Exploring how innovation strategies at time of crisis influence performance: a cluster analysis perspective

This paper analyzes the connection between innovation activities of companies – implemented before crisis – and their performance – measured at time of crisis. The companies listed in the STAR Market Segment of the Italian Stock Exchange are analyzed. Innovation is measured through the level of investments in total tangible and intangible fixed assets in 2006–2007, while performance is captured through growth – expressed by variations of sales, total assets and employees – profitability – through ROI or ROS – and productivity – through asset turnover or sales per employee in the period 2008–2010. The variables of interest are analyzed and compared through statistical techniques and by adopting cluster analysis. In particular, a Voronoi tessellation is also implemented in a varying centroids framework. In accord with a large part of the literature, we find that the behaviour of the performance of the companies is not univocal when they innovate.     

What have we learnt about board gender diversity as a business strategy? The appointment of board subcommittees

This paper explores whether a board's gender diversity influences the voluntary formation of its board subcommittees. Female board directorship may become a business strategy for firms if it affects the appointment of board subcommittees. We hypothesize that the voluntary creation of board subcommittees is affected by the presence of female directors on boards; the presence of independent, executive, and institutional female directors; and the proportion of shares held by female directors on boards. Board gender diversity has been measured as a proportion and with Blau's index. The results show that independent female directors are positively associated with the likelihood of voluntarily setting up all or some of the committees and a supervision and control committee. The presence of executive female directors negatively influences the probability of forming all or some of the committees, an executive committee and a supervision and control committee. The percentage of shares held by female directors has a positive effect on the voluntary creation of an executive committee. The findings also report that women directors and institutional female directors do not contribute to the voluntary creation of board subcommittees. Our evidence shows that female board directorship impacts the demand of internal control mechanisms such as board subcommittees, suggesting that firms should take it into account as a business strategy. The main implications derived from this research are relevant for Spanish policymakers and researchers because board gender diversity may play a significant role in the decision‐making processes of firms and may influence firms' outcomes.     

Large agricultural investments in Kenya’s Nanyuki Area: Inventory and analysis of business models

Many experts agree that more agricultural investment is needed in the global South to improve local food security and reduce poverty. However, there is a lack of consensus about the types of investment needed to achieve these goals. This paper contributes to the literature on large agricultural investments and corresponding business models by inventorying and analysing such investments in Kenya’s Nanyuki area. We identify four clusters of business models that differ primarily by type of production and other distinct determinants, namely: demand from markets; access to land; land tenure regime and colonial history; actors involved; biophysical context; labour availability; and governance of the value chain via private standards. The study results shed light on the factors that help or hinder implementation of large agricultural investments and shape their impacts in the context of African land use systems. The way land is accessed represents one of the most-decisive factors determining the risks and opportunities associated with such projects. We find that most investments in the Nanyuki area occur on land bought or leased from private owners.     

Unemployment and econometric learning

We apply well-known results of the econometric learning literature to the Mortensen and Pissarides real business cycle model. Agents can always learn the unique rational expectations equilibrium (REE), for all possible well-defined sets of parameter values, by using the minimum-state-variable solution to the model and decreasing gain learning. From this perspective the assumption of rational expectations in the model could be seen as reasonable. But using a parametrisation with UK data, simulations show that the speed of convergence to the REE is slow. This type of learning dampens the cyclical response of unemployment to small structural shocks.     

Macroeconomic Uncertainty in South Africa

This paper develops a new index of economic uncertainty for South Africa for the period 1990–2014. The index is constructed from three sources: (1 ) Disagreement among professional forecasters, (2 ) a count of international and local newspaper articles discussing economic uncertainty in South Africa and (3 ) mentions of uncertainty in the quarterly economic review of the South African Reserve Bank. The index shows high levels of uncertainty around the period of democratic transition in 1992–1994, the large depreciation of the currency in 2001 and the financial crisis of 2008. The uncertainty index is a leading indicator of a recession. An unanticipated increase in the index is associated with a fall in GDP, investment, industrial production and private sector employment. Contrary to evidence for the U.S.A and the U.K., uncertainty shocks are inflationary. These results are robust to controlling for global uncertainty shocks, consumer confidence and financial shocks.     

Lack of successors,firm default,and the performance of small businesses

We investigate the effects of the lack of successors on small businesses with an elderly manager. Using firm-level data from Japan, a country with an aging population, we find the following results. First, smaller, younger, highly leveraged, and nongrowing firms are likely to have no successor. Second, firms with an elderly manager are more likely to exit and default if they have no successors, and this is particularly the case during the global financial crisis around 2009. This result suggests that these firms have less incentive to repay debts because they are not going concerns. As a result of the high probability of default, the annual change in bank borrowing is low if firms with an elderly manager have no successor. Third, the annual change of bank borrowing is lower for firms with no successor during the crisis and post-crisis periods, implying that banks reduce lending to these firms because of their high risk.     

Systemic circular business model application at the company,supply chain and society levels—A view into circular economy native and adopter companies

This study contributes to the conceptualization of a sustainable circular business model (CBM), the application of the circular economy (CE) by companies. The study utilized a three-level framework adapted from the CE literature with company (micro), supply chain (meso) and society (macro) levels. This multiple-case study in the textile industry included two types of companies operating in the CE: companies founded on the sustainable principles of a CE (natives) and companies transitioning to a CE from the linear economy (adopters). The findings show that the adopters emphasized long-term economic sustainability on a company level and implemented CE elements to varying degrees on all three levels. The natives pursued business decisions from environmental and social sustainability standpoints, and the three levels were integral in their systemic approach to a CE. The study highlights two key claims: established operational structures and economic volition hindered adopters in their systemic CE implementation, and an integral part of the CBM for natives was a proactive approach towards the society level.     

德国零售巨头阿尔迪经营战略分析

随着经济全球化的发展,科学技术日新月异,人们的消费结构和消费习惯也在不断地改变,传统的零售业面临着巨大的挑战,但德国阿尔迪依旧在当下保持着零售巨头的称号。论文对德国零售巨头阿尔迪的经营战略进行分析,并结合阿尔迪的经营策略为中国零售业提出建议和启示。