BoConcept

This morning we left our houses at 8:30 to go to the university. There, we had our first lecture held by Erik Rasmussen. We got a first insight of Danish industry and way of doing business and compared it to other countries...

All in Europe most firms are “micro firms” with 10 or less employees (92%). In comparison only 0,2% of all firms are large firms with 250 or more employees. In Denmark 85% are micro and 0,4% are large firms. Afterwards we looked at Denmark on a global scale – Denmark scores very good in all categories (e.g. “best country for business” and first in “labor market efficiency”). In Denmark it is really easy to fire or hire employees, which makes business easier. Also, productivity is very high.

Next, we looked at the Danish way of doing business with using Hofstede’s dimensions (e.g.: Danish tend to have low power distance, meaning little social difference between employees and CEO).

After this interesting lecture by our local coordinator, we left for the 2-hours ride to BoConcept, which is located in Ølgod.

After arriving, Kenneth Barsballe welcomed us really nice and we first got a tour through the production line of BoConcept. It was very interesting to see the production, from the raw material to the end product. We saw the production from the panels to the packaging in the end. A delivery from BoConcept takes around 4 days.

After the tour Kenneth Barsballe gave us a presentation about BoConcept in general. In the market are around 6 big competitors. BoConcept try to separate from others. They have 235 brand stores and 29 inspiration stores and have a very good business for example in Colombia and France. Also they have 78 studios and 55 countries. They open around 14 shops per year and update 20 per cent per year.

The name “BoConcept” comes from the Danish word “Bo” which means “leben”.

BoConcept defined as their longterm goals, that they want 5% more selling each year and in the year try to reach 400 brand stores. Also they want to reach a service level of 90%.

All in all it was an interesting day, which gave us an idea, how an international firm like “BoConcept” works and how they try to work in a world, which becomes more and more global. We thank BoConcept for the great day.