More fundamentally, however, in recent years Giordano has changed its corporate culture to concentrate on such soft skills as inventory management, store layout, service and style.

ECONOMIST: Asian companies and the China challenge

Writing in his blog, he described how contestants are equipped with measuring tapes and soft pencils and then sent out to follow the one-way layout around the store, matching beds, wardrobes and kitchen chairs along the way, wrestling with the Scandinavian names and, later, the assembly instructions.

WSJ: IKEA's Products Make Shoppers Blush in Thailand