Cultivating Ecological Knowledge for Corporate Sustainability: Barilla's Innovative Approach to Sustainable Farming

In this paper, we link three theoretical perspectives – organizational knowledge, ecological knowledge and social–ecological systems – to derive new conceptions of multi‐disciplinary, multi‐tier, sustainability‐oriented knowledge. Our study examines how collaboration between pasta‐producer Barilla, the farmers/smallholders supplying the firm and scientists generated sustainability practices in the agri‐food industry by creating transformative ecological, technical and scientific knowledge. In 2010, Barilla initiated a sustainable farming project to significantly reduce the environmental impact of cultivating durum wheat, its most important raw material. Core components included replacing monoculture with crop rotation, collectively creating innovative approaches that support farmers’ decision making and generating widely accessible guidelines for sustainability‐oriented cropping knowledge and practices. These collaborative efforts initiated profound transformations within and beyond the organization's boundaries via increased production yields, reduced environmental impacts and improved sustainability of farming practices, which generated economic, social and ecological benefits for farmers, surrounding communities and the firm. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment     

Competition Policy as Strategic Trade with Differentiated Products

The paper analyzes how countries use competition policy as a tool for strategic trade. In the model, two countries export to a third country. Each exporting country is endowed with a set of differentiated products. Each government chooses the number of exporters for its country and the products that each exporter sells in the first period, and a tax policy in the second period. Firms choose prices or quantities independently in the third period. In the unique subgame‐perfect equilibrium, both countries group all their products within a single firm—the “national champion policy.” We study the implication of different assumptions about the timing of the game.     

Macro and Micro Perspectives of Growth and Poverty in Africa

This article reviews trends in poverty, economic policies, andgrowth in a sample of African countries during the 1990s, drawingon the better household data now available. Experiences havevaried. Some countries have seen sharp drops in income poverty,whereas others have witnessed marked increases. In some countriesoverall economic growth has been pro-poor and in others not.But the aggregate numbers hide systematic distributional effects.Taking both macro and micro perspectives of growth and povertyin Africa, the article draws four key conclusions. First, economicpolicy reforms (improving macroeconomic balances and liberalizingmarkets) appear conducive to reducing poverty. Second, marketconnectedness is crucial to enable participation in the gainsfrom economic growth. Some regions and households by virtueof their remoteness were left behind when growth picked up.Third, education and access to land emerge as key private endowmentsto help households benefit from new economic opportunities.Finally, rainfall variations and ill health have profound effectson poverty outcomes, underscoring the significance of socialrisk management in poverty reduction strategies in Africa.     

The IAS/IFRS application on the intangible assets of non-listed companies

With the introduction of IFRS （International Financial Reporting Standards） most of the intangibles are expensed on the income statement and hence they ＂disappear＂ from the balance sheet, while investments in tangible assets are capitalized. Based on a sample of 128 firms, made up of 99 SMEs （Small and Medium Enterprises） and 29 large firms, and through a simulation of IAS （International Accounting Standards） transition, the authors＇ study finds that IAS 38 reduces the amount of intangible assets recognized on the balance sheet of SMEs, while large firms do not appear to experience such large reductions in their intangible assets. The differential effect of IAS 38 on SMEs and large firms can be explained by the different growth strategies of these firm types. SMEs largely depend on internal paths of growth and intangibles assets that typically arise from internal growth strategies are eliminated from the balance sheet under IAS 38. Larger firms are less exposed to such reductions in their intangibles assets, because they mostly follow external paths of growth and the treatment of those intangible assets that typically arise from external growth strategies requires the impairment test.     

Measuring Value‐at‐Risk in Project Finance Transactions

Despite the remarkable importance of project finance in international financial markets, no quantitative models to measure and quantify the risk associated with a deal for the project's lenders have been developed yet. The topic has recently become crucial, since the New Basle Capital Accord gives banks a choice of whether to adopt simpler (but possibly higher) standard capital requirements or to develop internal rating models for project finance transactions. The paper proposes how Monte Carlo simulations may be used to derive a Value‐at‐Risk estimate for project finance deals and discusses the critical issues that must be considered when developing such a model.     

Understanding the exploration–exploitation dilemma: An fMRI study of attention control and decision‐making performance

This paper studies the cognitive processes that enable decision makers to switch between exploitation and exploration. We use functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in a sample of expert decision makers to make two main contributions. First, we identify and contrast the specific brain regions and cognitive processes associated with exploitation and exploration decisions. Exploitation activates regions associated with reward seeking, which track and evaluate the value of current choices, while exploration relies on regions associated with attentional control, tracking the value of alternative choices. Second, we propose and test the idea that stronger activation of the brain circuits related to attentional control allows individuals to achieve better decision‐making performance as a result. We discuss the implications of these results for strategic management research and practice. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd