Under ledning av professor Karin M. Ekström genomför en forskargrupp vid högskolan studier i syfte att utveckla kunskap och lösningar för att minska det textila avfallet. I rapporten ”Mot en mer hållbar konsumtion” redovisas resultatet av tre studier av konsumenters inställning till köp, återanvändning och återvinning av kläder. En enkätstudie har genomförts om hur och varför konsumenter slänger kläder, en fördjupning har skett genom fokusgruppsintervjuer och ytterligare ett perspektiv har erhållits genom samtal och observationer i samband med en klädbytardag. Tillsammans ger de genomförda studierna en välgrundad beskrivning av konsumentuppfattningar. I analysen fokuseras olika konsumentgruppers motiv för att köpa nytt eller återanvända egna eller andras kläder. Beskrivning och analys av uppfattningar och beteenden är en grund för att utveckla modeller som främjar miljöengagemang och hållbar utveckling.

Fem områden har behandlats och avrapporteras i den rapport som nu föreligger. Den inleds med hur Gekås upprätthåller och utvecklar kundrelationer. Därefter följer ett kapitel om varför så många familjer väljer att åka till Ullared. Vad är det som förklarar att många väljer att förlägga helger och semesterdagar till Ullared? Det tredje kapitlet behandlar samspelet mellan produkter, människor och faciliteter i butiken. Den fråga som besvaras är varför det förefaller ”flyta” så väl. Digitaliseringens betydelse på Gekås och den digitala teknikens relation till den logik som gäller för verksamheten är nästa frågeställning. Rapporten avslutas med en beskrivning av problematiska servicemöten och hur frontpersonalen uppfattar och hanterar dessa. De fem kapitlen är var för sig intressanta läsningar. De ger tillsammans en spännande bild av vad Ullared och Gekås är och varför. Rapporten ger insikter, väcker frågor och är en utmärkt utgångspunkt för fortsatta studier av marknadsplatsers funktionssätt och vad som skapar kvalitet och utveckling.

Veljekset Keskinen bildades 1969 och är idag Finlands näst största varuhus beläget i Tuuri, en ort med 500 invånare i Österbotten i Finland. Företaget var från början en ”bybutik” eller vad vi skulle kalla lanthandel, men har över tid utvecklats till ett varuhus, hotell, livsmedelsbutik, trädgårdsbutik, restauranger, bensinstation och camping som attraherar kunder från hela Finland, men även internationella besökare. I denna rapport presenteras resultatet av finska och svenska forskares tvådagars besök på Veljekset Keskinen. Rapporten består av sex kapitel med olika perspektiv, teorier, metoder och reflektioner från besöket. Kapitel ett handlar om att attrahera shoppingturister genom upplevelser. Veljekset Keskinen är inte enbart ett varuhus som säljer fysiska produkter utan en turistdestination som erbjuder en kombination av olika upplevelser. Kapitel två handlar om bybutiken som gåva för bygden och turistattraktion. Besökarna möter idag både den traditionella bybutiken och det moderna varuhuset. Kapitel tre handlar om hur detaljhandelsföretaget Veljekset Keskinen är fullt av kontrastmarknadsföring i tre dimensioner: tradition och nytt, skala och storlek samt House of brands kontra Branded house. Kapitel fyra handlar om olika aspekter av tid och rytm på Veljekset Keskinen: synkronisering av tid och rum, tidslinjer, varornas tidsindelning, säsonger och framtiden. Kapitel fem handlar om negativa kundbeteenden på Veljekset Keskinen och beskriver hur kunder bär sig illa åt, möjliga orsaker till varför kunder bär sig illa åt och hur personalen hanterar situationer där kunder bär sig illa åt. Kapitel sex handlar om att attrahera shoppingturister med hjälp av sociala medier och belyser hur Veljekset Keskinen använder webb och sociala medier för att bygga sitt varumärke.

