Background and problem: On January 1st 2019 the new accounting standard IFRS 16 was implemented which requires lessees to capitalize operating leases, hence moving the lease information from the footnotes on to the balance sheet. When capitalizing operating leases in quantitative studies, researchers have been able to state that it also has an effect on the income statement as well as on financial indicators, and have based on this tried to predict what effect capitalization of operating leases would have on the lessee’s underlying business. However, the expectations lack academic published empirical evidence and, above all from a period after the implementation of IFRS 16. Research question and Aim: By answering the research question “How has the introduction of IFRS 16 affected the business of lessees within the Swedish retail industry?”, the study aims to understand the impact IFRS 16 has had on the businesses of lessees within the Swedish retail industry. Theory: Previous literature has identified how capitalization of operational leasing can potentially affect parts of the business. The identified parts have been summarized in a conceptual framework, which defines what is meant by the business. The conceptual framework consists of the four different perspectives: leasing policy; reporting process; raising capital; financial goals. Method: The study has applied a qualitative method, using semi structured interviews for collecting empirical support. The respondents consisted of Chief Financial Officers, accounting specialists and accounting managers who represented Swedish retail industry lesses. Result and contribution: The study has found that lessees operates in two worlds, where the transition to IFRS 16 has occurred but where the lessees still add additional accounting according to IAS 17. Furthermore the results show that IFRS 16 enables for interpretation and assessment, which lessees have solved by centralizing processes for business and decision making concerning leasing. The insights can offer guidance for lessees that are on the verge of implementing the new accounting standard. At the same time the results complement the literature with a previously understudied perspective and thereby contributesto a more holistic view regarding the consequences of implementation of IFRS 16. / Bakgrund och problematik: Den 1 januari 2019 infördes den nya redovisningsstandarden IFRS 16, som numera tvingar leasetagare att kapitalisera operationell leasing och därmed förflytta information om leasingåtaganden från fotnoterna till balansräkningen. Vid kapitalisering av operationell leasing har forskare genom kvantitativa studier kunnat konstatera att det även får implikationer på såväl resultaträkningen som finansiella nyckeltal, för att sedan försöka förutspå vad kapitalisering av operationell leasing skulle ha för påverkan på den underliggande verksamheten. Däremot saknar förväntningarna akademiskt publicerade empiriska belägg, och framförallt från en tid då IFRS 16 trätt i kraft. Forskningsfråga och syfte: Genom att svara på forskningsfrågan “Hur har införandet av IFRS 16 påverkat verksamheten för leasetagare inom den svenska detaljhandeln?”, ämnar studien att förstå vilken påverkan införandet av IFRS 16 har haft på verksamheten för leasetagare inom den svenska detaljhandeln. Teoretisk förankring: Tidigare litteratur har identifierat hur kapitalisering av operationell leasing potentiellt kan komma att påverka delar inom verksamheten. De identifierade delarna har summerats i ett konceptuellt ramverk, som definierar vad som avses med verksamheten. Det konceptuella ramverket består av de fyra olika perspektiven: leasingpolicy; rapporteringsprocess; kapitalanskaffning; finansiella mål. Metod: Studien har tillämpat en kvalitativ metod i form av semi-strukturella intervjuer för insamlandet av empiriskt underlag. Respondenterna bestod av ekonomichefer, redovisningsspecialister och redovisningschefer, vilka representerade leasetagare verksamma inom den svenska detaljhandeln. Resultat och bidrag: Studien har funnit att leasetagare befinner sig i två världar, där det har skett en övergång till IFRS 16 men att leasetagare fortfarande tilläggsredovisar enligt IAS 17. Därtill visar resultaten att IFRS 16 möjliggör för tolkningar och bedömningar, vilket leasetagare har löst genom att centralisera arbets- och beslutsprocesser gällande leasing. Insikterna kan tänkas erbjuda en vägledning för leasetagare som står inför att tillämpa den nya redovisningsstandarden. Samtidigt kompletterar resultaten litteraturen med ett tidigare understuderat perspektiv och medverkar därmed till en mer holistisk förståelse vad gäller följderna av IFRS 16.

The new economy is characterised by globalisation, increased competition, and rapid changes. In order to remain competitive, organisations need to be proactive and innovative to survive. This is mirrored in the South African retail industry which is developing into a dynamic industry driven by changes in technology, shifts in consumer behaviour, saturating markets, and increased competition as a result of globalisation. In light of these increased demands on organisations to be more flexible, adaptable, and competitive, new demands have subsequently been placed on leaders. The retail industry is highly labour-intensive and requires effective leadership at all levels, and Transformational Leadership (TL) has been shown to be an effective leadership style to improve various organisational outcomes. In recent years, personality has been used as a means to predict TL behaviours in leaders. One model of personality that has proved its utility in identifying leadership characteristics has been the Five Factor Model of Personality. However, not much is known about the relationship between TL and the Big Five personality factors in the retail industry. The current study utilised a quantitative research approach in which 101 leaders in a retail organisation in South Africa were assessed on TL and the Big Five personality factors, using the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire and the Fifteen Factor Plus Personality Questionnaire. Correlation analysis was conducted to determine the statistical relationship between TL and the Big Five personality factors. Results indicated that there were no statistically significant relationships between three of the Big Five personality factors, namely extraversion, openness to experience, and conscientiousness, and any of the TL dimensions or the composite TL score. There are two statistically significant relationships between one Big Five personality factor, namely agreeableness, and two TL dimensions, namely inspirational motivation (.196; p < .05), and individualised consideration (.200; p < .05). Only one Big Five personality factor, namely emotional stability, is statistically significantly related to all the TL dimensions as well as the composite TL score, ranging from a low of .539 (p < .01) for idealised behaviour to a high of .556 (p < .01) for the composite TL score. The study concluded that the Big Five personality factors should be used with caution to identify and develop potential TL behaviours in the diverse South African retail context. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / M. Com. (Industrial and Organisational Psychology)

Employee turnover negatively affects retail organizations and can lead to poor financial performance, a decrease in competitive advantage, loss of productivity, deficiencies in retaining external customers, and economic failures. The purpose of this single case study was to explore strategies that retail store leaders from the Illinois area of the United States use to reduce frontline employee turnover. Herzberg's 2-factor theory provided the framework for the study. Data were collected from documents pertaining to retention methods and through face-to-face semistructured interviews with 7 leaders of a retail company in the Illinois area who had experience with effective employee retention strategies. Data were analyzed using manual coding methods, auto-coding features, and word frequency searches. Three themes emerged from the data analysis: (a) effective communication and transparency-improved employee retention, (b) competitive compensation and benefits-package-improved employee retention, and (c) training-and-development-improved employee retention. Organizational leaders mitigating employee turnover contribute to social change by creating initiatives focused on the recognition of value in people, the company, and the community.

The rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI) has led to significant changes in the business environment and academic discussions. AI boosts productivity and positively impacts the competitive advantage of organisations. However, it also has its dark sides, such as prejudice, non-transparent processes, and people's fears that AI will be able to take their jobs in the future. The successful implementation of AI in organisations depends on several factors, including geopolitical, cultural, ecosystem, organisational, and individual factors. Geopolitical context and cultural differences can play an important role in the adoption and implementation of AI in organisations. This study examines the influence of geopolitical and cultural contexts on the decision-making process for the adoption and implementation of AI by managers from the fashion retail industry in Sweden and India. Given the extensive scope of these contexts, the authors narrowed their focus on specific factors. In the cultural context, the authors consider selected dimensions of the GLOBE project that reflect national culture. Within the Geopolitical context, particular attention is given to aspects such as data access and control, as well as the regulatory framework. In the course of this study, semi-structured interviews were conducted, and additional secondary data was studied. The study showed that the specifics of data access and control, as well as governmental legislative regulation, directly affect the decision-making process regarding the adoption and implementation of AI. As for the cultural context, here the degree of influence is heterogeneous, and decision-making on the implementation of AI is not always subject to the direct influence of the national cultural factors.

