The research in natural & organic cosmetics field is particularly scant, and especially in Sweden, no research has been done on the industry of natural & organic cosmetics. In consideration of the global eco-trend and also in order to overcome this research gap, this current thesis is focused on studying Swedish natural & organic cosmetics industry, which nowadays appears to be competitive and challenging as never before. Sweden is one of the most environmentally conscious countries where the consumption of cosmetics reached 15 billion SEK in 2011. There are number of companies and brands which categorize them as natural, and continuously look for ways to attract new and keep existing customers. The increased consumer demand for natural & organic products can be observed, consumer awareness coupled with willingness to purchase products that fit their principles and values, as well as consumer price-sensitivity as a result of global recession and their pursuit of making the best value of money. The requirement of natural beauty products are increasing and are available on environmentally-conscious Swedish market. The motivation behind this study is to enhance understanding about the natural & organic cosmetics industry in Sweden, and take a deeper look by over viewing some companies which are presented on this market. Understanding the industry structure is particularly important. Modified Porter’s five forces model has been used in this thesis in order to make the industry analysis.

Digitaliseringen har senaste åren påverkat företagsverksamhet, deras kommunikation med kunderna samt hantering av marknadsföringen. Bibehållning av konkurrenskraft inom detaljhandelns har blivit tuffare med allt bredare användning av Webb 2.0 samt sociala medier. Både kunderna och företag ser högt värde i relationer och direkt kommunikation. Marknadsföring men även strategier har gått från de traditionella formerna till allt mer digitaliserade. Denna studie kommer genom en fallspecifik undersökning av fyra företag inom detaljhandeln undersöka vilken kunskap samt åtgärder har dessa företag använt för att förbättra kommunikationsstrategi samt deras försäljning och vilka resultat har det gett. Studien är av kvalitativ karaktär och baseras därmed på resultat från empiriinsamling i form av intervjuer som kommer stödjas med relevant teori i form av tidigare studier och litteratur. / Digitization has in recent years affected companies' operations, their communication with customers and the management of marketing. Maintaining competitiveness in retail has become tougher with the ever-widening use of Web 2.0 and social media. Both customers and companies see high value in relationships and direct communication. Marketing but also strategies have gone from the traditional forms to increasingly digitized. This study will, through a case-specific survey of four companies in the retail trade, examine what knowledge and measures these companies have used to improve communication strategy and their sales and what results it has given. The study is of a qualitative nature and is based on results from empirical collection in the form of interviews that will be supported with relevant theory in the form of previous studies and literature.

<p>The management consultancy, a 14 billion EUR industry in Europe, has become an attractive market in the last couple of years. The Swedish market is blooming with an economic growth of a staggering 20 % according to analysts at Konsultguiden. The attractiveness of the market has brought many foreign players into the field such as Celerant. Celerant is a UK-based company earning a total of $145 million in 2006 with about 650 employees around Europe and the USA. Their focus is mainly within operational management. A few years ago, Celerant decided to expand in to the Nordic region consisting of Denmark, Norway and Sweden and has just recently started to focus a bit extra on the Swedish market. Using Porter’s model of Five Forces we look at the Swedish management consulting industry to see what factors to consider focusing on when entering the market. Through an analysis of the current management consulting market, we compare it to Celerant’s strategy for entering the Swedish market to see if our analysis differs or is similar to the consultancy’s actual strategy. This gives us a picture of how the management consultancies perceive the market and how they act accordingly. The results show similarities with two factors: the consultants and the clients. These seem to be the main factors to focus on as a management consultancy entering the Swedish market. There seems to be a current shortage of competent consultants on the Swedish market and therefore a necessity to focus on recruitment. Clients are what make business for consultancies and business connections need to be established before entering the market. However, we found that more precaution should be taken for factors such as substitutes and new entrants as well. There is a constant change of trends in the management consultancy industry and needs to be considered in order to stay competitive on the market, since a management consultancy needs to be able to offer what the clients demand.</p>

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to identify the possibilities for a garment producing country, with high supplier and buyer dependency, to implement a yarn-forward value chain. Design/methodology/approach - This study analyzes existing literature along with collected data conducted through a field study in Vietnam. Primary data was collected through interviews with actors within the Vietnamese garment industry. Findings - What has been concluded through this case research is that monetary investments, relationships, and education of employees are dimensions that seem to be foundational in building a yarn-forward value chain successfully. Research limitations/implications - This study is limited to a specific case, only focusing on Vietnam's textile industry, meaning that the identified factors needed for establishing a yarn- forward value chain may differ depending on each country's native capabilities and access to raw materials. Practical implication - The findings of this study may contribute to an increased understanding of the surrounding factors regarding the implementation of yarn-forward production in a garment producing country. Originality/value - This study contributes to a deeper insight in what factors that affects a country’s garment industry and how a more competitive position can be created on the global textile market by taking these factors into consideration.

