Closer Starfish: A research project investigating freight distribution cooperation opportunities in Sweden

Horizontal cooperation, when companies on the same level in the supply chain cooperate, is a concept that has received increased focus during the last decade and has been examined in both the Benelux and the UK. In Sweden, the horizontal cooperation has only been examined on a smaller scale in remote areas. We have carried out a quantitative case study, examining horizontal cooperation at the network level. Seven companies--two retailers (Coop and ICA) and five suppliers (Findus, Arvid Nordquist, Löfbergs Lila, Cloetta, and KåKå) participated in the study and have contributed transportation and cost data. The analysis has tested various coalitions of the participating companies and the study shows, in line with previous research, that companies have the ability to reduce their transport costs. Cooperation between a large actor and one or more smaller companies shows a potential cost savings between 1 and 10%. Cooperations between the smaller actors indicate potential cost savings of more than 20%. However, there are uncertainties in the data concerning the smaller companies and therefore, further analysis is needed in order to investigate how these potentials are to be realized. Closer Starfish shows that there is a large potential to reduce costs if companies combine horizontal and vertical cooperation. The companies have a great possibility to make their transports more efficient by cooperating outside of their own supply chain. In order to maximize the likelihood of this possibility it is important to further study in more depth coalitions with both horizontal and vertical cooperation in order to investigate how to realize the identified potential in practice

The Future of Charge Card Networks

The general-purpose charge card is now ubiquitous and largely taken for granted. Annual charge card volume exceeds $5 trillion worldwide. Within the United States, nearly one billion cards are in use (about eight per household), and more than two billion worldwide. But charge cards, or more specifically, the cooperative networks that serve the largest card systems, Visa and MasterCard, are under legal attack through multiple lawsuits and under regulatory challenge in other countries. We trace in this essay multiple possible future 'scenarios'. This focus on possible futures distinguishes our work from many earlier studies of this subject.

Circular economy through innovation within business networks : a case study on returnable bottles

Mestrado Bolonha em Gestão e Estratégia IndustrialInnovating is extremely important to companies, even more so when innovation aligns with sustainability. The circular economy is substituting the classic linear model to increase the product life cycle. A productive circular economy is necessarily a well-coordinated business network. The difficulty in implementing a business model that benefits from these relationships between innovation, sustainability, circular economy, and business networks is a key factor for companies. This study aims to explore the relationship between innovation and circular economy from a business network perspective. A case study of a refreshing drinks company that follows a returnable bottle strategy was developed and supported by a semi-structured interview. In this company, all the innovation projects go through a filter that gives a sustainability score (A, B, C, and D), considering several environmental factors such as sustainable packaging, water, energy, resources consumed, and consumer perception. Returnable packaging currently constitutes, for the company, more than 85% of what is sold in bars, cafes, and restaurants. Additionally, ecological concern has contributed to changing consumer behavior, as they are much more attentive to today's products. Consumers increasingly demand sustainable packaging, which puts pressure on the company, as it will impact its sales and reputation. Finally, the company maintains relationships with several companies and favors nearby suppliers to mitigate the C02 footprint. These relationships have mutual benefits because they often challenge suppliers or vice versa, which always results in process optimization and continuous improvement.Inovar é extremamente importante para as empresas, ainda mais quando a inovação está alinhada com a sustentabilidade. A economia circular está a substituir o clássico modelo linear para aumentar o ciclo de vida dos produtos. Uma economia circular produtiva é necessariamente uma rede de negócios bem coordenada. A dificuldade em implementar um modelo de negócio que beneficie destas relações entre inovação, sustentabilidade, economia circular e redes de negócios é um fator chave para as empresas. Este estudo tem como objetivo explorar a relação entre inovação e economia circular a partir de uma perspetiva da rede de negócios. Um estudo de caso de uma empresa de bebidas refrescantes que segue uma estratégia de garrafas retornáveis foi desenvolvido e apoiado por uma entrevista semiestruturada. Nesta empresa, todos os projetos de inovação passam por um filtro que dá uma nota de sustentabilidade (A, B, C e D), considerando diversos fatores ambientais como embalagens sustentáveis, água, energia, recursos consumidos e a perceção do consumidor. As embalagens retornáveis representam hoje, para a empresa, mais de 85% do que é vendido em bares, cafés e restaurantes. Além disso, a preocupação ecológica tem contribuído para a mudança de comportamento dos consumidores, que estão muito mais atentos aos produtos atuais. Os consumidores exigem cada vez mais embalagens sustentáveis, o que pressiona a empresa, pois impactará as suas vendas e reputação. Por fim, a empresa mantém relações com diversas empresas e privilegia fornecedores próximos para mitigar a pegada de C02. Estas relações têm benefícios mútuos porque muitas vezes a empresa desafia os fornecedores ou vice-versa, o que resulta sempre na otimização dos processos e na melhoria contínua.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

