Studien analyserar H&M och Volvo Groups kommunikation gällande företagsvärderingar. Företagen verkar inom textilindustrin respektive transport- och fordonsindustrin och har genom åren fått kritik för sin negativa påverkan på hållbarhet. För att en organisation ska fungera måste det finnas kärnvärderingar som knyter samman organisationen. Det är också viktigt att värderingarna är hållbara. Eftersom vi lever i en värld där en omställning är högst aktuell är det viktigt att företag anpassar sin kommunikation för att klara denna omställning. Med hjälp av en semiotisk metod, analyserar studien hur H&M och Volvo Group kommunicerar sina värderingar på deras hemsidor. Därefter studerar vi hur företagen retoriskt framställer sina värderingar i syfte att övertyga deras mottagare. Med hjälp av semiotiken, retoriken och Brundtlandskommissionens definition av hållbarhet samt forskning inom ämnet diskuterar vi hur värderingarna framställs retoriskt och företagens ställningstagande i hållbarhetsfrågan.  Resultatet visar att Volvo Group har en tydlighet i sin kommunikation gällande värderingar. Det finns också ett tydligt samspel mellan bild och text där båda textelementen har ett retoriskt syfte. Det går att konstatera att Volvo Groups kommunikation gällande värderingar har ett starkt ethos. I H&M:s kommunikation av värderingar finns en röd tråd, en igenkänning och ett sammanhang som gör det enklare för mottagare att förstå. De argument som tydligast går att urskilja för att övertyga mottagarna är de med pathos-karaktär, eftersom båda företagen förmedlar en tydlig vi-känsla i sin kommunikation. Logos-argumenten hade kunnat stärkas ytterligare med en förklaring på varför värderingarna valdes. Resultatet visar också att den ekologiska dimensionen saknas i båda företagens kommunikation av värderingar. / This study analyses H&M and Volvo Group’s communication regarding corporate values. The two companies operate within the textile industry and transport industry and through the years, they have been criticized for their negative impact on sustainability. In order for an organization to function, core values must exist and attach the organization as a unit. It is also important that the values are sustainable. As we live in a world where adaption is highly relevant, it is important for companies to adapt their communication in order to manage this adaptation. By a visual method, this study analyses how H&M and Volvo Group communicate their corporate values on their websites. Thereafter, we study how the two companies rhetorically communicate their values for the purpose of convincing the perceiver. In view of semiotic, rhetoric and sustainability theories as well as scientific research within the field, we discuss how the corporate values are rhetorically presented and the companies’ standpoint regarding sustainable development.  The result shows that Volvo Group maintains a clarity in their communication regarding corporate values. There is also a clear connection between image and text where both text elements have a rhetorical purpose. It can also be stated that Volvo Group’s communication of values has a strong ethos. H&M uses a common thread, recognition, and cohesion in their communication to help perceivers to understand. The arguments that are most clearly discernible to convince the recipients are those with a pathos character, as both companies use team spirit in their communication. The logos-arguments could be stronger if there was an explanation to why the values have been chosen. The result also shows that the ecological dimension is not inherited in the companies’ communication regarding corporate values.

