Globalization has led to that companies’ within the textile industry, now source manufacturing overseas. Supply chains are therefore now ultimately longer, with a lot of activities and people involved. Control and implementation of strategies is now something that companies need to considerate in the supply chain, in order to reduce lead times, meet the unpredictable demand of today’s consumers and compete against other retailers. One important task in this is for retailers to have an efficient PD and sample process, due to the fact that it's in this stage where the retailers still have time to make changes and prevent problems along the supply chain. The Conceptual Framework; describes that the textile industry is not high represented in the use lean even if the strategy doesn’t need large investments in technology or training. A great part of succeeding with lean lies in the development phase, and to build a well developed and thought out system to be able to create future products. In the methodology chapter the authors have chosen to perform a case study on a branded retailer. By conducting interviews, observations and value stream mapping, the researchers can approach the study from different angles in order to double check the results, which tends to increase the validity and reliability of a study. The study's empirical materials are based on seven semi-structured interviews with employees at the case company, two observations on fittings and a Value stream mapping (VSM) of 5 different styles. This was done in order to create a deeper understanding of the sample process and the activities involved and identify non-value adding activities. Discussion; the researchers have noticed that depending on the production country and product type, the sample process looks very different. This can be a result of that people working in the process don’t have a standardized way in handling problems and instead do it in their own way. The results that case company generated could be concluded that there are several problems in sample process, which is further discussed in the analysis chapter, where there are a number of lean tools that can eliminate the identified problems. The conclusion that the researchers made is that working with Lean PD can help the company to improve their capabilities and do more with less, by sorting out the unnecessary activities with a focus on standardizing. The literature say that VSM and 5S are most common in textile companies, but the researchers have seen, through this research, that other lean tools are applicable and appropriate in the PD as well.

Background: Managers can utilize tools such as Corporate social responsibility (CSR) and employer branding to manage the relationship between employees and the organization. CSR is a tool that can be used to make the organization look better. Companies can utilize employer branding to market themselves towards its current and new employees in a harmful industry. The fashion retail industry can be seen as a harmful industry, as the industry causes harm to the environment, society and people. The existing literature looks at how customers think about these issues, however not much is said about employees' thoughts who are working for these harmful organizations. The employees are the ones who in stores meet the critique from customers, instead of the organizations who make these harmful decisions. Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to explore the significance of CSR in a harmful industry and its influence on the relationship between employees and the organization. Employees can be influenced by different factors both internal and external concerning their organization’s CSR practices, which can affect how they view their organization as an employer. Therefore, this study will try to explore the relation between the organization and the employees to see how working in a harmful industry has an impact on the relationship. Method: The thesis conducts a qualitative and exploratory method, this was done through an abductive research approach. Furthermore, 10 semi-structured interviews were conducted with the participants being interviewed. To analyze the ten interviews a thematic analysis was utilized as a guide. Conclusion: Employer and employee relationship does not seem to be disturbed by the questionable external CSR practices or a harmful industry in general. CSR is significant to employees, but when it comes to their own organization it does not matter since they are given values such as salary and employment. Organizations create benefits, value and engagement for employees by using employer branding and internal CSR, thus the organizations market themselves to the employees, meanwhile manage the relationship through skills development, empowerment, employment stability and work-life balance.

The purpose with the thesis is to identify, analyze and present the problems micro companies in the Swedish fashion and sport industry are facing when using social media as a communication tool in their marketing activities. Also relevant digital communication channels have been investigated and presented. Two case studies have been made with two Swedish micro companies in order to fulfill our purpose and answer our two research questions. The result from the interviews showed that micro companies, overall in the industry, could benefit from using social media as a communication channel, but they struggle to know how they should use it. We answer our research question through creating and presenting our own constructed model that companies should use in their business for planning their social media strategy and overcome the found problems. The thesis is a qualitative research with an abducted approach. We did an active research with a case study on the two companies Kask of Sweden and Gococo. Through deep interviews, we got much information about how they work today and what problems they face when using social media. We have worked with four themes during the entire process; present, relationship, problems and future, to facilitate for the reader and for us. The study has high reability for the investigated companies, and we also argue that it could be of interest for other fashion and sport micro companies at the Swedish market. An theoretical framework was conducted through researching the specific area and finding relevant theory and published material concerning marketing and communicaton, as well as digital marketing theory and publications about social media. The chosen material is presented in the theory chapter where an own constructed model is presented as a guideline for the reader. It will help the reader to find the theories and their elations to each other. We believe it to be a good way of ease the understanding and the relevance of the chosen theories. The research shows that micro companies in the Swedish fashion sport industry faces different problems using social media as a communication platform for their company. Thus micro companies often have a very limited amount of resources and neither have the money, the knowledge or the time to manage a large marketing and communication social media can be beneficial if used properly. Though it comes with a few struggles. The main problems concerned around knowing who their real customer is, how to handle the relationship and create stronger connections with customers, difficulties in knowing which channels to use and how to handle them properly. They also found problems in knowing what how to communicate the right image and get the desired result of the published materials. Lastly the companies sometimes lacked a clear strategy in managing their social media platforms and raised questions about the language use, time consumption and who should run the activates. With our ”Four step-from likes to commitment” model we want to put attention to the most relevant steps a company needs to be aware of before starting and during working with social media, as well as be a strategy to handle and overcome the problems the previously struggled with. / Program: Textilt management, fashion management

The rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI) has led to significant changes in the business environment and academic discussions. AI boosts productivity and positively impacts the competitive advantage of organisations. However, it also has its dark sides, such as prejudice, non-transparent processes, and people's fears that AI will be able to take their jobs in the future. The successful implementation of AI in organisations depends on several factors, including geopolitical, cultural, ecosystem, organisational, and individual factors. Geopolitical context and cultural differences can play an important role in the adoption and implementation of AI in organisations. This study examines the influence of geopolitical and cultural contexts on the decision-making process for the adoption and implementation of AI by managers from the fashion retail industry in Sweden and India. Given the extensive scope of these contexts, the authors narrowed their focus on specific factors. In the cultural context, the authors consider selected dimensions of the GLOBE project that reflect national culture. Within the Geopolitical context, particular attention is given to aspects such as data access and control, as well as the regulatory framework. In the course of this study, semi-structured interviews were conducted, and additional secondary data was studied. The study showed that the specifics of data access and control, as well as governmental legislative regulation, directly affect the decision-making process regarding the adoption and implementation of AI. As for the cultural context, here the degree of influence is heterogeneous, and decision-making on the implementation of AI is not always subject to the direct influence of the national cultural factors.

Our world is rapidly being redefined by digitalization and disruptive innovations such as changing customer preferences, demographical shifts, and by putting tremendous environmental pressure including scarce resources and a contribution to climate change. Change under these circumstances often brings traditional business models to lose their competitive edge and in the end fail. Previous research of the specific term successful models is vague with ambiguous definitions of the conceptualization of a sustainable business model. More alarming is the limited research addressing the sustainable innovation process thus explaining the existing organizational management problems, where today, firms are operating blindfolded without any academic- or empirical guidance. Fashion as a part of the world’s economy is undoubtedly considered as one of the areas that urgently requires the adoption of more sustainable business models, bringing all actors within the fashion retail industry into a challenging position. The thesis aims to contribute with theoretical knowledge and empirical evidence to bridge this gap by addressing following purpose: explore and improve the understanding of how traditional clothing retailers within the fashion retail industry innovate their current sustainable business models. The thesis is anchored in an exploratory case study at a traditional fashion retail company focusing on children apparel, namely Polarn O. Pyret. Finding shows that the case company simultaneously performs sustainability practices within their existing model, suggesting that a comparative approach can be appropriate when innovating already commercialized sustainable business models. Furthermore, empirical findings explicitly show five factors that differentiate the conventional concept with the sustainability concept of a business model. Thenceforth, the innovation process is explored from this context involving both advantages and challenges. Hence, the process occurs simultaneously, it is recommended to perform a variety of sustainability practices, to spread out the level of complexity and thereby optimize the utilization of resources. The thesis highlights an existing Pilot Prototype when implementing sustainability practices into the current model. Thereby, risks and uncertainty factors can be mitigated to ensure the implementation of sustainable competitive advantage. The thesis makes up for three contributions. First, a contribution with practical knowledge on how traditional clothing retailers is innovating their sustainable business model. Second, the study contributes with an increased understanding of the innovation process of launching successfully developed- or refined models. Third, the thesis makes an analytical contribution by the conceptual framework of references, forming a consolidation of the ambiguous conceptualization settled in a specific context. / Vår värld omdefinieras drastiskt av digitalisering och innovationer som skapar nya kundpreferenser, demografiska förändringar samt att genom en enorm miljöpress inklusive knappa resurser, bidra till klimatförändringarna. Förändringar under dessa omständigheter får ofta traditionella affärsmodeller att tappa sin konkurrenskraft och i slutändan misslyckas. Tidigare forskning av den specifika termen framgångsrika modeller är vag med tvetydiga definitioner av konceptualiseringen av en hållbar affärsmodell. Mer alarmerande är den begränsade forskningen som studerar den hållbara innovationsprocessen och därmed förklarar de befintliga problem för organisationsledningar, där företag idag arbetar utan någon akademisk- eller empirisk vägledning. Mode som en del av världens ekonomi betraktas utan tvekan som ett av de områden som brådskande kräver mer hållbara affärsmodeller, vilket sätter alla aktörer inom modebranschen i en utmanande position. Examensarbetet syftar till att bidra med teoretisk kunskap och empiriskt bevis för att överbrygga detta gap, genom att ta itu med följande syfte: utforska och förbättra förståelsen för hur traditionella klädförsäljare inom modebranschen utvecklar sina nuvarande hållbara affärsmodeller. Examensarbetet är förankrad i en undersökande fallstudie hos ett traditionellt klädesbolag, nämligen Polarn O. Pyret. Resultat visar att fallföretaget samtidigt utför hållbarhetspraxis inom sin befintliga modell, vilket indikerar att en jämförande strategi kan vara lämplig när man utvecklar redan kommersialiserade hållbara affärsmodeller. Vidare visar empiriska fynd fem faktorer som skiljer det konventionella konceptet med det hållbara för en affärsmodell. Från den här kontexten utforskas innovationsprocessen som involverar både fördelar och utmaningar. Då utvecklingen sker simultant rekommenderas det att utföra olika typer av hållbarhetspraxis för att sprida ut komplexitetsnivån och därmed få jämnfördelade resurser och samtidigt få konkurrenskraft. Examensarbetet belyser en befintlig akademisk pilotprototyp vid implementering av hållbarhetspraxis i den nuvarande modellen, därmed kan risker och osäkerhetsfaktorer mildras/överkommas för att säkerställa hållbara konkurrensfördelar. Examensarbetet bidrar till forskningen på tre sätt. Först och främst bidrar resultatet med kunskap om hur traditionella klädesbolag utvecklar sina befintliga hållbara affärsmodeller. För det andra bidrar studien till en ökad förståelse av innovationsprocessen för att lansera framgångsrika nya- eller förfinade modeller. Slutligen ger examensarbetet ett analytiskt bidrag genom den konceptuella referensramen för att skapa en konsolidering av den tvetydiga konceptualiseringen satt i ett specifikt sammanhang.