bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Never innovate to compete rather innovate to change the rules of the game
Authors: Victor Rajeshwari
Published: November 2014

Subject area

New product development and introduction, Marketing.

Study level/applicability

The case is suitable for post-graduate students in management, or in their final year. The case is intended for those business school students who are familiar with the basics of marketing management and are going through a course on new product development. The level of difficulty for post-graduate management students as far as this case is concerned is medium to high. The case can be a part of the following courses in marketing; new product marketing; technology marketing; brand management (how to build a technology brand).

Case overview

The case concerns a computing technology company – Novatium Solutions – that has developed a new product, an affordable computing system, and is looking at ways of marketing it. The product offering in the initial stages is just hardware with limited local processing abilities that needs to be connected through a wire to a telecom broadband player to provide the internet browsing facility. As the case progresses, the product evolves into upgraded and newer formats. The theme of the case is intended to be new product marketing in a technology sector.

Expected learning outcomes

The following will be the learning outcomes for this case; new product process and marketing in a technology company (compared to non technology consumer product company); bringing customer orientation to a product technology company; the role of a marketing head in a new product company; and building a retail brand for an affordable technology product.

Supplementary materials

Teaching notes are available; please consult your Librarian for access. The teaching notes provide adequate questions and answers (four assignment questions and three class discussion questions) so that faculty members need not look beyond these to give student projects or assignments.
Daiichi Sankyo's generic (mis) adventure: the Ranbaxy takeover
Authors: Chadha Alka
Published: November 2014

Subject area

The case offers a study of change management in the pharmaceutical industry in India.

Study level/applicability

The case is designed for undergraduate and postgraduate students to examine strategic decisionmaking in the context of mergers and acquisitions (M&As), firm capabilities and management practices. In particular, it has important pedagogical lessons for businesses eager to start operations in emerging countries. Students learn to recognize the unique nature of the pharmaceutical market and the factors affecting the demand and supply of drugs, including the economics of generics. The case can be discussed in one class session of approximately one-and-a-half to two hours duration.

Case overview

In 2012, the pharmaceutical industry in India was undergoing dynamic changes. There was keen interest among MNC pharmaceutical giants to buy up Indian generic manufacturing companies since their revenues were drying up with the impending patent expirations of many blockbuster brand name drugs. Japan's Daiichi Sankyo's had taken over the largest Indian pharmaceutical company, Ranbaxy Laboratories, known for its heritage of process innovations and market leadership. However, after the acquisition, Ranbaxy slipped to third position in the domestic market and was facing multiple problems including net losses and falling share prices, cultural differences in management practices, recall of drugs from foreign markets and a US FDA ban on its manufacturing plants. Further, Ranbaxy had always been viewed as a national champion and a customer-friendly company but drug prices had increased after the merger causing problems of affordability. The new CEO of Ranbaxy was facing a dilemma: how to regain the company's position as the market leader. Students are asked to advise the CEO of Ranbaxy how to tackle the challenges arising from the integration of an Indian company with a Japanese company. More specifically, the case focuses on M&A as a strategy for growth and also touches on issues related to competition, regulation, innovation and corporate governance.

Expected learning outcomes

The case discusses the different motives behind the deal for Daiichi Sankyo and Ranbaxy and why it was a strategic move by both the alliance partners. The case also raises issues of corporate governance for the management of Ranbaxy and the need for a proactive corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategy. The case provides students with the opportunity to develop their analytical skills in a real-life setting and apply theoretical concepts to the consideration of the various issues raised by the acquisition deal.

Supplementary materials

Teaching notes are available; please consult your librarian for access.
Financing technology startups: an entrepreneur's dilemma
Authors: Gopalaswamy Arun Kumar , Mathew Saji K.
Published: November 2014

Subject area

Entrepreneurship, finance, technology and innovation, general management.

Study level/applicability

This case is suitable for students in finance, entrepreneurship and general management. The case seeks to understand the challenges of funding in technology startups and how they vary from product to service areas.

