Environmental sustainability and internationalization of the European food manufacturing industry

Confederación Granadina de Empresario

Efficiency and the Scope of Outsourced Services: A Client Firm’s Absorptive Capacity Perspective of Knowledge Intensive Services

The authors disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and publication of this article: This research has been partially funded by the research grants ECO2016-75909-P (Spanish Ministry of Science, Education, and Universities), PID2019-106725GB-I00/SRA (Spanish Research Agency/10.13039/501100011033), and A-SEJ-291-UGR18 (FEDER, Regional Government of Andalucia).Purpose Strategic literature has focused on how economies of scale in a firm offering outsourcing may generate incentives for clients to increase the outsourced services, but there has been limited research on how the clients’ features may influence the scope of services that they hire with an outsourcing provider. This study analyzes whether a client’s efficiency motivates it to increase ties with a specific provider of knowledge-intensive services in the context of business process outsourcing (BPO). We further explore whether industry conditions moderate the relationship. Design/methodology/approach A research framework is developed consisting of three main hypotheses. We combine industry data and proprietary and financial data from a longitudinal sample of 107 client firms of a multinational outsourcing service provider to test our hypotheses. Findings We find that more efficient firms hire more services from an outsourcing provider and that the munificence of the client firm’s industry positively moderates this relationship. Our results suggest that efficient clients can better keep transaction costs under control when accessing, assimilating, and exploiting the knowledge embedded in an expanded set of services provided by an outsourcing supplier. Originality/value This study extends the absorptive capacity perspective by showing that a client’s efficiency reinforces its opportunities to absorb knowledge-intensive services from a supplier when expanding the range of operations in the context of BPO.Spanish Ministry of Science, Education, and Universities ECO2016-75909-PSpanish Research Agency/10.13039/501100011033 PID2019-106725GB-I00/SRAFEDER, Regional Government of Andalucia A-SEJ-291-UGR1

Independent directors and environmental innovations: How the visibility of public and private shareholders' environmental activism moderates the influence of board independence

While independent directors focus on preserving the shareholders' interests, their individual preferences may differ with regard to how environmental innovations have to be considered. A growing importance of shareholders' environmental activism has sought to influence firms' environmental practices through public proposals and private negotiations with executives. Using a sample of 7111 firms listed in the S&P 1500 index between 2006 and 2019, we examine how the visibility of shareholders' environmental proposals moderates the relationship between board independence and environmental innovations. Our findings show that public and private shareholder activism related to community issues and external reporting reinforces the positive influence of independent directors on firms' environmental innovations. However, private dialogues between executives and environmental activists focused on emissions from company operations diminish the influence of independent directors. Our study sheds light on how the external visibility of the topics involved in the activists' environmental proposals reinforces the interest of independent directors in advancing environmental innovations.Spanish Research Agency (Ministry of Science and Innovation), Grant/Award Numbers: PID2019-106725GB-I00, PDC2021-120953-I00, TED2021-129829B- 100Unit of Excellence Advanced Research in Economics and Business at the University of Granada, Grant/Award Number: ExcelEB202

Does international experience help firms to be green? A knowledge-based view of how international experience and organisational learning influence proactive environmental strategies

Early research on environmental strategy in international firms focused predominantly on direct investment as an expansion strategy for multinationals. However, we know relatively little from a strategic management perspective about exporting, which is the most prevalent form of international expansion. For this reason, we examine whether the knowledge that export firms acquire abroad influences their environmental strategies. Using a sample of export firms from the food industry, we show that the number of years spent in developing export activities does not contribute to developing a proactive environmental strategy; however, a more complex experience of environmental international diversification is positively related to a firm’s proactive environmental strategy. Finally, organisational learning capability moderates the positive relationship between environmental international diversification and environmental proactivity

Avoiding relapses after crises: Exploring the influence of firm investors’ characteristics on organizational resilience

Many firms may successfully navigate an organizational crisis, but may find themselves entangled in another soon after. Building on a resource-dependence perspective, this study evaluates how certain investor characteristics foster organizational resilience during a crisis by preventing a relapse following recovery. Drawing on data from 2014 to 2019, we analyzed 359 firms that faced a crisis in 2015, as indicated by their Altman Z-score values. Our findings reveal that diversity and patience of investors prevent firms from relapsing into upcoming crises; however, the probability of relapse increases when concentrated investors boost the firm’s capital during the in-crisis period. We bridge the gap between the resource-dependence theory and literature on organizational resilience and contribute by extending previous analyses on the relevance of investors to recover from a crisis to identify how in-crisis investors’ features also state the foundations to avoid future relapses.Grant PID2019- 107767GA-I00 and Grant PID2022-138331NB-I00 funded by MICIU/AEI /10.13039/501100011033ERDF/UEGrant TED2021-129829B-I00 funded by MICIU/AEI/10.13039/5011 00011033European Union NextGenerationEU/PRTRGrant C-SEJ-069-UGR23 funded by Consejería de Universidad, Investigación e InnovaciónERDF Andalusia Progra

