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Sustainable fashion.

Bachelor Degree/Master Degree, Master of Business Administration (MBA), PhD.

The case focuses on Osklen, one of the world’s first eco-fashion brands, founded in 1989 by Oskar Metsavaht. For the past 26 years, Osklen had become Brazil’s foremost sustainable luxury venture, and since 2012, under first minority and then majority corporate ownership, pursued an aggressive global expansion strategy. The dilemma of the case juxtaposes Osklen’s creative aesthetics, which leverage unique Brazilian beauty in nature and heritage, with the financial pressures of global expansion. The tension is exacerbated by the 2015 corruption scandal, which decelerated the Brazilian economy and reduced consumer spending on sustainable luxuries in Osklen’s home market; it also risked compromising the appeal of Brazilian brands elsewhere. The case explores the complex interconnections between local and global aspects of sustainability and brings forward the environmental, social and cultural aspects of brands and business to the foreground. The case also illustrates how economic crises impact brands from the initial creative inspiration to the prospects of global expansion.

Students will master tools for strategic analysis (VRIN framework and scenario planning) to a company evolving in an emerging economy. They will learn about the ways to consider and communicate sustainability. Students will be exposed to the importance of aesthetics and multi-sensoriality in business activities.

Teaching notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email support@emeraldinsight.com to request teaching notes.

CSS 11: Strategy

The purpose of this paper is to explain how small- and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) in transition environments overcome the liability of origin to gain their legitimacy in a global context.

Through semi-structured face-to-face interviews, this study investigates Bulgarian wine producers who evolve in transition environments and are looking for new means to restore their legitimacy both locally and globally.

The results show common patterns between Bulgarian wine producers to signal their legitimacy regarding the cognitive and normative pillars of legitimacy. However, in transition environments, signals of regulatory and industry legitimacy vary across firms to fit international standards and to create new local regulations.

While this research focuses on the Central and Eastern European setting, future research examining transition environments can draw from the present findings in regards to legitimacy strategies adopted in times of drastic change.

This paper has practical implications which show that during transitions, SMEs in the wine industry go back to their roots by adopting norms and traditions that have persisted over time.

This paper contributes to legitimacy theory by proposing a process model of legitimacy – when faced with liabilities, SMEs can use signals of legitimacy to communicate their adherence to the stakeholders’ expectations.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the generational cohort effect on responsible consumer behavior. Based on the theory of planned behavior and the generational cohort theory, the authors test the impact of perceived consumer effectiveness (PCE), media exposure (ME), the social group influence of family and peers and self-identity on the intention of Generation X and Generation Y to purchase environmentally responsible products.

The data were collected from 1,870 respondents in France. Based on the factor scores from a confirmatory factor analysis, the authors tested for interaction effects by employing regression and path analyses. A two-group structural model evaluated the strength of each cohort’s direct effects and the significant differences between the groups.

The results reveal a generational (cohort) effect on the relationship between PCE and ME and the intention to purchase environmentally responsible products.

The convenience sample shows bias toward younger people, especially students. In addition, some latent variables show low AVE scores, probably due to scale interpretation differences. By measuring purchase intention, the study disregards the actual behavior of consumers.

To increase consumers’ personal involvement in responsible purchasing behaviors, marketers could cater to the social desirability side of Gen Y by emphasizing products that express community values; on the other hand, marketers could appeal to the PCE of Gen X by providing more information and convincing them that their actions matter.

The efficiency of awareness and promotional campaigns for environmentally responsible products will be enhanced when marketers employ segmentation based on generational cohorts.

The study contributes to a better understanding of responsible consumer behavior by identifying generational cohort differences.

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate and determine the effectiveness of university education on the economy of various countries.

To determine the necessity and expedience of making provision for the effectiveness of university education on the market economy, this work uses the method of regression and correlation analysis. Evaluation of effectiveness of the system of university education is performed separately for students, state, and employers by taking as example countries with specially developed formulas.

The authors substantiate the necessity for provision of effectiveness of university education on the market economy, view the effective system of university education as a basis for the development of a knowledge economy, determine approaches to evaluate the effectiveness of university education on the market economy, perform evaluation of effectiveness of the system of university education by the example of various countries, determine its connection with indicators of economic growth and development, and provide recommendations for provision of effectiveness of the system of university education on modern market economies.

The practical value of results of the conducted research consists in the possibility to use the developed formulas for determining the level of effectiveness of the system of university education on various countries of the world.

Theoretical value of this paper consists in the possibility for the application of authors’ conclusions and recommendations in the process of development of the policy of management of effectiveness of university education system.

This paper aims to provide a review of available published literature in which nanostructures are incorporated into AM printing media as an attempt to improve the properties of the final printed part. The purpose of this article is to summarize the research done to date, to highlight successes in the field, and to identify opportunities that the union of AM and nanotechnology could bring to science and technology.

Research in which metal, ceramic, and carbon nanomaterials have been incorporated into AM technologies such as stereolithography, laser sintering, fused filament fabrication, and three‐dimensional printing is presented. The results of the addition of nanomaterials into these AM processes are reviewed.

The addition of nanostructured materials into the printing media for additive manufacturing affects significantly the properties of the final parts. Challenges in the application of nanomaterials to additive manufacturing are nevertheless numerous.

Each of the AM methods described in this review has its own inherent limitations when nanoparticles are applied with the respective printing media. Overcoming these design boundaries may require the development of new instrumentation for successful AM with nanomaterials.

This review shows that there are many opportunities in the marriage of AM and nanotechnology. Promising results have been published in the application of nanomaterials and AM, yet significant work remains to fully harness their inherent potential. This paper serves the purpose to researchers to explore new nanomaterials‐based composites for additive manufacturing.

Digital development is often considered only from one – economic – side through the lens of its positive contribution to the acceleration of economic growth rate and increase in the global competitiveness level. In this case, conflicts of economic subjects’ interests remain outside the scope of scientific research. The essence of these conflicts consists in the fact that despite the economic advantages, digital development is usually connected to social drawbacks and ecological costs.

The purpose of this paper is to explain the emergence and existence of retro-industries. The paper proposes using a multidisciplinary approach to define the concept of retro-industries and to identify its specificities.

Literature reviews in marketing and economics were used to create a model of innovation adoption and diffusion in retro-industries.

The paper provides theoretical insights about the factors that foster retro-industries such as heritage, tradition, nostalgia and revival. The paper suggests that these factors influence innovations mechanisms and explain the use of the past to manage the challenges of the future.

The paper enriches an identified need to analyse industry from retro perspective; and to identify the factors that foster the emergence of such industries.

The aim of this paper is two‐fold: to examine the challenges that organizations that have originated in transition environments face when moving from one layer of the environment (local/national) to another one (international/global) and to enrich the understanding of the legitimacy concept by looking at two types of legitimacy (functional and relational) relevant to the organizations in transition environments trying to access the global marketplace.

Drawing on the legitimacy needs of organizations evolving in transition environments and trying to access a different environmental layer, we developed a signalling theory of legitimacy.

When trying to move from one layer of the environment to another one, organizations will use different types of legitimacy signals in order to address the liabilities they face.

The research examines organizations facing both drastic environmental changes and evolving in a global industry. Future research can separately study the impact of each factor; and also investigate additional types of liabilities.

The study can help organizations from transition and emerging economies identify and employ signals that can enhance their organizational legitimacy, which may affect their performance. Additionally, public policy implications are developed in order to stimulate local businesses.

The multidimensionality of a signalling theory of legitimacy – functional and relational – increases our understanding of organizations facing liabilities, such as firms evolving in transition environments and trying to access the global marketplace.