英格瓦·坎普拉德可不是一般的亿万富翁。这位宜家家具帝国的创始人乘坐经济舱旅行，开着一辆有十年历史的沃尔沃汽车，总是下午去买水果和蔬菜，因为这时价格往往便宜些。如果有人问他生活中有什么奢侈的消费时，他的回答是：我偶尔喜欢买一件高档衬衫或一条围巾，吃点瑞典鱼子酱。‛
坎普拉德先生是战后欧洲最杰出企业家之一。宜家创建于1943，当时仅仅从事邮购业务，现如今已经发展成为在全球31个国家经营，员工总数超过7万的国际化零售业巨头。
宜家的销售额逐年上涨。宜家的产品目录是全世界印数最多的印刷品，每年达到不可思议的1.1亿册。坎普拉德先生也变得异常富有。根据美国《福布斯》杂志，他的身价达到134亿美元(87亿英镑)，位列全球第17位。
宜家之所以取得了令人惊异的成功，首先是因为它那简单得令人难以置信的经营理念：向老百姓提供设计精美而又买得起的家具。其次就是坎普拉德本人，有魅力、谦逊、随和。他的思想和价值观绝对是宜家哲学的核心。
坎普拉德先生因生活极其节俭而闻名遐迩。他清洗用过的塑料杯以便再次利用。前不久，他决定不再让那位已经为他理发多年的瑞典理发师继续为他提供服务，原因是在现居地瑞士他找到一位理发师，每次只收14瑞士法郎(6英镑)。‚这数字合理，‛他笑着说。
宜家所有的高管都十分了解成本意识的重要性。公司不鼓励他们乘坐头等舱或商务舱旅行。‚最好的领导方式是以身作则‛，坎普拉德先生说过，‚让我坐头等舱，而让我的同事们坐旅游舱，是我绝对不能接受的。‛
他巡视宜家集团的店铺时，他总是要和员工们握手或拥抱，以此向员工传递一种‚伙伴‛的感觉，这种做法在瑞典绝不多见。‚叫我英格瓦，‛他对员工说。他不喜欢打领带，而是喜欢敞开衬衫的领口，这样的衣着方式也突显了他的不拘礼节和没有等级观念。
在个人生活方面和事业方面坎普拉德先生都经历过艰苦的奋斗过程。他一直与读写困难症和其他疾病抗争。
他性格中很突出的一点就是对细节的偏执性关注。巡视他的商店时，他不仅和经理们交谈，还要和最基层的员工以及顾客们交谈。在最近一次视察宜家的六家瑞典门店时，他说，‚发现了100个需要讨论的细节性问题。‛
在他自己看来，他最大的优点就是选择正确的人员来管理他的企业。
他下定决心不让宜家集团上市，因为股东的短期要求和企业长期的规划会有冲突。‚我讨厌急功近利的决策。如果你想实施长效的决策，上市后就很难了。进入俄罗斯市场时，我们就曾不得不决定要亏损十年。‛
自1986年从集团总裁位置上退下来以后，坎普拉德先生就慢慢地从业务中淡出。尽管他承认自己非常不愿意完全退出，但他仍然坚持说自己是‚参与过多，过问的细节太多。‛
问题是：假如没有坎普拉德先生，宜家能否恒久存在?宜家是否太过于依赖其创始人?宜家控制权渐渐从坎普拉德先生转移到他的三个儿子手中以后，宜家帝国能否继续辉煌?
【参考译文】
Ingvar Kamprad is no ordinary multi-billionaire. The founder of the Ikea furniture empire travels economy class, drives a 10-year-old Volvo and buys his fruit and vegetables in the afternoons, when prices are often cheaper. Ask him about the luxuries in his life and he says:“ From time to time, I like to buy a nice shirt and cravat and eat Swedish caviar.”
Mr. Kamprad is one of Europe’s greatest post-war entrepreneurs. What began as a mail-order bu8siness in 1943 has grown into an international retailing phenomenon across 31 countries with 70,000 employees.
Sales have risen every single year. The Ikea catalogue is the world’s biggest annual print run an incredible 110m copies a year. And Mr. Kamprad has grown extraordinarily rich. He is worth $13.4bn and is the 17th richest person in the world, according to Forbes, the US magazine.
The concept behind Ikea’s amazing success is unbelievably simple: make affordable, well-designed furniture available to the masses. And then there is Mr. Kamprad himself charismatic, humble, private. It is his ideas and values that are at the core of Ikea’s philosophy.
Best known for his extremely modest lifestyle, he washes plastic cups to recycle them. He has just left his long-standing Swedish barber because he found one in Switzerland, where he lives, who charges only SFr14 for a cut. ‘That’s a reasonable amount,’ he chuckles.
All Ikea executives are aware of the value of cost-consciousness. They are strongly discouraged from travelling first or business class. ‘There is no better form of leadership than setting a good example. I could never accept that I should travel first class while my colleagues sit in tourist class,’ Mr. Kamprad says.
As he walks around the group’s stores, he expresses the feeling of ‘togetherness’ physically, clasping and hugging his employees. This is very uncharacteristic of Sweden. ‘call me Ingvar,’ he says to staff. The informality and lack of hierarchy are emphasized by his dress style, with an open-necked shirt preferred to a tie.
Mr. Kamprad has had both personal and business battles. He has fought against dyslexia and illness.
One of Mr. Kamprad’s characteristics is his obsessive attention to detail. When he visits his stores, he talks not only to the managers but also to floor staff and customers. A recent visit to six of the group’s Swedish stores has produced ‘100 details to discuss’, he says.
By his own reckoning, his greatest strength is choosing the right people to run his businesses.
He is determined that the group will not go public, because short-term shareholder demands conflict with long-term planning. ‘I hate short-termist decisions. If you want to take long- lasting decisions, it’s very difficult to be on the stock exchange. When entering the Russian market, we had to decide to lose money for 10 years.’
Mr. Kamprad has been slowly withdrawing from the business since 1986, when he stepped down as group president. He maintains that hi is still ‘too much involved and in too many details’ , although he admits to a distinct reluctance to withdraw altogether.
The question is: can there be an eternal Ikea without Mr. Kamprad? Does the group depend too much on its founder? Will the empire continue, as control of Ikea gradually moves to Mr. Kamprad’s three sons?
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