wii’s unique remote cotrollers, Wiimote. All parents want to give a best or something that would remain in children’s memories in Children’s Day. I think buying one of these game consoles would be an unforgettable gift for any children.

Reference;
http://koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/biz/2008/05/123_23554.html

20601008 – 8th Entry

Korean Phone Makers Are on the Prowl

Samsung, LG, and others(Korean cell-phone makers) are trying to grab market share with stylish models and nifty features. They should take the initiative in this market. Such a great competitive power is caused by creative power.
And we are expecting more original works.

(a news item)
Don't tell Korean cell-phone makers it's time to stay conservative and cautious in the face of faltering consumer sentiment. Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics are making an all-out effort to grab market share with their stylish phones with nifty functions.

While Nokia (NOK) remained the clear leader in the industry, the Koreans were the star performers in the first quarter of this year. LG, which until a year ago was seen as a second-tier vendor, overtook Sony Ericsson as the world's fourth-largest player in the quarter by increasing sales 54% from a year earlier. It is now threatening to catch up with Motorola (MOT), which Samsung overtook last year as the second-largest maker. Here's a look at some of the Korean phones that are creating buzz

20700110 - 8th entry
http://images.businessweek.com/ss/08/04/0430_phones/index_01.htm

Virtualizaion : Future of cell phones

I read an article about 'Virtualization'. Virtualization is a technology that can link to the virtual sever. As a result, processors link to the virtual segment regardless of real network passages. Recently, virtualizaion was applied to cell phones. It's still early technology, but some companies like Motorola, Cisco, and Intel accepted the technology. Virtualization make it available to link the OS system through cell phones.
The issue with phone OS virtualization is that much of a phone's unique appeal are its physical attributes, and not only its software features - such as Blackberry's QWERTY keyboard, iPhone's touchscreen, etc. These physical features are then exploited by the software. This is in contrast with PC virtualization, where user interfaces are essentially standard (e.g. keyboard, mouse, screen). Thus the challenge in development of phone virtualization is greater, while the utility is less than of PC virtualization. iPhone software will thus always run better on an an iPhone platform than on a Blackberry.
The virtualizaion for cell phones can upgrade the technology for OS. Through virtualizaion, OS developer's can make tiny and compact OS system that can be applied to the mobile devices. I think korean companies also have to apply these technologies. And we can make our own OS system through virtualizaion. Actually, the OS market is dominated by Microsoft. When we used their software, we had to pay high royal fee. As a result, Microsoft dominated all of our computerized industries. I think it's a great chance for our companies. If we can make our own OS, we can dominate the mobile market more strongly than before.
The mobile internet and virtualizaion are uncultivated sectors. Korea is now standing a crossroad. If we can survive from these technology war, we can be a great nation of world. However, If we can't innovate our technology, we will be a weak country. The innovation cannot occur in a few years. For innovation, we have to accumulate our know-how and technology through ceaseless research and benchmarking.

references: http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/apr2008/tc20080421_235517.htm?chan=technology_technology+index+page_telecom

20700067 entry #8