A construção do conhecimento sobre o território europeu: análise da dinâmica de cooperação no programa ESPON

A política regional europeia tem como objectivo corrigir a diferença entre os níveis de desenvolvimento das suas regiões, dispondo, para tal, de diversos instrumentos financeiros que permitem estimular a convergência em relação à média europeia. Este desígnio, outrora focalizado nas regiões estruturalmente mais desfavorecidas, ganhou amplitude com o reconhecimento do potencial intrínseco a todos territórios para enfrentar os desafios que se colocam à coesão, à competitividade e à sustentabilidade. Porém, a eficácia das intervenções tem sido alvo de críticas que questionam a escassez de sistemas para monitorizar as dinâmicas que influenciam o território europeu e, por essa via, o debate em futuros processos de financiamento. Face ao exposto, discute-se qual é o contributo das redes de cooperação inter-regional na construção do conhecimento sobre o território europeu. Recorre-se, para o efeito, ao exemplo da rede científica do Programa ESPON (i.e. European Spatial Planning Observation Network) que, durante o período 2002-2006, desenvolveu 34 projectos de investigação aplicada, conduzindo à formulação de novos indicadores, tipologias e cenários de desenvolvimento territorial. O estímulo da cooperação em rede, permitiu o envolvimento do meio académico, sector privado e administração pública. As evidências promoveram o diálogo e a sensibilização da classe política europeia. Tendo em conta o teor das actividades desenvolvidas pelo Programa ESPON 2006, procura-se identificar e compreender o conjunto de relações que moldaram a estrutura da rede de cooperação e, em função dos resultados obtidos, interpretar os efeitos que emergem desta dinâmica. Recorrese, para tal, à metodologia interdisciplinar da análise de redes sociais que permite calcular, através de um conjunto de medidas de centralidade, o posicionamento de cada beneficiário e, desta forma, identificar os padrões de relacionamento. O caso de estudo é utilizado para comprovar a existência de parcerias estratégicas que, alegadamente, expõem oportunidades e constrangimentos na dinâmica de cooperação. Nesta linha de pensamento, averigua-se qual é o efeito produzido no espaço europeu através dos padrões territoriais de colaboração.Abstract: The European Union’s regional policy seeks to reduce structural disparities that exist between regions. This goal is achieved in practical terms by means of a variety of financing operations that stimulate convergence in relation to the EU average. Initially focused on strengthening the financial solidarity between the member states, EU’s regional policy is now strongly committed in identifying the territorial potentials of cities, regions and larger territories to foster competitiveness, cohesion and sustainability. However, the effectiveness of such interventions has been subject to criticism by various groups that claim the development of monitoring systems to better understand the dynamics that influence Europeans regions and therefore justify the debate on future funding decisions. Against this background, we discuss the role of interregional cooperation networks aimed at increasing evidence-based knowledge on EU cohesion policy. In order to further explore this approach we use the example of the ESPON Programme (i.e. European Spatial Planning Observation Network) that, over the 2002-2006 funding period, delivered 34 applied research projects leading to new indicators, typologies and scenarios of territorial development. The notion of cooperation at the network level stimulated the involvement of many universities, research institutions, consultancies, and public bodies. The research findings contributed to raise awareness among policy makers on trends, perspectives and policy impacts. In general, ESPON confirmed its research capacity to establish a common platform of scientific knowledge on territorial potentials. Taking into consideration the type of research activities developed by the beneficiaries of the ESPON 2006 Programme, this report focuses on the relational patterns that shaped the structure of the research community. In addition, it investigates the effects that emerged from these activities. With this regard, we employ methods social network analysis to measure the centrality of each beneficiary and therefore identify the main relational patterns. Our case study is used to prove the existence of local strategic partnerships that somehow disclose opportunities and threats on the research network. Base on this exploratory analysis, we also depict the spatial patterns that emerged from those partnerships.Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (PTDC/CS-GEO/105452/2008

Wettbewerb oder Kooperation?: eine vergleichende Analyse der Public Diplomacy der Europäischen Union und ausgewählter Mitgliedsstaaten

