Thesis (Ph.D. (Consumer Science))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2008.

Background: The strategic importance of purchasing departments is increasing, yet supply risks are rather uncharted. The procurement of coffee involves supply risks and the purchaser needs to be able to handle these to enable the roasting-house to produce coffee as specified. Purpose: To chart risks in connection with the procurement of coffee as well as the possibilities of handling these. The thesis also examines if general risk management theories are applicable on the supply risk present within Swedish roasting-houses and can become an integral partof the purchasing process. Method: A qualitative case study of the purchasing process of Swedish roasting- houses. Result: An a priori-model, which can serve as the basis for evaluation of the purchasing process and risk management of a business, elaborated to fit the Swedish roasting business.

Purpose As Sweden is one of the countries who pays a lot of attention towards the sustainability ofthe society, eco green businesses and also promotes environmental friendly products. So thepurpose of this study is to analyze the factors which influence consumers before choosingany electricity supplier, whether it is low price, better services, environmental friendly oravailability. And in this way we can check finally that how much people concern aboutenvironment and environmental friendly products. Methodology We have defined the procedure through which we did this research; mainly focus on thequantitative research which we get from questionnaires from different people belong todifferent groups to analyze the different factors that influence the consumer’s choice. Wealso included literature review and conceptual frame work of academic work to providemore depth to the readers about the subject. Besides that the data collection and theory ofresearch is presented in this part. Finding and Analysis Finally, we presented analysis through using the adopted model on consumer decisionprocess and green marketing strategies for competitive advantage and the findings that weget through questionnaire. Conclusion The factors which affect the consumer choice on choosing electricity supplier in Sweden aremajorly influenced by low prices followed by social responsibility, services andenvironmental friendly.

Background: Beauty is a subject which is not easy to grasp especially as it is perceived differently. In advertising it is expressed through aesthetic messages and images which we relate to symbolic and social meanings. The professional hair care industry in Sweden serves as a good example where the creation of aesthetic experience influences consumer purchasing behaviour. Purpose: The purpose of our thesis is to study how consumers´ subjective view on beauty and aesthetics can be influenced by the professional hair care industry and how a market is created for products which mainly satisfy emotional needs rather than fulfil utilitarian function. Research Method: In our study we have applied an abductive research method approach. The empirical findings were based on 3 interviews with P&G Salon Professional representatives and 15 end consumers combined with a survey, conducted in 25 hair salons in the city of Linköping. Conclusion: Consumers act in a socially constructed world in which products are shaped around impulse and feeling rather than their rationality. When buying a professional hair care product people receive much more than the actual product itself. People improve not only physical appearance but they also feel beautiful from within. While the utilitarian function is basically the same in both professional hair care and retail products, the former contributes to higher degree of satisfaction.

Background:Scholars tend to view global sourcing as a one-way street, whereby multinational manufacturers from developed countries purchase low-cost materials and products from developing countries. Undoubtedly, one of the purchasing bases for them is China because of its abundant resources and cheap labor. That is why China is aptly called the “Global Factory.” Conversely, few Chinese manufactures currently adopt a global sourcing strategy. However, the higher demand for technical quality and an increase in manufacturing cost is driving more Chinese manufacturers to adopt a global sourcing strategy in order to improve their competitive advantage. This would help them to optimize the use of global resources. Purpose: The purpose of this master thesis is to analyze what problems and challenges Chinese manufacturing companies face in the implementation of a global sourcing strategy. Research Method: Our study shall analyze the situation and problems encountered when Chinese manufacturers implement a global sourcing strategy. To achieve this deep understanding we need to perform a qualitative investigation of some Chinese manufacturers. Hence, we chose qualitative research as our methodology of this thesis. Conclusion:Pursuing global sourcing is a process which takes a long time and involves many obstacles to be overcome. In this complicated situation, there is not a universal compass to pursue global sourcing. Inexperienced Chinese manufacturers have to deal with each problem in order to develop an advanced level of global sourcing and to face the challenges from logistics capabilities, selecting foreign sources, protectionism, regulations, and so on.

Background: In the 1970’s, the first concerns regarding manufacturing pollu-tion headed off in Sweden and an enormous demand was cre-ated. The result came to be an enhanced consumption of ingredi-ent branded products such as KRAV, Bra Miljöval and The Swan to mention a few. Fair Trade entered the Swedish shelves in 1996 which gave the consumers the possibility to buy products and contribute to better conditions for farmers and employees in de-veloping countries. Problem: In 1995 a research was performed, which showed that 50 percent of the respondents did not buy products with for instance an en-vironmental concerned label due to the significantly higher price. Some argue against this and believe that it is more of a marketing issue. Customers have become more aware in their shopping and, in order to keep them, companies must meet their demands by paying more attention to how they run their business. Purpose: The aim with this thesis is to investigate why managers make decisions to purchase ingredient branded products, particulary Fair Trade. Method: To accomplish this thesis a qualitative approach has been applied with the intention to describe the result from performed tele-phone and personal interviews with companies within chain res-taurants, hotels, grocery stores, and textile retail stores. Conclusion: The study demonstrated that the decision to introduce Fair Trade labelled products depended on factors such as; the introduction year of these products, the history of the company and core values. Managers at the selected companies decided to purchase products with the ingredient brand Fair Trade for different rea-sons. Either since they had a long history of concern for fair production and rooted values or due to that the introduction of these products contributed to a good business image or to clean the company’s history.

