Title: Do Different Industries Define Sustainability Differently? A Comparative Analysis of the Swedish Retail and IT Sectors.Level: Degree project at Undergraduate level (Bachelor’s degree) in the subject Business Administration Authors: Amanda Stål and Diana Hawaz AliSupervisor: Asif HuqDate: 2022-JuneAim: Examine the differences in the handling of sustainability issues within the retail and IT industries Method: The thesis was conducted through semi-structured interviews. The respondents consist of four retail companies and three IT companies.Results and conclusion: The results showed that although there are many similarities in how the respondents in the two industries handle sustainability issues, there were some differences in where they put their focus. Respondents in the retail industry were more inclined to focus on the environmental aspect of sustainability while respondents in the IT sector were shown to gravitate toward the social aspect. Contribution of the thesis: This thesis shows that the term “sustainability” differs depending on context, which would give researchers more freedom to change their definition of sustainability instead of trying to find one definition that fits every context.Suggestions for further research: Further research should be done with a greater sample pool to strengthen the transferability of the result. Keywords: Sustainability report, CSR, Retail industry, Information technology industry

Combining concepts regarding the make-or-buy decision, such as Williamson’s (1981) ideas on transaction costs in conjunction with theories of supply chain management, the thesis outlines what factors should be of importance to firms when deciding to make or buy certain processes within the supply chain. Using Porter’s (1985) division of the supply chain into 5 sections we analyze the make-or-buy decisions of Catamaran Sports/Adidas sailing, finding that while many decisions taken match the theory-based predictions, a lot of processes are handled the way they are because of external constraints faced by the firm. In the case of Adidas their main reason for taking certain strategic decisions are to maintain their competitive advantage in the market, which they build on a benefit leadership strategy. This has resulted in them often choosing a production method that has a relatively high accounting cost, compared to what could have been achieved, in order to maintain flexibility, reduce lead times and provide a higher level of service.

Fifteen or so years into what is said to be the game changer of our time there are many fields of science  focusing  their  attention  towards  the  online  market  in  attempts  to  describe  its implications for the traditional, offline markets. Where most of the literature on economics of ecommerce focus on pricing mechanisms and growth little attention has been directed towards more general market structure effects. This thesis adopts techniques, empirical and theoretical models  from  the  search  cost  and  market  structure  literature  in  order  to  examine  the relationships between ecommerce and offline market structures in the retail industry through regional employment and establishment data. The literature reviewed and used focus only on the US market whereas this thesis shifts the attention to the European regions. The results are convincing and in general corresponding to previous research results. As ecommerce usage increase and the consumer search costs thereby gets lower inefficient firms drop out of the market resulting in a decline in local establishment counts. The opposite effect is seen for pure online retailing establishments that thrive in the presence of local ecommerce usage. The effect of   ecommerce  on  traditional  offline  establishments  seems  to  be  aggregated  phenomena whereas  the  effect  on  pure  online  firms  seems  to  be  of  a  more  local  nature.  Focus  of policymakers and company management therefore might consider looking at the two effects in their respective aggregation level to best sort out how to react in the presence of increased competition from ecommerce usage.

Background: Managers can utilize tools such as Corporate social responsibility (CSR) and employer branding to manage the relationship between employees and the organization. CSR is a tool that can be used to make the organization look better. Companies can utilize employer branding to market themselves towards its current and new employees in a harmful industry. The fashion retail industry can be seen as a harmful industry, as the industry causes harm to the environment, society and people. The existing literature looks at how customers think about these issues, however not much is said about employees' thoughts who are working for these harmful organizations. The employees are the ones who in stores meet the critique from customers, instead of the organizations who make these harmful decisions. Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to explore the significance of CSR in a harmful industry and its influence on the relationship between employees and the organization. Employees can be influenced by different factors both internal and external concerning their organization’s CSR practices, which can affect how they view their organization as an employer. Therefore, this study will try to explore the relation between the organization and the employees to see how working in a harmful industry has an impact on the relationship. Method: The thesis conducts a qualitative and exploratory method, this was done through an abductive research approach. Furthermore, 10 semi-structured interviews were conducted with the participants being interviewed. To analyze the ten interviews a thematic analysis was utilized as a guide. Conclusion: Employer and employee relationship does not seem to be disturbed by the questionable external CSR practices or a harmful industry in general. CSR is significant to employees, but when it comes to their own organization it does not matter since they are given values such as salary and employment. Organizations create benefits, value and engagement for employees by using employer branding and internal CSR, thus the organizations market themselves to the employees, meanwhile manage the relationship through skills development, empowerment, employment stability and work-life balance.

