Ten years with IKEA
By Yayu & Enid
Photos by Yao Fan

为人谦逊、做事脚踏实地、却又不失胆识, 这是宜家贸易(香港)有限公司厦门代表处首席代表王灿在采访中留给我们的深刻印象. 今年是她在宜家的第十个年头. 十年间, 宜家在中国业务不断增长, 而她个人也随着公司一起成长, 成为了宜家首位中国籍首席代表.

Name:
Cherry Wang
Position:
Chief Representative, IKEA Trading (Hong Kong) Ltd., Xiamen Representative Office

Path to progress

Q:Could you give us a brief introduction to your work experience and how it began?
A: This has been my tenth year with IKEA. Before IKEA, I had worked in a foreign trading company. In 1995, I joined the Shenzhen IKEA, which is one of IKEA's biggest purchasing offices. I have worked in various different positions with different categories of products. In 2002, I moved over to the world's biggest home improvement company - Homedepot, which was the first global company to source its goods in China. I was there for only ten months. IKEA wanted me back and offered me the position of Xiamen Office chief representative. I was the first Chinese chief representative in the company. This was a big challenge and great opportunity for me to develop further in my career. Before my final decision, I paid a visit to Xiamen with my husband. The morning after I arrived here, I was astonished by how blue the sky was when I opened the window, and that finally led to my decision to move here with my family.

Q: What is your advice for those who don't see potential for growth in their career?
A: It's true that almost every company's structure is similar to a pyramid. As you advance higher, there are fewer positions available. One factor that I attach great importance to is the match between your personal values and the corporate culture of your company. IKEA's vision is to create a better life for everyone. It requires every employee to be open-minded, responsible, modest and practical. These are exactly the values I see as important. IKEA also does a great job with developing its human resources. On one hand, it stresses that everybody should take responsibility for their own career progress and should be goal-oriented. On the other hand, the company gives lots of opportunities for training to the staff. Managers will give fair and objective performance evaluations, point out your weaknesses, and then give you relevant training. This gives all the staff the chance to grow and develop their strengths.

Q: To be a manager in a foreign company, you need a complete set of managerial skills. In your view, what are the qualities a manager needs?
A: I think there are three crucial qualities: professionalism; leadership and communication skills; a proactive attitude and an openness to learning.



Ten years of growth

Q: This is your tenth year with IKEA. What would you say when you look back on the past ten years?
A: Ten years has passed in the twinkling of an eye. It would be hard to describe my feelings in words. When I first joined IKEA ten years ago, the volume of its purchases in China was relatively small. However, there have been dramatic developments in recent years, and now IKEA buys more materials from China than from any other country. In IKEA, I have been able to realize my personal values. That was one of the most important reasons for my re-joining the company in 2003. When I was offered the chief representative's position, I looked at the alternatives but finally decided that coming back was the best way for me. I was also able to bring with me things that I learnt in the other company.

Q: It's said that Ingvar Kamprad, the company founder of IKEA, has a habit of keeping on asking for lower price, even if the seller is already halfway out the door. With ten years of experience in the IKEA purchasing department, have you also developed a habit of bargaining hard?
A(laughing): As a matter of fact, I'm often asked this question. People always think I must be very good at bargaining. Indeed, price negotiation has been an important and indispensable part of my work. But outside of my work, when buying personal stuff for example, I'm not used to bargaining at all. There is a lot to be learned from our founder. Even though he is almost in his eighties, he still only flies economy class. He often says, "No one has made more mistakes than me." He encourages all IKEA employees to learn from their mistakes, which is a crucial part of IKEA's ethos.

Q: How do you strike a balance between your work and your private life?
A: My job involves frequent business trips. I used to like to use the opportunities to spend some time sightseeing in the places I visit. In my free time, I like reading. My little twin girls were born last year, and since then my spare time has been mostly taken up by them. When I go on business trips now, I try my best not to stay away for long and quickly come back home to take care of the children.



About IKEA
IKEA is a company which offers a wide range of attractive, functional home furnishings. It was founded in 1943 in a small farming village in Sweden. Today, however, IKEA has 220 stores in 33 countries, and is one of the biggest home furnishing companies in the world. The first IKEA store in China was opened in 1998 in Shanghai. There are now three IKEA stores in China. IKEA has 46 purchasing offices in 32 countries. The purchasing office in Xiamen was established in 1997.


Vocabulary
pyramid 金字塔
vision 远景
twinkle 眨眼
bargain 讨价还价
economy class 经济舱