Monitoring and estimating the consumption of certified sustainable cocoa and coffee in the Netherlands : availability and application of data

Er zijn verschillende instanties die (niet-)systematische informatie verzamelen over de Nederlandse koffie- en cacaosectoren die bruikbaar is om het behalen van de doelstellingen van de intentieverklaringen in de koffie in cacaosectoren12 te meten: individuele bedrijven en sectororganisaties, publieke en private instellingen voor marktonderzoek. Volgens de Koninklijke Nederlandse Vereniging van Koffie en Thee (KNVKT) was het marktaandeel van duurzaam gecertificeerde koffie op de Nederlandse markt in 2012 40%. Dit gegeven zal systematisch en periodiek worden geactualiseerd op de website van de KNVKT. Andere informatie die de monitoring van de resultaten van de inspanningen van de sectoren in Nederland mogelijk zou kunnen maken, is echter beperkt door hoge kosten en complexiteit van de koffie- en cacaoketens. De sectoren worden gedomineerd door grote internationale bedrijven die in meerdere landen actief zijn. Voorts is er sprake van een grote differentiatie van soorten consumentenproducten, met name in de cacaosector. Adhocinformatie maakt slechts een enkele (grove) schatting voor een bepaalde periode mogelijk. Volgens deskundigen uit het cacaoverwerkingssegment was het aandeel gecertificeerde duurzame cacao in consumentenproducten die verkocht zijn op de Nederlandse markt in 2012 niet hoger dan 25%. Andere verzamelde (ad-hoc)informatie over de cacaomarkt geeft geen aanleiding om deze schatting te verwerpen. Het onderzoek naar koffiesector is verricht in 2012 met enkele relevante updates in 2013. Het onderzoek naar cacaosector is verricht in 2012 en 2013 met enkele relevante updates voor 2014

A complex systems model for transformative supply chains in emerging markets

Purpose: Corporations operating global value chains must grapple with a multiplicity of ethical and practical considerations, most notably when value chains extend to emerging markets. Such contexts involve interactions with diverse stakeholders who possess the ability to impact supply chain performance, but who also bring conflicting needs, values and interests. The purpose of this paper is to outline a transformative model of supply chain fairness, arguing that adopting plural fairness principles and practices generates a higher fairness equilibrium which includes all affected stakeholders in the production of fairness outcomes, with consequent positive organizational and system level impacts. Design/methodology/approach: Through a philosophically informed overview of the literature on organizational fairness, the paper applies fairness to the management of supplier relations to identify the institutional features of ethically sustainable supply chains. The proposed conceptual model uses a complex adaptive systems approach (CADs), supplemented by describing the contribution of fairness norms and practices. Findings: This paper argues that a transformative approach to supply chain fairness can suggest new structures for interaction between firms, stakeholders, mediating institutions and governments. Originality/value: Emerging market supply chains are facing significant changes. Adopting a complex adaptive systems perspective upon stakeholder relationships, this paper offers insights from the theoretical literature on fairness, and proposes a normative model of supply chain fairness which accounts for both the normative and empirical aspects of relational complexity

Small-scale farmers, certification schemes and private standards: Is there a business case?

Certification of agricultural products (organic certification, Fairtrade etc.) is often expected to provide a wide array of benefits for small-scale farmers. These include poverty alleviation, reduced environmental impact and food safety. This wide-ranging synthesis of 270 studies presents an analysis of the benefits – but also the costs – of such schemes. Crucially it demonstrates that the decision to invest must be based on sound economic principles. Clearly laid out and argued, the text also provides recommendations to improve the certification business case and impact on smallholders

EU Human Rights Due Diligence Legislation: Monitoring, Enforcement and Access to Justice for Victims

