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Case Study

Trendy fashion company: Sustainability in supply chain operations

By Ralf W. Seifert and Yara Kayyali El Alem

2 pages

July 2023

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Reference: IMD-7-2481

The newly appointed Senior Vice President of Trendy needs to put its supply chain on a more sustainable footing for the future. Trendy is an imaginary fast fashion company with a market base in Europe and a global supply chain. Core themes and actions that improve both sustainability targets and/or operational performance are discussed in the case. For sustainability, these include waste reduction, sustainability accounting, and partnerships with suppliers and eco-labels. For operational improvements, these include changing the manufacturing footprint, digitalizing the supply chain, and reducing the product portfolio. The case examines improving sustainability on Scopes 1, 2, and 3. While the case setting is in the fast fashion industry, lessons provided by this case are applicable to many industries seeking to improve their operational sustainability. The case challenges students to bring together different elements of the supply chain course to meet the objective of having more sustainable practices and achieving better operational performance.

Learning Objective

Identify core themes that improve sustainability performance of a firm
Identify core themes that improve operational performance of a firm
Account for all firm emissions including those of Scope 3
Understand the roles of third parties (suppliers, partnerships, …) in the sustainability performance of a firm

Keywords

Operations, Sustainability, Green Operations, Accounting, Emission Reduction, Portfolio Analysis, Responsible Consumption, Responsible Production, Climate Action, Goal Partnerships

Settings

World/global
Trendy (fictional), Consumer Goods, Apparel and Fashion

Type

Generalized Experience

Available Languages

English

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Teaching note

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Case reference: IMD-2661 ©2025

Summary

Shenzhen Power-Solution (SPS), founded in 2009 in China as an entrepreneurial venture, disrupted traditional lighting markets in African villages with its flagship product, Candles Killer. This solar lamp, priced under $5, replaces hazardous kerosene lamps and has an optimized design (9 components, water-bottle stands). The candles killer solar lamp addresses the critical need for affordable, safe and sustainable lighting for people at the bottom of the pyramid (BOP), a huge market that multinationals struggle to reach. By achieving both low cost and differentiation, SPS created a blue ocean market. The company has made remarkable progress in its mission to provide solar lighting to underserved communities: by 2023, it illuminated over 55 million people across 7.8 million households in 66 countries. Beyond social impact, SPS achieved environmental sustainability at scale, reducing cumulative carbon emissions by 6.7 million tons, the equivalent of planting 368 million evergreen trees. Candles Killer's success led SPS to expand its product line into a solar home system for phone charging and multi-bulb lighting. SPS also introduced Solar Media, a platform with pre-loaded content (medical tips, farming methods, education) to share vital knowledge in remote regions.

Reference IMD-2661

Organization Shenzhen Power-Solution

Industry Energy;Utilities, Electricity Supply;Consumer Goods, Consumer Electronics

Available Languages English

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