International trade related food miles – The case of Canada

At the beginning of the 21st century imports of agricultural and food commodities have become a major part of many nations’ food baskets. Indeed the global food system has several merits for nations, businesses and individual consumers’ well-being. However, as increasing evidence suggests that we are approaching an era of climate change and scarcity of cheap energy sources the sustainability of that system must be examined. One part of any food commodity chain is its ‘food miles’ – the distance the commodity travels from point of production to point of consumption, the required energy and resulting emissions. This paper presents a 1 year ‘snapshot’ of Canada’s total import related food miles. It presents an analysis of the distance imported foods traveled from around the world to major points of consumption in Canada and documents the equivalent carbon dioxide emissions related to those imports. It presents both a macro scale picture of the equivalent emissions related to transportation of imported food and a micro scale picture which focuses on specific commodities consumed in various parts of the country. It then discusses policy implications for food sustainability. Overall the research highlights that about 30% of the agricultural and food commodities consumed in Canada are imported, resulting in ‘food miles’ of over 61 billion tonnes km, leading to annual emissions of 3.3 million metric tonnes of CO₂. Of the various agriculture and food commodities studied, fruits and vegetables had the highest food miles related emissions.     

The study of technology as a field of knowledge in general education: historical insights and methodological considerations from a Swedish case study, 1842–2010

Today, technology education in Sweden is both a high-status and a low-status phenomenon. Positive values such as economic growth, global competitiveness and the sustainability of the welfare state are often coupled with higher engineering education and sometimes even upper secondary education. Negative values, on the other hand, are often associated with primary and lower secondary education in this subject. Within the realm of technology education at such lower levels of schooling in Sweden, different actors have often called for reformed curricula or better teacher training, owing to the allegedly poor state of technology education in schools. Recurring demands for a change in technology education are nothing unique from an historical point of view, however. In fact, the urge to influence teaching and learning in technology is much older than the school subject itself. The aim of this article is to describe and analyse some key patterns in technology education in Swedish elementary and compulsory schools from 1842 to 2010. This study thus deals with how technological content has developed over time in these school forms as well as how different actors in and outside the school have dealt with the broader societal view of what is considered as important knowledge in technology as well as what kind of technology has particular significance. The long period of investigation from 1842 to 2010 as well as a double focus on technology as scattered educational content and a subject called Technology make it possible to identify recurring patterns, which we have divided into three overarching themes: Technological literacy and the democratic potential of technological knowledge, The relationship between school technology and higher forms of technology education and The relationship between technology and science.     

The long-run diffusion and techno-economic performance of national telephone networks: a case study of Ireland, 1922–1998

The telephone is one of the most widely used technologies in the advanced industrial economies, typically achieving a household penetration rate in excess of 90%. Over the course of this century, the plain old telephone system (POTS) has become a critical techno-social infrastructure for all sorts of economic, social and personal interactions. The question arises as to what has driven the widespread diffusion of the telephone? How can we describe the adoption of telephony as a core element in economic and social affairs in modern societies? In particular, how can we account for the great disparities in the rate and pace of the diffusion patterns of POTS, taking account of different national and historical contexts? This paper critically interrogates influential universal models or `theory-led’ explanations of the diffusion of telephone systems, especially their capacity to account for the empirically observable national variations. The authors test these models with respect to the historical trajectory of telecommunications development in Ireland, drawing on unique time-series data related to the actual patterns of telephone adoption, use and utility. The authors also re-assess the extent to which existing diffusion models throw some light on aspects of observable diffusion processes and patterns. A key conclusion from the approach adopted here is that in themselves, abstract deductive models are at best unsatisfactory. Whilst a combination of such `universal’ factors derived from more deductive models may be useful in elucidating different parts of the story, they are not sufficiently nuanced or adequate to describe or frame the complex stories of different national historical experiences. With the Irish case study we have attempted to illustrate the value of a historical and empirically based understanding of the socio-economic, political or institutional factors which have served to shape the development of telecommunications services and policy in Ireland.     