Laboratório remoto para o ensino de operações logísticas

En Colombia se está impulsando la vinculación entre la academia, el gobierno y las empresas para el mejor desarrollo y la apropiación del conocimiento en tópicos determinados, como es el caso de la logística. Uno de los problemas de la enseñanza de logística es intentar acercar los problemas reales, sacados de contextos laborales, a personas que no cuentan con experiencia. La incorporación de las Tecnologías de la Información y las Comunicaciones en ambientes académicos da soporte a la formación de profesionales de diversas áreas. El Laboratorio Tele-operado de Operaciones Logísticas vía Internet2 [TELEOPLOGIS] está enfocado en el desarrollo y puesta en marcha de un laboratorio remoto en el cual se incorpora una celda integrada de manufactura didáctica, robots manipuladores y software específico, a la enseñanza de operaciones logísticas. Este laboratorio incluye el desarrollo de guías y talleres académicos con dos enfoques: sistemas de tele-operación de eventos discretos y la celda de manufactura, convirtiendo los nodos de la celda en elementos de operación logística. Se han logrado resultados aceptables, tanto en la operación remota, como sobre las prácticas para la enseñanza de logística que se han desarrollado.The link between academia, government, and business to improve the development and appropriation of knowledge in certain topics, such as logistics, is being promoted in Colombia. One of the key issues of teaching logistics is try to bring to actual work contexts, problems that can be handled by people who do not have experience. The incorporation of Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) in academic environments supports the training of professionals in different fields. The tele-operated laboratory for logistics operations called Internet2 way [TELEOPLOGIS] is a project focused on the development and implementation of a remote laboratory where an integrated and didactic manufacturing cell, some robot manipulators, and specific pieces of software are used for the teaching of logistics operations. This laboratory includes the development of guidelines and academic workshops with two approaches: teleoperation systems for discrete events, and manufacturing cells that transform the cell nodes into elements of logistics operations. We achieved acceptable results in both remote operations and in practices that currently are in progress.A Colômbia está promovendo a ligação entre aacademia, o governo e as empresas para melhorar o desenvolvimentoe a apropriação do conhecimento sobre determinadostemas, como a logística. Um dos problemas do ensino da logísticaé tentar aproximar os problemas reais, tirados de contextos detrabalho, das pessoas que não têm experiência. A incorporaçãodas Tecnologias da Informação e Comunicação em ambientesacadêmicos apoia a formação de profissionais em diferentesáreas. O Laboratório remoto de Operações Logísticas via Internet2 [TELEOPLOGIS] está focado no desenvolvimento eimplementação de um laboratório no qual se incorporam umacélula didática de manufatura integrada, robôs manipuladores eum software específico, no ensino de operações logísticas. Estelaboratório inclui o desenvolvimento de diretrizes e workshopsacadêmicos com dois enfoques: os sistemas de tele operação deeventos discretos e a célula de manufatura, convertendo os nósda célula em elementos de operação logística. Foram alcançadosresultados aceitáveis, tanto na operação remota, quanto nas práticasdo ensino de logística que têm sido desenvolvidas

The link between foreign institutional owners and multinational enterprises’ environmental outcomes

Many institutional investors claim to be leaders in their commitment to sustainability, yet their real impact is undetermined. We look at the relationship between the presence of foreign institutional owners and the firm’s environmental outcomes in terms of performance and innovation. We argue that foreign institutional owners seek to mitigate their exposure to reputational risks by encouraging their investee firms to move towards better environmental performance. However, these owners are less likely to engage in long-term investments derived from environmental innovations. We examine these paradoxical motivations in the context of multinational enterprises (MNEs) in the chemical industry across 33 countries in emerging and developed markets and further explore how these investee firms’ international diversification affects these relationships. Our findings contribute to international corporate governance and sustainability research by uncovering that, contrary to institutional owners’ popular claims, foreign institutional owners have a positive effect on their investees’ environmental performance, but their influence is not statistically significant on environmental innovation. Specifically, the influence of foreign institutional owners on environmental performance is strong for MNEs with a low level of international diversification and marginal for those with a higher level of internationalization; meanwhile, domestic institutional owners are committed to advancing both environmental performance and innovation in their MNE investees. In sum, we show that environmental concerns are still quite localized.The University of Granada authors recognize the partial funding from PID2019-106725GB-I00 and PID2019-107767GA-I00 research grants (Spanish State Research Agency—Innovation and Science Min istry, 10.13039/501100011033), and the A-SEJ-291-UGR18 grant (Regional Government of Andalucia, European FEDER funds, and University of Granada)

Innovating for Good in Opportunistic Contexts: The Case for Firms’ Environmental Divergence

