Year 11 visits to IKEA
For 12 months our year 11 Business Studies students have been working voraciously in a new and specialised subject and with official social distancing guidelines now over it was a perfect time to visit and apply this knowledge to a major business in action. Luckily, in the land of 1000 trades, there happens to be a major one down the road. The Business Studies department chose to visit IKEA because it is a fantastic institution for students to see what they study in the classroom come alive and gain face to face experience of the world of work. The IKEA business and community departments were fantastic in showcasing to our students how IKEA operates, what it’s like to work there and how employees work and succeed at IKEA. It was a tremendous week of visits that has allowed our students to see what it’s like to work at an institution that values culture and inclusion so highly and where more matters than the margins. However, much to Mr Conway’s chagrin, we regret to report that we returned with no Billy bookcases – but there’s always next year!
Mr Harvey
Business Studies students get sent to the shops
Over the 10th to the 13th of October, 109 Business Studies students, including me, were given an incredible opportunity to witness commerce in the real world, allowing us to comprehend how words in a textbook can be the foundation to earning millions if not billions of pounds for companies and an experience of the world of work.
Our school was able to arrange a trip to IKEA (the Swedish multinational conglomerate). As soon as we arrived in the car park, the blue and yellow building (based on the flag of Sweden) immediately stood out. As the pupils and I headed in, we were greeted by an IKEA employee who was a part of their marketing faculty, and she guided us into the room where we would receive talks about IKEA from employees of different departments. There was first an engaging quiz in which students could test their general knowledge of Sweden, leading to some hilarious answers! After the quiz, different videos were presented to depict how such a large company still had such a firm belief in community and togetherness by showing how much they care for their employees (e.g., by providing subsidised meals) and how they ran events in their local area to support residents. Crucially, students were also able to gain an understanding of the strict conditions products in development must meet like price, quality and function to go on sale. Constantly meeting these stringent requirements over the years in all their products allowed them to become such a remunerative organisation. Finally, the pupils and I were given a tour of the store where would visit sections like gaming and lighting. In this tour, we were given the chance to find sustainable products across the store and discuss them in a group to show how they benefitted the environment. Like all good times, the tour also came to an end and to cap off a rewarding and wonderful day out, students were given the opportunity to indulge in the hot dogs and meatballs available which most, thoroughly enjoyed!
With this deep insight into IKEA and how it functions, I believe that I have a firmer grip on the knowledge I have attained in Business Studies as I can see how the concepts come into fruition for real companies. It was great to see how employees entered the business, the routes they had up the organisation and the relentless commitment IKEA had to diversity and inclusion. It was fascinating to hear how IKEA don’t care about who or what you are but the skills and competencies you have and to hear this from employees who had worked their way up from the checkouts to management positions. Overall, it was a fantastic experience and was invaluable to learning more about entry into the world of work and how businesses operate in real life.
Shrey Kapoor 11H
