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A FRAMEWORK FOR RFID COMPATIBILITY IN A FASHION RETAIL SUPPLY

CHAIN

A CASE STUDY IN A SWEDISH FASHION RETAILER

STINA JOHNSON, VIKTOR FABRICIO DE BARROS

Department of Business Administration

Civilekonomprogrammet med inriktning mot handel och logistik Degree Project, 30 Credits, Spring 2020

Supervisor: Zsuzsanna Vincze

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ABSTRACT

In recent years supply chain management has undergone significant and rapid changes, these changes are driven by several factors including the business environment, globalization, internet-based systems technological advances and increased demands to deliver better operational performance. These changes have included the increased use of internet-based systems and new technological tools, and one widely discussed technology is Radio Frequency Identification (RFID). We are writing on commission for a Swedish fashion retailer that is currently using barcodes but RFID implementation has been discussed for several years but never been prioritized. Previous literature has mainly focused on RFID as a technology and listed conceptual benefits such as increased sales and profit, labour cost savings, inventory control etc. We recognized a research gap in what makes the RFID implementation compatible with the company implementing the technology.

This research gap is addressed by further investigating how a fashion retail supply chain can implement RFID and what aspects that need to be considered. Since the benefits of RFID cannot be generalized, we find it necessary to study the implementation compatibility of a specific organization, in this case a fashion retailer. The main purpose of this degree project was to gain a deeper understanding of how RFID implementation can be compatible with a fashion retail supply chain. Compatibility can be difficult to conceptualize, hence, to fulfill our purpose we mapped out compatibility aspects that we later analyzed with our empirical findings. We identified six compatibility aspects, which we summarized as following; technology, resources, capabilities, attitude, expectations and value.

We performed a qualitative study to fulfill the main purpose, since we wanted to understand the internal perspectives of RFID technology in a fashion supply chain. Our aim with the qualitative study was to understand the strategic feasibility of RFID applications within our commissioned company and how they perceived its impacts. We conducted seven semi- structured interviews with employers from different departments at the company we are studying and one RFID expert.

When comparing the findings from the qualitative data collection with the aspects of compatibility together with the literature used in this study, we were able to conclude that RFID is reasonably compatible in the supply chain of a fashion retailer. Though we found that the compatibility is very dependent on what the goal is with the implementation. If there is no clear goal, it is hard to measure whether the implementation of RFID is compatible or not since the company does not know in what direction they are going and due to the unknown goal does not have a clear picture of what they are going to measure.

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Umeå May 18, 2020

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

To begin with, we would like to thank our supervisor from Umeå University, Zsuzsanna Vincze, for her guidance and feedback throughout the writing of our degree project.

We would also like to thank the company we are writing on commission for and our contact person from the Swedish Fashion Retailer, she was of great help to inspire us with ideas and also helped us to get in contact with important people for this degree project. Finally, a big thank you to all the respondents that participated in our study and took their time to let us interview them.

Viktor Fabricio de Barros Stina Johnson

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

1.INTRODUCTION ... 1

1.1 CHOICE OF SUBJECT ... 1

1.2 PROBLEM BACKGROUND ... 1

1.3 THEORETICAL BACKGROUND/RESEARCH GAP ... 3

1.4 RESEARCH QUESTION ... 5

1.5 PURPOSE ... 5

1.6 DELIMITATIONS ... 6

2. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ... 7

2.1 RFID ... 7

2.2 SUPPLY CHAIN ... 8

2.2.1 RFID LOGISTICS ... 9

2.2.2 RFID RETAIL STORES ... 10

2.2.3 RFID SUSTAINABILITY ... 11

2.3 RFID ADOPTION PROCESS IN RETAIL ... 13

2.4 OPERATIONAL TECHNOLOGY IMPLEMENTATION ... 16

2.5 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK FOR OUR QUALITATIVE STUDY ... 18

3. SCIENTIFIC METHODOLOGY ... 20

3.1 ONTOLOGY ... 20

3.2 EPISTEMOLOGY ... 21

3.3 RESEARCH APPROACH ... 22

3.4 RESEARCH DESIGN ... 23

3.5 PRE-UNDERSTANDINGS ... 24

3.6 LITERATURE SEARCH ... 25

3.7 CHOICE OF THEORIES ... 25

4. PRACTICAL METHOD ... 26

4.1 DATA COLLECTING METHODS ... 26

4.2 USING ONLINE TOOLS TO COLLECT DATA ... 27

4.3 QUALITATIVE DATA COLLECTION ... 27

4.3.1 QUALITATIVE SAMPLING AND ACCESS ... 27

4.3.2 INTERVIEW GUIDE ... 28

4.3.3 CONDUCTING THE INTERVIEWS ... 29

4.3.4 TRANSCRIBING AND ANALYSIS ... 30

4.4 RESEARCH ETHICS ... 31

5. EMPIRICAL FINDINGS ... 32

5.1 INTERVIEW 1 - RFID EXPERT ... 32

5.2 INTERVIEW 2 - LOGISTICS ... 34

5.3 INTERVIEW 3 - IT ... 36

5.4 INTERVIEW 4 - RETAIL NORDIC ... 37

5.5 INTERVIEW 5 - RETAIL GLOBAL ... 38

5.6 INTERVIEW 6 - STRATEGIC DEVELOPMENT ... 40

5.7 INTERVIEW 7 - SUSTAINABILITY ... 41

6. ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION ... 43

6.1 TECHNOLOGY ... 43

6.2 RESOURCES ... 44

6.3 CAPABILITIES ... 45

6.4 EXPECTATIONS ... 45

6.5 ATTITUDE ... 48

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6.6 VALUE ... 49

6.7 DISCUSSION OF THE ANALYSIS ... 50

7. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION ... 52

7.1 CONCLUSION ... 52

7.2 PRACTICAL RECOMMENDATION ... 53

7.3 THEORETICAL CONTRIBUTIONS ... 56

7.4 SOCIETAL RELEVANCE ... 57

7.5 LIMITATIONS AND FURTHER RESEARCH ... 57

8. TRUTH CRITERIA ... 59

8.1 CREDIBILITY ... 59

8.2 CONFIRMABILITY ... 60

8.3 DEPENDABILITY ... 60

8.4 TRANSFERABILITY ... 60

REFERENCES ... 61

APPENDIX 1, INTERVIEW GUIDE 1 ... 66

APPENDIX 2, INTERVIEW GUIDE 2 ... 66

APPENDIX 3, INTERVIEW GUIDE 3 ... 66

APPENDIX 4, INTERVIEW GUIDE 4 AND 5 ... 67

APPENDIX 5, INTERVIEW GUIDE 6 ... 67

APPENDIX 6, INTERVIEW GUIDE 7 ... 67

LIST OF FIGURES FIGURE 1. GENERIC FASHION RETAIL SUPPLY CHAIN ... 9

FIGURE 2. A COMPREHENSIVE LIST OF RFID ATTACKS ... 12

FIGURE 3. ASPECTS OF COMPATIBILITY ... 19

LIST OF TABLES TABLE 1. TABLE OF ASPECTS……...18

TABLE 2. TABLE OF INTERVIEWS...32

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1. INTRODUCTION

In this degree project we will begin by introducing how and why we chose the subject. We will also present the company we are writing on commission for and why we chose to include them in this degree project. A problem background and a theoretical background will be given which will then lead us to present our research question and the purpose of this degree project.