The effect of using consumption taxes on foods to promote climate friendly diets – The case of Denmark

Agriculture is responsible for 17–35% of global anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions with livestock production contributing by approximately 18–22% of global emissions. Due to high monitoring costs and low technical potential for emission reductions, a tax on consumption may be a more efficient policy instrument to decrease emissions from agriculture than a tax based directly on emissions from production. In this study, we look at the effect of internalising the social costs of greenhouse gas emissions through a tax based on CO₂ equivalents for 23 different foods. Furthermore, we compare the loss in consumer surplus and the changed dietary composition for different taxation scenarios. In the most efficient scenario, we find a decrease in the carbon footprint from foods for an average household of 2.3–8.8% at a cost of 0.15–1.73 DKK per kg CO₂ equivalent whereas the most effective scenario led to a decrease in the carbon footprint of 10.4–19.4%, but at a cost of 3.53–6.90 DKK per kg CO₂ equivalent. The derived consequences for health show that scenarios where consumers are not compensated for the increase in taxation level lead to a decrease in the total daily amount of kJ consumed, whereas scenarios where the consumers are compensated lead to an increase. Most scenarios lead to a decrease in the consumption of saturated fat. Compensated scenarios leads to an increase in the consumption of added sugar, whereas uncompensated scenarios lead to almost no change or a decrease. Generally, the results show a low cost potential for using consumption taxes to promote climate friendly diets.     

The use for the competition theory of the industrial investment decisions—a case study of the Taiwan IC assembly industry

This study empirically analyzes model accuracy, and applies grey forecasting to handle non-linear problems, insufficient data resources and forecasting involving small samples, and to construct the co-opetition diffusion model for the Lotka–Volterra (L.V.) system. Furthermore, this study examines historical data comprising revenue trends in the Taiwanese IC assembly industry during the past ten years and selects from a range of forecasting models.Empirical study uses MAPE to precisely analyze revenue trends in the L.V. dynamic co-opetition diffusion model relation to the IC assembly industry. The nine companies will be selected from 4 to 11 of the modeling, the results of the LV model 64 accuracy test, its accuracy is higher than 95% accounted for 59 times, five times better than the grey prediction, showing LV competing diffusion model not only with grey prediction, and better than the traditional grey forecasting model to make a higher accuracy of the predicted value. Like grey forecasting, MAPE can promptly respond even given insufficient data. Additionally, MAPE is able to provide more accurate forecasting values than the traditional Grey forecasting model. This study demonstrates the applicability of the dynamic co-opetition theory forecasting model to the Taiwanese IC assembly industry and provides management with a reference for use in decisions aimed to increase managerial competitiveness.     

What passes as a rigorous case study?

This article investigates the methodological sophistication of case studies as a tool for generating and testing theory by analyzing case studies published during the period 1995–2000 in 10 influential management journals. We find that case studies emphasized external validity at the expense of the two more fundamental quality measures, internal and construct validity. Comparing case studies published in the three highest‐ranking journals with the other seven, we reveal strategies that may be useful for authors wishing to conduct methodologically rigorous case study research. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Becoming a more attractive supplier by managing references – The case of small and medium-sized enterprises in a digitally enhanced business environment

The importance of corporate online references in managing client perceptions and firm attractiveness is increasingly recognized. At the same time, evidence pointing to how references work in business-to-business contexts remains sporadic, with particularly limited information regarding the supplier pre-selection process in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Within the theoretical orbit of attractiveness, the purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of corporate online references, Word-of-Mouth recommendations, and firm size on customer intention to initiate the business relationship with the supplier. The study takes on a mixed methods design combining qualitative interviews and focus groups with an experimental approach; both conducted with managers from SMEs based in the United Kingdom. Results indicate important preferential differences in supplier pre-selection between managers in small versus large customer firms. While generally more elaborated corporate online references tend to be preferred across small and large SMEs, less elaborated references appear sufficient in the case of small SMEs, as long as they occur in combination with a Word-of-Mouth recommendation. Our study makes important contributions to the literature on partnering attractiveness from an SME perspective and adds meaningfully to the discussions on reference management.     

How business methods accompany technological innovations – a case study using semantic patent analysis and a novel informetric measure

Usually, the development of a technology interacts with the development of business methods, which are needed to enter the application fields. For some years now, it is possible to analyse their interaction as, next to technological innovations, business method innovations can be patented. To investigate this interplay, we select the case of radio frequency identification devices (RFID) – a technology that first emerged many years ago, but is still undergoing further development. We analyse approximately 37,000 patents related to RFID technology from the period between 1990 and 2014, differentiating between technological and business method patents, by means of bibliographic and semantic analyses, using one well established and one novel informetric measure. Contrary to our expectations, the results point to technological innovations that are not ensued but constantly accompanied by business methods. Furthermore, we identify two types of players, that is technology and application specialists. There is a clear distinction between these two types, though all companies of both types apply for technological as well as business method patents. As our semantic analysis reveals, RFID were successively introduced in their application fields between 1998 and 2008, starting with industrial applications, and then moving on to service applications. In future, technology managers should develop strategies based on the interaction between technological and business method patents, keeping in mind the early start and sequential development of different application fields.     

