35 research outputs found

    Exploring Attractive Quality Requirements for Short Food Supply Chain Digital Platforms

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    © 2022. This article published as an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and production in any medium, provided the author of the original work and original publication source are properly credited.Perceptions towards unsustainable supply chain practices in global, mainstream food systems are motivating a shift towards short food supply chains. Short food supply chains are developed to remove the physical and social distances between producer and consumer. Advances in digital technologies offer promise for short food supply chains, including platforms that can enable real-time data flow, create visibility, and support sustainable practices. This research aims to prioritise attractive quality requirements of short food supply chain digital platforms. The methodology consists of a literature review and Kano analysis for requirements prioritisation. The results show that the requirements span across the four Kano categories, attractive quality encompassing the largest number of requirements. The attractive quality requirements identified offer increased levels of satisfaction when present and have limited negative impact when missing. Therefore, they are considered exciting for potential users of a system. The limitations of the research and areas of future work are presented.Peer reviewe

    A Fuzzy AHP-TOPSIS Approach to Supply Partner Selection in Continuous Aid Humanitarian Supply Chains

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    The selection of suitable supply partners is a strategic issue for managers working in humanitarian operations and has received little attention in the literature. In humanitarian operations, complexity characterizes the continuous-aid procurement operations, and the selection criteria can differ from those used in commercial supply chain settings. This paper advances knowledge by introducing a supply partner selection framework for continuous-aid procurement. A proposed multi-criteria decision-making model uses selection criteria attributes verified by the extant literature and by field experts. A fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process is then used to compute criterion weights, and a fuzzy Technique for Order Performance by Similarity to Ideal Solution is used to rank supply partner alternatives. Even with elevated levels of subjectivity, these techniques enable humanitarian operation stakeholders to select the best supply partner effectively. An actual case illustrates how the proposed framework efficiently identifies the most suitable continuous-aid supply partner for the prevailing situation

    Proceedings of the 11th Toulon-Verona International Conference on Quality in Services

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    The Toulon-Verona Conference was founded in 1998 by prof. Claudio Baccarani of the University of Verona, Italy, and prof. Michel Weill of the University of Toulon, France. It has been organized each year in a different place in Europe in cooperation with a host university (Toulon 1998, Verona 1999, Derby 2000, Mons 2001, Lisbon 2002, Oviedo 2003, Toulon 2004, Palermo 2005, Paisley 2006, Thessaloniki 2007, Florence, 2008). Originally focusing on higher education institutions, the research themes have over the years been extended to the health sector, local government, tourism, logistics, banking services. Around a hundred delegates from about twenty different countries participate each year and nearly one thousand research papers have been published over the last ten years, making of the conference one of the major events in the field of quality in services

    Workplace values in the Japanese public sector: a constraining factor in the drive for continuous improvement

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    Circular Economy in Low-Carbon Transition

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    The circular economy, as a new business model that is different from the economy, can achieve the reuse and recycling of waste for waste minimization, improve the efficiency of resource utilization, and mitigate carbon emissions. It is no doubt that promoting the development of the circular economy can facilitate the transition to low-carbon processes and carbon-neutral development. However, there are still several questions that need to be answered: (1) How can the circular economy contribute to a low-carbon transition? (2) How do we address the fact that the circular economy model may also cause some new environmental problems, and how should we identify what the most environmentally friendly solution is among multiple alternatives for the circular economy? (3) Governmental regulation, policies and incentives play a significant role in promoting the development of the circular economy, so what are the policy instruments that can contribute to its development? (4) How can technological progress and solutions contribute to the circular economy? (5) How can environmental impact assessments contribute to the circular economy? (6) How can we achieve a circular economy or low-carbon transition through changes in consumption behaviors? In order to answer the above-mentioned questions, we launched a Special Issue in Energies. There are a total of six papers published in this Special Issue. This e-book collects these papers to build a platform for sharing advanced concepts, tools and methods for the users to take actions to achieve a circular economy

    Essays on digitalization among small and medium-sized firms : Complementary and contingent approaches