Case overview

Availability of capital, short term and long term, is a major constraint faced by entrepreneurs. In India, in the technology sector, services companies have been able to innovate and grow whereas product-based companies that survived the challenges of funding have been scarce. Aluru Karthik Prasanth is presented in the case as a young entrepreneur with passion and drive to pursue the commercialization of an idea he developed during his undergraduate studies in engineering. Leaving behind the beaten paths ofMTech and employment, he decides to pursue MS entrepreneurship at IIT Madras. As he starts with his program, he analyses the challenges faced by previous technology start ups, Karthik has a dilemma – deciding whether to follow a product idea or change his plans to a technology service.

Expected learning outcomes

A detailed analysis of the case would help students address the following questions in entrepreneurial decision making: should an entrepreneur in technology in India pursue a product idea or service idea?. What are the pros and cons of each choice in financing? How can an entrepreneur pursue a product idea and minimize his/her risks? How does an entrepreneur's personal attributes influence his/her course? (e.g. family background, need for control) What are the challenges and opportunities in each kind of funding: debt, venture, angel, etc. in the Indian context?

Supplementary materials

Teaching notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email support@emeraldinsight.com to request teaching notes.
Crediamigo: partnering with Vivacred?
Authors: Lavoie Frédéric , Raufflet Emmanuel
Published: November 2014

Subject area

The case is suitable for undergraduate and MBA courses: strategic management, social entrepreneurship.

Study level/applicability

Masters, Bachelors.

Case overview

In Fortaleza, January 2008, an urban microfinance manager and the planning committee of Crediamigo, Brazil's largest microfinance institution need to devise an entry strategy to Rio de Janeiro's microfinance market. A part of the Banco do Nordeste, and a regional development bank for ten years, Crediamigo has 400,000 clients in the Northeast of Brazil. Its objective is to double its clients base for 2011; Rio de Janeiro's market was the next priority. Crediamigo has two options. The first consists of partnering with VivaCred, a small experienced microcredit non-governmental organization (NGO) which operates in Rio de Janeiro's slums. VivaCred was a microfinance NGO with relatively low organizational capabilities and with a low performance in terms of loan repayment. Its lending methodologies were different from Crediamigo's experience. The second option was to set up a new branch of Crediamigo in Rio and to shape it in Crediamigo's image. The committee was aware that this, “far away from home”, would be a costly and slow venture.

Expected learning outcomes

After using this case, students will: have been exposed to the strategic, managerial and operational challenges of microfinance expansion in an emerging country; understand better the market entry strategy (acquisition/integration of an organization vs green field) in such a context; have discussed the conditions related to the replication of microcredit methodologies (individual, group and village lending methodologies) in their contexts of operations.

Supplementary materials

Teaching notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email support@emeraldinsight.com to request teaching notes.
Why are China's companies doing overseas M&As? The case of Geely and Volvo
Authors: Han Chunjia , Thomas Stephen Rhys
Published: November 2014

Subject area

Mergers and acquisitions, corporate strategy.

Study level/applicability

This case could be applied in several courses: a mergers and acquisitions (M&A) course, to introduce the various motives for firms doing M&A, a strategy course exploring a company's strategy exploration and decision processes, or in a marketing course as an example about emerging and global market interaction. The target audience is primarily final year or Masters' and MBA students. It would also be useful for executive education seminars.

Case overview

The Case provides learning opportunities about how companies encounter threats due to changing market or fiscal conditions, find ways to address their individual challenges yet achieve mutual benefit, by taking advantage of market-induced opportunities for strategic change, which have been triggered by a combination of situational factors.

Expected learning outcomes

The case can be used to illustrate and discuss several important aspects of the growth of companies in emerging markets, including: motives for making M&As; strategic options and selection in the emerging industry; and how regional firms can respond to globalization.