Interaction in businessrelationships is a significant means of resourcedevelopment. Studies of these processes have focused on interactivedevelopment in long-term relationships between buyer and supplier. This study explores the characteristics of joint resourcedevelopment in newbusinessrelationships, where the two parties have no previous experience of interacting with each other. The study is based on the industrial network model and contains two cases of interactivedevelopment of new products with entirely different features. This research shows that joint development in a newrelationship is strongly dependent on the resources of other business partners, since no previous adaptations exist between the two focal actors. Access to these resources is achieved through the established businessrelationships of the two parties. Furthermore, previous interactions with other business partners have a significant impact on the outcome of interactivedevelopment in a newbusinessrelationship. The main reason for these conditions is that the features of the resources of the two parties have evolved during these interactions.

Traditionally, complaining customers have been considered a problem by the retail industry, but this changed due to the shift towards service quality and customer satisfaction that took place in the late eighties (e.g. Parasuraman, Berry and Zeithaml, 1988, Cronin and Taylor, 1992). Complaints from customers are valuable since they can give companies a second chance to solve problems and recover from service failure in order to delight the customer (Bitner, Brown and Meuter, 2000). The salespersons influence on consumers complaint responses have been studied by several (e.g. Clopton, Stoddard and Clay, 2001) and few would argue against the frontline personnel’s’ key role in satisfying the customers. For retail companies, the frontline personnel are the gatekeeper and central in providing good service since they often are the primary point of contact before, during and, after a purchase (Chung-Herrera et al., 2004). Frontline personnel have the opportunity to informe the customer about the product, answer questions and give advice in specific situations. In many cases the customers are dependent upon the skills and knowledge provided by the employees as well as they are dependent on their own capacity to ask the right questions. In a perfect world, a customer that can articulate his or hers need and expectations of a product, gather relevant information by asking the store personnel and trust the knowledge provided, should be a satisfied customer. Still there are signs that consumers are becoming increasingly dissatisfied with their purchases as well as with the service they receive in relation to the purchase. Also, few complaining customers are happy with companies’ complaint handling efforts (e.g. Andreassen, 2001). This paper reports a study that examines consumer complaint behaviour and consumer pre-purchase behaviour. The data was collected by means of structured questionnaires administered with the help of a web panel. In total the data consists of 1990 respondents and the demographic of the respondents being representative for Swedish consumers above age 18. Analysis of the survey data shows three findings of particular interest for the retail industry. First, the amount of pre-purchase information obtained by the consumer does not correlate with the consumers’ post purchase satisfaction. Respondents that have searched information from several different sources before buying did not complaint less than those who had not searched at all. Second, consumers who received product information mainly from the store (either through staff or website) were more inclined to complain than those who had got information from additional, or other, sources such as family or friends. Third, complaining consumers are dissatisfied with how their complaints are dealt with by the store representative. In this paper, we will examine the results and further explore customer complaints behaviour in stores.

Under de senaste åren har vi sett ett ökat behov av att engagera aktörer från de ekosystem vi studerar. I denna presentation utforskade vi strategier för hur dessa aktörer framgångsrikt kan involveras under olika faser av forsknings- och projektgenomförande.

Vi inledde med en genomgång av varför det är viktigt att engagera ekosystemets aktörer och vilka fördelar det medför för både forskning och praktik. Därefter presenterade vi tre fallstudier där vi framgångsrikt hade samarbetat med ekosystemaktörer. Varje fall belyste olika metoder som hade använts för att främja engagemang: från samarbete vid projektansökningar, involvering under genomförande och fältarbete, till fullt engagemang från idéstadiet till implementering.

I den avslutande delen av presentationen ledde vi en diskussion kring utmaningarna med att uppnå meningsfullt engagemang från ekosystemaktörer. Deltagarna delade med sig av sina egna erfarenheter, och vi bidrog även med exempel på utmaningar vi stött på för vidare diskussion.

Berry myntade 1983 begreppet ”relationsmarknadsföring” (Grönroos, 1994). Enligt Coviello et al. (2002) skiljer sig relationsmarknadsföring ifrån mer traditionell transaktionsmarknadsföring bl.a. genom att mindre fokus läggs på företagets möjligheter och förmåga att rekrytera nya kunder, och mer på dess möjligheter och förmåga att behålla och stärka kundrelationer. Reichheld and Sasser (1990) tar i sin studie av över 100 företag upp de ekonomiska fördelarna med att fokusera på att behålla kunder istället för att försöka rekrytera nya. Ett företag som minskar kundbortfallet med fem procent kan enligt Reichheld and Sasser öka sin vinst med inte mindre än 25-85 procent.