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    This dissertation explains how and under what circumstances the operational performance of small and medium-sized (SME) firms is most likely to benefit from digitalization. This topic will be examined by combining the resource-based view (RBV) and contingency theory, that is, using the contingency RBV, which remains relatively rarely used in current research. The perspective permits an examination of the impact of various resources and capabilities in the presence of situational factors. The dissertation consists of five papers dealing with digitalization in SMEs operating in various areas. The research relies on two surveys involving Finnish SMEs from manufacturing industries, the first of which provides cross-sectional data. Together the two datasets provide the longitudinal data informing the dissertation. The research shows that the contingency RBV provides a comprehensive framework that can assist in examining how and in what circumstances SMEs can benefit from digitalization, that benefit being measured from an operational improvement perspective. Previous research on SMEs is limited, so the first result of this thesis involves testing a theoretical framework for SMEs in the context of their digitalization. The research results show that the benefits of digitalization for operational performance arise through two different mechanisms, and digitalization alone does not affect the firm's success. The effect of digitalization on SMEs’ operational performance emerges from the complementarity between digitalization and firms’ organizational attributes, factors, or resources that enhance performance. The second mechanism relates to environmental and situational factors and shows that both the firm's internal and external environment determine the level of the impact of digitalization. Among Finnish SMEs, digitalization produces value in the form of improved operational performance when digitalization, resources, and capabilities bolster each other in internal and external environments conducive to digitalization.Tässä väitöskirjassa selvitetään miten ja missä tilanteessa pienet ja keskisuuret (pk) yritykset pystyvät todennäköisemmin hyötymään digitalisoitumisestaan operatiivisen suorituskyvyn näkökulmasta. Aihetta tarkastellaan yhdistämällä resurssi- ja tilannetekijäteoria eli tässä työssä hyödynnetään tilanteista resurssiteoriaa, joka on nykyisessä tutkimuskentässä vielä varsin rajallisesti käytetty. Näkökulman mukaan erilaisten resurssien ja kyvykkyyksien vaikutusta voidaan tarkastella tilannetekijöiden ollessa läsnä. Väitöskirja muodostuu viidestä artikkelista, joissa käsitellään yritysten digitalisoitumista. Väitöskirjassa käyte¬tään kahta eri kyselytutkimusta, joihin suomalaiset valmistavan teollisuuden pk-yritykset ovat osallistuneet. Ensimmäinen aineisto on poikkileikkausaineisto ja aineistot yhdessä muodostavat toisen, pitkittäisen, aineiston. Tutkimustulokset osoittavat, että tilanteinen resurssiteoria muodostaa kattavan viitekehyksen, jonka perusteella voidaan lähestyä sitä, miten ja missä tilanteissa pk-yritykset pystyvät hyötymään digitalisoitumisesta parantuneen operatiivisen suorituskyvyn näkökulmasta. Aikaisempi pk-yrityksiin keskittynyt tutkimus on ollut vähäistä, joten tämän väitöskirjan ensimmäisenä tuloksena voidaan pitää teoreettisen viitekehyksen testaamista nimenomaan pienillä ja keskisuurilla yrityksillä niiden digitalisoitumisen kontekstissa. Tutkimustulokset osoittavat, että digitalisoitumisen hyöty operationaaliseen suoriutumiseen syntyy kahden erilaisen mekanismin kautta eli digitalisoituminen ei yksin vaikuta yrityksen menestymiseen. Ensimmäinen mekanismi muodostuu niin kutsutusta täydentävästä suhteesta, joka tarkoittaa sitä, että yrityksen digitalisoituminen vaikuttaa yrityksen muihin resursseihin ja kyvykkyyksiin vahvistavasti, ja yhdessä digitaaliset tekijät yrityksen resurssien ja kyvykkyyksien kanssa parantavat yrityksen suoriutumista. Toinen mekanismi liittyy kontingenssivaikutukseen, jossa tilannetekijät vaikuttavat yritysten digitalisoitumisesta syntyvään hyötyyn. Tulokset osoittavat, että mikäli yrityksen sisäinen ympäristö on suotuisa yrityksen digitalisoitumiseen, sillä on positiivisia vaikutuksia digitalisoitumisesta saatavaan hyötyyn. Tulosten mukaan myös ulkoinen ympäristö vaikuttaa yrityksen digitalisoitumisesta saatavaan hyötyyn. Suomalaisten pk-yritysten digitalisoituminen tuottaa yrityksille arvoa parantuneena operatiivisena suorituskykynä silloin, kun yritysten digitalisoituminen ja resurssit sekä kyvykkyydet vahvistavat toisiaan digitalisoitumiselle suotuisassa sisäisessä ja ulkoisessa ympäristössä.fi=vertaisarvioitu|en=peerReviewed

    Technological and Institutional Innovations for Marginalized Smallholders in Agricultural Development

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    Agriculture; Agricultural Economics; Geography, general; Innovation/Technology Managemen