Supplementary materials

Teaching notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email support@emeraldinsight.com to request teaching notes.
Denbigh Showground: a potential “agri-cultural” attraction concept for tourism in Jamaica
Authors: Sinclair-Maragh Gaunette
Published: November 2014

Subject area

The proposed areas of study for this case are strategic management, marketing, tourism planning and development, hospitality management, attraction management and special event planning and management.

Study level/applicability

The case is suitable for undergraduate and graduate students pursuing courses in the areas of strategic management, marketing, tourism planning and development, hospitality and tourism management, attraction management and special event planning and management.

Case overview

The Denbigh Showground located in the parish of Clarendon, Jamaica, is the venue of the annual Agricultural and Industrial Show. Three separate studies conducted indicated the need for its development to enable the use of the facility all year round and to contribute to the socio-economic development of the parish. Suggested development options from these studies included a fun and amusement park, a site for eco-tourism and a multi-purpose agri-cultural facility with linkages to the parish's cultural legacies and places of interest. The large land acreage could facilitate its development, making the property a leading “agri-cultural” attraction concept.

Expected learning outcomes

he students should be able to: identify the typology of the Denbigh Showground as an attraction; categorize the product offerings of the Denbigh Showground from a marketing perspective; explain the factors to consider regarding the development of the showground; analyze the socio-economic contributions of the facility to the parish of Clarendon and the community's attitude towards the development of the showground; discuss the potential uses of the Denbigh Showground that can make it a leading international “agri-cultural” attraction; synthesize the concept of sustainable tourism development and its importance to the development and viability of the attraction for future generations; and assess other tourism concepts such as community-based tourism, special interest tourism and alternative tourism and how they relate to the development of the Denbigh Showground.

Social implications

This case study will help students understand the concept of an agri-cultural attraction and its impact on the socio-economic development of the surrounding communities and the country as a whole. The case will contribute to the existing body of knowledge in the areas of community development and residents’ perception regarding tourism development. It offers insights to both potential and current investors; provides practical guidance to the government and other tourism planners to enable better planning for the areas’ future growth and development; and serves as a reference for academicians as well as undergraduate and graduate students.

Supplementary materials

Teaching notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or e-mail: support@emeraldinsight.com to request teaching notes.
Towards maximal unification of semantically diverse ontologies for controversial domains
Authors: Zhitomirsky-Geffet Maayan , Bar-Ilan Judit
Published: November 2014

Purpose

– Ontologies are prone to wide semantic variability due to subjective points of view of their composers. The purpose of this paper is to propose a new approach for maximal unification of diverse ontologies for controversial domains by their relations.

Design/methodology/approach

– Effective matching or unification of multiple ontologies for a specific domain is crucial for the success of many semantic web applications, such as semantic information retrieval and organization, document tagging, summarization and search. To this end, numerous automatic and semi-automatic techniques were proposed in the past decade that attempt to identify similar entities, mostly classes, in diverse ontologies for similar domains. Apparently, matching individual entities cannot result in full integration of ontologies’ semantics without matching their inter-relations with all other-related classes (and instances). However, semantic matching of ontological relations still constitutes a major research challenge. Therefore, in this paper the authors propose a new paradigm for assessment of maximal possible matching and unification of ontological relations. To this end, several unification rules for ontological relations were devised based on ontological reference rules, and lexical and textual entailment. These rules were semi-automatically implemented to extend a given ontology with semantically matching relations from another ontology for a similar domain. Then, the ontologies were unified through these similar pairs of relations. The authors observe that these rules can be also facilitated to reveal the contradictory relations in different ontologies.

Findings

– To assess the feasibility of the approach two experiments were conducted with different sets of multiple personal ontologies on controversial domains constructed by trained subjects. The results for about 50 distinct ontology pairs demonstrate a good potential of the methodology for increasing inter-ontology agreement. Furthermore, the authors show that the presented methodology can lead to a complete unification of multiple semantically heterogeneous ontologies.

Research limitations/implications

– This is a conceptual study that presents a new approach for semantic unification of ontologies by a devised set of rules along with the initial experimental evidence of its feasibility and effectiveness. However, this methodology has to be fully automatically implemented and tested on a larger dataset in future research.

Practical implications

– This result has implication for semantic search, since a richer ontology, comprised of multiple aspects and viewpoints of the domain of knowledge, enhances discoverability and improves search results.

Originality/value

– To the best of the knowledge, this is the first study to examine and assess the maximal level of semantic relation-based ontology unification.
Sentiment search: an emerging trend on social media monitoring systems
Authors: Thanh Nguyen Tung , Thanh Quan Tho , Thi Phan Tuoi
Published: November 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to discuss sentiment search, which not only retrieves data related to submitted keywords but also identifies sentiment opinion implied in the retrieved data and the subject targeted by this opinion.

Design/methodology/approach

– The authors propose a retrieval framework known as Cross-Domain Sentiment Search (CSS), which combines the usage of domain ontologies with specific linguistic rules to handle sentiment terms in textual data. The CSS framework also supports incrementally enriching domain ontologies when applied in new domains.

Findings

– The authors found that domain ontologies are extremely helpful when CSS is applied in specific domains. In the meantime, the embedded linguistic rules make CSS achieve better performance as compared to data mining techniques.

Research limitations/implications

– The approach has been initially applied in a real social monitoring system of a professional IT company. Thus, it is proved to be able to handle real data acquired from social media channels such as electronic newspapers or social networks.

Originality/value

– The authors have placed aspect-based sentiment analysis in the context of semantic search and introduced the CSS framework for the whole sentiment search process. The formal definitions of Sentiment Ontology and aspect-based sentiment analysis are also presented. This distinguishes the work from other related works.
User-centered design and evaluation of overview components for semantic data exploration
Authors: Maria Brunetti Josep , García Roberto
Published: November 2014

Purpose

– The growing volumes of semantic data available in the web result in the need for handling the information overload phenomenon. The potential of this amount of data is enormous but in most cases it is very difficult for users to visualize, explore and use this data, especially for lay-users without experience with Semantic Web technologies. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

– The Visual Information-Seeking Mantra “Overview first, zoom and filter, then details-on-demand” proposed by Shneiderman describes how data should be presented in different stages to achieve an effective exploration. The overview is the first user task when dealing with a data set. The objective is that the user is capable of getting an idea about the overall structure of the data set. Different information architecture (IA) components supporting the overview tasks have been developed, so they are automatically generated from semantic data, and evaluated with end-users.

Findings

– The chosen IA components are well known to web users, as they are present in most web pages: navigation bars, site maps and site indexes. The authors complement them with Treemaps, a visualization technique for displaying hierarchical data. These components have been developed following an iterative User-Centered Design methodology. Evaluations with end-users have shown that they get easily used to them despite the fact that they are generated automatically from structured data, without requiring knowledge about the underlying semantic technologies, and that the different overview components complement each other as they focus on different information search needs.

Originality/value

– Obtaining semantic data sets overviews cannot be easily done with the current semantic web browsers. Overviews become difficult to achieve with large heterogeneous data sets, which is typical in the Semantic Web, because traditional IA techniques do not easily scale to large data sets. There is little or no support to obtain overview information quickly and easily at the beginning of the exploration of a new data set. This can be a serious limitation when exploring a data set for the first time, especially for lay-users. The proposal is to reuse and adapt existing IA components to provide this overview to users and show that they can be generated automatically from the thesaurus and ontologies that structure semantic data while providing a comparable user experience to traditional web sites.
Introduction: innovation in Latin America
Authors: Ketelhöhn Niels , Ogliastri Enrique
Published: November 2014

Purpose

The purpose of this article is to summarize the basic literature and concepts of innovation and entrepreneurship, emphasizing the relevant studies for Latin America. The authors aim to assess the role of Latin America in the world innovative activity utilizing the production of USPTO patents.

