Leading through Digital Disruption – Case Study

BPP Coursework Cover Sheet
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Programme MSc management with data analytics
Module name Leading through Digital Disruption
Schedule Term 1st
Student Reference Number (SRN) BP0248922
Report/Assignment Title Leading through Digital Disruption – A case study of Ikea
Date of Submission
(Please attach the confirmation of any
extension received)
26/08/2021
Declaration of Original Work:
I hereby declare that I have read and understood BPP’s regulations on plagiarism and that this is my
original work, researched, undertaken, completed and submitted in accordance with the
requirements of BPP School of Business and Technology.
The word count, excluding contents table, bibliography and appendices, is 2353 words.
Student Reference Number: BP0248922 Date: 26/08/2021
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BPP School of Business and Technology

Contents
Introduction...............................................................................................................................1
1. The Case of change................................................................................................................1
2. Capture insights.....................................................................................................................2
Competitors’ moves..........................................................................................................................2
Work with Consulting firms...............................................................................................................2
Use Data............................................................................................................................................2
Use Social media...............................................................................................................................2
3. Make fast decisions................................................................................................................3
Focus on main goals..........................................................................................................................3
Improve collaboration.......................................................................................................................3
The power of process........................................................................................................................3
Real empowerment...........................................................................................................................3
4. Acquire and engage talents...................................................................................................4
Develop an employer brand..............................................................................................................4
Adopt mobile technology..................................................................................................................4
Create a community..........................................................................................................................4
Maintain an active conversation.......................................................................................................4
5. Create a digital-ready culture................................................................................................5
Connect with its own culture............................................................................................................5
Employees’ support..........................................................................................................................5
Build digital practices........................................................................................................................5
6. Steer collaboration.................................................................................................................6
Workplace.........................................................................................................................................6
Google’s G Suite................................................................................................................................6
Office 365..........................................................................................................................................6
7. Select your leaders.................................................................................................................7
Customer focused.............................................................................................................................7
Data-driven.......................................................................................................................................7
Consider the outcomes.....................................................................................................................7
Concluding remarks...................................................................................................................7
References..................................................................................................................................8

Introduction
Digitalisation has transformed the society and people’s lives in many ways. It has reshaped
how people live life as well as how business operate. Ikea is one of them that decided to
make the change and embrace digital transformation. This report will demonstrate what
urges Ikea to change and digitalised.
1. The Case of change
The Swedish retailer Ikea is a global behemoth with operations in over 38 countries and
over 200,000 employees. It has been in the analogue business of selling its distinctive brand
of home goods to people for nearly 80 years. The brand, which is almost $20 billion, has a
pioneering and innovative spirit that can be seen in many of their business activities and
practices (Barbour, 2020).
Ikea embraced technology trends from its products to promotion. Ikea consistently improve
the products’ function and quality by adopting new materials and technologies, such as
offering smart speakers and plugs to build a smart home (Marr, 2018).
On the promotion side, Ikea utilizes digital technologies such as social media platforms,
augmented reality, and virtual reality (Singh, et al., 2021). Ikea acquired a tech company
TaskRabbit and enabled its customers to connect to people who can assemble their
furniture. With the Ikea Place app and its augmented reality, customers can "try out"
different pieces of furniture in their home before deciding what to buy (Marr, 2018).
These transformational moves show Ikea’s commitment to keep relevant and competitive in
the future. However, changes also bring risks to a large cooperate with long history.
Traditional companies have a strong organizational culture and it might face resistance to
changes. Also, Ikea highly relies on its retail stores. The store experience is a vital selling
point to Ikea. It would be unknown if customers would have the same excitement and
inspiration without walking through the beautifully designed rooms in Ikea physical stores.
Customers cannot see and touch Ikea’s products, how to encourage online sales is another
problem for Ikea. Ikea has to keep the company fundamentally the same while doing almost
everything differently.
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2. Capture insights
New technology, globalization, and pandemic has made a significant impact on society. Ikea
need to detect these changes and follow up to stay ahead of the competition. It is essential
for any business to capture insights in its own market in a world full of uncertainty.
Government/ Industry report, data analytics, customers survey, and market research can
help Ikea to understand what its customers are looking for and what are the current market
changes (DemandJump, 2020).
Competitors’ moves
It is important to keep an eye on what competitors are doing and their performance. Ikea
can look at the content its competitors publish on social media platforms, public business
report, recent news and campaigns. Using online competitor analysis tools or templets will
give Ikea a comprehensive evaluation of its competitors and itself. Compared with them can
help Ikea critically identify its own similarities, differences, and uniqueness to stand out in
the market (DemandJump, 2020).
Work with Consulting firms
Working with third parties like consulting companies can help Ikea gather information about
its competitors, partners, macroeconomic and market trends. These firms would use
different models to illustrate the current opportunities, challenges, strengths, weaknesses,
among others that Ikea faces, and give Ikea professional suggestions on next strategic steps.
Ikea can use analysis tools or models in-house to do the research as well to gain different
perspectives.
Use Data
Digital and physical data can provide a large amount of information. For example, Ikea
members’ data can help Ikea recognize customers’ preferences, persona, shopping habits,
etc. Ikea can offer customized service to them like product recommendations, promotion,
market campaign that they are interested in. This will build a relationship with its customers
and make them feel connected. Reviewing customers’ feedback is another useful technique
to understand Ikea’s or its competitor/partners’ products and services and where to
improve.
Use Social media
With massive amounts of data being generated every second, social media is a veritable
fountain of consumer knowledge, and market trends. Social media analytics, enabled by the
widespread use of smartphones and the creation of various online communities on
platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and, more recently, TikTok, enables Ikea to
collect a large amount of data, generating valuable insights on its audience (James, 2021).
Ikea can use social media analytic tools to gather information as well as analyse it from
these platforms. Ikea can find popular topics and associate with the brand to create
conversation or launch campaigns.
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