Samtidigt som klimatkrisen konstaterats har också hållbarhetsarbete i företag ökat, vilket kan användas som ett redskap för att anta de utmaningar som följer av ett mer komplext och transparent företagande. Tidigare forskning har haft ett huvudsakligt fokus på de monetära fördelarna med hållbarhetsarbete, men eftersom finansiella aspekter nödvändigtvis inte är den enda nyckeln till ett företags framgång är det intressant att även finna andra värden. Således är syftet med studien att skapa förståelse för vilka icke-monetära värden som kan skapas genom hållbarhetsarbete i företag. Det teoretiska ramverket omfattar fyra hållbarhetsteorier samt värdeskapandeteorin service-dominant logic. En kvalitativ metod har valts då området är relativt outforskat och studien syftar till att studera hållbarhetsarbete i olika sociala kontexter och tolka samband. Analysen har gjorts med utgångspunkt i åtta semistrukturerade intervjuer som genomförts med respondenter i olika företag, kombinerat med det teoretiska ramverket. Studien visar att triple bottom line-rapportering varit ett initialt steg för att få företag att implementera hållbarhetsarbete, men inte tillräckligt för att hantera de utmaningar samhället står inför, där sättet att bedriva verksamhet kan behöva förändras. Med service-dominant logic som utgångspunkt för analysen har ett nytt sätt att se miljön som en aktör i ekosystemet genererats, då alla aktörer ska gynnas av tjänsteutbyten. Genom ömsesidigt värdeskapande inom ramen för de planetära gränserna kan doughnut-ekonomi uppnås, där fokus ligger på att långsiktigt frodas snarare än att expansivt växa. För att uppnå ett hållbart företagande är studiens respondenter eniga om att alla företag måste ta ansvar för miljön och argumenterar för att hållbarhetsarbete inte enbart medför marknadsmässiga fördelar, utan också värdesätts av anställda som upplever sitt arbete som betydelsefullt. Ett företag som tar ansvar genom hållbarhetsarbete och erbjuder en arbetsplats där anställda trivs blir en attraktiv arbetsgivare på en arbetsmarknad där arbetstagare blir allt mer medvetna om problematiken gällande miljön. Studien visar att hållbarhetsarbete ger företag möjlighet att lättare möta krav från aktörer, bidra till utvecklingen av samhället och forma en verksamhet där arbetstagare trivs. / At the same time as the climate crisis has been noted, sustainability work in companies has increased, which can be used as a tool to meet the challenges posed by a more complex and transparent way of doing businesses. Previous research has mainly focused on the monetary benefits of sustainability work, but since financial aspects necessarily are not the only key to business success, it is of interest to find other values as well. Thus, the purpose of the study is to create an understanding of the non-monetary values that can be created through sustainability work in companies. The theoretical framework consists of four sustainability theories as well as the value creation theory service-dominant logic. A qualitative method has been chosen, since the field is relatively unexplored and the purpose is to study sustainability work in different social contexts and interpret relationships. The analysis has been conducted with starting point in eight semi-structured interviews with respondents from different companies, combined with the theoretical framework. The study shows that triple bottom line reporting was an initial step to get businesses to implement sustainability work, but not enough to handle the challenges the society are facing, where the way to conduct business might need to change. With service-dominant logic as a starting point for the analysis, a new way of viewing the environment as an actor in the service ecosystem has been generated, since all actors should gain from service exchanges. Through mutual value creation within the frame of the planetary boundaries, doughnut-economy can be achieved, where the focus is on thriving rather than expansive growing. In order to achieve sustainable business, the respondents of the study agree that all companies must take environmental responsibility and argue that sustainability work do not only entail advantages on the market, but also to bring value to employees who experience their work as meaningful. A business which takes responsibility through sustainability work and offers a workplace where employees thrive, becomes an attractive employer on a labor market where workers are becoming more aware of the problems regarding the environment. The study shows that sustainability work gives companies an ability to easier meet actor demands, contribute to the development of the society, and conduct a business where employees thrive.