In this comparative study, the design elements and visual merchandising approaches employed in window displays by high-end and fast-fashion retailers are investigated. The study utilizes a visual content analysis method with standardized evaluation criteria to analyze the window displays of six high-end and six fast-fashion stores located in Paris. By adopting an analytical framework adapted mainly from Morgan (2015) and Diamond and Diamond (2007), the research aims to uncover shared patterns and distinguishing factors in the approaches of these two sectors. The findings reveal clear differences in purpose, layout, visual weight, focal points, color schemes, and prop usage between highend and fast-fashion retailers. These insights offer valuable practical implications for enhancing the visual appeal of window displays in the highly competitive retail landscape

This study has investigated the effect of service quality on customer satisfaction and Word of Mouth in the grocery retail industry. The purpose of the study was to measure the dimensions of service quality and see its effect on customer satisfaction and Word of Mouth. The research question was created to investigate the aforementioned effect, expectations vs performance, How does service quality affect customer satisfaction and Word of Mouth? In order to compare expectations and perceived performance the service quality model, SERVQUAL was used. The thesis is a quantitative study and the data was collected through an online questionnaire where 106 respondents participated. The data was analyzed, both through measuring the gap score between expectations and perceived performance and also regressions were made to test the relationship of the variables. The findings of this study shows that service quality does affect both customer satisfaction and Word of Mouth. However the effect of service quality showed to affect customer satisfaction and Word of Mouth differently, where customer satisfaction had a higher explanatory power than Word of Mouth. Furthermore, the expectations exceeded the perceived performance of service quality in all the dimensions. This created a negative overall comparison gap between the expectations and performance. The comparison gap was fairly low and according to the theory it showed both customer satisfaction and positive Word of Mouth in the grocery retail industry in Luleå. The arithmetic mean which was collected from the questionnaire showed a high value of customer satisfaction and Word of Mouth even though a negative overall gap. However, it could be seen that only a few of the SERVQUAL dimensions could show a significant relationship, two with customer satisfaction and one Word of Mouth. / Denna studie har undersökt tjänstekvalitetens effekt på kundnöjdhet och Word of Mouth inom dagligvaruhandeln. Syftet med studien var att mäta dimensionerna av tjänstekvalitet och se dess påverkan på kundnöjdhet och Word of Mouth. Forskningsfrågan skapades för att undersöka den ovan nämnda effekten, förväntningar mot upplevd prestation, Hur påverkar tjänstekvaliteten kundnöjdhet och Word of Mouth? För att jämföra förväntningar och upplevd prestation användes tjänstekvalitetens modellen SERVQUAL. Uppsatsen är en kvantitativ studie och datan samlades in genom ett online-enkät där 106 respondenter deltog. Datan analyserades, både genom att mäta gapet mellan förväntningar och upplevd prestation samt även genom regressioner som skapades för att testa sambandet mellan variablerna. Resultaten för denna studie visar att tjänstekvaliteten påverkar både kundnöjdhet och Word of Mouth. Effekten av tjänstekvaliteten visade sig dock påverka kundnöjdheten och Word of Mouth på olika sätt, där kundnöjdhet hade en högre förklaringskraft än Word of Mouth. Dessutom var förväntningarna högre än den upplevda prestationen av tjänstekvaliteten i alla SERVQUAL-dimensioner. Detta skapade ett negativt jämförelse gap mellan förväntningarna och upplevde prestation. Jämförelse gapet var ganska lågt och enligt teorin visade det sig ge både kundnöjdhet och positiv Word of Mouth inom dagligvaruhandeln i Luleå. Medelvärdet som samlades in från enkäten visade ett högt värde av kundnöjdhet och Word of Mouth även om det totala jämförelse gapet var negativt. Det kunde dock ses att endast ett fåtal av SERVQUAL-dimensionerna kunde visa på en singifikant relation, två med kundnöjdhet och en Word of Mouth.

