In recent years the fashion industry has experienced a high frequency of famous Creative Directors departing the companies for unknown reasons. The same problem does not seem to occur in the Scandinavian fashion industry. This study’s purpose is to explore why Scandinavia does not experience the same problem, contribute a deeper understanding of the leader-designer relationship in the Swedish fashion industry, and to examine how the Scandinavian Cooperative Advantage is applicable in the Swedish fashion industry. Three case studies were conducted at the Swedish fashion companies TRIWA, Baron and Weriseg where both leaders and designers were interviewed. The findings showed that the leaders view their designers as an essential part of the organisation but how they are prioritised depend on the situation. Further more, this study indicates that all of the studied companies have a stakeholder approach, uses a value creating strategy based on cooperation with their stakeholders, are aligned with a typical Swedish organizational culture, and has a Swedish Management Style. Thus this study indicates that the notion of Scandinavian Cooperative Advantage is applicable at the Swedish fashion industry and that this might be a factor for their success.

Syfte: Syftet med studien är att undersöka huruvida det förekommer skillnader mellan anglosaxiska och kontinentaleuropeiska företag gällande goodwillnedskrivningar och vilka kulturella dimensioner (Hofstede) som är signifikanta för företagens nedskrivningstendenser.  Metod: Studien använder en deduktiv ansats med fastställda hypoteser formulerade från tidigare forskning. Där signifikansen har undersökts med hjälp av en multipel regressionsanalys för att kunna fastställa om en hypotes accepteras eller förkastas.   Empiri: Empirin består av kvantitativ data insamlad från årsredovisningar hämtade från företag listade på respektive lands aktiemarknad.   Slutsats: Resultatet från studien har kunnat dra slutsatserna att det finns ett kulturellt inflytande inom osäkerhetsundvikande, individualism, maskulinitet och tillfredsställande. Dessutom kan resultaten påvisa att kontinentaleuropeiska företag skriver ned goodwill mer frekvent medan anglosaxiska företag skriver ned med större summor. / Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine whether there are differences between Anglo-Saxon and Continental European companies within goodwill impairments and which cultural dimensions (Hofstede) that are significant for the companies impairment tendencies.  Methodology: The study employs a deductive approach with predetermined hypotheses formulated based on prior research. The significance has been examined through multiple regression analysis to determine whether a hypothesis is accepted or rejected. Empirical foundation: The empirical data consists of quantitative data from annual reports obtained from companies listed on the stock indices of their respective countries.  Conclusion: The study’s findings have led to the conclusion that there is a cultural influence within dimensions such as uncertainty avoidance, individualism, masculinity and indulgence. Furthermore, the results indicate that Continental European companies tend to impair goodwill more frequently, while Anglo-Saxon companies impair with larger amounts.

A large amount of research has been conducted in order to seek explanations that clarify e-commerce acceptance throughout the world; however, there is a gap in the research as to how e-commerce acceptance is attributable to national culture. Two previous studies (Yoon, 2009), (Capece, et al., 2013) used Hofstede’s five dimensions of national culture in conjunction with the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) as a means to filling this gap with perspectives on low-acceptance populations (China in 2008 and Italy in 2013). The study presented in this paper is a continuation of the previous work, offering a perspective on a high-acceptance population (Sweden). The main research question is about investigating how Swedish e-commerce acceptance is related to national culture, and the answer is sought by probing on the Swedish perspective of e-commerce in the light of the TAM, e-commerce trust, and Hofstede’s five dimensions of national culture in an online survey. The data is analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), and compared to the findings of the Chinese and Italian precursors. Furthermore, an attempt is made to explain the contrast between the comparably high e-commerce acceptance in Sweden to the lower degrees of acceptance in China and Italy.