APAC SweCham Webinar: ‘CEO Talk: Jesper Brodin, CEO Of INGKA Group IKEA’, 14 March 2023
This latest APAC webinar hosted by the Swedish Australian Chamber of Commerce was a conversation with the CEO of INGKA Group IKEA, Jesper Brodin. This discussion was moderated and lead by Camilla Ballock, Chief Executive officer of Emerging Payments Association Asia.
On the topic of the challenges that IKEA, and the world has faced in the last couple of years, Jesper credits relying on a good compass within the company and trusting the people around him. He stated that IKEA faced major issues because of the digital disruption. Compared to other companies, IKEA was late to move their business online when the customer demand went up. There was a reluctance to move online but they had to meet the customer’s needs. This in turn lead to IKEA being more inclined to work proactively to lead change to keep up with the times. With the culture of Småland, thrifting and smart use of all resources, IKEA can improve the way we do things and be a leader in the community.
Furthermore, Jesper highlighted the importance of finding sustainable solutions for the future. Everyone must come together to agree on solutions that will be beneficial for everyone. We need more direct dialogue between companies and governments so that there are synchronized decisions and circularity to speed up the process. Both parties, the private sector and government need to agree and commit for there to be change.
Moreover, Jesper emphasised that there is a misconception that sustainability is expensive, but it does not have to be. The future is in sustainability and renewable energy. We need to show companies that there are business opportunities in sustainability as it is an investment for the future that will generate profits.
Additionally, Jesper stated that it is a myth that Asia does not like to take action and that he believes Asia has the opportunity to lead the progress and find new solutions. Stating that the climate crisis we face is a Global problem and we must all take seriously because you do not want to be the last one standing on the platform when everyone is on the train.
We would like to thank the speakers and all the members who participated in this insightful webinar! We hope that you feel as inspired as we did!
If you missed it and would like to see the playback, please email us at contact@swecham.com. *Available to SweCham Members only*
To learn more about IKEA’s sustainability work, please go to https://about.ikea.com/en/sustainability