Our world is rapidly being redefined by digitalization and disruptive innovations such as changing customer preferences, demographical shifts, and by putting tremendous environmental pressure including scarce resources and a contribution to climate change. Change under these circumstances often brings traditional business models to lose their competitive edge and in the end fail. Previous research of the specific term successful models is vague with ambiguous definitions of the conceptualization of a sustainable business model. More alarming is the limited research addressing the sustainable innovation process thus explaining the existing organizational management problems, where today, firms are operating blindfolded without any academic- or empirical guidance. Fashion as a part of the world’s economy is undoubtedly considered as one of the areas that urgently requires the adoption of more sustainable business models, bringing all actors within the fashion retail industry into a challenging position. The thesis aims to contribute with theoretical knowledge and empirical evidence to bridge this gap by addressing following purpose: explore and improve the understanding of how traditional clothing retailers within the fashion retail industry innovate their current sustainable business models. The thesis is anchored in an exploratory case study at a traditional fashion retail company focusing on children apparel, namely Polarn O. Pyret. Finding shows that the case company simultaneously performs sustainability practices within their existing model, suggesting that a comparative approach can be appropriate when innovating already commercialized sustainable business models. Furthermore, empirical findings explicitly show five factors that differentiate the conventional concept with the sustainability concept of a business model. Thenceforth, the innovation process is explored from this context involving both advantages and challenges. Hence, the process occurs simultaneously, it is recommended to perform a variety of sustainability practices, to spread out the level of complexity and thereby optimize the utilization of resources. The thesis highlights an existing Pilot Prototype when implementing sustainability practices into the current model. Thereby, risks and uncertainty factors can be mitigated to ensure the implementation of sustainable competitive advantage. The thesis makes up for three contributions. First, a contribution with practical knowledge on how traditional clothing retailers is innovating their sustainable business model. Second, the study contributes with an increased understanding of the innovation process of launching successfully developed- or refined models. Third, the thesis makes an analytical contribution by the conceptual framework of references, forming a consolidation of the ambiguous conceptualization settled in a specific context. / Vår värld omdefinieras drastiskt av digitalisering och innovationer som skapar nya kundpreferenser, demografiska förändringar samt att genom en enorm miljöpress inklusive knappa resurser, bidra till klimatförändringarna. Förändringar under dessa omständigheter får ofta traditionella affärsmodeller att tappa sin konkurrenskraft och i slutändan misslyckas. Tidigare forskning av den specifika termen framgångsrika modeller är vag med tvetydiga definitioner av konceptualiseringen av en hållbar affärsmodell. Mer alarmerande är den begränsade forskningen som studerar den hållbara innovationsprocessen och därmed förklarar de befintliga problem för organisationsledningar, där företag idag arbetar utan någon akademisk- eller empirisk vägledning. Mode som en del av världens ekonomi betraktas utan tvekan som ett av de områden som brådskande kräver mer hållbara affärsmodeller, vilket sätter alla aktörer inom modebranschen i en utmanande position. Examensarbetet syftar till att bidra med teoretisk kunskap och empiriskt bevis för att överbrygga detta gap, genom att ta itu med följande syfte: utforska och förbättra förståelsen för hur traditionella klädförsäljare inom modebranschen utvecklar sina nuvarande hållbara affärsmodeller. Examensarbetet är förankrad i en undersökande fallstudie hos ett traditionellt klädesbolag, nämligen Polarn O. Pyret. Resultat visar att fallföretaget samtidigt utför hållbarhetspraxis inom sin befintliga modell, vilket indikerar att en jämförande strategi kan vara lämplig när man utvecklar redan kommersialiserade hållbara affärsmodeller. Vidare visar empiriska fynd fem faktorer som skiljer det konventionella konceptet med det hållbara för en affärsmodell. Från den här kontexten utforskas innovationsprocessen som involverar både fördelar och utmaningar. Då utvecklingen sker simultant rekommenderas det att utföra olika typer av hållbarhetspraxis för att sprida ut komplexitetsnivån och därmed få jämnfördelade resurser och samtidigt få konkurrenskraft. Examensarbetet belyser en befintlig akademisk pilotprototyp vid implementering av hållbarhetspraxis i den nuvarande modellen, därmed kan risker och osäkerhetsfaktorer mildras/överkommas för att säkerställa hållbara konkurrensfördelar. Examensarbetet bidrar till forskningen på tre sätt. Först och främst bidrar resultatet med kunskap om hur traditionella klädesbolag utvecklar sina befintliga hållbara affärsmodeller. För det andra bidrar studien till en ökad förståelse av innovationsprocessen för att lansera framgångsrika nya- eller förfinade modeller. Slutligen ger examensarbetet ett analytiskt bidrag genom den konceptuella referensramen för att skapa en konsolidering av den tvetydiga konceptualiseringen satt i ett specifikt sammanhang.