1.1 CHOICE OF SUBJECT

We are two supply chain management students from Umeå School of Business and Economics and are at the time writing our degree project. Both of us were interested in writing on commission since we wanted to have a more direct impact on our degree project, thus reaching the decision to contact a premium fashion retailer where one of us has worked and had an internship at the logistics department. The company that we are writing on commission for is an international fashion retailer which is headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden. They have stores in more than 70 different countries and suppliers from various countries all over the world. Together with the company we decided to analyze how compatible a technological implementation is for a fashion retail supply chain. Since we both have an interest in supply chain, fashion and technology we thought it was a suitable subject for this degree project.

1.2 PROBLEM BACKGROUND

In recent years supply chain management has undergone significant and rapid changes, these changes are driven by several factors including the business environment, globalization, especially internet-based systems technological advances and increased demands to deliver better operational performance (Prajogo & Sohal, 2013, p.1532). The fashion supply chain is facing a range of unique challenges and dilemmas as well, some problems that Nayak et al. (2015, p.5) recognized as product and component mixing, track and trace problems and long lead time during distribution. Another problem within the supply chain of a fashion supply chain is the receiving operation which can be very time consuming and human error can occur since it is monitored manually (Delen, et al., 2007).

At the moment, our commissioned company is using barcodes as the only track and trace application and are facing the same challenges as described above, long lead time with no exact measures of when articles are estimated to arrive at the warehouse and very manually handled receiving operations.

The supply chain has been facing, as mentioned above, rapid changes. These changes have then included the increased use of internet-based systems and new technological tools, and one widely discussed retail technology is Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) (Attaran, 2007, p.249). RFID is a collective concept consisting of different methods for identifying objects with the support of radio technology (NE, 2020). It is described as a device that allows to capture and convert data through radio waves automatically (Atlasrfidstore, 2020).

RFID is recognized as part of a technological group known as Automatic Identification and Data Capture (AIDC). It can automatically identify items, gather data about them as well directly insert data into information systems without any human intervention (ABR, 2020).

The applications are broadly extended and are often included in inventory tracking, order fulfilment, quantity determination, and other material flows can be monitored throughout the supply chain (MHI, 2020). It is also important to notice that there are numerous variations of RFID that can be designed differently depending on the purpose of it, which

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makes it hard to research since it is not a standardized technology that easily can be generalized (Sarac, et al., 2010, p. 93). Therefore, a reasonable consequence of non- standardized features within RFID technologies is that its application should be aligned with the supply chain strategy of the organization. RFID can in some cases also be fragile, since the tags used in the supply chain are low-cost and therefore limited in capacities that can minimize the risks of privacy problems (Lin, et al., 2015, p. 978). Nevertheless, the popularity of RFID is growing and more actors within various industries are adapting it into their supply chain, retailers as Wal-Mart and Target implemented RFID in the late 2000s (Attaran, 2007, p. 249). When it comes to the adoption of RFID in retail, there is a clear evidence of an increasing adoption trend (Sain & Wong, 2018, p. 4). However, the adoption of RFID is imbalanced between different regions in the world, where Europe has a significantly lower adoption rate than North America and Asia (Sain & Wong, 2018, p. 4).

The reason why Europe has been slower than both North America and Asia regarding the adoption of RFID in retail seems to be because of a lower rate of acceptance, which is due to concerns about privacy issues and waiting for a broader adoption (Sain & Wong, 2018, p. 4).

It is acknowledged that the implementation of RFID technology can provide item data information across the supply chain system, which gives the company more inventory control, lower transaction errors and labour cost savings (De Marco, et al., 2011, p. 333).

However, the understanding about the business value and benefits of RFID item tags are still limited and requires a larger and a more in depth investigation (De Marco, et al., 2011, p. 333). Although the implementation of new technology may help to improve the supply chain of an organization, it is important to have in mind that supply chain management requires teamwork and integration of people (Ellinger & Ellinger, 2014, p. 120). Further, this means that it is necessary to investigate how RFID should be integrated among the employees and managers within an organization. Stefansson, Jensson and Shah (2008, p.

332) mean that managers need to achieve desired results in planning and scheduling in order to stay competitive, which intends that planning and scheduling are crucial for satisfying the expectations of both suppliers and consumers. Therefore, in this study there will be an investigation of how RFID might improve the planning and scheduling within a fashion retail supply chain. Also, fashion retailers are characterized by constantly adapting to new trends in fashion in order to stay competitive (Bhardwaj & Fairhurst, 2010, p. 166). To tackle this challenge, we believe it is important to investigate how the RFID technology might increase the adaptability of activities within the supply chain. Integration within supply chains are increasing as the competition has shifted from firm level to the supply chain level, which indicates that the competitive advantage of individual companies are no longer determined solely by their individual capabilities but also influenced significantly by their supply chain network (Prajogo & Sohal, 2013, p. 1536). Therefore, in our opinion, understanding how to implement RFID in fashion retail supply chains can be of great interest.

Based on the problem background above, we will scan for relevant literature and theories in order to understand the practical challenges regarding the implementation of RFID in a fashion retail supply chain. Furthermore, the review of the literature will enable us to identify gaps that previous researchers have not yet addressed. We will now present what we have found about previous literature in the theoretical background and the identified research gaps.

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1.3 THEORETICAL BACKGROUND/RESEARCH GAP The literature about RFID within supply chain management is limited. Researchers suggest that the literature should be divided into two groups, practical papers and academic papers (Sarac, et al., 2010, p. 78). Even though the article was written ten years ago we still share the same opinion as the authors, because we have noticed that the literature is limited and divided throughout our search for relevant literature within RFID.