Large product assortments commonly lead to that fast fashion retailers have a large number of transport cartons, with varying sizes, to distribute products from manufacturing sites to distribution centers. Ultimately, the transport cartons have a large impact on the supply chain efficiency, as they affect several nodes in the supply chain network. Previous research has considered transport cartons’ impact on individual supply chain nodes, but little research has been devoted to evaluate the transport cartons impact on the supply chain network as a whole. Thus, this thesis aims to contribute with knowledge to bridge the gap in literature by investigating how a company’s transport cartons affect the overall supply chain efficiency, by applying a holistic perspective. The thesis was conducted as a case study in collaboration with Hennes & Mauritz (H&M), aworld-leading fast fashion retailer. The research identifies opportunities and challenges related totransport carton usage, and how the cartons impact supply chain efficiency. Moreover, the research evaluates the costs associated with different sets of transport carton sizes, based on acost estimation model constructed on data provided by H&M. It is concluded that a small set oftransport carton sizes could increase supply chain efficiency and generate potential cost savingsdue to mainly two reasons. First, a small set of transport cartons could lead to efficient containerloading. Second, it could lead to efficient carton handling and optimal space utilization in thedistribution centers. / Till följd av stora produktsortiment har snabbmodeaktörer ofta ett stort set av transportkartonger, med varierande storlekar, för att distribuera produkterna från tillverkning till varuhus. Eftersom transportkartongerna påverkar fler noder i försörjningskedjan, har de följaktligen stor påverkan på hur effektiv försörjningskedjan är. Tidigare forskning har utvärderat hur transportkartongerna kan påverka enskilda noder i försörjningskedjan, men lite fokus har ägnats åt att utvärdera kartongernas effekt på försörjningskedjan, sett ur ett helhetsperspektiv. Detta examensarbete syftar till att bidra med kunskap för att överbrygga detta gap genom att undersöka hur ett företags transportkartonger påverkar den totala försörjningskedjans effektivitet genom att tillämpa ett helhetsperspektiv. Examensarbetet genomfördes som en fallstudie i samarbete med Hennes & Mauritz (H&M), som är en av de världsledande aktörerna inom snabbmode. Studien identifierar möjligheter och utmaningar relaterade till transportkartonganvändning, och hur kartongerna påverkar försörjningskedjans effektivitet. Vidare utvärderades kostnaden av att ha olika uppsättningar av transportkartonger, baserat på en beräkningsmodell grundad på data från H&M. Resultaten visade att ett litet set av transportkartonger kan ha positiv påverkan på försörjningskedjans effektivitet och generera kostnadsbesparingar till följd av två huvudsakliga anledningar. Den första anledningen är att ett litet set förenklar effektiv containerladdning. Den andra anledningen är att det kan leda till mer effektiv kartonghantering på lager och bättre utnyttjande av lagerutrymme.

The highly variable demand of fast fashion causes retailers in the industry to face large uncertainties when allocating initial inventory batches across multiple locations. Further into the selling season, inventory imbalances might arise as an effect of deviations from expected demand. To mitigate these imbalances, retailers can make use of lateral transshipments of inventory from locations with excess stock to those facing the risk of a stockout. Such transshipments require models for determining what and how much to ship as well as when to ship it. This thesis investigates how such a model can be applied on replenishment warehouse level in a fast-fashion retail setting. The research was conducted through a quantitative case study at Hennes & Mauritz (H&M), one of the largest fast-fashion retailers in the world. An appropriate existing transshipment model based on the concept of service level was identified and adjusted to suit the characteristics of H&M. In contrast to the vast majority of models in literature, empirical probability distributions were used for dynamically modelling short-term demand. The proposed model was evaluated and found to suggest transshipments yielding significant revenue increase driven by lowered price reductions. This thesis differs from existing literature by providing a unique case-study of how a transshipment model can be applied in practice and how it performs on empirical data from one of the largest fast-fashion retailers in the world. / Den kraftigt varierande efterfrågan på snabbt mode gör att aktörer i branschen står inför stora osäkerheter vid initiala lagerallokeringar. Längre in i försäljningscykeln kan lagerobalanser uppstå till följd av avvikelser från den förväntade efterfrågan. För att hantera obalanserna kan företag flytta lager från de regioner med lageröverskott till de som i närtid riskerar att få slut i lager. Sådana flyttar kräver modeller för att avgöra vad och hur mycket som ska flyttas samt när det ska flyttas. Detta examensarbete undersöker hur en sådan modell kan appliceras inom branschen för snabbt mode. Studien genomfördes som en kvantitativ fallstudie i samarbete med Hennes & Mauritz (H&M), en av världens största aktörer inom snabbmodebranschen. En lämplig existerande modell som baseras på konceptet om servicenivå identifierades och anpassades efter H&M:s egenskaper. Till skillnad från majoriteten av modeller i literature användes empiriska sannolikhetsfördelningar för att dynamiskt modellera kortsiktig efterfrågan. Den föreslagna modellen utvärderades och visades föreslå flyttar som genererar signifikanta intäktsökningar drivet av lägre prisnedsättningar. Denna studie skiljer sig från existerande litteratur genom sitt bidrag med en unik fallstudie av hur en modell för lagerflyttar kan appliceras i praktiken samt hur den presterar på empirisk data från en av världens största snabbmodeaktörer.

