The people and the values resulted in a unique work environment of which Kamprad was
genuinely proud. "We take care of each other and inspire each other. One cannot help feeling sorry
for those who cannot or will not join us," he said.
In 1976, Kamprad felt the need to commit to paper the values that had developed in IKEA
during the previous decade. His thesis, Testament of a Furniture Dealer, became an important means
for spreading the IKEA philosophy during a period of rapid international expansion. (Extracts are
given in Exhibit 6.) With the help of this document, the organization strove to retain much of its
unique culture, even as it spread into different countries. The big ideas contained in Kamprad's
thesis were spread through training and "mouth to ear" transfer. Specially trained "IKEA
ambassadors" were assigned to key positions in all units to spread the company's philosophy and
values by educating their subordinates and by acting as role models. By 1989, about 300 such
cultural agents had been trained in a special week-long seminar which covered not only the company's history and culture (presented personally by Kamprad), but also detailed training on how to spread the message
company's history and culture (presented personally by Kamprad), but also detailed training on how
to spread the message.