Earlier studies suggest that organizations that are planning to implement RFID technology to increase effectiveness and efficiency need to consider that just the implementation may not generate the predicted outcome (Pfahl & Moxham, 2012, p. 554). The authors mean that the true value of RFID is linked to the innovative exploitation of the information when it comes to decision making and managerial processes (Pfahl & Moxham, 2012, p. 554).

Which means that if the organization implementing RFID has poor operations standards and efficiency problems, RFID will not enhance their performance itself. The needed capabilities we, to some extent, identified, will be of importance when analyzing the compatibility of RFID. However, an organization should always aim for developing their processes to increase their strategic performance (Pfahl & Moxham, 2012, p. 555). In order to successfully monitor the information an organization gain from implementing RFID in an innovative way, the trust between retailers and suppliers needs to be established, something that can be conflicted since some information can be too sensitive to share throughout the whole supply chain (Pfahl & Moxham, 2012, p. 555). The reason why developing trust between retailers and suppliers within a supply chain is desirable is because it can reduce risk and opportunism through transparency which is perceived as something rewarding for both parts (Singh & Teng, 2016, p. 293).

In an article by Garrido Azevedo and Carvalho (2011, p. 128) they study the logistics activities where RFID is of most benefit in the fashion supply chain management. The purpose with the research was “to explore the deployment of RFID technology in fashion supply chain management” (Garrido Azevedo & Carvalho, 2011, p. 128). Their findings show that the following logistic activities were the most widely deployed: “shipping operations, tracking of raw materials, semi-finished components and finished garments, collecting finished goods, handling processes, tracking containers, tracking products from factory to store, receiving operations, monitoring, and sorting of merchandise” (Garrido Azevedo & Carvalho, 2011, p. 128). However, the authors identified some main challenges with the implementation of RFID where one was the “change management” and suggested that further research could focus and analyze the acceptance and adoption of RFID within companies (Garrido Azevedo & Carvalho, 2011, p. 150). Therefore, we found change management in terms of acceptance and adoption relevant to analyze in this degree project and we consider this a gap. Rizzi et al. (2016, p. 107) have later tried to develop a new framework for the classification of RFID deployments in fashion and apparel retailing since they figured that the previous frameworks were limited due to the fact that the RFID technology had rapidly developed new applications. The framework that they then proposed could identify the different specific solutions that RFID could provide in various sub-units of every fashion retailing activity (Rizzi et al., 2016, p. 113). For example, in shop floor management, the implementation of RFID could save costs and increase revenue by locating items, which lead to prevention of losing items and it could also save costs by faster checkouts (Rizzi et al., 2016, p. 113). Even though the findings of Rizzi et al. (2016) are of great significance for fashion retailing regarding the potential solutions of RFID, the framework does not provide how RFID can be compatible with a specific organization.

Many articles discuss the credibility of earlier studies about RFID since many are built on conceptual estimations of the benefits of RFID and are lacking empirical support and

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practical applications (Pfahl & Moxham, 2012, p. 553). Because of the lack of research on what is required of the organization adopting RFID, we find it important to address this gap by including the implementation compatibility in our study. This is because we believe that adopting organizations should have an awareness of that their current situation must be analyzed before deciding to implement RFID. As we previously mentioned, RFID itself will not enhance the supply chain performance of the adopting organization since it highly depends on current managerial processes.

In 2008, Moon and Ngai (2008, p. 596) found that by implementing RFID in fashion retail supply chain that operational efficiency and effectiveness could improve and increase sales and profit. Furthermore, the authors found some key challenges, such as implementation costs, compatibility with current systems, data accuracy, top management attitude and staff acceptance (Moon & Ngai, 2008, p. 596). When it comes to attitudes toward RFID applications, the previous literature is mainly oriented and limited towards a consumer stakeholder perspective. By viewing managers and employees as stakeholders, we believe that our research will give a new perspective on attitudes towards RFID, which is why we want to research and analyze it further. We will consider the compatibility with current systems and data accuracy as well, though we will not focus on implementation costs, since it will require sensitive information from the commissioned company. Researchers Leung, Cheung and Chu (2014, p. 260) mean that the benefits of RFID remain elusive and that managers have a lack of understanding of the potential benefits whenever they make adoptable decisions. It is rather suggested that organizations seeking to implement RFID should evaluate the technology in regards to their own strategy before considering adopting it (Leung, et al., 2014, p. 260). Sustainability has been growing in within supply chain management, and many studies have indicated the connection between sustainability and supply chain management. Many have been discussed what sustainability means in a supply chain context (Ahi & Searcy, 2014, p. 360). Since it is found that RFID should be evaluated in regards to their own strategy, we also believe that sustainability will be of importance since RFID can affect the company’s current sustainability strategy. The benefits of RFID in the logistics activities of the fashion supply chain management were large cost savings when it comes to time and labour, quick responses when an unexpected error occurs and improved space use in warehouses, distribution centers and retail stores (Moon & Ngai, 2008, p. 606). What also was interesting with the findings of Leung, et al. (2014, p. 266) was that there was a significant difference between lean versus agile strategies in relation to RFID applications and this further suggested that supply chain strategies are misaligned with RFID applications.

Strategy within business has been widely studied throughout the years and we believe that the literature which discusses how organizations should behave when aligning implementations of new technological strategies would enrich our study. Strategy is defined as: “the long-term direction of an organization” by Johnson, et al. (2017, p. 4). One way of measuring the effect of the strategy is by performance, and performance per se can be measured differently depending on the perspective (Johnson, et al., 2017, p. 376).

Measuring performance for our study is through efficiency, and efficiency is a broad setting of measuring performance according to Johnson, et al. (2017, p. 376). The examples of efficiencies that would be more interesting for our study are both internal and external operations efficiency, since we want to get a deeper understanding of how the fashion retailer of this study will perceive the expected efficiencies of RFID. However, before evaluating the implementation of a new strategy or a strategic tool, it has been recognized that it should be both suitable and feasible for the organization (Johnson, et al., 2017, p.