This briefing explores options for monitoring and enforcement of European Union (EU) human rights due diligence legislation, and how such legislation should contribute to access to justice and remedy for victims of human rights abuses linked to the operations of businesses inside or operating from Member States (MS). The briefing reviews existing due diligence and disclosure schemes and considers the feasibility of specific options for monitoring, enforcement and access to remedy within a future EU due diligence law. The briefing recommends that such legislation should require effective monitoring via company-level obligations, national and EU-level measures, including repositories of due diligence reports, lists of companies required to report, information request procedures, monitoring bodies and delegated legislation or guidance further elaborating on due diligence under the law. Regarding enforcement, the law should inter alia require MS to determine appropriate penalties for non-compliance and to establish enforcement rights for interested parties. Finally, on remedy, the law should, besides requiring companies to establish complaint mechanisms, provide for national and EU measures, including requirements that MS ensure effective means of remedy and redress for victims and establish or identify bodies to investigate abuses, initiate enforcement and support victims

Understanding the perceptions of traceability systems in the cocoa supply chain :a case of Ghana

DBA ThesisMarkets for agricultural commodities are characterised by high volumes of homogeneous goods, low unit value and high information asymmetries. As a result, transparency systems, such as traceability, are increasingly required in the international food commodity trade as producers and traders make efforts to differentiate their goods on the basis of quality. In its simplest terms, traceability refers to the ability to trace and track the sources of food and food inputs in supply chains. Researchers and supply chain participants, specifically in the cocoa sector of Ghana, have different perceptions of traceability systems. To explore this issue, a qualitative multiple case study research design was used to understand actors’ perception of traceability systems in Ghana’s cocoa supply chain. Behavioural theories, technology and innovation diffusion theories, and decision-making theories were used as the theoretical frameworks to examine the differences in perception of traceability systems in the Ghana cocoa supply chain. A semi-structured interview guide was used to study 14 cases of farmers, middlemen, cocoa processors and regulators in the cocoa sector of Ghana. The research found differences in the perception of traceability systems among the different segments of the supply chain with respect to meanings of the term ‘traceability’, its perceived usefulness, actors’ intention to adopt systems and motivations to implement traceability systems. The study found that the extra income in the form of traceability premiums, and the relationships that result from implementing traceability systems, are the two most important motivation factors. Based on these results, the study has contributed to agribusiness policy and literature

Putting Purpose Into Practice

The book provides a detailed and practical description of how companies can put purpose into practice in their organizations. Based on a ground-breaking research project on the Economics of Mutuality undertaken jointly by the Saïd Business School at the University of Oxford and Mars Catalyst, the think tank of Mars Inc., the food and beverages company, over a period of five years, the book describes how purpose promotes business growth and performance. In particular, it gives a highly accessible and readable account of how companies can determine and implement their corporate purposes, and how, by so doing, they address critical issues in their ecosystems, such as rising inequality and environmental degradation, while delivering superior performance and resilience. The book will equip executives, managers, investors, policymakers, academics, and students with tools to understand the way in which companies can build purpose-centric businesses, map and orchestrate stakeholder ecosystems, identify untapped resources, create unconventional partnerships, measure and manage performance beyond financial reporting, and adopt a new definition of profit to promote corporate purposes. The book includes fourteen case studies of companies of varying sizes, sectors, and geographies that sought to put purpose into practice. They provide deep insights into the way in which companies have delivered corporate purpose and the challenges they faced in doing this. The book stresses both the opportunity and obligation on business to reposition itself to address the changing needs of society and the planet in the twenty-first century

Brokering Development: Enabling Factors for Public-Private-Producer Partnerships in Agricultural Value Chains

