New-product development at Ikea

IKEA is one of the most successful and interesting companies of our day. IKEA is a case study we use to open our chapter on cross-functional coordination (chapter 19 in Basic Marketing and Bonus Chapter 2 in the new Essentials of Marketing 15e). This article, “Behind the Scenes at IKEA’s Top Secret Furniture Lab” (Wired), provides an inside look at IKEA’s new-product development process. The article lines up well with the new-product development process we describe in our textbooks — so it would be a great complement to your coverage of chapter 9. You could assign the article and ask your students to identify Ikea examples of the five steps in the new-product development process.

You could use this short video — no text, only music — as an introduction to a discussion.