The circular economy and its implications on businesses have been an area of interest for researchers and firms alike. The transition has been a rough one, but many firms are moving towards sustainable practices these days, if not circular.  One of the major challenges that lie within the circular economy and circular business models is that there is very little or partial understanding of how value can be created for a customer within this realm. Moreover, complications arise when fragmented elements drive the idea behind customer value creation in a circular business model setting.     Therefore, in order to study and understand more about this concept, we performed qualitative case-study research with the help of a Swedish start-up. Our interviews included 7 actors: 2 from the case company, and 5 of their customers. An established customer value creation framework was adopted to analyze and compare with the findings from our study. This framework consists of 4 components, Functional/Instrumental value, Experiential/Hedonic Value, Cost/Sacrifice value, and Symbolic/Expressive value. Keeping this framework as the foundation for our study and by using thematic analysis, the empirical data collected was analyzed and changed to categories, initial codes, and final codes which has overarching themes from the framework used.   Firstly, the findings of the study indicate that there were a lot of similarities and differences between the opinions of the firm for value proposition and the opinion of the customers for value creation. Secondly, it indicates that each element has a unique contribution to the overall phenomenon of customer value and finally it indicates the importance for companies to focus on each element individually. We highlight in our study how each element in the framework is connected to the drivers of satisfaction to generate customer satisfaction.

Bakgrund: Ett ständigt utvecklande av den fysiska modehandeln har lett till möjligheter att utveckla en shoppingupplevelse för konsument för att bemöta konkurrens från den digitala handelsplatsen. Detta har lett till att den fysiska butiken implementerar alternativ som teknologiska innovationer för att höja shoppingupplevelsen för konsumenten. Metod: Kvalitativ undersökning med 14 semistrukturerade intervjuer och tematisk analys av den insamlade empirin. Avgränsning är satt till att endast behandla konsumentinriktade teknologier. Resultat och analys: Resultaten av insamlade data bestående av respondenternas intervjusvar analyseras mot den tidigare forskningen. Resultatet visar att respondenternas självskattning av deras teknologiska kunskap påverkar deras användning av teknologier. Vissa av respondenterna påverkas också av socialt inflytande, både positivt och negativt. Även den upplevda säkerheten hos en teknologi påverkar respondenternas acceptans av teknologin. Olika slags värden upplevs av konsumenter där självständighet, tidssparande, smidighet och nöje är de fyra centrala teman som identifieras. Respondenterna upplever och prioriterar dessa värden olika, vilket också påverkar motiven för användandet av teknologiska innovationer. Diskussion: En vidare diskussion förs utifrån tidigare teori och insamlad empiri kring värde, teknologiska innovationer och acceptans. Resultatet diskuteras utifrån ett modehandelsperspektiv, där både fast och slow fashion diskuteras. Fast fashion butiker kan gynnas till större grad av att implementera teknologier som ökar konsumenternas självständighet. Märkesvaruhus som fokuserar på att kunna ge personlig service till sina konsumenter kan missgynnas av att implementera teknologi som missgynnar personlig service. Slutsats: Denna undersökning har bidragit med att ge en tydlig bild av hur konsumenter upplever teknologiska innovationer och vad som driver dem till att börja använda dessa. Förslag till vidare forskning kan därför vara fördjupat kring hur kunskapsbristen kring teknologiska innovationer påverkar konsumenternas användande och beteende, samt hur detta kan identifieras. / Background: A constant development of the physical fashion retail business has led to possibilities to develop a shopping experience for consumers to compete with the online marketplace. This has led to physical stores implementing technological innovations to enhance the consumer experience. Method: A qualitative study with 14 semi-structured interviews along with a thematic analysis being made to structure the collected data. The paper is delimited to only consumer facing technologies. Result and analysis: The results of the respondents’ answers are analysed from the previous research. The results show that the respondents’ self-evaluation of their technological knowledge affects their usage of technologies. Some of the respondents are also affected by social influences, both in a positive and negative way. The perceived security of a technology also affects respondents’ acceptance of the technology. Different kinds of value are experienced by the respondents, with independence, time saving, flexibility and pleasure being the four central themes. The respondents experience and prioritise these values differently, which also affects the motives behind using technological innovations. Discussion: The result is discussed from a fashion industry perspective, with fast and slow fashion being brought up as two major areas. Fast fashion stores can benefit from including technological innovations to increase the customers’ independence. High fashion brands with a strong focus on personal service might suffer from introducing such technologies, as it contributes to a loss of personal service. Conclusion: This paper contributes with a clear understanding of how consumers experience technological innovations and what drives them to become users. Suggestions for further research is presented and recommends a deeper study focusing on the lack of technological knowledge, how it affects the use of technological innovations in a retail environment and how it can be identified.

