IKEA has developed a peculiarly Scandinavian culture, with emphasis on restraint and fairness,
which it calls “democratic design.” This slogan applies to products and also to organizational and
task design. Bill Agree, an American employee who transferred to IKEA’s Swedish headquarters, says,
“It’s a little religious or missionary in a sense, but it’s who we are.” Within the firm, private offices
are rare and everyone is on a first-name basis. The no-frills facilities keep the emphasis on the
downscale customers, who are referred to as “ people with thin wallets.” Josephine Rydberg-
Dumont, the firm’s managing director, speaks with evangelical fervor. “We’re ready for
Modernism now,” she says. “When it first came, it was for the few. Now it’s for the many.”