Design/methodology/approac

To achieve the first objective, the authors review and summarize the relevant literature for innovation and entrepreneurship in Latin America. They also introduce each of the papers included in the current special issue of Academia. To achieve the second objective, the authors use the production of USPTO patents by Latin American residents, and examine those levels to the rest of the world.

Findings

The authors find Latin America to be a marginal contributor to the world innovative activity. Although the region represented 8.7 per cent of world GDP in 2011, it only generated 0.19 per cent of the world patents registered at the USPTO between 2008 and 2012, and only 0.17 per cent of all patents registered since 1976. However, countries such as Costa Rica and Uruguay have larger levels of patent production by 100,000 inhabitants with 7.05 and 4.72 for 1976-2012.

Originality/value

This introduction introduces work that continues the intense discussion on innovation and entrepreneurship in Latin America. It is to the extent of the authors' knowledge, one of the first attempts to measure the level of innovation at the regional level, and compare the performance of different countries. This special edition has implications for individuals, firms and governments striving to introduce new products, services and processes in a region that has historically confronted important barriers to innovation.
The efficiency of the future market for Brazilian live cattle
Authors: de Oliveira Neto Odilon José , Gallo Garcia Fabio
Published: November 2014

Purpose

This paper investigates the efficiency of the futures market for Brazilian live cattle to predict prices in the spot market of Argentinian steers. The lack of derivatives related to the beef market in the futures exchange in Argentina was the main factor behind the decision to analyse the efficiency of the Brazilian live cattle futures as a predictor of spot prices of Argentinian steers.

Design/methodology/approach

We opted to employ the efficient markets hypothesis to approach the question. The hypothesis that futures prices are non‐biased predictors of spot prices is considered to be a true proposition only if the efficient markets hypothesis is not rejected. In methodological terms, the efficiency of the futures market for Brazilian live cattle relative to the spot market of Argentinian steers was verified using the Johansen co‐integration test. A vector error correction model – which enables verification of the question of bias in the prediction of prices, was used to estimate the long‐term equilibrium between spot and futures prices.

Findings/originality/value

The results provided no evidence of bias in the prediction of prices and found the predictive efficiency of the Brazilian live cattle futures market relative to the spot market of Argentinians steers to be approximately 80 per cent. Thus, the future prices of Brazilian live cattle can expressly assist participants in the Argentinian beef production chain to predict the spot prices of steers.
A hazard analysis methodology for the South African abattoir hygiene management system
Authors: Govender Reuben
Published: November 2014

Purpose

– Hazard analysis critical control point (HACCP) systems facilitate a preventative and systematic approach to control food safety hazards through critical control points (CCPs). Hazards are prevented, eliminated or reduced to acceptable levels. The regulated South African abattoir hygiene management system (HMS) has adopted HACCP principles. Control points (CPs) represent the central feature of control within the HMS. However, there are no guidelines to conduct hazard analysis within the HMS. There is also no guideline to identify CPs. The purpose of this paper is to present a hazard analysis methodology that may be used at South African abattoirs to overcome these shortcomings.

Design/methodology/approach

– A review of SANS 10330:2007 (HACCP) and the regulated HMS standards was undertaken. A generic HACCP plan was developed for a hypothetical bovine processing abattoir. A proposed hazard analysis methodology was used to analyse generic hazards to determine its significance. Thereafter, CCPs were identified using the CCP decision tree. This was done to enable meaningful comparison between HACCP-based CCPs and HMS-based CPs. The hazard analysis methodology suggested by the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC) namely, the two dimensional health risk assessment model used to assess the significance of food safety hazards was used as a benchmark.

Findings

– The management of CPs in a HMS plan is similar to control contemplated in a HACCP plan. It was found that regulated CPs are not specifically stated as CPs, they need to be identified. Also, not all regulated CPs addressed the significant hazards that were identified using the proposed methodology in this paper. Managing only regulated CPs in the HMS plan may likely offer limited control over hazards. Therefore, hazards analysis is important to identify significant hazards and in turn, CPs that provide more comprehensive control within the HMS in addition to exercising control using only regulated CPs. It was observed that there are no decision criteria available to identify CPs, unlike HACCP. It was proposed that because CPs are defined similar to CCPs, that the CCP decision tree be used to identify CPs.