Thesis (MCOM.) -- University of Limpopo, 2019 / Responsible investment combines shareholder’s objective of financial performance with environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues when making investment decisions. Responsible investment has become necessary because most companies neglect the impact of their operation on the environment; society while focusing on short-term profits. Moreover, the collapse of big companies due to poor governance also demand that they focus on the need to strengthen good corporate governance. This study examines whether SA mutual funds companies listed on the JSE incorporate environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors in making investment decisions. The study further examines the relationship between selected ESG factors and financial performance measured using ROE. A total of 28 companies where SA mutual fund companies have invested their funds were sampled and studied between 2007 and 2017. Secondary data was used whereby raw data was collected from the annual, integrated and sustainability reports of the selected companies’ websites and the IRESS database. Although many ESG factors could influence responsible investment such as climate change, waste and pollution, deforestation, working conditions, local community, bribery and corruption, however, some of these factors cannot be easily quantified. Hence, this study focused on one component per ESG factor that can be quantified. All these factors are required to have a deeper understanding of responsible investment. This study adopts the quantitative research method and adds to the growing number of studies by examining the relationship between independent variables represented by water usage (environmental), employee health and safety cost (social) and gender diversity (governance) and dependent variable which is financial performance measured by ROE. The Stata statistical software utilising the panel data method was used to analyse the data. The iii | Page study results show a positive and insignificant relationship between water usage and ROE, a positive an insignificant relationship between employee health and safety cost (number of work-related fatalities) and ROE and negative and insignificant relationship between the percentage of women on corporate boards and ROE. The results show that UN PRI guideline that encourages responsible investments is not followed by South African (SA) mutual fund companies. This study recommends that SA mutual funds companies follow the UN PRI educate different stakeholders as to the importance of incorporating ESG factors in business operations and the benefits thereof. Future studies can consider incorporating ESG indicators other the ones presented in this study.

Industry’s technologies and equipment continuously advance, and the importance of continuously being able to produce increases. Todays’s automotive industry is a competitive market where efficiency is critical to keeping market shares. However, the quality of the products can not be compromised. Therefore new technologies are introduced to collect data and analyze it to optimize production. One technology that is often mentioned in the industry is Industry 4.0, which is a combination of multiple technologies that can be implemented to create smart factories and smart manufacturing. This thesis aims to evaluate implementable solutions for Industrial Internet of Things(IIoT) and Cyber-physical production systems (CPPS). Regarding which generates the most value for companies that uses press hardening production lines. The aim is also to compare IIoT against current data acquisition and control systems on the market. Identifying possible solutions and evaluating them have gone through multiple stages, while using product development methodology. Firstly by observing and understanding how customers use the products and identifying potential problems associated with the manufacturing process. Using that knowledge and, through iterations, improve the solutions and validate them by being evaluated by the customers. The project results concluded in having identified 17 possible general solutions that have been evaluated. These can be categorised as Performance, Costs, or Predictive maintenance. The solutions that created the most value for the customers were pressure and vibration analysis. For implementation of data acquisition and control system, Industrial Internet of Things is advantageous compared to current systems. This is due to a more streamlined architecture and choices of protocols available. In the end, by analysing all the data, including the information received from the interviewees, the desirable solution includes detailed machine health monitoring and a system that ensures product quality. / Industrins teknologier och utrustning går framåt och vikten av att kontinuerligt kunna tillverka ökar. Fordonsindustrin är idag en konkurrensutsatt marknad där effektivitet är nyckeln till att behålla marknadsandelar, men kvaliteten på produkterna kan inte kompromissas. Därför introduceras ny teknik för att samla in data och analysera den för att optimera produktionen. En teknik ofta nämnd i branschen är Industri 4.0 som är en kombination av flera delsystem som kan implementeras för att skapa smarta fabriker och smart tillverkning. Syftet med detta examensarbete är att identifera implementerbara lösningar av Industrial Internet of Things och Cyberfysiska produktionssystem. Identifiera vilka som genererar mest värde för företag som använder presshärdande produktionslinjer. Samt jämföra IIoT med nuvarande datainsamlings- och kontrollsystem på marknaden. Processen att identifiera möjliga lösningar och utvärdera dem har genomgått flera stadier genom att använda etablerad produktutvecklingsmetodik. Genom att observera hur kunder använder produkterna och förstå potentiella problem som uppstår under tillverkningsprocessen. Därefter har den informationen genomgått iterationer för att förbättra lösningarna och slutligen validerats genom att utvärdera dem av kunden. Resultatet av projektet har identifierat 17 möjliga generella lösningar som har utvärderats. De kan kategoriseras som prestanda, kostnader eller förutsägande underhåll. De lösningar som skapade mest värde för kunderna var tryck- och vibrationsövervakning. För implementering av datainsamling och kontrollsystem är IIoT fördelaktigt jämfört med nuvarande system. Detta på grund av en mer strömlinjeformad arkitektur och val av tillgängliga protokoll. Slutaktligen, genom att analysera all data inklusive informationen från intervjupersonerna, inkluderar den önskvärda lösningen detaljerad maskintillståndsövervakning och ett system som säkerställer produktkvalitet.

