Assessment 2 - Critical Analysis Assessing the Linkages between Marketing & Management for Sustainability
Purpose:
This assessment will contribute 30% to your overall grade.
Details:

Source: www.dhakatribune.com
B usiness society and government nowadays are incredibly concerned because of the constant pressure on the global environment. There is no disagreement that this is due to human activities. The never-ending desire system in a modern consumer society is pushing for more production by using an enormous amount of raw materials and energy to produce millions and millions of products and consumption leading towards damaging the Earth’s natural system (Bocken, de Pauw, Bakker, and Grinten, 2016). According to research on Anthropocene (Chakrabarty, 2015), because of this vicious cycle of production, we are sending a massive amount of wastages into the waters, land, and ecosystem or even to the atmosphere. One strong argument against the existing business model is criticising the linear economies (i.e. Use materials and energy consumption for production by ejecting a large number of materials as waste). Let us take a case to consider from RMG (Readymade Garments or textile) industry. We cannot disregard the importance of the textile and clothing industry as it is regarded as the fundamental part of everyday life and an essential employment source in the global economy. It is almost impossible to think about a world without the RMG industry. More than 300 million people around the world are employed in this sector along the value chain and generating more than USD 1.3 trillion a year. The production and distribution of cotton account for almost 7% of all employment in the emerging markets. According to recent WTO findings, clothing production in the last 15 years has approximately doubled (see Figure 1).
Figure 1
Source: www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org
The RMG sector incorporates production, distribution or even disposing of operations in an almost entirely linear way, which also most of the time use large amounts of non-renewable resources that are extracted to produce clothes. According to research more than half of fast fashion produced is disposed of in under a year or less than a year. There are multiple challenges of the linear system ( e.g., puts pressure on resources, leaves economic opportunities untapped, and moreover, the natural environment faces hazardous situation with pollutes and degrades). Along with these we also receive, various negative societal impacts at local and global scales (see Figure 2). The economic value of these negative externalities is challenging to quantify, although the recent Pulse of the fashion industry report estimated that the overall benefit to the world economy could be about EUR 160 billion (USD 192 billion) in 2030 if the fashion industry were to address the environmental and societal fallout of the current status quo. Less than 1% of the material used to produce clothing is recycled into new clothing, representing a loss of more than USD 100 billion worth of materials each year. However, this has to change! It is not difficult to employ a better and sound business model or even make our economy much more circular! The circular economy (Geissdoerfer, Savaget, Bocken, and Hultink, 2017), can generate various benefits. The industry can get much more value with much less investment. By using a sound approach like circular economy, we can reduce the burden is on the by reducing material and energy consumption earth (Lewandowski, 2016).
Figure 2 Source: www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org

Today, some of the biggest names in fashion are collaborating for the first time in a campaign to save clothes from landfill in different parts of the world. Ellen MacArthur Foundation is one of the organizations that works with business, government and academia to build a framework for an economy that is restorative and regenerative by design. It was established in 2010 to accelerate the transition to a circular economy. Since its creation the charity has emerged as a global thought leader, creating circular economy on the agenda of decision-makers across the business, government, and academia.
Make Fashion Circular

In May 2017, Make Fashion Circular was originally launched as the Circular Fibres Initiative, at the Copenhagen Fashion Summit. The initiative brings together leaders from across the fashion industry, including brands, cities, philanthropists, NGOs, and innovators. It aims to stimulate the level of collaboration and innovation necessary to create a new textiles economy, aligned with the principles of the circular economy. One year later, at the 2018 Copenhagen Fashion Summit, the Circular Fibres Initiative entered its second phase: Make Fashion Circular. To thrive, and not just survive, the fashion industry needs to redesign its operating model radically. By transitioning to a circular system, where we keep safe materials in use, the industry can unlock an enormous economic opportunity. To Make Fashion Circular, businesses, governments, innovators, and citizens need to join forces. Make Fashion Circular brings together industry leaders including Burberry, Gap Inc., H&M Group, HSBC, NIKE Inc., and Stella McCartney as Core Partners. Make Fashion Circular has been made possible by C&A Foundation, Walmart Foundation and the MAVA Foundation.
Instructions:
Assignment 2 aims for the learner to think creatively about how to address the challenges and opportunities of value dimension of marketing and management decisions and strategies in RMG circular economy. Students need to select Two (2) of the brands from each, the following Tiers (Total 6 Brands).

Where to start: We suggest that you begin by reading this page and then spend some time browsing the following brands.

Step1: Doing Research and Collecting Secondary Data (Students must not contact the organisation directly. The case must be based on material available in the public domain).
Step 2: Writing the Report
Tasks:
When you have got yourself acquainted with the research, then you have to write the report on circular economy indicating how circular economy allows us:
1. To focus on issues of resources and how they are used and managed in a business context (For these Six/6 Brands).
2. Use three fundamental approaches applied as we seek to address this – strategies to narrow, slow, and close resource loops.
Further reading for Narrowing, Slowing and Closing Loops:
Bocken, N. M., de Pauw, I., Bakker, C. (2015). Product design and business model strategies for a circular economy. Sustainable Design & Manufacturing Conference, Seville.
3. Explain value dimensions and corresponding question

Value dimensions and the corresponding question
Value proposition
What value is proposed and to whom? Offer; Value proposition; Customer segments; Customer/ partner relationships.
Value creation and delivery
How is value created and delivered? Key activities; Key resources/ capabilities; Key partners; Channels.
Value capture
How is value captured? Costs; Revenue flows, Customer loyalty.
References and additional Resources:
Bocken, N. M., de Pauw, I., Bakker, C., & van der Grinten, B. (2016). Product design and business model strategies for a circular economy. Journal of Industrial and Production Engineering, 33(5), 308-320.
Chakrabarty, D. (2015). The Anthropocene and the convergence of histories. In The Anthropocene and the global environmental crisis (pp. 56-68). Routledge.
Geissdoerfer, M., Savaget, P., Bocken, N. M., & Hultink, E. J. (2017). The Circular Economy–A new sustainability paradigm?. Journal of cleaner production, 143, 757-768.
Lewandowski, M. (2016). Designing the business models for circular economy—Towards the conceptual framework. Sustainability, 8(1), 43.
HBR Readings:
Rethinking Sustainability in Light of the EU’s New Circular Economy Policy Atalay Atasu, Vishal Agrawal, Michael Rinaldi Rob, Herb Sezer Ulku
Submitting the Assignment
This is an individual report. You should submit using the Moodle submission link for this assignment. Remember that, the report should
• demonstrate your ability to present a well written and well-structured report
• be approximately 1,500 words (maximum 1,750 words)
• use Calibri 12 point font, 1.5 line spacing
• use Harvard referencing, 15 references are expected. Please use at least 75% of academic references.