380-399). The global network of suppliers is being recognized as increasingly important as a competitive advantage for firms, and it has been found that the competitive strategy of a

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firm should to some extent be integrated with the approach of the supplier (Elg, et al., 2012, p. 919-927). Andriole (2006, p. 87) expresses that whenever an organization is implementing a new technology for strategic purposes, it must be integrated and interoperated with the already existing business model and the computing systems. What also must be aligned and integrated are the interorganizational relations within the supply chain. Villa Todeschini, et al. (2017, p. 768) recognizes that collaborative arrangements and building stakeholder commitments are necessary for a well functioning supply chain strategy. Furthermore, it is reasonable to say that a RFID application must be interlinked between all involved parts within the supply chain of a company.

Previous literature has mainly focused on RFID as a technology and listed conceptual benefits such as increased sales and profit, labour cost savings, inventory control and lower transaction errors. Earlier studies have also presented problems and challenges, for example compatibility with current systems, top management attitude and data accuracy. Based on the above findings we recognized a research gap in what makes the RFID implementation compatible with the supply chain of the company implementing the technology. Therefore, this research gap will be addressed by further investigating how a fashion retail supply chain can implement RFID and what aspects that need to be considered. And since the implementation of RFID cannot be generalized, we find it necessary to study the implementation compatibility of a specific organization, in this case a premium fashion retailer.

1.4 RESEARCH QUESTION

How is supply chain infrastructure of a Swedish premium fashion company compatible with RFID implementation?

1.5 PURPOSE

The main purpose of this degree project is to gain a deeper understanding of how RFID implementation can be compatible with a fashion retail supply chain. For this study we analyze compatibility as a general concept of how well prepared the organization that seeks to adopt RFID is. Compatibility can be difficult to conceptualize, hence, to fulfill our purpose we will scan relevant literature in order to identify compatibility aspects that we later can analyze with our empirical findings. From the theoretical background we identified what we believe would be the most important aspects, such as capabilities, current computer systems, data accuracy, current strategies and acceptability. We will continue to develop these aspects in the theoretical framework. The reason why this needs to be studied is because we find it difficult, with the previous literature, to understand what makes RFID compatible with a specific company’s supply chain.

In this paper we have chosen RFID as the new technology since we found it most relevant according to previous studies and also since it is suitable for our commissioned company who is currently using barcodes and have been discussing RFID implementation for several years. We will perform a qualitative study to fulfill the main purpose of our study, since we want to understand the compatibility aspects of RFID technology in a fashion supply chain.

The practical aim of the study is to understand the strategic feasibility of RFID applications within our commissioned company and how they would perceive its impacts on their supply chain. We expect that our study will serve as a practical recommendation for the commissioned company and also open up for further research.

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1.6 DELIMITATIONS

This study examines the compatibility aspects of a Swedish premium fashion retailer and it is therefore limited to the specific context of this company. Which means that the results from this study will not be generalizable for whether RFID is compatible with the supply chain of other fashion retailers. However, this study will contain a discussion regarding the transferability of the theoretical framework for other actors that seek to implement RFID in their supply chain.

Furthermore, this study will not have a focus on the implementation costs since it requires sensitive information, but also because an investment analysis of RFID in a supply chain depends highly on where in the supply chain the RFID solution is implemented. This is because the purpose behind the implementation of RFID will affect the financial outcome of the investment. As a consequence, this study will not make any calculated estimations of an RFID implementation. Instead, the focus of this study will be about the compatibility aspects that should be taken into consideration before one decides to make an investment in RFID solutions for their supply chain.

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2. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

This chapter will begin with a deeper explanation of RFID technology and its different tags, we will continue with illustrating the supply chain which will then lead us to what RFID can provide for the different parts of the supply chain. The chapter later describes the RFID adoption process and its different steps and further an explanation of how we perceive implementation and its important aspects and components. The chapter will end up with a model for our theoretical framework and how the model was created with an explanation of its different parts.

2.1 RFID

RFID can be seen as a tool to enhance the coordination and decrease the uncertainty level within the supply chain (Cannon et al., 2008 p. 435). A RFID system consists of three layers:

tag, reader and PC. The tag is either attached or embedded in the object, which then wirelessly exchanges information with the reader. Usually there are networks of readers that can follow the RFID-tag along the different stages of a supply chain. Later, the readers send the location and the item-ID to a computer that automatically adjusts or initiates business processes (Hörlesberger, et al., 2007, p. 47). As for the RFID tags, it is usually said that there are two different basic types; active and passive tags. The active tags send constant signals to the readers because it holds an energy source, while the passive tags receive energy from the radio wave signals and are then activated (CSCMP, 2013, p. 162). The difference between RFID and currently used technology, which in this case is barcodes, is mainly seen through three key elements. First, it is the traceability of goods whether it is a container or on an item level. Second, it is the possibility of scanning RFID-tagged items in real time, inventory controls, item locations and stock are much more frequently updated and generally without the requirement of the item to be relatively close to a reader. And third because the almost constant traceability will make it easier to share information with partners and suppliers which will increase the collaboration throughout the whole supply chain (Cannon et al., 2008 p. 435). In the Glossary of CSCMP (2013, p. 162) the suggested benefits with RFID in comparison with barcode readers is that RFID systems allow new updates and changes on the tag, the added capacity to store information, long-distance reading and the elimination for sighted readability, which means that even items hidden under or behind other items can be read.

To be able to fully understand the RFID technology and the different types of RFID and what the different types can do we are going to present information and knowledge about RFID through “The beginners guide to RFID” by AtlasRFIDstore (2020). RFID tags can have different types of frequencies and the different types are of better use in different areas.

The three primary frequency ranges are low frequency, high frequency and ultra-high frequency. The guide presents low frequency as following; “general frequency range: 30 - 300 KHz, primary frequency range: 125 - 134 KHz, read range contact: 10 Centimeters, average cost per tag: $0.75 - $5.00” (Atlasrfidstore, 2020, p. 6). They continue with what application the low frequency fits, which is animal tracking, access control, car key-fob and applications with high volumes of liquids and metals.High frequency has a higher frequency range and is more expensive, high frequency is most useful for library books, personal ID- cards etc (Atlasrfidstore, 2020, p. 6).

In this study the ultra-high frequency is the most interesting one, the ultra-high frequency can be active or passive. Active RFID is described as following: “primary frequency range:

433 MHz and can use 2.45 GHz - under the extremely high frequency range, read range: 30 - 100+ meters, average cost per tag: $25.00 - $50.00, use areas: vehicle tracking, auto manufacturing, mining, construction, asset tracking, pros with active RFID: very long read

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range, lower infrastructure cost (vs. Passive RFID), large memory capacity, high data transmission rates, cons: high per tag cost, shipping restrictions (due to batteries), complex software may be required, high interference from metal and liquids and few global standards” (Atlasrfidstore, 2020, p. 8).

