Sustainable Relations in International Development Cooperation Projects: The Role of Human Resource Management and Organizational Climate

The importance of organizational issues to assess the success of international development project has not been fully considered yet. An analysis of the literature on the project success definition, focused on the success criteria and success factors, was carried out by surveying the contribution of different authors and approaches. Traditionally projects were perceived as successful when they met time, budget and performance goals, assuming a basic similarity among projects (universalistic approach). However, starting from a non ‐universalistic approach, the importance of organization’s effectiveness, in terms of relations sustainability, emerged as a dimension able to define and assess a project success (Belassi W., Tukel O.I., 1996). Based on previous research contributions on the factors influencing the relations between organizations (Zanasi C., Rota C., 2009), the paper expands the analysis of the influence of human resource management on organizational climate that, in turn, influences the relation sustainability between project manager and project team involved in international cooperation for development. A etailed analysis of these relations is provided and a research hypothesis are built. A questionnaire on previous contributions was adapted to collect data for a Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) analysis. Five dimensions of organizational climate (Zeitz G. et al., 1997) (trust, communication, innovation, job challenge, social cohesion), four dimensions of human resource management (Snell S.A., Dean J.W, 1992) (staff recruitment, training, performance appraisal, reward system) and two dimension for sustainable relations (Fisher C., Reynolds N., 2008) (relations quality and strength) are reported and measured by using a 5 point Likert scale. The sample size is still in progress. The first results on internal consistency reliability coefficients (Cronbach’s alpha) are satisfactory

Sustainable Relations in International Development Cooperation Projects: The Role of Organizational Climate

 The importance of the human side of project management to assess the success of international development project has not been fully considered yet. An analysis of the literature on the project success definition, focused on the success criteria and success factors, was carried out. The organization’s effectiveness, in terms of Relations Sustainability, emerged as a criteria integrating the "time, cost, performance" approach to define a project success. Based on previous research contributions on the factors influencing the organization’s effectiveness, the paper expands the analysis of the influence of Organizational Climate on the Relation Sustainability between project manager and project team involved in international cooperation for development. The statistical methods used include confirmatory factors analysis and structural equation modeling. The results carry implications for project management identifying five dimensions of Organizational Climate (trust, innovation, social cohesion, communication and job challenge) influencing Relations Sustainability. This finding suggests that Organizational Climate contributes to project success by creating trust, stimulating commitment and generating satisfaction to overcome conflicts between project manager and project team

Collaboration and Sustainable Relationships: their Contribution to the Life Cycle Analysis in Agri-Food Supply Chains

the product flows, from processing of raw materials to the final customer, are considered. The role of the organizational aspects, expressed in terms of relationships between the supply chain agents, is little considered in the life cycle analysis approach. The aim of this paper is to extend the scope of the food chain life cycle analysis by adding the organizational dimension to the environmental, economic and social ones. Within this context, Collaboration and Sustainable Relationships concepts have been explored based on a literature survey. A theoretical framework, describing their role in assessing the organizational dimension in the life cycle analysis of the food supply chains, is defined. A hypothesis on their joint influence on the supply chains performances is formulated

Assessing the Impact of Sustainability Improvement Options on the Agri-food Supply Chain Governance Structures: Development of an Evaluation Tool

The competitiveness of a supply chain is driven by the ability of supply chain governance structures to adapt to the chains’ continuously changing technical and organizational characteristics. The present study addresses the adoption of sustainability improvement options in the area of organization and management in the agri-food sector; within this framework the study proposes a tool for assessing the impact of sustainability oriented processes on the supply chain governance structures, in turn influencing the competitiveness of the supply chain. Two different approaches, proposed by (Gereffi et al., 2005) and (Hobbs and Young, 2000) have been linked to provide a theoretical framework for the tool development. The proposed new conceptual framework links the dimensions defining five different governance structures complexity of transaction, ability to codify and capabilities in the supply-base (Gereffi et al.,) to the product characteristics, regulatory and technology aspects defined by Hobbs and Young as drivers influencing the vertical coordination of supply chains. The method suggested for measuring the relations between improvement options and the chain governance structure is the adoption of experts’ evaluations. This method improves the tool capacity to provide a context-related supply chain governance structure assessment and management

