Firms' strategies and voluntary traceability: an empirical analysis in Italian food chains

In international food markets, voluntary traceability systems have increased their role in guaranteeing high safety and quality standards for the consumer. Such systems are also among the strategies firms employ to differentiate products and strengthen competitive advantage in both the national and international market. Voluntary traceability has significant implications on the organisation of economic relationships within food supply chains. This paper focuses on this aspect and analyses the effects of voluntary traceability on vertical co- ordination using a transaction cost perspective. The analysis makes reference to the Italian situation where the national standard organisation has introduced standard rules for voluntary traceability (UNI 10939; ISO 22005 at the international level). A survey was conducted by questionnaire to assess changes in transaction key factors (degree of asset specificity, uncertainty and frequency) and transaction costs after the introduction of voluntary traceability. The sample represent s all Italian firms certified UNI 10939, and consists of 190 firms. Respondents are 146. Factorial and Cluster Analyses were applied to highlight groups of firms with similar features. The empirical results reveal four different clusters in terms of a vertical reorganisation of transactions.traceability, firms' strategies, transaction cost economics, food chain, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Industrial Organization,

Marketing management capabilities of SMEs: an empirical analysis in the EU

SMEs, that represent the greater part of European food firms producing traditional food products (TFPs), meet difficulties in adapting their strategies to market changes, and in competing with big enterprises. Marketing management capabilities play a key role in good SMEs performance in the market. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the marketing capabilities of SMEs that produce TFPs. The theoretical framework considers the Market Orientation approach and marketing management capabilities in terms of marketing research, marketing strategy, planning and implementation, control and evaluation. A self evaluation tool was developed by means of an interactive questionnaire, available on the web, aimed at assessing traditional food firms competitive position in the marketing area. The sample consists of 112 Italian firms. Descriptive analysis shows that the most problematic dimensions of the marketing management are planning and implementation and control and evaluation. Moreover, the firms’ size is not a relevant feature to determine the marketing capabilities, whereas quality voluntary certifications have a direct linkage with marketing capabilities, as the more a firm is certified the more t improves its marketing performance. Linear Regression model confirms these results.Marketing capabilities, SMEs, traditional food, linear regression, Agribusiness, Marketing,

Voluntary Traceability and Transaction Costs: An Empirical Analysis in the Italian Meat Processing Supply Chain

This paper analyses voluntary traceability effects on the coordination of the food supply chain from the transaction cost perspective. The analysis concerns Italian firms and makes particular reference to the meat sector. A survey was conducted by questionnaire to assess the changes in key transaction factors and costs after the introduction of traceability. The results underline an increase in the degree of human, material and site asset specificity, and reveal a reduction in the degree of uncertainty in transactions. Growth in some transaction costs related to monitoring is also observed. Factorial and cluster analysis were used to underline the different organisational solutions of the firms.traceability, trust, transaction cost, vertical relationships, meat chain, Agribusiness, Livestock Production/Industries,

GENIUS AND MADNESS BETWEEN NORMALITY AND PATHOLOGY

It is reasonable to affirm that madness is inborn with the human spirit and that only in lunacy it is possible to be creative, being the intellect a system of rules that make possible to live with the least conflict possible, as masterfully said by Umberto Galimberti. To understand madness we must glean our lunacy and put aside the reason which relates to the non contradiction principle thus being not capable to comprehend madness that does not respond to the rational principles, whereas as Schopenhauer says, is the essence and the strength of the will to live

RESISTANT DEPRESSIONS

The concept of Resistant Depression was introduced for the first time in 1974 by Leiman. Despite the numerous studies in this regard, it was not possible to give a precise definition of this problem and to identify a safe etiology. This work aims to contribute through a literature review and exposure of two clinical cases, to better define and analyze this phenomenon by assuming the possible therapeutic strategies for patients with resistant depression

Marketing management capabilities and price setting: An empirical analysis in the EU traditional food sector

In the EU, small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs), which constitute the majority of firms in the food industry, are fighting for survival as they face growing market competition from large firms (Knight, 2000). On the other hand, market opportunities for SMEs are connected to the evolution of consumer preferences toward food quality, especially for traditional food products (O’Reilly and Haines, 2004). To profit from such opportunities SMEs need to adapt their strategies, focussing on consumer requirements and improving their marketing activities. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the marketing capabilities of SMEs producing traditional food products. Following the theoretical approach of Market Orientation (Kara et al., 2005; Jaworski and Kohli, 1993), our analysis is based on an assessment of the marketing management process (Kotler, 2004). The methodology refers to a survey made by a questionnaire published on the web, and a sample of 371 firms coming from Belgium, Italy, Spain, the Czech Republic, and Hungary. Cluster analysis was applied to find different levels of the firms’ market orientation. Moreover we used an ordinal regression model to explain the relationships between the ability of firms to influence the price and the variables affecting marketing management capability. The results revealed a certain lack of appropriate skills in the analysed firms’ marketing management, confirming literature evidence concerning SMEs. Nevertheless, cluster analysis outlined a group of firms that represent 40% of the sample, and these have good marketing capabilities and are market oriented. In addition, the firms show poor ability to influence price.traditional food products, marketing capabilities, ordinal regression model., Marketing,

Does traceability play a role in retailer’s strategies for private labels?

Traceability is helping retailers manage food safety risks and support product differentiation. This paper aims to investigate how traceability may be used to screen supplier for private labels dedicated provider pools. Retailers in the UK and Italy have several private label product lines and increasingly select dedicated suppliers. The choice of providers is a typical agency problem as retailers contract the production for their private labels, having incomplete information on types and effort of their suppliers. Different contracts must be designed for suppliers of private labels depending on position of the product line and its food safety risk. A case study, based on the second largest Italian retailer reveals that traceability and quality assurance schemes are used together to manage suppliers of private labelsTraceability, dedicated providers, food products, retailing, vertical coordination, Marketing, Q13, Q18, L81, L66, L15,

Knowledge Discovery for Decision Support in Law

The Split Up project applies knowledge discovery techniques (KDD) to legal domains. Theories of jurisprudence underpin a classification scheme that is used to identify tasks suited to KDD. Theoretical perspectives also guide the selection of cases appropriate for a KDD exercise. Further, jurisprudence underpins strategies for dealing with contradictory data. Argumentation theory is instrumental for representing domain expertise so that the KDD process can be constrained. Specifically, a variant of the argumentation structure proposed by Toulmin is used to decompose tasks into independent sub-tasks in the data transformation phase. This enables a complex KDD exercise to be decomposed into numerous simpler exercises that each require less data and have fewer instances of missing values. The use of the structure also facilitates the development of information systems that integrate multiple reasoning mechanisms such as first order logic, neural networks or fuzzy inferences and provides a convenient structure for the generation of explanations. The viability of this approach was tested with the development of a system that predicts property split outcomes in cases litigated in the Family Court of Australia. The system has been evaluated using a mix of strategies that derive from a framework proposed by Reich