This study conducts a comparative, empirically grounded analysis of European public diplomacy at national, regional, and transnational level. It centers on the European Commission as well as the European External Action Service as EU bodies and France as well as Sweden as two selected EU member states. The study explores public diplomacy from an organizational perspective. It addresses the questions of 1) how EU and member state organizations understand and practice public diplomacy and 2) to what extent public diplomacy efforts on the regional and national level complement or contradict each other. It enriches theory development in public diplomacy research by integrating theoretical approaches and insights primarily from public diplomacy research, communication studies, sociology, and organization theory. Moreover, it enriches the small body of empirical knowledge on European public diplomacy. Based on a combination of a qualitative document analysis and guided expert interviews with public diplomacy practitioners, this study suggests that both France and Sweden pursue a rather centralized public diplomacy approach, whereas EU public diplomacy is much more decentralized with separate strategies and structures for communicating to internal and external publics. The two member states show a preference for persuasive public diplomacy goals that facilitate the assertion of national interests. While France perceives the EU as a channel to promote competitively oriented goals, Sweden does neither explicitly refer to the EU in its public diplomacy goals or messages. Interorganizational cooperation between the EU as a multi-issue organization and its member states depends on the political will of the single members and may stretch from ad-hoc cooperation on single issues and activities to the development of joint communication plans. The findings hint at predominantly pragmatic, often project-based cooperations that resonate with the ideas of a ‘Europe of Projects’ and ‘Europe à la Carte’ rather than endorsing strategic cooperation on an overarching EU public diplomacy strategy. Moreover, the study has disclosed that France as a founding member that has adopted the Euro currency and maintains a comparably high degree of influence on EU decision-making pursues a slightly more cooperative strategy with regard to EU public diplomacy than Sweden.Diese Dissertation erforscht europäische Public Diplomacy auf nationaler, regionaler und transnationaler Ebene auf Basis einer vergleichenden empirischen Studie. Die Arbeit konzentriert sich auf die Europäische Kommission sowie den Europäischen Auswärtigen Dienst als EU-Institutionen sowie Frankreich und Schweden als EU-Mitgliedsstaaten. Sie betrachtet Public Diplomacy aus einer Organisationsperspektive und geht den Fragen nach, 1) wie Organisationen der EU sowie der ausgewählten Mitgliedsstaaten Public Diplomacy verstehen und praktizieren und, 2) inwieweit Public Diplomacy-Aktivitäten auf EU- und Mitgliedsstaatenebene einander ergänzen oder konfligieren. Diese Dissertation entwickelt ein interdisziplinäres Forschungsmodell, das vor allem Ansätze der Public Diplomacy-Forschung, der Kommunikationswissenschaft, der Soziologie sowie der Organisationstheorie verknüpft und so einen wichtigen Beitrag zur Theorieentwicklung im Forschungsfeld Public Diplomacy leistet. Darüber hinaus trägt sie maßgeblich zur Erweiterung des empirisch fundierten Kenntnisstandes zu europäischer Public Diplomacy bei. Anhand einer qualitativen Analyse von Strategiedokumenten sowie Experteninterviews mit Public Diplomacy-Praktikern zeigt diese Studie, dass sowohl Frankreich als auch Schweden einen eher zentralisierten Public Diplomacy-Ansatz verfolgen. EU Public Diplomacy ist hingegen durch eine dezentrale Struktur und getrennte Kommunikationsstrategien für Zielgruppen innerhalb und außerhalb der EU gekennzeichnet. Die beiden untersuchten Mitgliedsstaaten definieren vor allem persuasive Public Diplomacy-Ziele und betrachten Public Diplomacy primär als Instrument zur Realisierung nationaler Interessen. Während französische Organisationen die EU als Forum zur Förderung nationaler Interessen nutzen, verweisen schwedische Organisationen weder in ihren Public Diplomacy-Zielen noch in Public Diplomacy-Botschaften explizit auf die EU. Der Umfang und die Qualität der Zusammenarbeit zwischen französischen, schwedischen und EU-Organisationen hängen in hohem Maße vom politischen Willen der Mitgliedsstaaten ab. Die Befunde dieser Studie legen nahe, dass sowohl französische als auch schwedische Organisationen einen pragmatischen, oftmals projektbasierten Kooperationsansatz verfolgen, anstatt strategische, langfristige Kooperationsvereinbarungen mit der EU einzugehen