Inom området hållbarhetsledning så finns det många verktyg som har utvecklats för att hjälpa företag att adressera och hantera olika delar av hållbarhet. Mängden verktyg som finns tillgängliga innebär att det är en utmaning i sig att välja det bästa möjliga verktyget för ett givet företag. För små och medelstora företag finns ytterligare svårigheter inom de flesta delar av hållbarhetsledning, framför allt på grund av begränsade resurser. En av dessa utmaningar är att hitta och implementera lämpliga och användbara hållbarhetsledningsverktyg. Många hållbarhetsledningsverktyg fokuserar på olika områden av hållbarhet, indelade i indikatorer. Olika industrier har olika verktyg som är utvecklade för och passar dem, och lägger olika vikt vid indikatorer baserat på vilken påverkan industrin har inom hållbarhetsområdet. Utöver detta har företag olika krav på hållbarhetsledningsverktyg, baserat på deras unika omständigheter, påverkan, resurser och existerade hållbarhetsarbete. En metod för att hantera valet av verktyg är därför att matcha verktyg och företag baserat på indikatorer och faktorerna beskrivna ovan. Detta projekt försöker förenkla processen att välja verktyg genom att skapa en strukturerad modell för urvalsprocessen, baserad på hållbarhetsindikatorer, och att testa den genom att skapa en verktygslåda med kombinationer av verktyg för två fallstudieföretag. Verktygslådan framtagen i projektet innehåller verktyg företaget använder i nuläget, verktyg som föreslås som komplement, och verktyg som är onödiga att fokusera på då använda verktyg täcker ekvivalenta indikatorer. I det här projektet utfördes två jämförande kartläggningar av verktyg och indikatorer för att testa modellen. Detta baserades på information om verktyg och vilka indikatorer de täcker, tillsammans med information om nuläge och hållbarhetsarbete hos två medelstora svenska företag. De båda företagen är Houdini, som arbetar med produktion och försäljning av kläder, och Jämtkraft, från energisektorn. Den utvecklade modellen kunde användas för att generera förslag på verktygslådor för de båda fallen. Dock visade dessa verktygslådor även modellens begränsningar och brister, såsom exkluderingen av verktyg som inte använder indikatorer, och antagandena att verktygen passar medelstora företag lika bra och producerar lika bra resultat om de täcker samma indikatorer. Projektets slutsats är därför att det är möjligt att använda den här modellen för att välja verktyg baserat på indikatorer, men dess användning begränsas av vad som exkluderas. Dock bör fortsatt vidareutveckling av modellen kunna lösa dessa problem. / Within sustainability management, there are several sustainability management tools which have been developed to help companies address disparate aspects of sustainability. This multitude of options means that selecting the best possible tool for companies is a challenge in and of itself. In the case of small- and medium sized companies, there are additional difficulties in regard to most aspects of sustainability management, primarily due to a lack of resources. Among these challenges are finding and implementing suitable and useful sustainability management tools. This project attempts to simplify the tool selection process, by creating a structured tool selection model based on sustainability key performance indicators. A large number of sustainability management tools are focused on different areas of sustainability, often divided into some form of indicators. Different industries have different tools available and suitable for them, and different priorities among sustainability performance indicators, based on which impacts and effects the industry has on sustainability. Individual companies have differing requirements on sustainability management tools as well, based on unique circumstances, impacts, available resources, and existing sustainability measures. One way to handle tool selection is thus to match tools to companies, based on indicators and the factors described above. The intention for this project is to create a model for simplifying tool selection, and to test it by creating suggested combination of tools, a “toolbox”, to use for two case companies. The toolbox includes which tools are currently used, suggestions for which additional tools should be implemented to cover indicator gaps, and which tools are unnecessary to focus on, since used tools cover equivalent indicators. In this project, two mappings of tools and indicators were performed to test the model. This was based on information gathered about the tools and which indicators they cover, combined with information about the conditions and sustainability work from two Swedish medium sized companies. The selected companies were Houdini, from the Swedish clothing retail industry, and Jämtkraft, from the Swedish energy sector. The model can be used to generate toolbox suggestion for these cases. However, there are several limitations to this model, such as the exclusion of non-indicator focused tools, and the assumptions that these sustainability tools produce equal results and are useful for medium sized companies. The conclusion is reached that a decision-making process based on indicators is possible, but there are several important considerations not included within this specific model which limits its potential use. Further development of this model can be done to remedy these shortcomings.