The management consultancy, a 14 billion EUR industry in Europe, has become an attractive market in the last couple of years. The Swedish market is blooming with an economic growth of a staggering 20 % according to analysts at Konsultguiden. The attractiveness of the market has brought many foreign players into the field such as Celerant. Celerant is a UK-based company earning a total of $145 million in 2006 with about 650 employees around Europe and the USA. Their focus is mainly within operational management. A few years ago, Celerant decided to expand in to the Nordic region consisting of Denmark, Norway and Sweden and has just recently started to focus a bit extra on the Swedish market. Using Porter’s model of Five Forces we look at the Swedish management consulting industry to see what factors to consider focusing on when entering the market. Through an analysis of the current management consulting market, we compare it to Celerant’s strategy for entering the Swedish market to see if our analysis differs or is similar to the consultancy’s actual strategy. This gives us a picture of how the management consultancies perceive the market and how they act accordingly. The results show similarities with two factors: the consultants and the clients. These seem to be the main factors to focus on as a management consultancy entering the Swedish market. There seems to be a current shortage of competent consultants on the Swedish market and therefore a necessity to focus on recruitment. Clients are what make business for consultancies and business connections need to be established before entering the market. However, we found that more precaution should be taken for factors such as substitutes and new entrants as well. There is a constant change of trends in the management consultancy industry and needs to be considered in order to stay competitive on the market, since a management consultancy needs to be able to offer what the clients demand.

This paper examines three models used for business plan analysis. These models highlight some of the most important questions of the business: What are my strengths and how do I compete? More importantly, it gives founders a systematic tool to approach the creation of strategy for their business. There are three business planning tools presented here: Porter’s Five Forces, SWOT, and Price Equalizer.

There are few theories that focus on future digital business. This article evaluates how a traditional theory like Porter’s five forces and a more modern like Red ocean vs. Blue ocean can be used.

Táto diplomová práca sa zaobera témou, ako môže jeden z najväčších operátorov na trhu s hazardnými hrami zvládnuť zmenu zákona na Slovensku. V teoretickej časti práca obsahuje prehľad foriem vstupu na trh. Teória je následne použita na stanovenie hlavného cieľa práce, ktorým je návrhnutie možnej stratégie vstupu na slovenský trh.

This thesis aims to analyze the rules of competition of the commercial launch industry between the years 2010-2020 to better understand the market and gain strategic insights for market share captivation or profitability. The industry is analyzed quantitively within the theoretical framework of Porter's five competitive forces. By the means of a Pooled OLS model, we conduct a regression analysis with five industry proxies that closely relate to Porter’s five forces to explain competition in the industry. The results provided us with enough evidence that quantitively applying Porter’s five forces with industry specific proxies leads us to a better understanding of competition in the commercial launch industry. Furthermore, the analysis reveals that the strongest competitive force is the threat of buyers. While the threat of competitive rivalry, power of suppliers and new entrants are relatively weak but highly significant, the threat of substitutes is of very low significance to affect market competition. The result of the analysis is then used as a tool to provide strategic insights for industry actors for optimal positioning in the market. Finally, we present some suggestions for future research on the subject, as well as other industry analysis using the theoretical framework.

ABSTRACT Title: The Internet and Marketing: A case study of SmartGuy AB. and PostNord AB. Level: D-Level Final Master Thesis in Business Administration Authors: Naa A. Allotey and Ashenafi T. Degefie Supervisor: Professor Akmal Hyder Date: 2013 June Aim: Technology has changed the way businesses are being done specifically in the internet marketing. Even though the growth &amp; development of internet marketing is rapid, many new firms doing e-business are increasing. To make use of this ever increasing opportunity many companies without adequate knowledge and lack of concepts about internet marketing enter into this business that leads into failure. This study examines how businesses use the internet as an effective marketing tool in order to increase business efficiency and survive in the competitive business. The study also identifies the various problems that are affecting the internet marketing business and review possible strategies. Method: The study adopted a qualitative method through a deductive approach. Research questions were developed to gather the data. A semi structured interview was conducted with personnel from Nordpost and SmartGuy. The data was analysed and linked with the theory to provide answers to the research questions. To enhance the richness of the study secondary data sources has been employed in a form of scientific articles, literature, annual reports from the case companies and online sources.  Results and Conclusions: The result of this study shows that the rapid development of online marketing makes it imperative for businesses to seriously consider the internet as a marketing tool in order to remain competitive. There is no specific strategy to adopt but firms could develop internet marketing strategies depending on the nature of their business in order to cope up with the ever changing environment. It also identified the difficulties traditional marketers face when integrating internet marketing. The conclusion is that businesses can overcome the barriers affecting Internet marketing if they take time to identify their micro and macro environments and adopt appropriate strategies. Suggestions for future research: Although this study identified that there are some factors affecting the internet marketing and suggested key elements in developing e-marketing strategy, the results of this study and conclusion, to some extent have some limitations.  Firstly there are only two case companies investigated which makes it hard to generalize the outcomes. Secondly, current literatures in the area of study were very limited showing that researchers are not really giving time to this all important topic.  Thus future research could look more into this subject area, broaden the scope of the investigation to more companies and could also concentrate in the areas where there is a need for a unique strategy development for different internet companies. Future researchers could also look at how the transition from traditional to internet marketing could be made very simple. Contribution of the thesis: The study provides significant insights into the factors affecting internet marketing and e-business strategies that can be adopted to make it an effective marketing tool, a topic often overlooked by published material. Even though there are no specific e-marketing strategies to directly copy or implement, the study suggests specific areas a business should take into consideration while developing the strategy. For businesses, the question of using the internet as a marketing tool should be one of ‘when, why and how’. A well-structured and well thought out business plan which is still applicable is the backbone of any company who is going to be successful in the e-commerce industry.