The Ideas Exchange

A really interesting promotional piece from the BBC, it discusses a meeting between the Jorgen Vig Knudstorp, the CEO of Lego and Bethlehem Tilahun Alemu, founder of Ethiopian footwear company SoleRebels got together to discuss their two businesses and it is packed full of Business Studies theory.

On the face of it the two leaders have little in common. Lego is the world’s third largest toy maker and SoleRebels employs just 75 people. The article focuses, in particular, on how SoleRebels have had to adapt their products to compete in different international markets. It also emphasises the importance of market research to both companies. SoleRebels needs to find out how to adapt their products to be successful in different geographical segments and Lego place huge emphasis on listening to customer complaints. This is really good for students as I find they often fail to see that market research goes much beyond ‘do a questionnaire’.

In addition they discuss the pros and cons of being a family owned business, the dangers of expanding too fast and fair trade.

The 3,500 mile trip from Addis Ababa to Denmark is part of a new 8 part BBC World News series that pairs up global business leaders to discuss today’s business landscape and their secrets to success. The first in the series airs this Saturday at 14.30 GMT. Should be well worth a watch to see how well classroom theory actually fits the reality of running a business.