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A new business model of unmanned convenience stores has been introduced to the retail industry in recent years. An unmanned convenience store is a store format where customers can carry out their errands without involvement of service personnel due to fully automated payment solutions. Because of the decreased need for employees, the new concepts can increase both efficiency and revenues as well as decrease costs for the companies. Due to low overhead costs, the store has the potential to be located both in rural and sparsely populated areas as well as in urban areas with growing population who values efficiency. Scholars have highlighted that such solutions may induce resistance among customers as they believe that it only serves the companies while harming the communities. Despite this, no previous research has studied consumer resistance towards unmanned convenience stores empirically.  The purpose of this thesis was to empirically examine the underlying factors that affect the level of consumer resistance towards unmanned convenience stores. This was done by investigating the relative importance of psychological-, functional- and individual barriers derived from existing literature regarding factors that hamper the adoption process of innovations. Thus, the following research question was formulated: “What are the underlying factors that affect the level of consumer resistance towards unmanned convenience stores?” The study focused on respondents that had no previous experience from unmanned convenience stores because of the apparent void in existing literature with such focus. To answer the research question, nine hypotheses were formulated and tested against the variable consumer resistance. A quantitative research design was applied where data was collected by distributing a survey to potential consumers in Sweden. In total, 172 respondents answered the survey where 131 respondents did not have previous experience of unmanned convenience stores. The data was analyzed through a regression analysis using ordinary least squares.  The result shows that need for interaction, perceived performance risk, lack of perceived convenience value and self-image incongruence positively influence consumer resistance in stated order of precedence. The results can be used as guidelines for companies trying to mitigate consumer resistance towards unmanned convenience stores. The final conceptual framework presented in this thesis can be used in future research to predict consumer resistance. Thus, this thesis contributes to the literature on consumer resistance by studying a new context still in its infancy.

The clothing retail industry has developed globally and is today one of the world’s largest industries. In recent years, Sweden has developed a competitive fashion industry, where the new trend in e-commerce is clear. Since e-commerce is a suitable strategy for rapid growth, it is especially important for managers to understand the impact e-commerce has on their businesses. To be able to have the ability to survive in the long-term industrial competitiveness, firms have to continuously improve their knowledge base about the factors that must be considered when choosing sales channels in the clothing retail industry. In this master thesis we have studied and analysed factors that must be considered when choosing sales channels. A literature review was done, where eleven initial factors that affect the choice of sales channels were identified. Thereafter, to conduct a comprehensive empirical study, we conducted eight case studies with semi-structured interviews with companies in the Swedish clothing retail industry, founded no longer than approximately a decade ago to cover the recent developments in the industry. The empirical study resulted in that six factors from the literature were reinforced and that four new factors were identified. These ten final factors were thereafter analysed from two main perspectives: company focus and consumer focus. Finally, the impact of the final factors on the three different sales channels; online, brick-and-mortar and retailing, was discussed. The ten final factors are: Marketing and Customer Loyalty, High Costs, Customer Behaviour, Outsourcing or Insourcing, Managerial Productivity, Intangibility and Tangibility, Fill a Gap, Customer Experience Control, Spread of Distribution and Type of Assortment. Our contribution to previous research is that this study has a more distinct company focus, and due to the development of e-commerce this study has captured the new characteristics of the industry.