Assessing the Supply Chain Governance Scenario in the Agri-food Sector: Development of a Measurement Tool

Defining a supply chain governance structure able to adapt to the supply chain technical and organizational characteristics positively influences the relationships between the agents and its overall competitiveness. The present study proposes a tool for the evaluation of the impact on the supply chain governance structure resulting from the adoption of sustainability improvement options in the area of organization and management in the agri-food sector. Two different approaches, proposed by (Gereffi et al., 2005) and (Hobbs and Young, 2000) are merged to provide a theoretical framework supporting the tool implementation. Gereffi et al., suggest that supply chains fall into one of five different governance structures, depending on the relative levels of three dimension: complexity of transaction, ability to codify and capabilities in the supply-base. Hobbs and Young link the product characteristics, regulatory and technology aspects to a change in supply chain vertical coordination. The parameters linking the sustainability improvement options to the change in the supply chain governance structure should result by interviewing a panel of experts, considering the difficulty to generalize the influence of the improvement options in different food chains contexts. This difficulty seems to be, to date, the main methodological limitation to the tool application. However, its represent a first step towards the assessment of the existing governance structure and its management

The Resilience Approach Contribution to Rural Communities Social Assessment for Social Sustainability Based Strategies Implement.

Evaluating the rural communities capacity to manage changes is of paramount importance for effective Social Sustainability strategies identification. The aim of the present study is to analyze if social resilience can be integrated into the social assessment of rural communities, with the aim of implementing sustainability-oriented policies and strategies.A literature review was carried out on the Resilience approach definition and its application to the Social Assessment in rural areas. The analysis showed that the Resilience approach enriches the Social Assessment by focusing on the specific capabilities of the communities in managing changes. The Resilience perspective embraces the dynamic character of communities and human-ecosystem interactions providing a deeper understanding of how a community’s positive response to change can be strengthened and supported. Moreover, the specific focus on rural communities highlights how strongly social and ecological resilience are intertwined in guaranteeing social sustainability which, in turn, is strictly interrelated with environmental and economic sustainability

Influence of GM Soy Expansion on the Argentinian Food and Nutrition Security

The rapid expansion of Argentinian soy production, led by the increase in the international soy demand for food feed and biofuel production, deeply influenced the entire Argentinian society economy and environment. Genetically modified soy has become a strategic product for the Latin American country, strongly supporting the entire economy and the welfare state thanks to the income derived from soy production and export taxations. The influence of the GM soy production strongly modified in particular the economic, and social structure of the rural areas creating new supply chain agents and making the “contract agriculture” the dominant model. Among the many consequences of this rapid expansion of the soy supply it is increasingly argued that the Argentinian Food and nutrition security can be affected, in particular the access to cheap and good quality beef. The Argentinian ban on beef export reflects the attempt to support the internal supply of beef, thus guaranteeing a low price for the consumers. One of the main factors influencing the reduction of beef supply, however, is its substitution with the more profitable GM soy.The goal of this paper is to analyse the joint effects of the GM soy production in Argentina and of the change in the country price and income levels, on the Food and Nutrition Security for the Argentinian population, considering three different categories of food: vegetables, animal origin products and, within this category, beef.A Structural Equation Model (SEM) was adopted, where food consumption (calories from animal and vegetal origin food plus calories form beef) have been related to the food prices indexes, the income pro-capita and the expansion of soy cultivated areas.The statistical analysis showed that the present model of agricultural production, based on export- oriented GM soy production is affecting negatively food security, in particular the consumption of beef, one of the staple food in Argentinian diet. A substitution effect where beef is substituted with vegetable and other animal origin products emerged as a possible explanation of the results obtained in the three different models.Further study should better examine these substitution effects and how the overall diet composition changed in quality as well as quantity and how much the change in Food and nutrition security affected the different ranks of the Argentinean population.The present study represents a first, relatively simple approach to understanding the complex dynamics affecting the local as well as global consequences of a very fast and still growing expansion of the soy cultivation in Argentina. Considering its strategic role in the country present uncertain economic situation, further analysis should better focus on adopting more complex methods of analysis where the Argentinian institutional, economic and social context should be taken into consideration

