IKEA Executive Summary

As IKEA stores make their way into the United States, the IKEA brand will have to be tailored to meet the needs of the consumers in the local markets (Ferrell & Hartline, 2014). Using the formal marketing controls will check to see if IKEA’s trade-off of service for low-cost sustainability in the long term (Ferrell & Hartline, 2014). Formal marketing controls are activities, mechanisms, or process designed by the organization to help ensure the successfulness in the implementation of the marketing strategy (Ferrell & Hartline, 2014). The elements of formal control influence the behaviors of employees before and during implementation (Ferrell & Hartline, 2014). These elements are referred to as input, process, and output controls respectively (Ferrell & Hartline, 2014). Actions taken prior to the implementation of the marketing strategy are input controls (Ferrell & Hartline, 2014). The premise of input control is that the marketing strategy cannot be implemented correctly unless the proper tools and resources are in place (Ferrell & Hartline, 2014). Critical input control deals with financial resources (Ferrell & Hartline, 2014). These …show more content…
from 2009 to 2012 and none in 2013 (Ferrell and Hartline, 2014). IKEA’s low-cost, do-it-yourself marketing strategy is truly not a perfect match for consumers in the U.S. (Ferrell & Hartline, 2014). Consumers in the U.S. tastes in furniture retailing is different and IKEA certainly does not have the financial resources and marketing experience to roll out a large number of products and stores simultaneously (Ferrell & Hartline, 2014). The economic conditions during the recession have not helped either (Ferrell & Hartline, 2014). As the company looks toward expansion in the United States market, IKEA will have to consider a number of relevant issues in both of their internal and external environments (Ferrell & Hartline,