This paper deals with combination and development of individual resource units that are embedded into networks of other units. The aim of the paper is to analyze the possibilities for a supplier and a buyer to limit the change boundary when adjusting their resources toward each other, and thus to predict the total outcome of a certain change. The paper is based on a case study on implementation of ERP (enterprise resource planning) systems. The case focuses on a Swedish ERP-supplier’s development of a customer specific solution in interaction with one particular buyer, whose requirements could not be met by existing product features. The buyer is a subcontractor on the second tier in the automotive industry and implemented the ERP system in order to improve the coordination of certain sequentially dependent operations. The case reveals four different ways in which a supplier and a buyer may try to limit the change boundary, each of them associated with certain problems in predicting the total outcome of a specific change.

The aim of this paper is to explore how a company can create a compelling brand meaning by orchestrating what is said in different points of contact with the brand. A case study of Scandinavia's largest store suggests that, in order to create a compelling brand meaning, a retailer need to manage oral and written stories, as well as stories told by facilities, goods, and services. It is argued that all stories need to be coherent in the sense that they all fit the brand meaning, and that it sometimes may require expansion of the retailer's control boundary. The case study also suggests that reality shows can be important points of contact, very much due to their ability to tell credible stories that can humanize the brand, and that individual employees can constitute important assets in these stories.

The aim of this paper is to explore how a company can create a compelling brand meaning by orchestrating what is said in different points of contact with the brand. A case study of Scandinavia's largest store suggests that, in order to create a compelling brand meaning, a retailer need to manage oral and written stories, as well as stories told by facilities, goods, and services. It is argued that all stories need to be coherent in the sense that they all fit the brand meaning, and that it sometimes may require expansion of the retailer's control boundary. The case study also suggests that reality shows can be important points of contact, very much due to their ability to tell credible stories that can humanize the brand, and that individual employees can constitute important assets in these stories

Konsumtionen av kläder har ökat dramatiskt under senare år och klädberget bara växer. Denna utveckling har bland annat aktualiserat frågan om hur vi kan finna nya system för insamling av de kläder som människor inte längre vill ha. Föreliggande rapport beskriver framväxten av en försöksverksamhet om insamling av kläder - belägen i nära anslutning till en stor shoppingdestination. På insamlingsplatsen - döpt till Textilreturen – kan både hela och trasiga kläder tas emot i stor skala. Genom att beskriva de olika överväganden och beslut som lett fram till Textilreturens slutliga utformning ges kunskap och insikt i projektets komplexitet. Denna kunskap är värdefull för andra företag och organisationer som planerar liknande anläggningar. Rapporten belyser svårigheterna att utveckla lösningar som kan bidra till att förändra människors beteende avseende klädinsamling.

The amount of textile waste has been increasing steadily in the Western world during the last decades. Its negative impact on the environment makes it important to investigate the possibility to increase the utilization of waste materials. The purpose of this paper is to study possibilities and structural barriers to utilize waste materials in the Swedish furniture and clothing industries. The study is based on semi-structured interviews with project managers, business developers, designers, and company representatives in the initiative Studio Re: design. The initiative aims to develop new techniques for making use of textile waste. Our study shows that the possibility for making use of waste materials is greater in the furniture industry than in the clothing industry. This is explained by more local production and flexible production in the furniture industry and also greater possibilities to utilize existing sales channels and interactive effects in the design process.

The consumption of clothes is high and steadily increasing. The garment industry’s resource-intensive manufacturing and consumers’ use and disposal of clothes therefore constitute an increasing environmental problem. The negative impact that consumption of clothes has on the environment makes it important to further investigate consumers’ acquisition, use and disposal of clothes. The aim of this paper is through a cost-benefit analysis of consumers’ consumption of clothes study what affect their propensity to consume more environmentally friendly – focusing on consumers representing generation Y and Swing. The study is based on three empirical studies: a survey at the largest retail store in Scandinavia, focus group interviews with members of the generation Y and Swing cohorts, and interviews and observations at a clothes swapping event. Our results show that the propensity to behave environmental friendly when consuming clothes is negatively affected by price sensitivity and various search cost, cost of disposal, information cost, and cost of use. The study also shows that the two cohorts experience different benefits in the consumption of clothes which also may affect their behavior.

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to reveal benefits and factors (elements) of proximity manufacturing that enhance triple bottom line (TBL) sustainability in the clothing industry and discusses previous proximity manufacturing studies.

Design/methodology/approach

A systematic review is used in searching and extracting data (primary studies artifacts and proximity manufacturing elements) from peer-reviewed articles. Extracted elements are gathered and analyzed in constructed tables under TBL. Four subgroups are inducted under the business bottom line.

Findings

This paper shows the potential of proximity manufacturing to enhance TBL sustainability, the scope of proximity manufacturing, and the trend and absence of existing studies. The most frequently mentioned elements are time-to-market, job creation, product quality, quick response, and trade policies. Governments and clusters are also important players.

Research limitations/implications

Future research can further explore elements potentially improving TBL sustainability to fill gaps in existing studies, including how proximity manufacturing can drive environmental and social practices, and how governments can encourage proximity manufacturing in various markets.

Practical implications

Besides perceiving the benefits of proximity manufacturing, businesses may use the derived elements to make manufacturing decisions.

Social implications

Public policies giving privileges to the locally produced garment industry have great potential to drive the economy and employment as well as sustain local clothing knowledge and the environment.

Originality/value

Proximity manufacturing strategies toward sustainability are under-researched academically and under-practiced industrially; this paper provides insight into sustainability benefits of proximity manufacturing.

Purpose

Amidst offshoring and reshoring trends, the purpose of this paper is to explore why business practitioners, especially from the labour-intensive clothing industry, choose to manufacture some products in proximity to the high-cost European market. Moreover, the rise of sustainability concerns led us to further explore whether these reasons relate to triple bottom line (TBL): business, environment and society.

Design/methodology/approach

The content analysis was adopted for within-case and cross-case analysis of data from semi-structured interviews of managers from 12 clothing companies.

Findings

Within-case analysis showed enablers and barriers (factors) of proximity manufacturing within each company’s characteristics under TBL. Cross-case analysis showed the most-mentioned enablers (high-quality suppliers, short lead-time and fast replenishment) and barriers (expensive production cost and lack of industrial set-up and seamstresses). The findings revealed both common and different factors from existing studies.

Research limitations/implications

Besides being motives for companies to bring manufacturing back to Europe, the results can be used by researchers and companies to develop criteria and performance measures of manufacturing locations for enhancing the TBL sustainability. Future research may explore different locations and industries for possibilities of proximity–manufacturing generalisation.

Social implications

Findings show that governments could focus on eliminating barriers of proximity manufacturing and creating favourable institutional infrastructure for the European clothing industry and sustainability.

Originality/value

This paper highlights updated proximity–manufacturing factors from practices in relation to TBL sustainability, including support for proximity manufacturing as a practice for TBL enhancement.

Research on circular product development has gained popularity in recent years. While such approaches focus on the product's design phase to create environmental and economic value, they lack in understanding the co-created and dynamic nature of a multifaceted system of actors important for the transition to circularity. The purpose is to explore how multi-level institutional re-configuration patterns influence resource integration and its associated value co-creation during circular product development in a service ecosystem. Responding to the need to address the applicability of Service-Dominant Logic to managerial practice, the paper relies on a single case study of circular product development involving B2B actors in a supply chain for workwear garments in healthcare. Data was collected using participant observation during an innovation project lasting 1,5 years. The data, which was supplemented by semi-structured interviews and online queries, was analysed through coding, condensation and interpretation. The findings demonstrate the importance of interdependencies between institutional re-configuration patterns and the interrelatedness of the micro, meso and macro levels in a service ecosystem as these enable value co-creation opportunities during circular product development. For practitioners, the paper provides an understanding of how to manage enablers and barriers arising during circular product development through institutional work.