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Research plan for IKEA Hengelo; from a Business-to-Consumer approach towards a Business-to-Business approach

Holten, E.J. van (2013) Research plan for IKEA Hengelo; from a Business-to-Consumer approach towards a Business-to-Business approach.

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Abstract:This is a research for IKEA Hengelo, which is part of the multinational IKEA which provides all sort of house-related products. IKEA Hengelo seeks for a way to achieve the goals set for the coming years for the Kitchen Department. Of all possible solutions shifting towards a Business-to-Business approach is one of them. This research tries to determine the important factors when trying to shift to a Business-to-Business approach. Besides these factors a part of the B2B world is selected, the housing associations, and these factors were tested. There is also a chapter which describes the importance and relevance of this market. First of all a literature research has been made. In several articles factors were mentioned that are important for a B2B approach. Unfortunately there were little articles about shifting from a B2C towards a B2B. These articles were read thoroughly and combined into several factors. Besides these factors meetings were held with the sales manager and deputy sales manager in order to seek for some space left by the factors found in the literature. The next step in this research was searching for a way to analyse these factors and find a method for researching. After the methodology part the niche-market, housing associations, was analysed and had some very interesting outcomes. All big housing associations in the region Twente have been analysed in numbers of houses in their portfolio and a sensitivity analysis is made about their influence on the kitchen sales per day. Besides the sensitivity analysis also the SWOT, five forces and PESTEL analyses were carried out. When the market analysis was complete I got some insights about the relevance of the market and the factors that play a leading role in a B2B perspective some housing associations were approached. Three housing associations were approached de Woonplaats in Enschede, Welbions in Hengelo and Woonbeheer Borne. Unfortunately de Woonplaats in Enschede did not respond and due the time issue I had to move on. The interviews with Welbions and Woonbeheer Borne showed some interesting insights about the importance of these factors. Their opinions were asked about several topics and the provided me with frank opinions. The outcomes of these interviews are point for point described in the last chapter. When IKEA Hengelo really considers to entry the B2B market these outcomes are useful for successful implementation.
Item Type:Essay (Bachelor)
Clients:
IKEA, Hengelo (O), the Netherlands
Faculty:BMS: Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences
Subject:85 business administration, organizational science
Programme:Business Administration BSc (56834)
Link to this item:https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/63693
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