    Seaport supply integration and orientation, and their impact on performance

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    This thesis primarily aims to examine the causal relationships among the integration strategies of seaport terminals along the supply chain, and the antecedents and consequences of the integration strategies. In this thesis integration strategy is termed Port Supply Chain Integration (PSCI) and the antecedents and the consequences of PSCI were identified and termed as Port Supply Chain Orientation (PSCO) and Port Performance (PP). A research model representing these causal relationships was developed through a comprehensive literature review and a semi-structured interview with practitioners and academics. The research used Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) to validate the constructs and rigorously test the relationships among them. Furthermore, a multi-group analysis was conducted in order to assess the applicability of the research model to different environments. The multi-group analysis tested whether the research model can be applied to two sample ports (A and B) and two sample groups (terminal operating companies and port users). The data used in these empirical analyses were collected from terminal operating companies, shipping companies and freight forwarders in South Korea, and the number of responses was 127. With regard to the results and findings of the empirical research, firstly, the three constructs, PSCO, PSCI and PP were successfully validated with the components identified from the literature review and interviews indicating that the three constructs are multi-dimensional concepts. Secondly, the empirical research showed that PSCO has a strong contribution to PSCI, and PSCI has a strong and positive impact on PP. Additionally PSCO, in turn, was found to influence positively and indirectly on PP through implementing PSCI. Finally the multi-group analysis showed that the research model can be equally applied to the two sample ports. However, the invariance test across two sample groups failed since a baseline model for the invariance test was not established. In conclusion, this thesis suggests that the integration strategy of ports along supply chains (PSCI) should be firmly based on a strong orientation to supply chain integration (PSCO) within individual seaport terminals, and the successful implementation of this strategy necessarily involves significant improvement of performance of the terminals (PP). It is also emphasised that these suggestions are valid across terminals with different operational and managerial characteristics such as hub port vs. feeder port and container port vs. non-container port

    Is development still possible? A study on the relationship between economic complexity and human rights

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    openEconomic complexity is an economic theory and measure created by Cesar Hidalgo and Ricardo Hausmann in 2009 that captures through the outputs of an economy the capabilities contained in it and determines its level of complexity with regard to other countries. There is evidence that the economic complexity of a country is positively related to its economic growth possibilities. Economic complexity guides the industrial and development policies of some countries and regions. Nevertheless, for economic complexity to be considered a sustainable development strategy with human well-being as the final goal, its relationship with other areas needs to be investigated. This monograph studies the relationship of economic complexity with human rights, with the following research questions: Is economic complexity positively correlated to human rights? If so, what are the possibilities and obstacles to countries' complexification? To answer the research questions, a multi-method approach that includes a case study of South Korea's development and a quantitative study using regression analysis of cross-country panel data on the Economic Complexity Index (ECI) and the Social Progress Index (SPI) for more than 120 countries for the period 2010-2019 were used. Lastly, a qualitative analysis was done on the challenges and opportunities developing countries can have to implement an economic complexity development strategy considering international trade, technology dominance and corporate power, as well as macro issues such as climate change, income and wealth inequality, demographic dynamics and multilateralism. The case study showed an apparent relationship between the economic development strategy adopted by South Korea and the improvement of human rights, especially education and health. The regression analysis confirmed the existence of a positive and strong correlation between economic complexity and human rights. A unit increase in ECI corresponds to a 4.6 unit increase in SPI. Lastly, the qualitative analysis showed that challenges today outnumber opportunities in number, likelihood and impact.Economic complexity is an economic theory and measure created by Cesar Hidalgo and Ricardo Hausmann in 2009 that captures through the outputs of an economy the capabilities contained in it and determines its level of complexity with regard to other countries. There is evidence that the economic complexity of a country is positively related to its economic growth possibilities. Economic complexity guides the industrial and development policies of some countries and regions. Nevertheless, for economic complexity to be considered a sustainable development strategy with human well-being as the final goal, its relationship with other areas needs to be investigated. This monograph studies the relationship of economic complexity with human rights, with the following research questions: Is economic complexity positively correlated to human rights? If so, what are the possibilities and obstacles to countries' complexification? To answer the research questions, a multi-method approach that includes a case study of South Korea's development and a quantitative study using regression analysis of cross-country panel data on the Economic Complexity Index (ECI) and the Social Progress Index (SPI) for more than 120 countries for the period 2010-2019 were used. Lastly, a qualitative analysis was done on the challenges and opportunities developing countries can have to implement an economic complexity development strategy considering international trade, technology dominance and corporate power, as well as macro issues such as climate change, income and wealth inequality, demographic dynamics and multilateralism. The case study showed an apparent relationship between the economic development strategy adopted by South Korea and the improvement of human rights, especially education and health. The regression analysis confirmed the existence of a positive and strong correlation between economic complexity and human rights. A unit increase in ECI corresponds to a 4.6 unit increase in SPI. Lastly, the qualitative analysis showed that challenges today outnumber opportunities in number, likelihood and impact
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