Persistence of firm‐level profitability in the European dairy processing industry

Based on autoregressive (AR) models and Arellano‐Bond dynamic panel estimation, this article analyses profit persistence in the European dairy processing industry. The sample comprises 590 dairy processors from the following five countries: Belgium, France, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom. The AR models indicate that cooperatives which account for around 20% of all firms in the dairy processing sector are not primarily profit oriented. In addition, the results point toward a high level of competition as profit persistence is rather low even if cooperatives are excluded. The panel model reveals that short‐ as well as long‐run profit persistence is influenced by firm and industry characteristics.     

Transforming South Africa's cities: Prospects for the economic development of urban townships

This article identifies and evaluates the range of strategies being used to generate economic activity close to and within townships, focusing on the three metropolitan areas of Gauteng, the Durban Functional Region and metropolitan Cape Town. After placing townships in the context of the larger city and the overall strategy of local economic development, the article examines the various types of strategies that have been proposed to stimulate and support economic activity: the currently dominant spatial strategies, the provision of services infrastructure, the development of economic infrastructure, small business support services, and public works.     

German trade unions and company information

British trade unions are not alone in needing to develop sophisticated and effective responses to rapid change – the theme of an earlier article by Tony Lane in Vol 17 No 4. Here the authors explore the problems of German trade unions in absorbing and evaluating detailed company information.     

Spatial Ethics Beyond the North–South Dichotomy: Moral Dilemmas in Favelas

Journal of Business Ethics - Western representation of countries from the Global South implies a dichotomist view of business ethics: on the one hand, universal ethics largely reproduces...     

One‐Stop Shopping as a Cause of Slotting Fees: A Rent‐Shifting Mechanism

Consumers increasingly prefer to bundle their purchases into a single shopping trip, inducing complementaries between initially independent or substitutable goods. Taking this one‐stop shopping behavior into account, we show that slotting fees may emerge as a result of a rent‐shifting mechanism in a three‐party negotiation framework, where a monopolistic retailer negotiates sequentially with two suppliers about two‐part tariff contracts. If the goods are initially independent or sufficiently differentiated, the wholesale price negotiated with the first supplier is upward distorted. This allows the retailer and the first supplier to extract rent from the second supplier. To compensate the retailer for the higher wholesale price, the first supplier pays a slotting fee as long as its bargaining power vis‐à‐vis the retailer is not too large.     

Top and bottom line relevance of purchasing and supply management

Getting a substantial value addition out of investments in purchasing and supply management (PSM) is of central importance to senior management. However, the empirical evidence of a financial value contribution is fragmented. The current study addresses this fragmentation by using a comprehensive performance measurement model to validate empirically (a) whether PSM contributes to the company's financial success and (b) whether the financial value contribution is mediated by benefits of three operational performances (cost, quality, and innovation performance). Our findings from an international survey of 306 major companies from eight industry sectors suggest that an advanced, comprehensive implementation of PSM activities contributes to an improvement in PSM outcomes, which in turn mediates company success.     

Antecedents of mentoring: Do multi-faceted job satisfaction and affective organizational commitment matter?

This study examines the relationships between work attitudes, willingness to mentor and business-to-business salesperson mentoring support. Results provide evidence that individual directed organizational citizenship behavior (altruism) and willingness to mentor may not share as many antecedents as the literature conceptualizes. Willingness to mentor is a strong predictor of serving as a mentor and mentors most willing to mentor provide protégés with the greatest vocational, psychosocial and role modeling support. The findings raise concerns regarding the applicability of organizational citizenship behavior theory as a framework for understanding why employees mentor.     

No Vehicle Means No Aid—A Paradigm Change for the Humanitarian Logistics Business Model

The growing interest in humanitarian logistics is witnessed by an increasing focus of researchers and practitioners on that topic. Transportation in particular is emphasized as key to disaster relief. Despite its relevance, it suffers from a number of drawbacks, creating inefficiencies and limited effectiveness of aid. This article describes a paradigm change for fleet management in humanitarian organizations based on access‐based consumption. It further evaluates a case study among small‐scale producers in rural India, showing their acceptance for sharing vehicles. The newly created business opportunities will increase income and contribute to poverty alleviation. Taking part in the proposed vehicle‐sharing system can release them from ownership responsibilities and increase vehicle utilization, as well as improve vehicle availability, increasing the speed of aid from the perspective of humanitarian organizations. This article highlights the applicability of business models relying on the idea of access‐based consumption to not‐yet‐considered research fields, especially the transfer to rural areas of developing countries. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Leben mit Tracheostoma

Tracheostomapflege bei S?uglingen und Kindern - Durch ein Tracheo stoma erfahren die kleinen Patienten eine gro?e Ver?nderung, die die Atmung erleichtert und Stress reduziert. Durch eine gute Versorgung des Tracheostomas k?nnen Kinderkrankenschwestern viel zu einem weitgehend normalen Alltag in den Familien beitragen. Denn für die Eltern ist der Eingriff anfangs eine enorme Belastung, sind sie doch nun mehr nicht nur Eltern, sondern auch Pflegende.