Risking public health by approving some health claims? – The case of phosphorus

There is a well-established consensus on the many biological functions of essential nutrients, and related general function health claims will be soon authorised in the European Union. Such claims about the role of nutrients in the body’s growth, development and functioning could provide a powerful marketing tool and significant increase in the consumption of specific food products. Even though these claims are scientifically substantiated, there are both health and ethical concerns about whether such claims should be allowed where the intake of these nutrients easily exceeds the recommendations and a bigger intake might have adverse affects. The case of phosphorus and its role in the maintenance of normal bone is discussed.     

Creating value through product-service-software systems in institutionalized ecosystems – The case of autonomous ships

Introducing product-service-software systems (PSSS) to the market requires forming an enabling ecosystem, which can be largely based on incumbent business ecosystems. Creating value through PSSS with autonomous capabilities will likely encounter numerous challenges related to the lock-ins in current ecosystem structure. We use institutional theory as a lens and autonomous ships as the case to shed some light on types and impacts of these barriers. We identify a set of institutional barriers pertinent to regulatory, normative and cultural-cognitive pillars of institutions. We further analyze how institutional barriers affect creating, delivering, and capturing value of autonomous ships, ultimately shaping the ecosystem formation around PSSS. The main contribution of the paper is the depiction of early ecosystem dynamics as the mutual adaptation of the PSSS value proposition and the structure of the incumbent ecosystem.     

Coopetition close to the customer — A case study of a small business network

Coopetition interactions are traditionally divided into competing activities close to the customer, called output activities (e.g., sales and marketing), and cooperating activities far from the customer, known as input activities (e.g., logistics, production and R&D). In many coopetition networks, most of the cooperation has been in input activities, essentially meaning that little research is conducted in coopetition business networks with cooperative activities close to the customer. This article closes the gap by investigating coopetition in an ICT business network comprising small-to-medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the B2B sector. The purpose of this paper is to increase understanding of cooperation between competing firms by analyzing the success factors of cooperative activities close to the customer that lead to a positive outcome of coopetition. The results of the study show that some case companies are more competition oriented, whereas the others are more cooperation oriented. At the activity level of analysis, cooperation occurs in branding, marketing, joint customers, and delivery of services; whereas companies compete in local services, marketing campaigns, and pricing. In addition, our study shows that certain success factors for coopetition are highlighted, particularly in output activities such as activeness, geographical distance and personal resources.     

The discursive strategy of legitimacy management: A comparative case study of Google and Apple’s crisis communication statements

Asia Pacific Journal of Management - This case study assesses how firms deployed language tactically to cope with crisis events. By applying the Systemic Functional Grammar (SFG) approach, we...     

What makes a good case study? A positivist review of qualitative case research published in Industrial Marketing Management, 1971-2006

Business-to-business marketing research has a long tradition of using qualitative case studies. Industrial Marketing Management (IMM) has actively encouraged the use of case methods, resulting in many important theoretical advances in the field. However, debate still rages over what constitutes “good case research”. This article addresses this issue from a positivist standpoint. We examine the how authors address issues of quality in the 105 qualitative case studies published in IMM between 1971 and 2006. Four periods were identified: 1971-1979, 1980-1989, 1990-1999, and 2000-2006. Findings demonstrate that, from a positivist viewpoint, there has been a steady improvement in how authors addressed issues of research quality in published qualitative case studies. Suggestions for changes in data presentation, reviewer expectations, the IMM reviewer feedback form, and the use of web-based appendices containing data pertinent to reader judgments of research quality are suggested.     

The impact of sustainable public procurement on supplier management — The case of French public hospitals

In the public sector, procurement managers are now required to comply with new sustainable regulations and to look for suppliers able to provide a sustainable offering. Stating that contracts can only frame part of the interaction and that parties often turn to more negotiated agreements, we investigate whether sustainable expectations within public hospitals could impact supplier management and imply rearrangements between public buyers and private providers. Data were collected from fifteen French hospitals through semi-structured interviews. Findings first highlight the sustainable expectations of public buyers from global key providers, and, second, that sustainable procurement does impact the relationship by creating new rules. Building on these results, managerial implications are suggested.     