In step with the development of digitalization, information technology has created an opportunity for retail organizations to offer new transaction mechanisms to their customers that can be used to their advantage and benefit value creation. Hence, many retail organizations today work to differentiate themselves by establishing omnichannel practices in which the company’s digital and physical channels are integrated to create a seamless and convenient customer experience. The aim of this study is to produce new knowledge regarding the value generated by omnichannel practices, and is based on a qualitative research method in which a multi-case exploration of six different companies has been carried out. The empirical data consist of nine semi-structured interviews with the organizations involved as well as on observations of the organizations’ omnichannel practices. Based on the results of the study, it is shown that omnichannel providers manage to create value by activating all business model themes, i.e. efficiency, novelty, lock-in and complementarities, in different ways and to varying degrees. It is also noted that various retail organizations have different ease of activating the four different value-creating sources and that this value creation is dependent on the retail organization's main activities and target group.

In all industries, the global competition has expanded the needs to reform businesses in   orderto stay ahead of competition. All organizations have to find ways to work with complex problems and big challenges concerning the understanding of the present and intuiting the future. Also they should be prepared to see what will come next to the market and if this challenges their current position. Interestingly, a concept called Design Thinking intends to provide one way to work with these demanding issues. Even though the concept has relatively scarce study basis concerning its empirical usage and also critique towards it exists, it has an emerging interest while several companies are adapting the concept in their operations on a growing basis. Interestingly, this concept is proposed to be applicable also in technology design activities in a supplier-­‐customer relationship. Hence, this study is conducted to discover what is the empirical foundation of Design Thinking in this technology design context to create new knowledge both to the academic community and to practitioners working with technology design activities. By conducting a case study at SAP, one of the first movers using Design Thinking in technology design activities, stimulating results are discovered about the value creation and value delivery of the phenomenon in the context. The study results show that Design Thinking states to create value especially with two  elements in technology design: ideation capability and business and technology alignment. These stated value elements deliver value to companies with three different value delivery logics: functional improvement capability perspective, problem solving capability perspective and business innovation capability perspective. However, since this study has both its limitations and delimitations, these stimulating findings provide mostly key guidelines and points of discussion rather than exact facts. Especially it is an area of interest if these findings can be confirmed in further research. / I alla branscher har den globala konkurrensen utökat behovet av företagsreformer för att ligga steget före konkurrenterna. Alla organisationer måste hitta sätt att arbeta med komplexa problem och stora utmaningar för att skapa ökad förståelse för pågående och framtida händelser. De bör också vara förberedda på förändringar som kommer att ske på marknaden och undersöka om dessa utmanar deras nuvarande position. Ett koncept som kallas designtänkande möjliggör ett sätt att arbeta med dessa krävande frågor. Trots att dess empiriska användning har en relativt begränsad studiegrund och att det finns kritik mot konceptet, finns det ett framväxande intresse då företag tillämpar konceptet i en ökande grad. Några föreslår att konceptet även är applicerbar i teknologidesign i en leverantör kundrelation. Denna studie är därmed genomförd för att upptäcka vad som är den empiriska grunden för designtänkande i denna teknologidesign sammanhanget för att bidra till ny kunskap både för akademiska världen och utövare som arbetar med teknologidesign.  Genom att genomföra en fallstudie på SAP, ett av de första företag som använder designtänkande i teknologidesign, har stimulerande resultat upptäcks om värdeskapande och värdeleverans av konceptet i sammanhanget. Studieresultaten visar att designtänkande skapar värde framförallt med två element i teknologidesign: idéutformningskapacitet och affärs och teknikinriktningssammanhållning. Dessa angivna värde element levererar värde till  företag med tre olika värdeleveranslogiker:funtionellt förbättringsförmågaperspektiv, problemlösningsförmågaperspektiv och affärsinnovationsförmågaperspektiv. Eftersom denna studie har både sina begränsningar och avgränsningar, bidrar dessa stimulerande iakttagelser mestadels med viktiga riktlinjer och diskussionspunkter snarare än Exakt fakta.  Det är speciellt ett område av intresse om dessa resultat kan bekräftas i ytterligare forskning.

For a prolonged period of time, corporations and society have been out of synergy. There are many industries that have contributed to our environmental problems, but the fashion industry has been very active in contributing to the negative climate change, particularly the value chain. There is an eminent need for change, regarding how fashion companies operate and how consumers choose to consume. Creating Shared Value has emerged in recent years, answering societal and environmental issues, but the concept is still very nebulous and a relatively new concept. Throughout this thesis, the purpose was to examine if or how Swedish fashion companies create shared value and how CSV initiatives can contribute to sustainable value chains within the Swedish fashion industry.  The qualitative research strategy has been implemented throughout the thesis. This decision was made in order to successfully create a rich primary data collection so that a deep analysis could be conducted in relation to the literature review. The results and conclusion of this thesis is that Swedish fashion companies create shared value subconsciously, some of the participating companies do it more than others. The results suggest that CSV initiatives can contribute to increasingly sustainable value chains for the various companies, but that there are also several boundaries and opportunities along the way. There is a further need of more research regarding the concept of CSV, especially in the fashion industry.

The effects of businesses all over the globe on social issues like climate change have caused an increasing demand for those businesses to take responsibility for their actions. While corporate social responsibility has been concerned with such topics for a while, the more recent concept of ‘creating shared value’ aims to have a more justified approach in a way that it provides economic value for the implementing company while also targeting social issues simultaneously. Still, specific tools helping companies to implement initiatives that create shared value are missing.Multinational large-fleet operators, such as logistics companies or car rental services, are considered to contribute a significant share to the earlier mentioned social issue of climate change. With the rising adoption of electric vehicles by such large-fleet operators, the concept of Vehicle-to-Grid is identified as a way for multinational large-fleet operators to create shared value. Vehicle-to-Grid is a technology that promises to help increase the utilisation of renewable energy sources, thereby helping to tackle climate change. Since the concepts of creating shared value and Vehicle-to-Grid have not been combined so far, a research gap was identified. Therefore, this research aims to answer the questions of how Vehicle-to-Grid can create shared value for multinational large-fleet operators and how expected results of that implementation can be measured for the implementing company, society and other considered stakeholders.Empirical data is collected by qualitatively interviewing organisations that have been involved in Vehicle-to-Grid related projects and is analysed with the help of a conceptual framework that the authors developed. The conclusion of this study closes the identified research gap and contributes to the theory of how shared value initiatives can be implemented. The research suggests that for multinational large-fleet operators, shared value creation by implementing Vehicle-to-Grid could be achieved by redefining productivity in the value chain and enable local cluster development. Additionally, the research gives implications on how progress for all considered parties can be measured and suggests managerial and policy implications that would help to define Vehicle-to-Grid business cases in the future.

Today, circular economy is becoming more and more important to think about when developing new solutions, and considering the growing and aging population it may be extra important when it comes to the design of solutions for health care. This thesis aims at exploring how a digital health technology solution for incontinence care can be designed to contribute to a circular economy. In order to achieve the aim, a case study is performed with the intention to answer four different research questions. To gather data and information, the study also uses methods such as interviews, surveys, and a literature study. The first conclusion that can be drawn is that there are eight different circular design strategy categories, each category with a unique focus area, that are assessed to be suitable to investigate for the given purpose. Three examples of focus areas of these categories are to reuse resources, to influence the user behaviour, and to prolong the use phase for a solution somehow. Furthermore, the users and the production company are seen as the most significant actors for the studied digital health technology solution, and together they have ten important requests including needs regarding provision of knowledge, easily understandable solutions, and peace of mind to mention some. Based on the conclusions regarding circular design strategies and important requests, three concepts are developed which in different ways are assessed to contribute to both circularity and to fulfilling actor requests. One of the concepts focuses on prolonging the use of some components by providing an adapted cleaning kit to keep the components at a high hygienic standard. Another concept focuses on encouraging correct usage of the whole solution through giving the users personal statistics and notifications related to monetary and environmental costs. The last concept aims at providing a simple way to return reusable components to the company in order to enable reuse by another user. Finally, conclusions regarding positive and negative aspects of the three developed concepts are presented, focusing on attributes such as circularity and value creation. The thesis presents different ways regarding how circular design strategies can be applied to a digital health technology solution, which can inspire and aid organisations in their way towards providing solutions that are adapted to fit a circular economy.