An Assessment of the Food Companies Sustainability Policies through a Greenwashing Indicator

There is an increasing interest in green marketing as a powerful tool to enhance the agrifood companies’ reputation and competitiveness; this makes it necessary to provide tools, for the consumers and the other stakeholders in the food system, able to detect the presence of distorted or false information often defined as greenwashing. It is also important for the agrifood companies to be able to prevent their communication to be unintentionally perceived as greenwashing, thus fully exploiting the value added provided by an effective communication of their sustainability policies. The goal of this paper is to provide a monitoring tool able to support the food companies definition of effective green marketing strategies, avoiding the risk of greenwashing; moreover supporting the other food system stakeholders’ critical analysis of the sustainability communication coming from the food companies. To this end a list of indicators coming from different organizations (Greenpeace, EnviroMedia Social Marketing and Oregon University, Terrachoice, Futerra) and authors (J.Grant, 2009) have been chosen and integrated in order to cover a broad range of sustainability dimensions and communication suggestions finalised to avoiding greenwashing in the agrifood sector. The level of correctness and relevance of the companies communication as been assessed by measuring the number of actions described in the food companies’ Sustainability Report, falling within the indicators belonging to the different categories of green marketing and greenwashing. The indicators have been tested on a large Italian food company: Barilla, by considering its Sustainability Report for the year 2016. The results showed that the sustainability actions related to possible greenwashing represent a relatively low share of the total action implemented by Barilla. Most interesting is the capacity of this analytical tool to encompass a broad range of dimensions related to the companies green marketing strategies evaluation; this allows also other stakeholders to more clearly analyse the capacity of a company to provide a clear honest and complete report on their sustainability activities. Further studies should weigh the different green marketing and greenwashing indicators in order to appreciate their relevance in contributing to the overall level of correct communication. A sample of representative food chain stakeholders should be involved in providing an expert evaluation

A structural equation modeling analysis of relational governance and economic performance in agri-food supply chains: evidence from the dairy sheep industry in Sardinia (Italy)

This study investigates the factors affecting the inter-organizational relationships and governance of firms in agri-food supply chains and assesses the influence that the current conditions of vertical coordination have on the economic performance of these firms. Research hypotheses describing the causal effects between the environment, product characteristics, inter-organizational relationships, relational governance, and firm economic performance are formulated and tested using a structural equation modeling approach. Data were gathered from a questionnaire administered via a direct survey to both farmers and processors in a traditional high-quality dairy sheep supply chain in the Italian region of Sardinia: the Pecorino Romano Protected Designation of Origin. Results point out the role of informal contractual arrangements in this local production system characterized by social cohesion, entailing higher product quality and better economic performance. Further, the study highlights the role of trust as a key variable for attaining collaborative paths along the agri-food supply chain, particularly between farmers and processors

Design of a Monitoring Tool for Eco-Regions

An Eco-Region (Biodistretto in Italian) is a rural area where different actors work together for the sustainable management of local resources, based on the principles and models of organic farming. Social, environmental, economic as well as ethical dimensions are involved. Eco-Regions are quickly growing in number in the EU and worldwide; different Eco-Regions types emerged, showing a variety of cultural, physical, socio-economic characteristics, and related policies and regulations. The Eco-Regions represent an innovative sustainable integrated rural development approach; their success can be supported by analyzing their basic features and their development dynamics. A balance between a strictly centralized and bureaucratic Eco-Regions management and a bottom-up non-regulated Eco-Regions proliferation should be provided to grant the development of community-based resilient initiatives. To this end a monitoring tool, based on the Porter's Diamond model, involving the local actors in analyzing the Eco-Regions structure and performances, could provide useful. Previous studies defined an Eco-Region monitoring tool, where different shortcomings characterized the analytical framework definition. The goal of the present paper is therefore to define an improved monitoring tool, more consistent to the Porter's Diamond model by reviewing the cluster related literature, focusing on the Porter's approach. The integrations resulting from the literature analysis contributed to a major increase in the indicators directly related to the original Porter's approach; new food security and sovereignty, as well as specifically designed sustainability indicators have also been added. By expanding the pool of indicators, the monitoring tool is more adaptive and able to support sustainable management of Eco-Regions in different contexts