Prioritising land to be preserved for agriculture: A context-specific value tree

In Belgium as in many other countries, agricultural land is under pressure for development of other land uses. This paper presents a method for setting priorities for preservation of land for agriculture. The method is based on a participatory approach through which a value tree is formulated. This results in a list of criteria to define farmland value, which is explicitly linked to the objectives for farmland preservation. The value tree allows the list of criteria to be determined in a structured and consistent way. The participatory process contributes to the development of a shared vision on farmland preservation. The approach also incorporates context specificity, as shown by its application for farmland preservation in Flanders.     

Country of Origin Effect for Food Products from Developing and Transition Countries: A PLS Analysis of German Consumers’ Perception

ABSTRACT

This study investigates the importance of the country of origin (COO) effect in German consumers’ perception of chocolate quality using the example of chocolate made from Ecuadorian raw cocoa. From earlier COO and consumer perception research, a complex research framework grounded in schema and attribution theory has been developed acknowledging the multifactorial character of consumers’ food quality perception. Based on this framework, a PLS analysis of primary data from an online survey of 205 German chocolate consumers is conducted. The results demonstrate the overall applicability of the research framework and give evidence on the underlying complex consumer perception process of COO-labeled food products. For the case of chocolate made from Ecuadorian cocoa, PLS estimations show a strong COO effect in German consumers’ quality perceptions and identify characteristics of the target consumer group. Protecting geographical indications may offer a potential for products from developing and transition countries to differentiate in the German market, a prime example for European markets, and should be promoted more strongly by government offices and NGOs.     

The social costs of gun ownership: a reply to Hayo,Neumeier, and Westphal

We respond to the new article by Hayo, Neumeier, and Westphal (HNW), which is a critique of our 2006 article. The principal contribution of that article wa     

Bridging the cultural divide: Trust formation in university–industry research collaborations in the US,Japan, and South Korea

Academia and industry increasingly work together, but this is not always an easy endeavor. In this article we investigate how relational mechanisms facilitate trust formation in university–industry research collaborations (UICs) in three countries and contribute to the understanding of international similarities and differences in UICs by considering institutional factors, specifically, the strength and maturity of UICs in each country. Analyzing survey data of 618 recent UICs in the US, Japan, and South Korea, we identify the activities of innovation champions as a critical trust building mechanism between firms and universities that complements initial trust formation through tie strength, partner reputation, and contractual safeguards. We find that partner reputation and champion behavior are more important for trust formation in South Korea than in the US and Japan, indicating that in ‘emerging UIC countries’ where most firms and universities have little collaboration experience, reputation and the leadership by innovation champions are more important for trust formation in UICs than in ‘advanced UIC countries’ with strong and mature UIC networks. From a public policy perspective, our findings suggest that networks between firms and universities should be generally strengthened and collaboration partners should be provided with effective contractual safeguards to enhance trust formation in UICs.     

Profiling emerging contractors for effective transformation in the South African construction sector

South Africa's construction industry is transforming. Its economy requires a wider base of contracting entities. Much of this growth is expected to be delivered by ‘emerging’ contractors. Yet these companies face significant obstacles. Targeted interventions that foster companies need a better picture of these firms and their core members. A survey of the civil engineering sector, targeting emerging contractors, showed that the owners of these companies lack training and experience, and that there are gender-related differences. Classifications according to company turnover, contract sizes or employee numbers alone do not reflect circumstances. Combining these data with the core members' backgrounds gives a clearer picture. Most companies hover between the ‘Existence’ and ‘Survival’ stages of business development. Development initiatives that assume companies require knowledge must accommodate large cognitive distances between sender and receiver. Initiatives thus need to focus on the owners, considering the status and background of their companies.     

Measuring the quality of managerial learning on the job

This article describes the development of an instrument to measure the quality of managerial learning on the job. The instrument can be used to analyse the quality of the individual learning process on the job. The literature shows that two factors determine the quality of the learning process: the learning potential of the job context and the way in which the manager approaches their work. So the instrument has two components. The first component measures the four types of work experience that offer potential opportunities for individual learning. These are transitions, task-related characteristics, obstacles and support. The second component, the so-called learning behaviour, analyses the way the individual approaches the potential learning opportunities present in the job. This can also be divided into four categories: emergent learning, planned learning, instruction-oriented learning and meaning-oriented learning. Based on these two components, an instrument has been developed to measure the quality of learning on the job. This has been shown to be valid and reliable in a sample of European managers.