Why Creating Shared Value matters : A qualitative multiple case study on how CSV initiatives can contribute to sustainable value chains within the Swedish fashion industry.

Sammanfattning: 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.