Originality/value

– A hazard analysis methodology was proposed to develop the HMS as well as steps towards its development. A decision guideline was also presented to facilitate extracting CPs from regulations. Important definitions lacking in regulations, and relating to the HMS, have also been proposed in this paper. More robust HMSs may be developed by identifying regulated CPs as well as identifying them through hazard analysis.
Food rescue – an Australian example
Authors: Lindberg Rebecca , Lawrence Mark , Gold Lisa , Friel Sharon
Published: November 2014

Purpose

– Food rescue is used in the emergency food sector internationally to reduce waste and improve food supplies to frontline providers and their clients. The purpose of this paper is to provide a perspective on why and how food rescue occurs in Australia. It also examines food rescue as a potential evolution within the emergency food setting.

Design/methodology/approach

– A descriptive study of SecondBite, an Australian food rescue organisation, was conducted. Documents were reviewed, 14 weeks of participant observation occurred, and two focus group discussions were held. Framing analysis was used to design the research questions (why rescue food? and how?). The description of the organisation was then examined against critical literature to establish how food rescue conforms to and/or challenges the traditional limitations of emergency food.

Findings

– Food rescue requires multiple resources within the emergency food space including surplus food, funding and labour. The frames used to justify this work provide an insight into the “problem” of food poverty in Australia and the “solution” of food rescue. The script for “people in need” requiring “fresh food” is well developed by SecondBite, with some tension around food waste reduction as a competing and yet complementary mission.

Originality/value

– In light of the growing role of the not for profit sector in a “big society” political order, the rescuing of nutritious food for emergency parcels and meals, may provide some benefits for people already using emergency food. The opportunity for food rescue organisations to play a role in food poverty prevention requires further attention.
Food banks, welfare, and food insecurity in Canada
Authors: Tarasuk Valerie , Dachner Naomi , Loopstra Rachel
Published: November 2014

Purpose

– Similar to the recent emergence of food banks in other affluent nations, the genesis and ultimate entrenchment of food banks in Canada has been tightly intertwined with the dismantling of the welfare state. Through an examination of Canadian data, the authors elucidate the implications of entrenching voluntary, extra-governmental, charitable food assistance programs as an adjunct to publicly funded social assistance programs. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

– Publicly available food bank reports, population health survey data, and the results of a study of low-income families in Toronto are reviewed to examine the food security status of social assistance recipients and their use of food banks.

Findings

– In 2012, 70 percent of households in Canada who were reliant on social assistance were food insecure. Social assistance recipients comprise at least half of food bank clientele and have done so for as long as this information has been tracked, but the assistance provided by food banks appears insufficient to alter households’ food insecurity. Although food banks currently distribute over 200 million pounds of food annually, the scale of their operations pales in comparison to the food needs of those who seek their help.

Originality/value

– In the 30 years since food banks began in Canada, there has been considerable research into this response, as well as extensive population monitoring of food insecurity. Canada provides an informative case study of an affluent country's long-term dependency on charitable food assistance and the impact this has on the food insecurity of those reliant on social assistance programs.
The “dark side” of food banks? Exploring emotional responses of food bank receivers in the Netherlands
Authors: van der Horst Hilje , Pascucci Stefano , Bol Wilma
Published: November 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to address how food, social status as well as the interactions at the food bank induce emotions in receivers, such as shame, gratitude and anger. Since early 2000s a steadily growing number of low-income and/or over-indebted households in the Netherlands alleviate their situation with food donations from local food banks. Such food banks collect from companies edible food that would otherwise have gone to waste. The growing demand for food assistance indicates it is a welcome contribution to the groceries in many households. However, receiving food assistance as well as eating the products forces the receivers to set aside embodied dispositions towards food and norms about how to obtain food. Furthermore, it places them in interactions of charitable giving that may be harmful to the self-esteem of receivers.

