So, I finally finished the book on IKEA, which, sadly, is NOT yet available in English, though there are other choices + I seem to remember reading that it will be released soon.
In any case, a great book, which taught me a lot about the mentality that reigns inside IKEA, how logistics are organised, what determines design, what determines price, how people are managed, and… the most boring/interesting part: how IKEA evades taxes. That last one is really worth a read… they basically designed a complex financial structure, which enables them to offset tax-differences in various countries. As you may know the tax-levels in Sweden, its country of origin, are somewhat insane and have marked the company in a way that the Swedes probably didn't intend.
So what to do next. I'm a strong believer in making things actionable, vs. the passive digestion (& forgetting) of facts, and, in order to make this book useful, I need to do something about it. I previously thought about writing about the way that IKEA expanded internationally, as that sheds some insight into cultural differences of countries and the considerations a business has to make when launching there. It's also relevant IF you care about how the origins of a business determine where and how it will grow. I may still do that, but since it's a lot of work, I'll do it in note-form.
Something will probably come out of it. You can read about my previous coverage of IKEA here.
Next book: The Disney Way
While IKEA taught me about retail (and some extras), I'm hoping to learn more about how to organise entertainment. As I wrote a few days ago, a strong theme in my life is how to tell stories, in whatever form, but there is a whole process behind that and, while I have a rough view of what that is, I'm hoping that the Disney book has some practical tips.
I'll probably supplement this with The Toyota Way at some point, as I have a certain fascination for supply-chain management also.
Yes, yes, I read entirely too much…
FYI, previous book-reviews include:
- eBay's "The Perfect Store"
- McDonalds "Grinding It Out" here and here
- Starbucks' "Pour Your Heart Into It" here and here.
The picture is a mashup of this picture of a scary clown and this other lesser-known picture here.
The 
