Process benchmarking in the fruit and vegetable supply chain

The purpose of this paper is to present the results of an international process benchmarking and to compile models of best practice business processes. The results of our international process benchmarking study allowed us to develop a framework, comprising three models, for better meeting customers’ needs. The first model presents how to understand and meet customers’ needs generally. The second model comprises those operations, work practices and business processes, which are essential in meeting customers’ needs. The third model (organisation designing model) helps the company to check, whether or not the operations, work practises and business processes of the second model can be found in and applied to the company.process benchmarking, customers’ needs, business processes, organisation designing model, Agribusiness,

Market Size, Competitiveness and Technological Frontier - the Impact of Trade Integration with the UE on Productivity in Polish Manufacturing Sectors

This paper addresses the relationship between growth of relative productivity in Polish manufacturing sectors and forces stemming from trade integration with the EU. We look at the productivity growth from the perspective of relations between Polish manufacturing sectors and the foreign ones, focusing on partner countries from the enlarged EU. Empirical analysis is based on sector level bilateral data concerning both domestic (Polish) and foreign market characteristics and degree of openness in the period 1995-2006. Main results indicate that, both in the short and long run, growth in domestic openness (independently on the direction of trade flows) exert positive effect on growth of relative productivity in Poland, while the opposite impact is exhibited by foreign openness. In addition, expansion in relative size of Polish sectors versus foreign ones is also among positive determinants of domestic labour productivity growth. The results suggest that domestic openness and market size effects have stimulated movement of Polish sectors towards the technological frontier with respect to the partner countries from the EU.labour productivity, trade, integration

Empirical investigation on labour market interactions in an enlarged Europe

This paper proposes an empirical assessment of economic interactions between the labour markets of the integrating EU over the period of time 1995–2005. Drawing on recently made available industry statistics, we provide a sector level study (13 tradable sectors, including manufacturing and services), analysing the contemporary evolution of domestic and trade partners’ employment levels. Given the intensification of trade relations as a result of ongoing integration process, we build a sector-specific measure of economic interdependency, based on information on labour markets’ performance and weighted by the magnitude of intra-EU trade flows (imports). The estimates of a dynamic empirical model confirm the interactions between employment levels in different Member States. Domestic employment in NMS-5 is rather positively affected by the expansion of labour markets in other EU’s trade partners (domestic employment levels in NMS-5 countries improve in parallel to the increase in foreign tradable sectors’ employment). The opposite holds true for EU-15 domestic labour markets that are rather challenged by the expansion of tradable sectors in their EU trade partners.EU integration, labour markets, trade

Liberating the NHS; commissioning, outsourcing and a new politics debate

In the short months following the result of the UK 2010 General election, a new Government White Paper has been released entitled: Equity and Excellence: Liberating the NHS (Department of Health (DH), 2010a). It strives to distance itself from previous health-care proposals (DH, 2009), yet if the initiatives of this latest paper are combined against previous initiatives, also using high impact declarative terms, such as competition and choice, it is clear that little has changed and more important principles than saving money are at risk

The Impact of Material Offshoring on employment in the Italian Manufacturing Industries: the Relevance of Intersectoral Effects

The lively media debate on the employment consequences of offshoring is not yet backed by an adequate empirical evidence around its actual effects. This paper relies on sectoral data to assess the impact of material offshoring on employment in the Italian manufacturing industries; with just one exception, sectoral-level analysis treat sectors as independent clusters of firms, while we introduce an index built on input-output data that captures the intersectoral spill-over effects of offshoring. The econometric analysis provides evidence that the direct effects of offshoring on employment are not significant once one allows for scale effects, while the intersectoral effects are negative and highly significant. This is consistent with the intuition that offshoring can lead to the disruption of domestic sub-contracting relationships, and that the adverse occupational consequences are not concentrated in the sectors that are directly involved in the offshoring process. Although such a finding should by no means regarded as supportive of a pessimistic perspective about the aggregate economic consequences of offshoring, it is nevertheless suggestive transitional costs can be substantial and diffuse.

The future of enterprise groupware applications

This paper provides a review of groupware technology and products. The purpose of this review is to investigate the appropriateness of current groupware technology as the basis for future enterprise systems and evaluate its role in realising, the currently emerging, Virtual Enterprise model for business organisation. It also identifies in which way current technological phenomena will transform groupware technology and will drive the development of the enterprise systems of the future

Inertial vs. mindful repetition of previous entry mode choices: do firms always learn from experience?

Experience, meant as the repetition of the same action, is considered a predictor of the entry mode choice in foreign markets because it allows reducing uncertainty. However, repetition does not necessarily increase the expected performance, depending on the learning stemming from previous experiences. Focusing on offshoring decisions, namely the choice between captive and outsourcing entry mode, we distinguish between the inertial repetition of routines vs. the mindful repetition of previous entry modes (where the company distinguishes and internalizes the outcomes of the past offshoring initiatives associated to the entry choices). We claim that: (i) the latter leads to higher growth perspectives for the focal offshoring initiative, and; (ii) learning is higher when repetition concerns captive entry modes. Our empirical analysis, run on 410 companies’ offshoring decisions undertaken from 2006 to 2011, confirms our expectation

Choice of Agile Methodologies in Software Development: A Vendor Perspective

The purpose of this research was to develop understanding about how vendor firms make choice about agile methodologies in software projects and their fit. Two analytical frameworks were developed from extant literature and the findings were compared with real world decisions. Framework 1 showed that the choice of XP for one project was not supported by the guidelines given by the framework. The choices of SCRUM for other two projects, were partially supported. Analysis using the framework 2 showed that except one XP project, all others had sufficient project management support, limited scope for adaptability and had prominence for rules

The Economics of Isolation and Distance

This paper explores the economic implications of isolation and remoteness. Evidence on the impact of distance on trade costs and trade flows is reviewed, and the effects of remoteness on real incomes are investigated. Empirical work confirms the predictions of theory, that distance from markets and sources of supply can have a significant negative impact on per capita income. The possible implications of new technologies for these spatial inequalities are discussed.Economic isolation, market access, trade costs.

Experiences and opportunities in teaching ukrainian students at the faculty of mining and geoengineering in AGH University of Science and Technology

The paper presents the influence of various factors on the process of internationalisation of higher education in Poland, and particularly in AGH University of Science and Technology from the perspective of the Faculty of Mining and Geoengineering. It lays out educational opportunities for learners at mining and geology study courses, and the benefits stemming therefrom for international students, including students from Ukraine. Possibilities of academic exchange were discussed and that of international cooperation, in particular with Ukraine, in order to support the potential of science and higher education in both countries. Lastly, factors were indicated in favour of taking education with AGH