Are geographical indication products fostering public goods? some evidence from Europe

Within the framework of multifunctional conceptualisation, the authors have investigated the level of public goods embedded in Agri-food geographical indication productsPostprint (published version

Global supply chains of high value low volume products

Imperial Users onl

Global impacts of energy demand on the freshwater resources of nations

The growing geographic disconnect between consumption of goods, the extraction and processing of resources, and the environmental impacts associated with production activities makes it crucial to factor global trade into sustainability assessments. Using an empirically validated environmentally extended global trade model, we examine the relationship between two key resources underpinning economies and human well-being—energy and freshwater. A comparison of three energy sectors (petroleum, gas, and electricity) reveals that freshwater consumption associated with gas and electricity production is largely confined within the territorial boundaries where demand originates. This finding contrasts with petroleum, which exhibits a varying ratio of territorial to international freshwater consumption, depending on the origin of demand. For example, although the United States and China have similar demand associated with the petroleum sector, international freshwater consumption is three times higher for the former than the latter. Based on mapping patterns of freshwater consumption associated with energy sectors at subnational scales, our analysis also reveals concordance between pressure on freshwater resources associated with energy production and freshwater scarcity in a number of river basins globally. These energy-driven pressures on freshwater resources in areas distant from the origin of energy demand complicate the design of policy to ensure security of fresh water and energy supply. Although much of the debate around energy is focused on greenhouse gas emissions, our findings highlight the need to consider the full range of consequences of energy production when designing policy

Introducing sustainability in supply chain: application to Hilti

La sostenibilitat de les nostres cadenes de subministrament que cada cop son més complexes i globals, és una preocupació important en la gestió estratègica d’aquestes. Tant a l'acadèmia com a la indústria, s'estan invertint molts recursos en el desenvolupament de mètodes que permetin avaluar la sostenibilitat d’una cadena de subministrament i els proveidors que la formen. Després d'una revisió bibliogràfica exhaustiva, una selecció qualitativa i quantitativa d'indicadors clau de rendiment, així com diverses entrevistes i qüestionaris a diferents experts en sostenibilitat i cadenes de subministrament tant acadèmics com de la indústria; aquesta tesi proposa un marc conceptual com a base per desenvolupar un model d’evaluació de la sostenibilitat de lq configuració de cadenes de subministrament. El model proposat permet avaluar numèricament, centrant-se en el proveïdor principal i les condicions aigües amunt i aigües avall, la sostenibilitat d'una configuració de subministrament i classificar-les en relació al resultat, de millor a pitjor. Els valors matemàtics assignats es calculen assignant pesos relatius als diferents aspectes de sostenibilitat dels proveïdors. Aquests pesos s'obtenen aplicant el Mètode de Jerarquia Analítica sobre criteris subjectius amb informació recopilada a través del mètode Delphi. El resultat es construeix com una eina simple i eficient, aprofitant la màxima precisió amb el mínim esforç tant per als gerents de subministrament com per als proveïdors per avaluar i administrar la informació requerida. Aquest model servirà per donar suport a les decisions de configuració del subministrament que permetran millorar l'exercici de sostenibilitat de les cadenes de subministrament.The sustainability of our evermore complex and global supply chains is an important concern in strategic supply chain management. In both academia and industry, important resources are invested into developing methods for evaluating supply chain sustainability. After a thorough literature review, a qualitative and quantitative selection of key performance indicators, as well as several interviews and questionnaires to different sustainability and supply experts of the industry; this thesis proposes a conceptual framework as a base to develop a supply chain sustainability evaluation model. The proposed model allows to evaluate, focusing on the main supplier and its upstream and downstream conditions, the sustainability of a supply set-up numerically and rank them accordingly. The assigned mathematical values are calculated upon assigning relative weights to the different supplier sustainability feedback. These weights are obtained by applying the Analytical Hierarchy Method on subjective criteria with information gathered via the Delphi method. The result is constructed as a simple but efficient tool, leveraging the maximum accuracy with minimum effort for both supply managers and suppliers to assess and manage the required information to support on supply set-up decisions which will enable improvement on the sustainability performance of supply chains

Development of a Framework to Support Informed Shipbuilding Based on Supply Chain Disruptions

In addition to stresses induced by the Covid-19 pandemic, supply chains worldwide have been growing more complex while facing a continuous onslaught of disruptions. This paper presents an analysis and extension of a graph based model for modeling and simulating the effects of such disruptions. The graph based model combines a Bayesian network approach for simulating risks with a network dependency analysis approach for simulating the propagation of disruptions through the network over time. The initial analysis provides evidence supporting extension to for using a multi-layered approach allowing for the inclusion of cyclic features in supply chain models. Initial results for individual layers and the aggregate model are presented and discussed. The paper is concluded with a discussion and recommended directions for future work

Evaluation of policy measures for agri-food networks in Italian rural development programmes

The agri-food sector is characterized by very heterogeneous agreements and formal and informal contracts aimed to create stable relationships among firms. In this scenario, the actors are linked by common interest in creating and distributing added value. In the network, the risk and the responsibilities are shared by the participants and the transaction costs are reduced by the presence of dynamic flows of information and knowledge. Consequently, the creation and development of agri-food networks is a main objective of regional administration in their Rural Development Plans. The article item is the presentation and the discussion of the methodology used for the evaluation of Integrated Measures Project (Progetti Integrati di Filiera, PIF) presented by firm networks and agri-food chains in Veneto. The result are demonstrated extremely interesting about the understanding of PIF. Moreover, the comparative study serve to understand the result in terms of competitive advantage and income for the farmers.agri-food networking, food-chain policy, Rural Development Programme, Agricultural and Food Policy, Q18,