The Closet-motivating Volunteers and Making a Profit

Research output: Other contributionTeaching case

Abstract

The Closet was founded as a subscription-based model in 2015. By 2022, it had almost 2,500 members and 8 stores, which the founder, Louise K Liokouras, ran in collaboration with two franchisees and a diverse group of around 180 volunteers. The members had access to all eight stores, which were located across Denmark, and they could swap as much second-hand clothing in the stores as they wished. The vision was to reduce clothing-related waste, a vision that most of the volunteers felt very passionate about and were dedicated to. Despite the volunteers' engagement, it was difficult to ensure that they handled the daily tasks at the stores in the right way and were committed to completing their assigned shifts. As the number of volunteers increased, so did the organizational-control issues. The informal and personal management style was becoming difficult to maintain. The founder therefore asked the volunteers about their motivation and wanted to integrate that information into potential solutions to the various issues.
Original languageEnglish
Publication date2023
Place of PublicationFrederiksberg
PublisherThe Nordic Case House
Number of pages8
Publication statusPublished - 2023

Bibliographical note

Case-reference no. CBS-23-009

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