The fashion industry has a significant environmental impact due to its high rate of production and consumption. In order to become sustainable, fashion businesses are making fundamental changes in their business models. In doing so, they are aiming to reduce the use of materials, decrease carbon footprint, and meet customer demands while also being profitable. This shift towards making fashion sustainable and profitable has encouraged companies to adopt circular business models where products are designed for multiple lifecycles. The branding of circular business models and products is an important yet underdeveloped area of research. The literature on the branding and communication of circular products is limited. Therefore, this study aims to explore different communication strategies for branding of circular products. In order to achieve the research objectives, a case study research methodology is implemented using the H&M Group as a case company. This study performed a brief systematic literature review and qualitative content analysis on the communication of circular products by H&M Group to identify the dominant themes. This study identified twelve themes from the systematic literature review & fourteen themes from the qualitative content analysis. The analysis shows that these themes have an inclination towards either increasing brand engagement or increasing customer awareness from a company perspective. Based on the analysis of the results this study identifies two main communication strategies for branding of circular products: awareness-oriented communication strategy and engagement-oriented communication strategy. / Modeindustrin har en betydande miljöpåverkan på grund av sin höga produktions- och konsumtionstakt. För att bli hållbara gör modeföretagen grundläggande förändringar i sina affärsmodeller. Genom att göra det strävar de efter att minska materialanvändningen, minska koldioxidavtrycket och möta kundernas krav samtidigt som de är lönsamma. Denna förändring mot att göra mode hållbart och lönsamt har uppmuntrat företag att anta cirkulära affärsmodeller där produkter är designade för flera livscykler. Varumärkesbyggandet av cirkulära affärsmodeller och produkter är ett viktigt men underutvecklat forskningsområde. Litteraturen om varumärkesbyggande och kommunikation av cirkulära produkter är begränsad. Därför syftar denna studie till att utforska olika kommunikationsstrategier för varumärkesbyggande av cirkulära produkter. För att uppnå forskningsmålen implementeras en forskningsmetodik för fallstudier med hjälp av H&M-gruppen som ett fallföretag. Denna studie genomförde en kort systematisk litteraturgenomgång och kvalitativ innehållsanalys av H&M Groups kommunikation av cirkulära produkter för att identifiera de dominerande teman. Denna studie identifierade tolv teman från den systematiska litteraturöversikten och fjorton teman från den kvalitativa innehållsanalysen. Analysen visar att dessa teman har en benägenhet att antingen öka varumärkesengagemanget eller öka kundmedvetenheten ur ett företagsperspektiv. Baserat på analysen av resultaten identifierar denna studie två huvudsakliga kommunikationsstrategier för varumärkesbyggande av cirkulära produkter: medvetenhetsorienterad kommunikationsstrategi och engagemangsorienterad kommunikationsstrategi.

Research Question: How can the concept of Greening Goliaths and Emerging Davids be applied to better understand the sustainabile transformation of the fashion industry?  Purpose: This paper sets out to analyze two approaches to sustainability within the fashion industry; A firm adopting CSR initiatives into their business strategy versus a sustainable brand. These approaches are explored within the framework of Greening Goliaths and Emerging Davids to recognize their contribution to the sustainable transformation of the fashion industry. Method: A qualitative approach to our case study was taken in which we analyze and measure the Swedish fast fashion company, H&M and an American eco-friendly fashion label, Reformation. A semi-formal phone interview with an expert on sustainability in the fashion industry gave us further knowledge of how the two approaches can be combined for the industry to become more sustainable. A model was developed that aided the analysis as well as the discussion of the empirical findings. Conclusion: Our conclusions found that the sustainable brand, Reformation can be categorized as an Emerging David and is in the Take-off stage. In order to gain a larger market share an contribute to the sustainable transformation of the industry Reformation will need to continue process innovation to lower their price point. H&M was initially categorized as a Greening Goliath however upon further analysis we believe they are shifting to become and Environmental David leading the sustainable transformation of the industry. In order for a sustainable transformation of the fashion industry there needs to be a co-evolution of both Greening Goliaths and Emerging Davids working together for a sustainable future.