Ten years have passed since Wal-Mart’s public announcement about its RFID technology adoption plan in 2003. Some large competitors of Wal-Mart in the U.S. retail industry jumped on the trend of RFID technology adoption. However, many U.S. retailers do not consider adopting RFID technology because of the uncertainty of return on investment and the lack of business cases demonstrating its profitability, productivity, or efficiency. This study investigates whether RFID companies have better financial performance ratios in the U.S. retail industry. RFID retailers have significantly higher operating margin, lower days-in-inventory, and lower per-employee costs. Compared with pre-RFID, the RFID retailers did not improve profit ratios after they adopted it, but their days-in-inventory ratio and sales efficiency improved significantly. Compared to small RFID retailers, large RFID retailers show greater inventory management efficiency and sales efficiency. Regression analyses show that inventory management efficiency does impact gross margins, but the impact of cost efficiency is negligible. RFID retailers have a positive relationship with gross margin increases. The regression analyses using the Cobb-Douglas production function show that the RFID retailers have a little higher labor productivity than non-RFID retailers. In summary, the analyses reveals that RFID retailers have a better record of maintaining an efficient inventory management and higher labor productivity, but more research is needed to demonstrate the relationship between cost efficiency and profitability.

The purpose with the thesis is to identify, analyze and present the problems micro companies in the Swedish fashion and sport industry are facing when using social media as a communication tool in their marketing activities. Also relevant digital communication channels have been investigated and presented. Two case studies have been made with two Swedish micro companies in order to fulfill our purpose and answer our two research questions. The result from the interviews showed that micro companies, overall in the industry, could benefit from using social media as a communication channel, but they struggle to know how they should use it. We answer our research question through creating and presenting our own constructed model that companies should use in their business for planning their social media strategy and overcome the found problems. The thesis is a qualitative research with an abducted approach. We did an active research with a case study on the two companies Kask of Sweden and Gococo. Through deep interviews, we got much information about how they work today and what problems they face when using social media. We have worked with four themes during the entire process; present, relationship, problems and future, to facilitate for the reader and for us. The study has high reability for the investigated companies, and we also argue that it could be of interest for other fashion and sport micro companies at the Swedish market. An theoretical framework was conducted through researching the specific area and finding relevant theory and published material concerning marketing and communicaton, as well as digital marketing theory and publications about social media. The chosen material is presented in the theory chapter where an own constructed model is presented as a guideline for the reader. It will help the reader to find the theories and their elations to each other. We believe it to be a good way of ease the understanding and the relevance of the chosen theories. The research shows that micro companies in the Swedish fashion sport industry faces different problems using social media as a communication platform for their company. Thus micro companies often have a very limited amount of resources and neither have the money, the knowledge or the time to manage a large marketing and communication social media can be beneficial if used properly. Though it comes with a few struggles. The main problems concerned around knowing who their real customer is, how to handle the relationship and create stronger connections with customers, difficulties in knowing which channels to use and how to handle them properly. They also found problems in knowing what how to communicate the right image and get the desired result of the published materials. Lastly the companies sometimes lacked a clear strategy in managing their social media platforms and raised questions about the language use, time consumption and who should run the activates. With our ”Four step-from likes to commitment” model we want to put attention to the most relevant steps a company needs to be aware of before starting and during working with social media, as well as be a strategy to handle and overcome the problems the previously struggled with. / Program: Textilt management, fashion management