er than the companies competitors, and this meant there was much more demand for the company's products, which in turn, obviously leads to more revenue and more profits.
             Transportation: IKEA also realised that when shipping big bulky items like tables and chairs, there was a lot of unused space, and IKEA realised that this was costing them money. In order to cut costs IKEA decided to flat-pack almost everything they sold, this meant that more and more furniture could be delivered in one shipment. The company's mantra quickly became "We don't want to ship air". By doing this IKEA cut it's transport costs by 80%. This was a key success factor in the overall success of IKEA.
             Flexibility is important in any business and IKEA is no exception. Being flexible is being able to change and adapt to new market conditions, and this is usually achieved in three main areas.
             Functional: Functional flexibility refers to the skills available within a company. IKEA expects its manager in every store to have a good understanding of every process that goes on during a working day. To ensure this occurs, the company runs compulsory 'Anti-bureaucratic' weeks for two weeks a year in every store around the world. This means that for two weeks, Managers work on the shop floor and gain a good understanding of what it is like.
             Numerical: Numerical flexibility refers to the number of workers available to a company at a given time. IKEA is flexible in this area as they currently employ thousands of part-time and temporary workers around the world. This gives IKEA the flexibility to be able to rid themselves of employees or quickly add more should the certain situation arise.
             Financial: Financial flexibility is money based, having funds available to be able to move with the industry. IKEA's store ownership policy of leasing stores as well as owning them underlines the financial flexibility that the company seeks.
             Obviously flexibility is a key factor in ...