IKEAs International Strategy and the Establishment of New Stores Research Paper

IKEAs International Strategy and the Establishment of New Stores - Research Paper Example One of the key policies of the IKEA group is that it does not target the rich and instead sells to the smart (Crampton 2008, n.p). The interpretation of this is that it struggles to minimise the prices of its goods as much as possible. This means that the production has also to minimise costs. According to (Bowman 1988, p. 67) this strategy may have two implications; an increase in market share due to the competitive prices or a reduction in market share due to the reduced quality caused by a reduction in production costs. This is illustrated by the quality of the IKEA goods that cannot be described as the best (Thomson 2009, p. 184). The disadvantage is that the customers are not satisfied with the goods. In one case, a customer claimed that he was happy with none of the products from the store (Scholes 2010, p. 5). In the end, the reduction in price may turn out to be a disadvantage as the group loses customers due to poor quality. A large number of firms offering the same services in the market makes it a competitive market. This means that the group has to have competitive prices in accordance with product value if it is to compete successfully (Doyle 2011, p. 258). If IKEA was the only player in the market it could increase prices without value addition. However, due to the market conditions, the company is able to offer cheap and quality goods which is an advantage. A key part of the IKEA’s strategy is to act as the market’s low-cost leader (Jacobsen 2009, p. 144). The idea is to balance low margins with high volumes by driving the prices down.

TV ratings Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

TV ratings - Coursework Example For example, if channel CBS shows Criminal Minds at 10pm and has a rating of 25 then, according to Nielson, 25% of the household audience is watching the program. In addition, an individual needs to find the market share of a program as it is the estimate percentage of the number of households who have television and are watching the program. For example, if channel ABS airs the program Dance with the stars at 8.00pm and has a market share of 40 this means that 40% of the people watching TV at that particular time are watching the same program. Moreover, to have spot trends in the market help Media Managers identify audience problems. For example, if channel fox airs master chef at 7.00am, which has weak ratings, then there is a possibility that the ratings could recover after some time. This is because the program may be aired at a time when the target audience is not available. Lastly, tracking numbers of people helps to know if people are watching the program. The Nielson report captures viewers of all age groups. However, it may be difficult to know the actual numbers between women and men ages, as much as these numbers matter most to advertisers. The result is that the audience splits due to the gender and age groups, therefore the number of people watching certain programs reduce significantly (Beville, 9). The target audience for most of the top ten programs attracts young families. This is because programs such as modern family, is a family program and the parents together with the kids can watch the program that is suitable for all family viewing. In addition, programs like criminal minds and the big-bang theory allows all members of the family to watch. 18-49 years is the target age of most of the top 10 programs. I feel the target audience for the top 10 shows attracts families because, the programs are friendly to everyone in the family and parents do not have to censor worst scenes,