The passive RFID has a reading range up to 25 m and primary frequency range of 860 MHz - 960 MHz and the average cost per tag is $0.09 - $20.00. The most useful areas for the passive RFID is supply chain tracking, manufacturing, inventory tracking, electric tolling, asset tracking etc. (Atlasrfidstore, 2020, p. 8). The benefits of passive RFID are relatively long read range, the low cost per tag, there are many different sizes and shapes to choose from, global standards and high data transmission rates. Though, one of the issues with passive RFID is the high equipment cost (Atlasrfidstore, 2020, p. 8). From the guide we found that the passive RFID is of best use for this study since it is mostly applied to supply chains. Furthermore, they consider some important facts before implementing RFID, such as return on investment, application feasibility, cost feasibility and environmental factors.

Something to have in mind is that the return on the investment will come after the implementation is done and is working, and implementation of RFID will require a testing period of different types of equipment. The environmental issues need to be considered as well since certain materials and environmental factors can reduce its read range and affect the data accuracy (Atlasrfidstore, 2020, p. 13). To choose the best fitting RFID tag the key is through testing, and it depends on what type of material to tag, what reading range is needed and if there are any environmental conditions to consider - for example cold, heat, moisture etc. (Atlasrfidstore, 2020, p. 18).

2.2 SUPPLY CHAIN

According to the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals, supply chain management is the planning and management regarding the flow of material, information and money through an organization, involving every activity from manufacturing to the end customer (CSCMP, 2013, p. 187). Logistics and supply chain management can easily be confused, instead, logistics should be perceived as a subset of supply chain management (Sweeney, et al., 2018, p. 853). Typically, logistics is more associated with the physical aspects in the supply chain, such as: inventory, transportation and distribution (Larson &

Halldorsson, 2004, p. 20). While supply chain management has typically referred to a broader perspective that besides logistics also includes strategic planning, information technology and sales (Larson & Halldorsson, 2004, p. 20). Also, in recent years, sustainability has become an increasingly important link to activities in the supply chain (Martínez-Jurado & Moyano-Fuentes, 2014, p. 134). It is believed that mastering the functions supply chain management is a key success factor for increasing the outcome performance of your organization (Teller et al., 2012, p. 713; Amer, et al., 2010, p. 278;

Budiarto et al., 2017, p. 376). This is because the main objective of every section in the supply chain is to maximize the value for the end customer (Kram et al., 2015, p. 161).

Typically, this is accomplished by eliminating the non-value-adding activities in the supply chain, which are normally referred to as “waste” (Kram et al., 2015, p. 162). The characteristics of non-value-adding activities are usually excessive inventory, inefficiency in handling the transportation of goods or materials, non-optimized capacity, and delayed manufacturing (Kram et al., 2015, p. 161). One way of avoiding these inefficiencies is by the implementation of technology in the supply chain that could provide more accuracy in data, which in turn helps the supply chain management to identify and eliminate inefficient activities (Budiarto et al., 2017, p. 374). Therefore, we argue that RFID is an interesting technology to implement, since we believe that it could potentially help to provide solutions for inefficiencies in the supply chain.

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The characteristics of supply chains can differ between industries. In the textile industry, fashion retailers typically outsource their production to various suppliers and sub-suppliers in developing countries which makes the supply chain network more complex (Börjeson &

Boström, 2018, p. 230). In this degree project our scope will be the supply chain of a Swedish fashion retailer. In order to create understanding for the reader of this degree project, we created an example of an illustration for how we perceive the fashion retail supply chain (see figure 1). The figure will serve as an illustrative guiding tool for the reader to understand the structure of a supply chain.

FIGURE1.GENERICFASHIONRETAILSUPPLYCHAIN,(OWNMODEL)

Figure 1 illustrates a basic generic fashion retail supply chain which explains the interaction between the various relationships within a supply chain. Each square symbolizes an actor or part in the supply chain and the arrows symbolize the exchange of information among themselves. The exchange of information in this case is the material, information and financial flows between the actors. What we can see in this figure is that the arrows are two- sided, which means that the flow of material, information and finance goes both ways. The supply chain is also separated in two parts; inbound and outbound. By the name itself and by seeing the illustration of the supply chain, one can see that inbound is the internal flow of material, information and finance. While the outbound is the external flow of material, information and finance. We decided to only illustrate this with one box for each area of the supply chain. However, as we previously mentioned, supplier relations in the fashion industry are very complex and they are typically many outsourced suppliers for different types of garments. This means that you might have some outsourced suppliers that manufacture one type of garment in South-East Asia, while you also have outsourced suppliers for another type of garment in South Europe, for example. The distribution center is typically placed in a geographic center of the market, so for example if your biggest market is Europe, it is strategically placed in a country like Germany because the company strives to optimize the location and capabilities (Zhuge et al., 2016, 216). It is also typical for retailers to have local warehouses for each market, which serves as a station for inventory and cross-docking between the distribution center and locations for sales. The sales in this figure represent different sales channels, such as retail stores, e-commerce and wholesale customers. Finally, the last box of the figure represents the end customer. This figure serves to help the reader to understand how a supply chain might be structured.

2.2.1 RFID LOGISTICS

When it comes to the benefits of RFID systems, they vary depending on which part of the supply chain you are referring to. Researchers agree that due to the valuable information provided of RFID, it has the potential to create greater precision within the material flow, which means that a firm can become more efficient by for example: correcting inventory inaccuracy, optimizing supply frequency, lower transaction cost errors, increased cost- savings, etc. (De Marco et al., 2011, p. 333; Hörlesberger et al., 2007, p. 47; Moon & Ngai,

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2008, p. 606; Zelbst et al., 2011, p. 335). In other words, RFID systems allow companies to gain a greater overview and control of their flow chain due to valuable data and information generated within the system in real time. And by having this information and data available, incentives are created to adjust inaccuracies to achieve efficiency, added value and thus enable cost savings for the company.

We argue that RFID can generate efficiency for various logistical purposes, such as tracking garments in manufacturing, transportation management, increasing control of inventory and this idea is further supported by Nayak et al. (2015, p. 5). Perhaps the most well-known reason why organizations adopt RFID technology is to increase inventory accuracy (Sain &

Wong, 2018, p.6). This goes for all industries where inventory inaccuracy is a major challenge, and by using the help of the characteristics of RFID technology, adopters can easily tackle this issue (Hellström & Wiberg, 2010, p. 345). The reason behind this is because RFID can enhance product traceability and visibility across the whole supply chain, and it can also make operational processes such as monitoring, shipping, check-out and counting activities accurate and quicker, leading to better inventory flows and more accuracy (Sarac et al., 2010, p. 79).

By monitoring the items through the supply chain while sharing and analyzing the information from the RFID tags, the adopting retail organization also allows themselves to generate better forecasts and by that increasing the ability of responding to market changes (Sun et al., 2012, p. 108). And this is another benefit that we argue would be an incitement for fashion retailers to adopt RFID in their logistics, because as we mentioned earlier in this study, the apparel market is characterized by the change of trends. This phenomenon can be referred to as the bullwhip effect, which means that the variance of the demand can create instability in the logistic processes (Lin et al., 2014, p. 2064). The cause of the bullwhip effect within supply chain and logistics has been studied for many years and researchers have concluded that it is caused by difficulties of sharing information between the different parts of the supply chain (Sarac et al., 2010, p. 82). And it has been further indicated that the improved visibility generated by RFID technology, can indeed reduce the bullwhip effect (Bottani & Rizzi, 2008, p. 562).

2.2.2 RFID RETAIL STORES

When implementing RFID, it has to be implemented and used in an innovative way (Pfahl

& Moxham, 2012, p. 555), which can be done in retail stores. For example, RFID can be used to track customer behaviour in retail stores (Landmark & Sjøbakk, 2017, p. 850) which can help with strategic decisions that affect the in stores activities. It was found in an experiment that women had higher fitting room activity in comparison to what they actually bought but men had lower fitting room activity in comparison to what they bought (Landmark & Sjøbakk, 2017, p. 850). In the experiment they also looked at what sizes the customers brought to the fitting room and which were bought. They could also track customer behaviour in terms of how many customers brought different shirts in same sizes to the fitting room and which customers brought the same shirt in different sizes to the fitting room, with this they can tell how many of their customers that know their size, how many that are more interested in looks or functionality etc. (Landmark & Sjøbakk, 2017, p. 851).

In a study by Gaukler (2010) it was found that RFID can help to avoid stock-outs. Firstly, it impacts the efficiency and effectiveness of the back-to-shelf replenishment activities and thus the volume of product sold. Second, it affects the retailer's demand forecast indirectly:

more items sold imply a higher demand estimate, which implies more order-up to backroom

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level. The study confirms that the improved efficiency and effectiveness of backroom-to- shelf replenishment generates significant benefits (Guakler, 2010, p. 577). Goyal et al.

(2016) emphasizes Gaukler (2010) and analyzes why stock-outs are a significant challenge that retailers are facing. Stock-outs lead to lost sales and from a customer perspective, stock- outs are one of the top three irritations. Stock-outs are caused mainly by poor planning and forecasting by retailers (Goyal et al., 2016, p. 798). There are ways to avoid stock-outs, such as carry excess stock, but on the other hand it might increase holding costs. To correct inventory errors many retailers manually count all items at regular intervals, but to manually count all items is very time consuming, expensive and often only feasible a few times a year (Goyal et al., 2016, p. 799). RFID provides retailers with an opportunity to more effectively count the items since it does not require direct line of sight, which means that even the items that can be hidden behind or below another item will be counted as well and several items can be read at the same time (Goyal et al., 2016, p. 799).

2.2.3 RFID SUSTAINABILITY

Sustainability and supply chain management have been rapidly growing which indicates its great linkage, but it has been widely discussed what sustainability means in a supply chain context (Ahi & Searcy, 2014, p. 360). Many literature reviews have been published within these subjects which suggest that supply chain management has an impact on the environment and also the society. A concept that then has been discussed is green supply chain, which literature suggests differentiate from traditional supply chain by focusing on minimizing a products environmental impact throughout its whole life cycle (Ahi & Searcy, 2014, p. 361). Since it is known that sustainability has become more usual to discuss in terms of supply chain management, we want to include sustainability as a factor in our degree project as well. We also believe that sustainability is an important aspect generally as well and if a RFID implementation can bring sustainable benefits it is a useful factor for the compatibility. We will further discuss what RFID can provide for the supply chain from a sustainability perspective and in this case a fashion supply chain.

In supply chains with reverse logistics, RFID systems have proven to be more beneficial than No-RFID systems regarding environmental benefits, since a supply chain with RFID tends to increase the average return of recyclable material with 87% (Nativi & Lee, 2012, p. 373) In an article by Denuwara et al. (2019) they study RFID benefits from three sustainability dimensions; environmental, social and economic. From the environmental dimension, it was found that RFID improved the efficiency, the accuracy and safety of fiber recycling. RFID can provide information about the garment such as material, where it comes from and its journey throughout its supply chain (Denuwara et al., 2019, p. 6). It would be easier to identify which polymers are used in each garment by applying RFID into the recycling process, and by doing so would essentially simplify the recycling process so that unnecessary time and resources are not wasted in trying to recycle what is not recyclable. If the efficiency of fiber recycling it will increase the number of garments recycled and recycling is important to the environment. Furthermore, the authors discuss that if recycling gets more efficient and increases the number of garments it will also lead to more investments in the recycling industry (Denuwara et al., 2019, p. 6). Another benefit with RFID is the inventory accuracy, RFID can help to keep track of what customers buy and at what time, which means RFID can help forecasting demand. By using RFID to enhance the inventory accuracy and forecasting it can reduce unnecessary stock, it can reduce not only the stock in stores but also the waste of garments (Denuwara et al., 2019, p. 6).

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Social sustainability is the least quantifiable facet of sustainability but it was found that the sustainability of a product is dependent on the transparency throughout the product’s whole supply chain. When you have to correct information at hand in the appropriate form the most sustainable decisions can be made (Denuwara et al., 2019, p. 7). The authors explain that “in the apparel value chain, traceability of the process in fiber production, bale tracking, yarn manufacturing, chemical processing, and labor usage are factors that determine the transparency of it and, in result, affect the social sustainability of the operation” (Denuwara et al., 2019, p. 7). The transparency of the supply chain can improve by implementing RFID since it makes it possible to track a garment all the way back to, for example, the yarn manufacturing. It can also prevent counterfeiting since RFID can verify the authenticity, counterfeiting is a problem since it causes big losses in both sales and jobs (Denuwara et al., 2019, p. 8).