Titel: Kunden har alltid makt – En studie av Customer Empowerments inverkan på företag inom retailbranschen.    Nivå: Examensarbete på Grundnivå (kandidatexamen) i ämnet företagsekonomi    Författare: Jacob Cedergren och Christin Rampeltin Molin    Handledare: Anna Ljung och Akmal Hyder   Datum: 2021– januari      Syfte: Syftet med studien är att undersöka och analysera företagens uppfattning av Customer Empowerment och dess inverkan på företag inom retailbranschen.   Metod: Vi har valt att använda oss av ett induktivt tillvägagångssätt. Det empiriska materialet har inhämtats genom en kvalitativ intervjuundersökning, med semistrukturerade intervjuer. Företagsrepresentanter inom retailbranschen har utgjort studiens urval, då vi anser att deras kundkontakt och möte slutkunden är viktigt för att kunna besvara studiens frågeställningar.   Resultat &amp; slutsats: Studien visar att respondenterna uppfattar att de idag styrs av kunden och kundens behov. Intervjupersonerna beskriver att internet har ökat kundens inflytande och makt, på grund av tillgången till en obegränsad mängd information. Respondenterna beskriver en maktförskjutning från företag till kund. Studien visar att begreppet Customer Empowerment, CE, har förändrats från en företagsinitierad strategi för att skapa kundengagemang och nöjdhet, till en okontrollerbar kundmakt, vilket innebär att kunden har övertagit flera av företagens roller. Ett koncept vi har valt att namnge omvända roller då kunderna, enligt respondenterna, styr och innehar makt över företagen medan företagen försöker anpassa sig efter kundens behov och önskemål.    Examensarbetets bidrag: Studien bidrar då den beskriver begreppet Customer Empowerment, CE, och dess inverkan på retailföretag, utifrån företagens perspektiv. Tidigare forskning av begreppet CE har framhållit dess fördelar. Denna studie beskriver att kunden idag inte bara erbjuds inflytande utan även har övertagit makt och kontroll från företagen. Denna maktförändring leder till negativa effekter, vilket beskrivs i två teoretiska figurer. Det praktiska bidraget är att studien beskriver de negativa effekterna som kundens makt kan inneha på företag, inom retailbranschen.    Förslag till fortsatt forskning: Denna studie bygger på 10 intervjupersoner, från retailbranschen, vilket gör att studiens generaliserbarhet endast speglar en del av retailbranschen samt en liten del av svenska företag. Det vore intressant att undersöka företagens syn på CE inom andra branscher, exempelvis inom B2B- branschen.    Nyckelord: Customer Empowerment, Kundmakt, Kundfokus, Kundorientering, Retail, Retailbransch / Title: The customer always has power - a study of how Customer Empowerment affects companies in the retail industry.   Level: Final assignment for Bachelor Degree in Business Administration    Author: Jacob Cedergren and Christin Rampeltin Molin   Supervisor: Anna Ljung and Akmal Hyder    Date: 2021 - January     Aim: The study aims to investigate and describe companies' perceptions of Customer Empowerment, CE, and its impact on companies in the retail industry.   Method: We have chosen to use an inductive approach. The empirical material has been obtained through a qualitative interview survey with semi-structured interviews. Company representatives in the retail industry have made up our selection, as we believe that their customer contact and meeting the end customer are essential to answer the study's questions.   Result &amp; Conclusions: The study shows that the respondents perceive that they are governed by the customer and the customer's needs. The interviewees describe that the internet has increased the customer's influence and power due to the unlimited amount of information. The respondents describe a shift in power from the company to the customer. The study shows that CE's concept has changed from a company-initiated strategy to create customer engagement and satisfaction, to an uncontrollable customer power, which means that the customer has taken over several of the companies' roles. This concept we have chosen to name reverse roles, as the customers, according to the respondents, control and hold power over the companies while the companies try to adapt to the customer's needs and wishes.   Contribution of the thesis: The study contributes as it describes Customer Empowerment, CE, and its impact on retail companies, from the companies' perspective. Previous research on the concept of CE has highlighted its benefits. This study describes that the customer today is offered influence and has also taken over the companies' power. This change in control leads to adverse effects, which are described in two theoretical figures. The practical contribution is that the study describes the damaging effects of the customer's power on companies in the retail industry.   Suggestions for future research: This study is based on ten interviewees, from the retail industry, which means that the study's generalizability only reflects a part of the Swedish companies. It would be interesting to investigate whether this view of customer power is also valid in other industries or, for example, in the B2B industry.   Key words: Customer Empowerment, Customer Power, Customer Focus, Customer Orientation, Retail, Retail Industry