Markets are central to agriculture and rural development. Making markets, value chains and the systems that support them work better for the poor has therefore become a central aim of many donors, governments and nongovernmental organisations. This research seeks to understand how public-private-producer partnerships (PPPPs) in agricultural value chains can be designed and implemented to achieve more sustained increases in income for smallholder farmers and broader rural development. PPPPs involve cooperation between government and business agents, working together to reach a common goal or carry out a specific task, while jointly assuming risks and responsibilities, and sharing resources and competences.1 They also explicitly involve farmers (or producers), hence the fourth ‘P’ is added to the more familiar designation of ‘public-private partnerships’. The research also considers the role of PPPP brokers as independent facilitators who support the process of exploring, designing and implementing PPPPs. The research is based on four case studies of agricultural value chain PPPPs developed through projects financed by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) in Ghana, Indonesia, Rwanda and Uganda. In each country, local research teams collected data through a mixture of semi-structured interviews, field visits and focus group discussions (FGDs) with local market chain actors, smallholder farmers and other community members, and relevant experts. These were not impact assessments, and represent instead a snapshot in time. However, the aim was to gain insights into the outcomes of the PPPPs so far, and how these have been influenced by the way the PPPP was designed, implemented and brokered

Strategic value of data analytics in interorganizational relationships

Researchers suggest that data analytics (DA) enhance decisions related to interorganizational relationships (IOR) and lead to reduced risk and improved performance. However, and despite this potential, firms face challenges regarding effective use of their DA capabilities to enhance their IORs. The massive investment in DA, as well as the need for an efficient use of DA in IOR settings, create the potential opportunities for two streams of research: a deeper understanding of business value of DA in IOR; and a systematic examination of DA’s strategy for an enhanced alignment with IORs. Despite the published scholarly works in these two research streams, the complexity, diversity, and newness associated with DA technologies make our understanding of the business value of DA in IOR and DA strategy for IOR incomplete. First, our understanding of why and how DA impact IOR performance is inadequate and fragmented. Second, the focus of the preponderance of published empirical papers in understanding the value of DA is at the operational level, and the strategic implications of DA capabilities in IOR are not addressed. Third, the literature fails to consider the inherent heterogeneity among the user base of DA systems, and consequently, the findings are not generalizable. Finally, the literature fails to address the impact of external factors, such as complexity and volatility on DA strategy. In this dissertation, I attempt to contribute to the literature by focusing on these research gaps and investigating them in three studies. In the first study, a holistic value-view of a firm’s supply chain enabled by DA for improved business performance, is presented based on two complementary views of market-oriented coordination and strategic supplier partnership. The study discusses how DA capabilities impact the constituents of this complementary view of supply chain to amplify business performance. I propose a theoretical model of the effect of DA capabilities on a firm’s co-creation of value, with its partners for business performance. Then, I test the model empirically based on a survey of 198 practitioners. My findings show that DA capabilities improve upstream and downstream integration and leverage the co-creation of value. The second study provides a better understanding of the impact of DA on interorganizational collaborations by answering two fundamental research questions: “How does a firm use its DA capabilities to improve collaboration and enhance performance?” and “What is the impact of DA capabilities on a firm’s collaboration and performance?” To answer these questions and to provide a deeper insight from multiple perspectives, I utilized a mixed method research by conducting a thorough content analysis of 34 published case studies, followed by a confirmatory research based on a survey of 210 practitioners to empirically test the insights generated from my content analysis. My findings identify several paths to improved performance using DA capabilities. My analysis suggests that DA capabilities, used appropriately in an interorganizational collaborative environment, lead to reduced costs and the need for required working capital and ultimately better performance through improved collaborative relationships such as planning and scheduling. In the third study, I expand the results of the two prior studies by analyzing the DA strategic focus. I employ an agent-based simulation to test different DA strategies in various business environments that are identified by levels of complexity and dynamism. My findings indicate that optimum DA strategy has a quadratic relationship with the levels of complexity and dynamism, which explains the prior contradictory findings of the IS literature. These three studies contribute to the business value of IT and IS strategy literatures by investigating the business value of DA in IOR settings, identifying impacts of DA on value co-creation in IORs and determining a suitable DA strategy based on various environmental factors