But from a social sustainability perspective there are also ethical aspects that need to be considered. New information and communication technology (ICT) have been changing the way that business works today, and no less the supply chain. When it comes to technology in terms of information sharing the ethical issues are rising due to the easy access of information at all times, regardless to location (Zhou & Piramuthu, 2013, p. 327). Since RFID has become more attractive it has drawn attention to its ethical issues as well, such as privacy/security, information sharing and information overflows. Since RFID has been emerging a number of ethical issues have been recognized, such as security problems where unauthorized parties got access to RFID tag information despite encryption (Zhou &

Piramuthu, 2013, p. 335). To address these ethical issues, Zhou and Piramuthu (2013) presented a comprehensive list of RFID attacks or unethical/fraudulent usage of RFID (see figure 4).

FIGURE2.ACOMPREHENSIVELISTOFRFIDATTACKS(ZHOU&PIRAMUTHU, 2013,P.335)

From an economically sustainable point of view it was found that RFID increased inventory accuracy, which also was shown to increase sales since the customer is more likely to find the exact product they desire (Denuwara et al., 2019, p. 9). RFID was also recognized to

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reduce human error in labor-intensive and error-prone operations. Research shows that human position errors reduced by 90 per cent after RFID had been introduced in their warehouses: 50–80 percent of such warehouse losses came in inventory processing labor (Denuwara et al., 2019, p. 9). The use of automated software for sorting, receiving, shipment and inventory management through RFID technology will save the business money by minimizing labour costs and, in effect, increasing investment back into the organization (Denuwara et al., 2019, p. 9).

2.3 RFID ADOPTION PROCESS IN RETAIL

One of the most well-known drivers behind the decision to adopt RFID in retail is the increased accuracy of inventory which can help both e-com and store efficiency (Sain &

Wong, 2018, p. 6). Meanwhile, organizations face the problem of identifying, adopting and implementing adequate solutions for current and future needs (Bhattacharya, 2015, p. 517).

Various researchers have promoted different steps in how one should process the adaptation of RFID or information systems in an organization.

1. As an initial step, Bhattacharya (2015, p. 521) suggests that the adopter needs to have an awareness of the existing technology and further develop a knowledge regarding its features. The features of RFID application in the fashion industry can be used in various parts of the supply chain, from raw material to end customer (Nayak et al., 2015, p. 5). It has also been claimed that the adopting organization should create a scope for the implementation project, which suggests that the adopter should define the objectives of the project while having an understanding of the limitations of RFID technology (Ting et al., 2013, p. 4). This is further supported by Ngai et al. (2010, p. 2585), which suggests that the first step of adopting consists of recognizing gaps and problems, defining the purpose and scope of the project, evaluating the feasibility of adopting a RFID system. Developing the project scope may assist decision-makers in establishing well-defined parameters for project implementation (Ting et al., 2013, p. 5). We do also agree with these claims because we consider scoping as a crucial initial step for a RFID implementation, since it will give the implementation a clearer purpose and vision. For example, the scope of the RFID implementation could be the supply chain as a whole, or specific parts of the supply chain such as inventory, distribution, warehouse, etc. By understanding the potentials and limitations of the RFID technology, the adopting organization allows themselves to not have unrealistic expectations or incorrect perceptions (Ting et al., 2013, p. 5). One of these unrealistic expectations is the compatibility of the RFID implementation, which means that adopting organizations must have current compatible data system infrastructure and even so the expectancy of 100% accuracy is not guaranteed (Nayak et al., 2015, p. 11). The compatibility of the implementation is something that we also deem important, since we believe that a RFID implementation is not for every organization because not all retail organizations have adequate products, stores or IT-infrastructure for a RFID implementation. Also, clearly identifying the problem and the solution objective would greatly improve the process and help to create a fruitful project (Ngai et al., 2010, p. 2587). The organization needs to examine whether RFID is the right technology to address the specified difficulties within their supply chain, so it is certain that RFID can meet the specified objective and scope (Ngai et al., 2010, p.

2587). Furthermore, the organization adopting RFID is supposed to concentrate more on certain solutions that will have a significant effect on the business results (Ting et al., 2013, p. 5). This is of great importance, because without identifying any

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problem that could be solved with RFID, the whole implementation would be pointless.

2. After developing knowledge about the RFID technology, creating a scope and defining the objectives of the implementation, the adopting organization should form a steering committee which will serve as decision-makers for the implementation project (Ngai et al., 2010, p. 2589). At this phase, it is crucial to setting long-term goals in order for the project group to have a sense of achievement when reaching milestones (Ting et al., 2013, p. 5). As implementation of RFID systems includes not only technical challenges but also logistical and managerial problems, the project group will include RFID experts, project management professionals, organizational department stakeholders and top management (Ngai et al., 2010, p. 2590). We agree on this because it would mean that each separate role in the project group will be important for different reasons. And therefore it is of great importance that the team can collaborate and complement each other in order to have more success with identifying a purpose for the implementation.

Furthermore, a successfully developed strategy will require the deployment of the company's limited assets to meet consumer needs and gain advantage over competitors, while acknowledging business and technological opportunities and any limitations placed by the company's traditional evolutionary path (Teece, 2014, p.

17). Hence, when implementing RFID, it is of importance that the project group makes an assessment and analysis on the current state of the business (Ngai et al., 2010, p. 2591). This includes the gathering of data on equipment, operations and other documentation that could be of relevance for a RFID implementation like the material flow of the individual items, pallets, containers, properties which can be tagged (Ngai et al., 2010, p. 2591). The project team must evaluate and assess the current state of business processes, based on the collected information. To identify and evaluate the weaknesses and issues, the team should research the processes in depth, and then define what can be addressed by implementing the RFID system and hence the RFID system specifications (Ngai et al., 2010, p. 2591).

3. The next stage after analyzing the business process, would be to design a new business process that is most suitable for the requirements of RFID implementation (Ngai et al., 2010, p. 2591; Ting et al., 2013, p. 6). The design stage of the RFID system should include requirement review, selection of hardware and software, and the implementation of the new process. The purpose of undertaking a requirement analysis is to better understand the processes RFID technology can solve the defined problems. (Ting et al., 2013, p. 6). A RFID system requires hardware such as RFID tags, antennas, and readers; the hardware should be selected based on the environmental factors defined in the phase of the requirements review (Ting et al., 2013, p. 6). Hardware and software selection often requires the procedure of evaluating them; this is to clarify the functionality of each hardware and software product, and to assess which choice is better suited to the current environment (Ting et al., 2013, p. 6). Along with designing a new business process, we also believe that there should be a ROI justification for the costs of the infrastructure around RFID by comparing it to savings from lead-time, reducing excessive stock, automatization, etc. We deem the justification of the investment as an important step before going any further in the implementation process because it will provide numbers to the potential outcome of the implementation. This is further supported by Tan and Kritchanchai (2006, p. 376) where they claim that it is crucial to consider the implementation financing opportunities, scalabilities, risks and the solution's

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projected life cycle to ensure that the solution is both economically and operationally feasible.