This research study acquired a consumer response centred approach to visual merchandising stimuli, in an attempt to holistically consider this area of the retail industry. Consumers‟ perceptions towards visual merchandising displays and the effect these displays have on consumer behaviour were exposed. The primary research question that pended from the preliminary literature was to determine the effect of visual merchandising displays on consumer perceptions. Explorative research was performed and qualitative data were collected by means of focus groups and naïve sketches. The data was analysed by means of a thematic analysis process. Perceptions of visual merchandising displays that were identified were subliminal in creating an interest and desire to further peruse the merchandise and aesthetically to beautify the store. Consumers expressed that the impact that visual merchandising displays had on their buying decisions depended on their personal preferences. / Business Management / M. Com. (Business Management)

Purpose: The increasing importance given to sustainability issues by governments, companies, consumers, suppliers, researchers, students and the authors of this paper in addition to the scarce empirical studies on the topic of sustainable last mile logistics operations in the food retail industry in Sweden provides relevance to the choice of topic. This paper presents an exploratory single-case study on a Swedish food retailer with a strong sustainability-oriented decision-making body, and will seek to understand how they manage to adopt best sustainable practices and which drivers and most responsible for it. Objective: The aim of this study is to present through an empirical study, how food retailers operate their last mile logistics operations according to the triple bottom line approach, contributing to this young field where a profusion of data to confirm the existing theory remains deficient. Furthermore, the focus is placed on the different drivers for food retailers to adopt sustainable practices in their transportation operations from the distribution warehouse to their stores located in urban areas. Approach: A Swedish food retailer that strives for best practices will be studied in order to obtain key empirical data, which will allow the authors to compare theory and empirical data.  The study will focus on the sustainability-oriented operations approach in the Last Mile Logistics of the chosen retailer and observe the different drivers regarding their operations following all aspects of the triple bottom line. A single-case study analysis of a leading company in terms of sustainability-driven operations will provide more insight on how this “category” of food retailers manages to operationalize their environmental-friendly culture and strategy for inbound Last Mile Logistics successfully, without losing their competitive edge and remaining economically sustainable. Findings: After juxtaposing the secondary data issued from the existing theories on sustainable LML in the food retail industry to the primary data obtained from Axfood, a Swedish food retailer, the results have demonstrated that a business cannot neglect economic drivers to be financially sustainable, (cost optimization, enhanced efficiency, etc.) it remains important and cannot be overridden to enable a shift towards optimal sustainability practices in LML operations. However, the drivers that have proven to make the cut in order to succeed in achieving best sustainable practices are; a highly proactive management, stakeholder pressure (particularly consumers and NGOs amongst others) and innovative technology (including those that imply a short-term economic trade-off for long-term greater good to the TBL dimensions). Keywords: Sustainability; Sustainable practices; Last Mile Logistics; Sustainable Last Mile Logistics; Triple Bottom Line; Food Retailers; Food Retail Industry; Drivers.