An abundance of information regarding the structure of a finite group can be obtained by studying its irreducible characters. Of particular interest are monomial characters – those induced from a linear character of some subgroup – since Brauer has shown that any irreducible character of a group can be written as an integral linear combination of monomial characters. Our primary focus is the class of M-groups, those groups all of whose irreducible characters are monomial. A classical theorem of Taketa asserts that an M-group is necessarily solvable, and Dade proved that every solvable group can be embedded as a subgroup of an M-group. After discussing results related to M-groups, we will construct explicit families of solvable groups that cannot be embedded as subnormal subgroups of any M-group. We also discuss groups possessing a unique non-monomial irreducible character, and prove that such a group cannot be simple.

The study “How does H&M Group communicate sustainability in a non-sustainable industry?” examines how the fashion companies H&M, Arket, COS, & Other Stories and Monki, who are part of the H&M Group, communicates Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) at their websites and how trustworthy their communication is. CSR is about how companies take a greater social responsibility than what the law requires to contribute to a better world. The issue of sustainability is an important question in today’s society and the negative impact on people and planet of the fashion industry makes the topic relevant of its time.  The study is based on the theories CSR, that includes Triple Bottom Line which describes CSR from three dimensions, and A Framework of CSR communication which describes several factors that companies should assume when communicating about CSR. The concept of trustworthiness is also included in the theoretical framework of the study. Based on the method multimodal critical discourse analysis (MCDA) an analysis scheme has been designed. By using the analytical tools lexical choices, word connotations, iconography, attributes and modality in language the companies have been analyzed in an equivalent way.   The analysis resulted in three discursive themes that could be identified in the CSR-communication of the companies in H&M Group. The discursive themes were – “engage consumers to act”, “the environmental dimension in focus”, and “the future fashion industry as circular and somewhat encouraging”. The analysis also showed that the trustworthiness of the communication varies between the companies and that they create trustworthiness in different ways despite being part of the same group. The companies create trustworthiness through transparency, emotions and concrete examples.

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.

Because of the growing pressure and expectations on companies' social and ecological responsibility from society, sustainability has become anincreasingly important aspect to integrate within companies. This study has analyzed how sustainability reporting can function as a tool for companiesto communicate their sustainability work. A content analysis was conducted on four of H&M Group’s sustainability reports from the years of 2002,2008, 2014 and 2020. Through the lens of a theoretical framework the analysis studied how the reports had changed over time, which themes couldbe distinguished and how they reflected good sustainability reporting according to science. The results of the analysis showed that H&M Group´ssustainability reports had an overall focus on responsibility, the value chain and the impact from external events. Furthermore, the focus shifted frombeing on the social aspects to including more of the ecological aspects over time. The results correlated with what science considers as good sustainability reporting. / I och med samhällets ökande press och förväntningar på företags sociala och ekologiska ansvarstagande har hållbarhet blivit en allt viktigare del förföretag att integrera. Den här studien har analyserat hur hållbarhetsrapportering kan fungera som ett verktyg för företag att kommunicera sitt hållbarhetsarbete. En innehållsanalys genomfördes på fyra av H&M Group:s hållbarhetsrapporter, år 2002, 2008, 2014 samt 2020. Genom stöd i ettteoretiskt ramverk undersöktes hur rapporterna hade förändrats över tid, vilka teman som kunde ur-skiljas samt hur de återspeglade forskningens synpå god hållbarhetsrapportering. Resultatet påvisade att H&M Group:s hållbarhetsrapporter hade ett övergripande fokus på ansvarstagande, värdekedjan samt påverkan från omvärlden. Vidare skiftade fokus från att ligga på de sociala aspekterna till de ekologiska aspekterna i rapporterna övertid. Resultatet gick i linje med vad som, enligt forskningen, anses som god rapportering.