Introduction: The growth of small business is fast and their impact on the economy is becoming bigger. How to manage the inventory effectively and efficiently often is a challenge for these small businesses. The study took place at HEM-SOL FORSALJNINGS AB, a company involved in gym sports equipment wholesale. For HEM-SOL two inventory problems, stock-out and overstock occur frequently. The company wants to improve its efficiency and is con-sidering a change in the inventory management. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate the reasons behind the inventory management inefficiency in HEM-SOL, and then the proposed managerial suggestions will be presented to deal with the issues. Method: The study is considered as qualitative single-case study. Data collection is mainly through the interviews with the top manager and other staff involved in inventory control opera-tions. Secondary data is retrieved from the information system to provide the annual pur-chasing and sales report about twenty items using a purposive sampling approach. Data analysis follows the theoretical framework. Conclusion: Small businesses have limited financial resources and bargaining power. Long-distance suppliers, big fluctuation of demand and lack of formalized inventory control system result in HEM-SOL bad performance on inventory management. The authors analyze the col-lected data and establish a formal inventory control system as the solution to improve the company’s inventory management.

In recent years, it is more and more popular to find Private Barnd in Convenience Stores, Hyper Markets, Super Markets and Boutique Stores. Private brand is the naturally outcome of chained retailers with bigger economic scale. It can bring more profits, and at the same time, it can raise the bargaining power of retailers to against the national brands. And most important of all, private barnd would create differentiated competitive adventage for reatilers. Therefore, it is very necessary for reatilers to understand consumers¡¦ attitudes and purchasing intentions for private brand products. Most of the researches in the past were focused on external characteristics, such as demograpghical variables but ingored consumers¡¦ psychological characteristics which usually dominate consumers¡¦ attitudes. And most of the researches were implemented based on Hyper or Super Market channels. This research wants to know how consumers feel about private barnd products in chained convenience stores, what kind of persons like or dislike private brands. Consumers¡¦ characteristics include psychological characteristics, demographical variables and store image. The research uses questionnaire method in front of convenience stores, and the main purpose of this questionnaire is to analyze the relationship between demographical variables, psychological variables, promotion intentions, store image, private brand attitudes, and private brands¡¦ purchasing intentions. The main research findings are listed as following: 1.When consumers¡¦ value consciousness is higher, their attitude for private brand would also be better. 2.Consumers who have more interests in promotion would have better attitude toward private label, especially the consumers who prefer price discount, their acceptance for private brands will be higher than those who prefer non-price promotion ( ex. Giftaway). 3.Consumers who have better store image will have better attitude toward private barnds accordingly. 4.Consumers¡¦ age has significant differences on the attitude of private brands. To sum it up, when consumers are elder, then they will have worse attitude toward private brands. 5.There are high consistence between attitude and purchasing intention.

Feelings and impressions of a product are important for the decision of purchasing it or not. Designing attractive products therefore requires knowledge about the feelings and impressions the products evoke on the customer and the user. Integrating such affective values in product design requires the introduction of suitable methods into companies’ product design processes, methods which can capture and convert subjective and even unconscious feelings about a product into concrete design parameters. This is sometimes referred to as ‘Affective Engineering’. One methodology in this context is Kansei Engineering, which has been developed in Japan in order to design feelings into products. The aim of this thesis was twofold: Firstly, to improve understanding of the nature of products making emotional impact on the users and customers. Secondly, to identify and improve methods capable of grasping those affective values and translating them into concrete product design solutions. This thesis presents three empirical studies and two methodological papers, relating to warehouse trucks and laminate flooring. The first study was made on user impact of warehouse trucks in three different European countries. A second study dealt with affective values of rocker-switches in work vehicles, such as warehouse trucks. A third study on this truck type compared the old manoeuvring panel evaluated in the previous studies with a newly introduced manoeuvring panel in order to validate the impact of the design improvements made after the first study. Further, a conceptual model on Kansei Engineering methodology was proposed in a methods paper based on the experience from the studies performed in order to provide a structure for performing Kansei Engineering studies. The fifth paper had the purpose of validating and improving the proposed model using laminate flooring as research object. More structured ways of identifying design parameters and relevant product properties was given high priority in the improvement work of the methodology. A model for spanning the Space of Product Properties was presented and applied. This thesis also deals with other improvement areas in the methodology and proposed new developments, including the use of scales, experimental design and validation methods. In conclusion, Kansei Engineering is a concept and a methodology in strong development, a framework in which tools and methods are continuously developed, added and integrated.

Introduction As the world is becoming increasingly integrated, many firms search for partners overseas with hope to find benefits. Internationalization is today the industrial norm, and in this new and ever-expanding environment, international purchasing has become a major challenge that firms have to face in their daily operations. Yet, despite the growing importance of international purchasing by retailers, previous studies have mainly focused on international purchasing by manufacturing firms, and as the authors have acknowledge the retailers' significance on the national markets, a gap has been identified. Purpose The purpose of this thesis is to examine and map out the current state of Swedish retailers' international purchasing activities. Method In order to fulfill the purpose, a quantitative research was chosen. In total, 74 telephone interviews have been conducted, resulting in a response rate of 80 percent. The sample was based on the 120 largest retailers in Sweden, with regards to turnover. Conclusion Swedish retailers have been grouped into four distinctive clusters; the Veterans, the Freshmen, the Cravens, and the Intellectuals. Each cluster showed clear and specific characteristics that distinguished them from each other. One common feature existed; regarding what risks that were connected with international purchasing. Almost everyone highlighted the loss of control, due to long distances, as being the main risk with international purchasing. The different clusters had diverse suggestions for how to overcome this; the Veterans focused on long-term relationship-building, the Freshmen spread their purchasing activities on multiple suppliers, the Cravens contracted trade companies to take the risk, and the Intellectuals invested in a high level of integration among all actors involved.