Company Profile of Ikea

Company Profile

IKEA is a privately owned, international household products retailer and was founded in 1943 by 17-year-old Ingvar Kamprad in Sweden. Today it is owned by a Dutch registered foundation controlled by the Kamprad family. The original IKEA store was opened in Sweden in 1958 but the Company (Chopra, 2009). Lousia clarify the point.

IKEA owns more than 300 stores in over 40 countries worldwide making it the largest furniture manufacturer. Its biggest market is in Europe with Germany having the largest market share as it houses more than 40 stores of IKEA by itself. In Malaysia, IKEA store is only located at Mutiara Damansara in Petaling Jaya which is a densely populated area due to its location in the urban centre (IKEA Malaysia website, 2012).

IKEA carries out CSR through the INGKA Foundation which is officially dedicated to promoting innovations in architecture and interior design. The foundation is estimated to have a net worth of $36 billion hence the foundation is unofficially the world's largest charitable organization coming before the famous Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation which has a net worth of approximately $33 billion (Chopra, 2009).

In South East Asia, IKEA's CSR in terms of catering for children began in the 1990s when it began "The IKEA Way on Preventing Child Labor," which is of the view that all actions taken shall be in the best interests of the child. With this mentality, IKEA knew it was not enough if they just monitored their IKEA suppliers in terms of complying with the regulations and so IKEA decided to extend its commitment to the communities beyond the factory gates. Today, IKEA Social Initiative works together with various partners such as UNICEF and Save the Children which altogether benefit over 100 million children (IKEA Foundation, 2012).

IKEA is willing to partner with different local NGO's in the different countries they operate in if the project will better life.