Large Retailers Financial Services

Over the last few years, large retailers offering financial services have considerably grown in the financial services sector. Retailers are increasing the wideness and complexity of their offer of financial services. Large retail companies provide financial services to their customers following different strategic ways. The provision of financial services in the retailers offer is implemented in several different ways related to the strategies, the structures and the degree of financial know-how of the large retailers involved.Large Retailers; Financial Services; Retailing; Supply Models; Global Competition

Modularità applicata all'elaborazione di pacchetti di rete: il linguaggio NetPDL

Questo articolo presenta NetPDL, un linguaggio basato su XML che permette di descrivere il formato delle intestazioni e l'imbustamento dei protocolli di rete e la sua implementazione nella libreria NetBe

A Framework for Rapid Development and Portable Execution of Packet-Handling Applications

This paper presents a framework that enables the execution of packet-handling applications (such as sniffers, firewalls, intrusion detectors, etc.) on different hardware platforms. This framework is centered on the NetVM - a novel, portable, and efficient virtual processor targeted for packet-based processing - and the NetPDL - a language dissociating applications from protocol specifications. In addition, a high-level programming language that enables rapid development of packet-based applications is presented

Comparing the Efficiency of IP and ATM Telephony

Circuit switching, suited to providing real-time services due to the low and fixed switching delay, is not cost effective for building integrated services networks bursty data traffic because it is based on static allocation of resources which is not efficient with bursty data traffic. Moreover, since current circuit switching technologies handle flows at rates which are integer multiples of 64 kb/s, low bit rate voice encoding cannot be taken advantage of without aggregating multiple phone calls on a single channel. This work explores the real-time efficiency of IP telephony, i.e. the volume of voice traffic with deterministically guaranteed quality related to the amount of network resources used. IP and ATM are taken into consideration as packet switching technology for carrying compressed voice and it is compared to circuit switching carrying PCM (64 Kb/s) encoded voice. ADPCM32 is the voice encoding scheme used throughout most of the paper. The impact of several network parameters, among which the number of hops traversed by a call, on the real-time efficiency is studie

Retailers and SME suppliers social responsibility in international supply chains

This paper presents an overview of corporate social responsibility drivers within international supply chains, following a multiple perspective of the different players involved. The study focused on the relationship between European large retailers and small-medium manufacturers in the food sector. In particular, the effects of the retailers’ CSR initiatives on the supply chains in which small suppliers are involved were examinedCSR, Supply Chain, Retailing, SMEs

SME Food Suppliers Versus Large Retailers: Perspectives in the International Supply Chains

The market share of international retail chains substantially increased from the beginning of the nineties. The supplier’s market has been adapted to the evolutions of retailers’ market in terms of modified purchasing processes. Due to these changes, the requirements for food industry suppliers grew in number and quality. The paper shows how the relationship between suppliers and retailers is affected by several important changes, above all at international level. In particular, the analysis is focused on the Italian food SME suppliers related with large retailers. In-depth interviews to 89 Italian food SME suppliers have been conducted in 2008. Results have been analyzed and compared to the retailers’ point of view, resulting from public reports (such as Annual report, CSR report, etc.). Considering the selection criteria used by retailers, one of the main results of the analysis is that the growth of small and medium suppliers is stimulated when they operate with international large retailers. At the same time, the pressure on price and the required organizational qualifications lead to a selection process in which smaller manufacturers seem to be the more vulnerable actors.Supplier-Retailer Relations; Italian Food SME; Large Retailers; International Supply Chains

CSR for Retailers' Led Channel Relationships: Evidence from Italian SME Manufacturers

This paper analyses the adoption of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) policies by small and medium manufacturers which are involved in supplying relationships with large retailers. The purpose of the paper is to examine CSR drivers within large retailers' supply chains. A quantitative empirical research was conducted focusing on the food sector, as a sector in which traceability, supplier's coordination and control are critical to the supply chain. Data collection was performed through a questionnaire addressed to 89 Italian SME manufacturers to explore the main factors influencing the adoption of CSR and the level of formalization of the related policies. Findings revealed the key role of large retailers for the establishment of a sustainable/ethical supply chain. An attenuation of the hierarchic/conflictual perspective in buyer-seller relationships emerged, with a reduction of margin-compression effects for smaller suppliers as a consequence of power imbalances. A relevant consequence of CSR is a relationship development model in which all the involved subjects can benefit, including smaller partners inside the supply chains