The impact of the internet on students’ enhancement of cultural aspects in design projects: a case study on interior design graduation projects,University of Dammam,Saudi Arabia

The paper explores the impact of the internet on students and their enhancement of their Identity and culture in the world of globalization. It is based on two stages; a theoretical background in the literature that provides criteria for examining the issue of the study. Then, the analytical study is done to the collected data. The paper incorporates two methods of data collection; a questionnaire survey to measure the instructors’ perception of how students should reflect the identity and local culture in their projects in the internet era, and statistical analysis of students’ implementation of cultural knowledge and identity features in their graduation projects in the new millennium before the usage of internet in the design education in the interval of 2001–2007 and after the usage of internet the interval between 2008 and 2015. Consequently, the paper is designed to generate both statistical quantitative and qualitative data. Despite the apparent impact of Globalization and internet based education on abandoning individual identity, yet it might lead to opening new horizons in front of dealing with cultural identity and heritage with a contemporary vision that integrates with nowadays architecture and at the same time refer to the unique identity.     

TQM practices and knowledge sharing: An empirical study of Malaysia’s manufacturing organizations

The purpose of this paper is to examine the multidimensionality of TQM practices and its relationship with knowledge sharing as perceived by middle management employees in Malaysia’s ISO 9001:2000 certified firms of manufacturing sectors. The data which were collected from a survey of 129 middle management employees in Malaysia were used to test the proposed research framework. Furthermore, confirmatory factor analysis was performed to evaluate the reliability and validity of the measurement model, and the structural analysis was used to examine the research framework. The analytical results revealed that training and development, customer focus, and teamwork showed a positive association with middle management employees’ knowledge sharing. This analysis is vital for senior managers of TQM companies that want to establish a knowledge sharing capability. Senior managers could focus their efforts on implementing TQM practices for building competitive knowledge sharing competencies.     

Not only speed matters – Crisis response in the hypothetical case of a transport accident involving genetically modified crops

Crisis communication has attained increased importance for communicators, especially in the modern agricultural sector, with each crisis creating a demand for communication that is responsive and problem-specific. This demand is related to the desire for social acceptance, which also constitutes an essential part of an organization’s activity. Our purpose in this study is to identify appropriate response strategies for the hypothetical case of a transport accident involving genetically modified organisms (GMOs). To answer the research question, we conducted 14 semi-structured interviews with experts in communication, crisis communication, and internet communication, or with individuals who had contact with crisis management when an incident with GMOs occurred. We had the interviews audio recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed. We based the analysis on a qualitative content analysis, which we structured in the manner of Kuckartz's (2016) study. Regarding the GMO scenario presented, the findings show that crisis management constitutes an essential precondition for successful crisis communication. Due to the increasing use of online media, especially social media, dissemination and exchange of information happens very fast. In line with this, the interviews indicate that one must put the primary emphasis on crisis preparedness, especially on developing a crisis manual that provides a structure for crisis response, thus enabling a quick response. We also highlight the significance of using online media because of its ability to rapidly disseminate information. Furthermore, we found that responding with emotional messages was important, as it might help stakeholders deal with their uncertainty in a way that would not negatively affect the organization’s reputation.     

What difference does dynamics make? The case of digital cameras

When the well-known BLP model is applied to products with rapid technological changes and declining prices it tends to yield implausible results. A sequence of increasingly sophisticated dynamic demand models, most recently Gowrisankaran and Rysman (2009, hereafter GR), have been developed to overcome these problems. We apply both models to new data on the US digital camera market. In addition, we demonstrate that the GR model can be specified as a BLP model plus an additional set of terms. This suggests that a dynamic model can be estimated as a BLP model plus a non-parametric function which is less computationally demanding. As a first step to implementing this semi-parametric approach we estimate a BLP model augmented with age as a proxy for the non-parametric component. We find that demand for digital cameras is more elastic when demand dynamics is accounted for in both the dynamic model and the BLP model with the age proxy. This suggests that the market is more competitive though the results are consistent with firms engaging in intertemporal price discrimination. Merger simulations predict the lowest price and quantity changes using the GR model.