The Lego Group: Building Strategy Case 10
The Lego Group: Building Strategy, Case 10
Overview
LEGO, the brand of toy that has been played with by multiple generations of people was founded during the Great Depression in 1932 by Ole Kirk Kristiansen, a Danish carpenter. Kristiansen started making toys out of wood and had 12 employees under him. The word LEGO combines two Danish words leg and godt, which mean “play well” and in Latin, fittingly means “to put together”. It’s ironic that LEGO was given that name because it was only later that Ole’s son Godtfred Kirk Christiansen strategically noticed an opportunity of creating the “LEGO system of Play” which was the idea that and every LEGO brick should connect to each other across multiple sets. The strategy was simple. Each set obtained by a child increased the amount of LEGO bricks the child would be able to play with. More sets meant more creative possibilities. Within this first strategic maneuver lied one of LEGO’s first mission statements which were “to create a toy that prepare the child for life, appeals to the imagination and develops the creative urge and joy of creation that are the driving force in every human being”.
After perfecting the brick design by adding “clutch power” through connection tubes, which enabled the bricks to lock together firmly yet come apart easily, in 1958 Godtfred submitted an application for patent of the LEGO brick design in Denmark. During the 1960’s the company decided to stop it’s production of wooden toys and focus completely on the LEGO brick and System of Play. Later during that decade, the company grew to over 600 employees and grew its brick design to include over 200 different shapes such as wheels, flat bricks, train tracks, windows, doors, and flags. This was further implementation for their business model and mission, which was to enable creativity. More options for pieces to connect meant more creative possibilities. They then introduced building instructions for each building set.
In the
Overview
LEGO, the brand of toy that has been played with by multiple generations of people was founded during the Great Depression in 1932 by Ole Kirk Kristiansen, a Danish carpenter. Kristiansen started making toys out of wood and had 12 employees under him. The word LEGO combines two Danish words leg and godt, which mean “play well” and in Latin, fittingly means “to put together”. It’s ironic that LEGO was given that name because it was only later that Ole’s son Godtfred Kirk Christiansen strategically noticed an opportunity of creating the “LEGO system of Play” which was the idea that and every LEGO brick should connect to each other across multiple sets. The strategy was simple. Each set obtained by a child increased the amount of LEGO bricks the child would be able to play with. More sets meant more creative possibilities. Within this first strategic maneuver lied one of LEGO’s first mission statements which were “to create a toy that prepare the child for life, appeals to the imagination and develops the creative urge and joy of creation that are the driving force in every human being”.
After perfecting the brick design by adding “clutch power” through connection tubes, which enabled the bricks to lock together firmly yet come apart easily, in 1958 Godtfred submitted an application for patent of the LEGO brick design in Denmark. During the 1960’s the company decided to stop it’s production of wooden toys and focus completely on the LEGO brick and System of Play. Later during that decade, the company grew to over 600 employees and grew its brick design to include over 200 different shapes such as wheels, flat bricks, train tracks, windows, doors, and flags. This was further implementation for their business model and mission, which was to enable creativity. More options for pieces to connect meant more creative possibilities. They then introduced building instructions for each building set.
In the