This research work is partially funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness and the European Regional Development Funds (Grant No. ECO2016-7509-P), the Spanish State Research Agency (Grant No. PID2019-106725GB-100; doi 10.13039/501100011033), Montpellier Research in Management (Grant No. EA 4557), and LabEx Entrepreneurship (Grant No. ANR-10-Labex-11-01).Opportunistic behaviors are considered ethically and strategically troublesome since they disrupt otherwise mutually beneficial relationships. Previous literature has shown that firms attempt to protect their investments from opportunism by generating a large amount of patented marginal innovations in domains central to their industry. However, this approach may generate some ethical dilemmas by preventing firms and societies from more radical, collaborative, and much-needed environmental progress. We extend the environmental innovation literature using strategic and ethical lenses to analyze the potential of an alternative, divergent way to provide financial opportunities for a focal firm without aiming to prevent innovative opportunities for competitors. Our longitudinal analysis of 6768 environmental patents from 59 large companies worldwide in the electrical components and equipment industry shows that high levels of innovation intensity, environmental scope, bargaining power, and environmental expertise increase the incidence of patented environmental innovations related to domains in which industry competitors are less focused (i.e., technological divergence). We also show a positive relationship between this divergence and market-based firm performance. Our results suggest that pursuing innovative divergence to avoid opportunism may make ethical and market sense and we also identify the organizational factors that can support these efforts.Spanish Ministry of Economy and CompetitivenessEuropean Regional Development Funds ECO2016-7509-PSpanish State Research Agency PID2019-106725GB-100; doi 10.13039/501100011033Montpellier Research in Management EA 4557LabEx Entrepreneurship ANR-10-Labex-11-0

Impacto de la cirugía mayor ambulatoria en un Centro de Diagnóstico Integral Estado Sucre-Venezuela

Introduction: ambulatory surgery is an alternative to hospitalization that allows the patient to return home the same day of admission after undergoing a surgery, its favorable impact deserves to be shared.Objective: to describe the impact of major outpatient surgery at Simón Bolívar Comprehensive Diagnostic Center in Sucre, Venezuela.Methods: an observational, descriptive and cross-sectional research was conducted at Simón Bolívar Comprehensive Diagnostic Center in Sucre, Venezuela during the period April-July 2018. The target group included all the patients attending consultations (1 274); the sample was intentional and was comprised of those operated on during the analyzed stage (n=279 patients). The research data were obtained through the individual clinical histories of the patients and the surgery record book of the institution. Descriptive statistical methods were applied for qualitative and quantitative variables in frequency measurements. Results: 364 surgical procedures were performed; 147 patients were classified as ASA II and 132 as ASA I. Regional or local anesthesia was applied with sedation in all cases, bilateral salpingectomy (38,5 %), exceresis of any location (18,1 %) and hernia repair in any of its variants hernioplasty or herniorrhaphy (23,1 %) were the most surgical procedures performed. Surgical wound infection and seroma were frequent complications.Conclusions: it is demonstrated that major ambulatory surgery is an efficient procedure to face the main health problems of the population and represents a satisfactory impact for patients and the health system.Introducción: la cirugía ambulatoria es una alternativa a la hospitalización que permite al paciente volver a su domicilio el mismo día de su ingreso después de haberse sometido a una intervención quirúrgica.Objetivo: describir el impacto de la cirugía mayor ambulatoria en el Centro de Diagnóstico Integral Simón Bolívar Estado Sucre-Venezuela abril-julio de 2018.Métodos: se realizó una investigación observacional, descriptiva y transversal en el Centro de Diagnóstico Integral Simón Bolívar Sucre-Venezuela en el periodo abril-julio de 2018. El universo fueron todos los pacientes atendidos en consulta (1274); la muestra fue intencional constituida por todos los operados durante la etapa analizada (n=279 pacientes). Los datos de la investigación fueron obtenidos mediante las historias clínicas individuales de los pacientes y libro de registro de operaciones de la institución. Se aplicaron métodos de estadística descriptiva para variables cualitativas y cuantitativas en medidas de frecuencias y porcientos. Resultados: fueron operados 279 pacientes, realizando 364 procederes; 147 pacientes fueron clasificados como ASA II y 132 como ASA I. La anestesia aplicada fue regional o local con sedación en todos los casos, la salpingectomía bilateral (38,5 %), la exceresis de cualquier localización (18,1%) y la reparación herniaria en cualquiera de sus variantes hernioplastia u herniorrafia (23,1%) fueron los procederes mas realizados. La infección de herida quirúrgica y el seroma fueron complicaciones frecuentes. Conclusiones: se comprueba que la cirugía mayor ambulatoria es eficiente ante los principales problemas de salud de la población y representa un impacto satisfactorio

Potencialidades didácticas de la inteligencia artificial

The review of the book "Didactic potentialities of artificial intelligence" by the Doctor in didactics and school organization, Silvia Coicaud is presented by the Noveduc publishing house of the Center for Educational Publications and Didactic Material. In this brief text, the reader will be able to find the particularities of this book and the evaluation of the results of this research for pedagogy and education mediated by technologies.Se presenta la reseña del libro “Potencialidades didácticas de la inteligencia artificial” con la editorial Noveduc del Centro de Publicaciones Educativas y Material Didáctico de la Doctora en didáctica y organización escolar, Silvia Coicaud. En este breve texto, el lector podrá encontrar las particularidades de este libro y la valoración de los resultados de esta investigación para la pedagogía y la educación mediada por las tecnologías