The Rapid Rise of Supermarkets in Developing Countries: Induced Organizational, Institutional, and Technological Change in Agrifood Systems

There has been extremely rapid transformation of the food retail sector in developing regions in the past 5 to 10 years, accompanied by a further consolidation and multi-nationalization of the supermarket sector itself. This organizational change, accompanied by intense competition, has driven changes in the organization of procurement systems of supermarket chains, toward centralized and regionalized systems, use of specialized/dedicated wholesalers and preferred supplier systems, and demanding, private quality standards. These changes in the system have in turn determined the very recent rise of the use of contracts between supermarkets and agrifood producers in these regions to cover provision of services and provision for risk management, as well as requirements for demanding quality and safety attributes, which require substantial investment in technological change and upgrading at the producer level. This paper presents a brief discussion of these trends, followed by a conceptual framework to explain this phenomenon, illustrated with empirical evidence drawn mainly from Latin America.supermarket chains, procurement systems, quality standards, agrifood producers, Agribusiness,

Paving the Way for Warehouse Centralization in Healthcare: A Preliminary Assessment Approach

Centralized logistics management is currently one interesting option for healthcare systems facing an increasing need to improve responsiveness and service quality while reducing costs. This work focuses on one aspect of centralized logistics, namely warehouse centralization and proposes a preliminary approach to assess material management in healthcare institutions as a first step towards decisions about the implementation of such a strategy. A list of variables and relationships between them characterizing warehouse material management are identified based on a literature review and knowledge of real logistics processes. Statistical analysis is then applied to assess the existence of such relationships in a set of healthcare organizations in order to understand the management commonalities that can stimulate warehouse centralization as well as the criticalities that could potentially hinder it. The approach is tested in a healthcare logistics system in Northern Italy. The results proved the ability of the methodology to identify the relevant issues the involved institutions need to work on when undertaking warehouse centralization strategies. The case warehouses revealed a good degree of commonalities in their management practices although three critical aspects were identified, namely a limited efficiency in human resource allocation, a high fragmentation of stock product demand and a relevant number of stock products with low annual demand. This work provides a methodology to increase material managers’ awareness about the factors enabling successful centralized inventory strategies in the healthcare sector

Cargo Logistics Airlift Systems Study (CLASS). Volume 2: Case study approach and results

Models of transportation mode decision making were developed. The user's view of the present and future air cargo systems is discussed. Issues summarized include: (1) organization of the distribution function; (2) mode choice decision making; (3) air freight system; and (4) the future of air freight

Disposition of Federally Owned Surpluses

PDZ domains are scaffolding modules in protein-protein interactions that mediate numerous physiological functions by interacting canonically with the C-terminus or non-canonically with an internal motif of protein ligands. A conserved carboxylate-binding site in the PDZ domain facilitates binding via backbone hydrogen bonds; however, little is known about the role of these hydrogen bonds due to experimental challenges with backbone mutations. Here we address this interaction by generating semisynthetic PDZ domains containing backbone amide-to-ester mutations and evaluating the importance of individual hydrogen bonds for ligand binding. We observe substantial and differential effects upon amide-to-ester mutation in PDZ2 of postsynaptic density protein 95 and other PDZ domains, suggesting that hydrogen bonding at the carboxylate-binding site contributes to both affinity and selectivity. In particular, the hydrogen-bonding pattern is surprisingly different between the non-canonical and canonical interaction. Our data provide a detailed understanding of the role of hydrogen bonds in protein-protein interactions

CAN DATA QUALITY HELP OVERCOME THE PENGUIN EFFECT? THE CASE OF ITEM MASTER DATA POOLS

The diffusion of standards is characterized by network effects, path dependency, and the penguin effect. Particularly the latter, also referred to as excess inertia, is a frequent inhibitor of the adoption of standards, even if they could provide benefits. This is particularly true for item master data pools that suffer from little adoption in many industries as benefits can only accrue if many firms use them. At the same time, data pools show the potential to improve the quality of item master data by pooling the efforts on data quality assurance. This paper addresses the question whether an improvement of item master data quality can contribute to overcoming the penguin effect by data pools. The theoretical considerations are supplemented by an exploratory qualitative research among the leading retailers in the Austrian food and drug sector. The findings suggest that data quality improvement can be one way to encourage the use of data pools and thus overcome the penguin effect in adoption

Decentralized or centralized production : impacts to the environment, industry, and the economy

Since product take-back is mandated in Europe, and has effects for producers worldwide including the U.S., designing efficient forward and reverse supply chain networks is becoming essential for business viability. Centralizing production facilities may reduce costs but perhaps not environmental impacts. Decentralizing a supply chain may reduce transportation environmental impacts but increase capital costs. Facility location strategies of centralization or decentralization are tested for companies with supply chains that both take back and manufacture products. Decentralized and centralized production systems have different effects on the environment, industry and the economy. Decentralized production systems cluster suppliers within the geographical market region that the system serves. Centralized production systems have many suppliers spread out that meet all market demand. The point of this research is to help further the understanding of company decision-makers about impacts to the environment and costs when choosing a decentralized or centralized supply chain organizational strategy. This research explores; what degree of centralization for a supply chain makes the most financial and environmental sense for siting facilities; and which factories are in the best location to handle the financial and environmental impacts of particular processing steps needed for product manufacture. This research considered two examples of facility location for supply chains when products are taken back; the theoretical case involved shoe resoling and a real world case study considered the location of operations for a company that reclaims multiple products for use as material inputs. For the theoretical example a centralized strategy to facility location was optimal: whereas for the case study a decentralized strategy to facility location was best. In conclusion, it is not possible to say that a centralized or decentralized strategy to facility location is in general best for a company that takes back products. Each company’s specific concerns, needs, and supply chain details will determine which degree of centralization creates the optimal strategy for siting their facilities

MODELING PRODUCTIVITY IN SUPERMARKET OPERATIONS: INCORPORATING THE IMPACTS OF STORE CHARACTERISTICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES

Data from the 2002 Supermarket Panel are used to estimate a supermarket production function with weekly gross margin as the output measure and store selling area and total labor hours as variable inputs. The model also includes productivity shifters describing format and service offerings, store ownership structure, unionization, and adoption of new information technologies and related business practices. The null hypothesis of constant returns to scale cannot be rejected. Increases in ownership-group size, warehouse and supercenter formats, unionization of the workforce, and adoption of vendor-managed inventory and a frequent-shopper program are all associated with significantly higher productivity.Productivity Analysis,

A study of the application of computer technology in retail stores

Thesis. 1975. M.S.--Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Alfred P. Sloan School of Management.Bibliography: leaves 134-138.by Robert L. Klimm and James J. Montgomery.M.S

An earnings-return model for strategic market planning / BEBR No. 869

Includes bibliographical references (p. 38-39).Few models currently exist which aid managers in their strategic market planning. The models or frameworks which do exist have a variety of shortcomings, a major one being an inadequate linkage to a business organization's dominant goals for existence -- earnings and return on investment. This paper develops a planning model based on a firm's present levels of earnings and return designed to provide a partial foundation on which its managers can base their strategic market planning. Depending upon the firm's placement in the model, different organizational objectives and strategies exist for improving future performance