4. As a next step of the adaptation process we argue that the adopting company should evaluate different hardware and investigate how they will code their items in order to have an even quality of the outcome. This is further supported by Ngai, et al.

(2010, p. 2592) because they mean that RFID systems, in comparison to other technological systems, are highly influenced by its surrounding environment. And therefore, the project team should determine the specification of the radio frequency, the sort and location of the reader and the configuration of the RFID tags, all depending on the environment (Ngai et al., 2010, p. 2592). One of the factors to consider is the tagged product's material, as it will have a major impact on RFID system output and an example of a material that weakens the performance of the RFID is metal (Ting et al., 2013, p. 6). This indicates that textile products are more suitable for RFID solutions than products with metal packaging, for example.

Hardware and software testing will provide decision-makers with a better understanding of how hardware and software products operate in an integrated system, as well as data to assess device reliability (Ting et al., 2013, p. 6). We argue that the testing of hardware and software could be done through a smaller pilot testing which will give the project team an opportunity to reevaluate the specifications of the implementation of RFID. Tan & Kritchanchai (2006, p. 376) define a pilot implementation as: “The pilot implementation is a test-bed for a novel application (in a new environment) that may be based on new innovations and technologies”. It is advisable to conduct small-scale proof-of-concept tests before system implementation to confirm that the RFID solution is ready to launch (Ngai et al., 2010, p. 2594). In addition to testing the RFID system and removing the errors in the analysis, this step also involves gathering user feedback after the demo check (Ting et al., 2013, p. 7).

5. The final step in this process is the final implementation. Besides all the configuration of the RFID system, we argue that there must be a training of new practices since the operations of the activities in the retail organization have probably changed after the RFID implementation. Training on the equipment and solutions given should be offered, but before training employees of the RFID system, the project team will first explain the advantages of the system and the improvements it would entail (Ngai et al., 2010, p. 2595). The training is also important for users to have practical experience in using the RFID system and the changes in activities (Ting, et al., 2013, p. 8). The retailer should also constantly review the performance of the RFID system and compare it with the preset goals, strengthen the system with new technology or adjust it to match evolving business needs (Ting et al., 2013, p. 8). We do agree with this, since the RFID system, like any other implemented system, is likely to face problems in the beginning and it is important to stay alert in order to modify any configuration to perfection. Ngai et al.

(2010, p. 2596) argue that change management is needed, because people will resist the new system due to changes in their practices and habits. We agree with this to some extent, however we believe that a RFID implementation is not that radical so that the employees would resist it since it will simplify a lot of unnecessary activities. Instead, we believe that change of practices in store can for example give more time for the employees to work with primary activities such as sales.

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2.4 OPERATIONAL TECHNOLOGY IMPLEMENTATION In this degree project the meaning of implementation is strategy in action, since we consider implementation of RFID as an implementation of a technological strategy. And we will discuss operational implementation within a supply chain context. Supply chain strategies are more complex, since the actor must consider what impact the implementation of a new strategy might have on the different stakeholders within the supply chain in order to make it successful (Roh et al., 2013, p. 198-199). Operations are the true engine of a company, and therefore research suggests that companies should pay great attention to suitable strategies for their operations (Khalili Shavarini et al., 2013, p. 1110). Because of the significance of operational strategies, it is reasonable to perceive it as a competitive weapon (Khalili Shavarini et al., 2013, p.1110). When a strategic choice has been made the next step is to set the strategy into action, strategy in action means how the strategies are structured and how to implement the strategies (Johnson et al., 2017, p. 14). To make sure that the implementation is successfully done there are some questions the organization can take to consideration: “Are strategies suitable, acceptable and feasible? What kind of strategy- making process is needed? What are the required organisation structures and systems?

How should the organisation manage necessary changes? Who should do what in the strategy process?” (Johnson et al., 2017, p. 15). The first question regarding suitability, acceptability and feasibility are the three criteria of SAFe which can be explained as a strategy evaluation technique (Johnson et al., 2017, p. 380). We will use the criterias of suitability, acceptability and feasibility as a supporting tool while evaluating the compatibility of RFID in the supply chain of a Swedish premium fashion retailer. This is because we believe that RFID might not be compatible across all organizations of different industries.

The suitability criteria determine whether a strategic solution will be appropriate for implementation if it helps a company or an industry overcome a weakness (Senaratne &

Wijesiri, 2008, p. 35). To evaluate a strategy’s suitability there are a number of different screening techniques that can be used, for example ranking, screening through scenarios, screening for bases of competitive advantage and life cycle analysis. Ranking is a technique which can be used to overcome biases of individual managers. The ranking is mainly based on the strategic position of the company in comparison to the possible strategies and the key factors which then gives a score for each option (Johnson et al., 2017, p. 384). While screening through scenarios is to take all possible strategies through a range of future scenarios where the most suitable option is the one that is most reasonable through all scenarios (Johnson et al., 2017, p. 384). Life cycle analysis is done to see whether the strategy is likely to be suitable given the stage of the industry life cycle. The stage of the industry life cycle is described in five stages: development, growth, shake-out, mature and decline (Johnson et al., 2017, p. 385). If we apply this to the implementation of RFID technology, the adopting organization could investigate whether it would solve any weaknesses while comparing it to other possible solutions that could help overcoming the same weaknesses. Further, they should consider future scenarios that could affect the implemented RFID system since it is strongly affected by surrounding environmental factors, etc. Lastly, as an adopting organization you should analyze your own life cycle, but also the maturity of the RFID technology to see if the time for implementation is right.

The acceptability criteria test whether the strategic implementation will obtain significant support from the managers within the organization that it needs, or whether it will lead to resistance or criticism (Senaratne & Wijesiri, 2008, p. 37). Others describe acceptability as the acceptability of stakeholders when it comes to expected performance outcomes of a certain strategy (Johnson et al., 2017 p. 387). To estimate whether a strategy is acceptable

References

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