NewSpace and the european space economy

A guide for engineers to better understand space economy. A guide for policy-makers to better understand the space sector. The statement above is probably the best way to sum up the main goal of this work: to connect space engineering and economy in a theoretical approach. The proposal for the thesis is to study the economy of space in Europe and the main challenges for the crucial future decades. This work is intended to give insight into economic strategies in order to enhance the growth of the space sector whilst also detailing the state of space technology in Europe today. This thesis should be useful as a guide for those looking to comprehend the state of space technology in Europe, those interested in creating new companies and those who want to invest in space technology. The broader goal is to focus on solving the fundamental Five Ws with respect to space technology and its socio-economic consequences in Europe. All fundamental questions must be assessed avoiding prior subjective assumptions and/or desired outcomes. Space is experiencing a major shift from concentrated government-lead projects to an ever-increasing volume of commercial activities. This thesis aims to break down the fundamental aspects that are driving the current transformation of space1 while also taking a deep dive into the European space sector, future space economy trends and Europe’s role in the global space sector. In addition, the future of space clusters, space agencies and private-public interactions will be studied. The statement and aim are broad indicators of the contents of the thesis. Before defining specific objectives, some of the topics need defining in a more precise way. Let us make a list of relevant topics to be assessed in the thesis: The emerging NewSpace and Space 4.0 agenda proposed and adopted by ESA require space technologies to be developed coordinating public and private sectors. The rapid increase of private market ecosystems in space in the US and the emerging Indian and Chinese Space markets urge Europe to develop strategies to compete by fostering new private endeavours and stimulating the creation of new markets. Space in Europe may focus on optimizing regional technology clusters paying more attention on regions which could play a larger role in ESA’s industrial policy in the future. Considerations on the creation of new high-tech jobs for social and political concerns would create new opportunities to least developed countries. New financing models or investment communities to effectively catalyse dynamic risk capital investments and additional private investments in the sector. This can be done by studying economic profitability, its relation to specific space technologies and dependency on short/long term growths. A new approach to further linking universities, research institutions, private companies and ESA could be an interesting tool to fully develop student skills and interactions in the real world. An overview of clusters and ecosystems can be key to understand how policy makers can stimulate the growth of the space sector

Article 346 TFEU: The point of intersection between legal ambition and political will regarding the Defence Procurement Directive (2009/81/EC)?

The European defence industry contributes to enable Member States of the European Union to care for the security and defence of European citizens. In order to safeguard the Member States’ ability to tend to their essential security interests, Article 346 TFEU was adopted. This Article provides Member States with the possibility to withhold information and take measures which they consider necessary to protect these interests, without having to obey EU law. However, Member States frequently exempted procurement of military equipment on the basis of Article 346 TFEU from EU public procurement rules. The Court of Justice of the European Union held already in 1986 in Case C-222/84 Johnston that the grounds of exemption from Treaty rules provided for in Article 346 TFEU should be interpreted narrowly. This problem contributed to the Commission’s proposal of a new Directive and later to the adoption of the Defence Procurement Directive in 2009. This thesis examines the scope of application of Article 346 TFEU in order to determine when a Member State is allowed to derogate from Treaty rules on the basis of its essential security interests. Article 346 TFEU contains a secrecy exemption and an armaments exemption, Article 346(1)(a) and (b) respectively. This thesis further examines the current legal situation of Article 346 TFEU, including intensity of the Court’s scrutiny, proportionality, burden of proof and procedural requirements. Letter (a) and (b) has been seen to affect each other, which provides for the possibility of even more guidance by the Court in the pending Case C‑187/16 Austria v. Commission. The Defence Procurement Directive applies to contracts awarded in the field of security and defence when certain provisions such as Article 346 TFEU are not applicable. Nevertheless, the Defence Procurement Directive contains several grounds of exemption. This thesis focuses on three of these; security of supply, security of information and government-to-government contracts. Furthermore, the previously common practice of Member States to use offsets will be investigated. Lastly, the thesis’ analysis examines whether or not the European defence market will turn into a competitive market, presents observations of Case C‑187/16 Austria v. Commission, and analyses the scope of Article 346 TFEU