Prior research has pointed out the importance of companies attending social media during company crises. Though limited studies have examined how crisis communication stands on social media platforms during real organisational crises. Done by a qualitative textual analysis conducted through official statements from H&M:s Facebook posts, Twitter posts and Instagram posts for this case, this study aims to explore how the crisis communication for H&M stood during their crisis “coolest monkey in the jungle” in January 2018 to see how H&M used effective crisis communication strategies. The textual analysis is used to study how the empirical material reveal recurrent strategies from Image repair theory together with the rhetorical concept of ethos pathos and logos. Based on prior research for crisis communication mainly made through case studies we use the same design which has been proven successful. Findings suggested how H&M regularly were using recurrent strategies from Image repair theory and the rhetorical concept in their crisis communication in this case. The outcome of this study shows an example for how crisis communication on social media can be and how effective crisis communication strategies can be used on social media.

With the growing trend of the manufacturing of sustainable products by the apparel brands, the eco-friendly consumers are becoming more interested in knowing the brands’ sustainability communication and their claims. This study has taken the Katz’s attitude functions theory as a framework to better understand the factors which can help in calculating the consumers’ attitudes towards the sustainability communication of H&M, the leading apparel brand of Sweden. This research paper used qualitative research method and have done the ‘focused group analyses’ to investigate the consumers attitude towards sustainability communication of H&M. Four focus groups interviews were conducted and then transcribed to generate themes to interpretate the results. Researcher utilized the Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) approach as a qualitative research method, to explore the ‘lived experience’ of the research participants. Author then interpretated the results and found out that the consumers are aware from the H&M sustainability communication. Although most of them positively influenced from the brand’s sustainability, yet some of them have doubts on the sustainability claims of H&M.

The theories of the law of one price and purchasing power parity are thought to hold almost exactly in financial market, but it seems less likely to occur in international trade where arbitrage opportunities take place. The purpose of this study is to test whether the purchasing power parity holds for commodities in various national markets, for which a quantitative method is followed. For identical goods, the prices should be equal across countries. In fact, the prices vary significantly across ‘truly homogenous’ goods within a product group. The finding suggests that differences in productivity and value-added tax do have significant positive impacts on price settings. As a consequence, purchasing power parity definitely does not prevail as well as law of one price does not. Further studies can use these findings to examine the extent and permanence of violations of the law of one price.

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The demand for sustainability initiatives is increasing by both consumers and organizations (Gittell, et al. 2013). It changes the way businesses are operating and communicating, hence the interest for sustainable marketing has increased. Sustainable marketing should not only be about initiatives to appear more environmental friendly or socially conscious, but rather about a more substantive and meaningful levels of commitments (ibid). Alongside these practical ideas of sustainable marketing, consumers’ requirements for sustainability have sometimes been used as a strategy to create sustainable communication, although companies are lacking initiatives of sustainability. The idea of marketing as a strategy to create desire and needless spending along with sustainability goals has been criticized as being in direct contradictories (Meller & Magaš 2014, Pettie 2001, Pettie & Belz 2010). Thus, the problematics compose of the discussed oxymoron between sustainability and marketing together with the difference between sustainable communication and communicating sustainability.   This qualitative study has been done with a starting position from the idea of addressing how sustainable marketing is practiced, why it is practiced and how the future outlook of the concept is perceived from a company perspective. The chosen theories for this study compose mainly of basic marketing theories and models with a sustainability adaption. A qualitative study addressing this issue from a company perspective has not been discovered in previous researches, which resulted in the idea of highlighting different companies’ opinions and practices of sustainable marketing. The findings have discovered the usage of sustainable marketing today and potentially in the future, together with reasons for why it is practiced. Sustainability has become a well-known concept with a lot of business scandals associated to it, which has been mentioned in this study as one of the reasons for the predictions of a future demand of real sustainable marketing practices.