Design/methodology/approach

– The paper is based on a qualitative study at a food bank in the Netherlands, consisting among others of in-depth interviews with 17 receivers of food assistance, observations and several interviews with volunteers.

Findings

– Of all emotions that were expressed during the interviews, shame appeared as the most prominent. Particularly issues of shame emerged in relation to all three food-bank-related experiences: the content of the crate, the interaction with volunteers and lastly the understanding of one's positioning in a social hierarchy. While shame can be a very private emotion – even talking about being ashamed can be shameful – it is also an utterly social emotion.

Originality/value

– This research is among the few ones explicitly addressing emotional emotions related to receivers in food bank.
Availability, cost and nutritional composition of gluten-free products
Authors: Bagolin do Nascimento Amanda , Medeiros Rataichesck Fiates Giovanna , dos Anjos Adilson , Teixeira Evanilda
Published: November 2014

Purpose

– A gluten-free diet is the only possible treatment for coeliac disease, but studies about the nutritional content of gluten-free products and coeliac individual's diet quality are scarce. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the availability, price, and nutritional composition of gluten-free products in retail stores of a Brazilian capital city.

Design/methodology/approach

– All retail stores listed by the Brazilian Coeliac Association as gluten-free product selling places in the city of Florianópolis were visited. All available products were catalogued and their labels analysed for nutritional content. Similar gluten-containing products were systematically selected in order to allow comparisons. t-test, analyses of covariance, and cluster analysis were performed, all considering a 5 per cent significance level.

Findings

– Availability and variety of gluten-free products was limited and prices were high. Cluster analysis found similarities in the nutritional content of gluten-free and conventional food products, suggesting that although raw materials different than wheat were being employed, the composition patterns are the same. Certain advantages in the composition of gluten-free products were observed, regarding mainly calories and sodium, however, protein and dietary fibre values were inferior.

Social implications

– Results observed may negatively impact diet adherence and stimulate the intake of conventional products with harmful consequences to the quality of life and health of coeliac individuals.

Originality/value

– This paper conducted a careful evaluation of nutrition composition of gluten-free products from different categories, available in retail stores, which is rare in researches on this topic. Moreover, results call attention to the need of better care in product formulation and dietary guidance for coeliac individuals.
Extra-virgin olive oil production sustainability in northern Italy: a preliminary study
Authors: Menozzi Davide
Published: November 2014

Purpose

– Sustainability of the origin-based production and promotion system of a geographical indication (GI) depends on the remuneration from the market and the local resources reproduction. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the sustainability and the development of olive growing and extra-virgin olive oil production in the Emilia Provinces (northern Italy) using the origin-based quality virtuous circle as a conceptual framework.

Design/methodology/approach

– In total, 11 personal interviews and one focus group with six olive producers were conducted to assess the product potential and the willingness to set up rules for value creation and preservation of local resources. A survey of 100 extra-virgin olive oil consumers was performed to examine the product perception and consumers’ willingness to pay.

Findings

– The origin-based quality virtuous circle was used as a conceptual framework to deal with the different aspects involved in the development and sustainability of the GI system. The results show that the value creation and preservation process of extra-virgin olive oil production in the Emilia Provinces has good potential, although many problems still exist, such as a lack of technical and agronomic expertise, and the lack of organisation among the producers. These weaknesses should be addressed to enhance the potential for sustainable development of the GI system.

Practical implications

– The creation of a GI organisation, such as a Consortium, may play a central role in coordinating collective action, such as providing technical assistance, managing the internal rules and controls system along the supply chain, and the marketing and communication strategies.

Social implications

– The future development of olive production, by reducing the risk of land abandonment, would contribute to landscape protection and improvement of the geological structure of the Emilia hilly areas, which are under serious threat of soil erosion and landslide events.

Originality/value

– This study represents the first attempt to evaluate the economic and development potential of olive growing and extra-virgin olive oil production in non-specialised areas, using the origin-based quality virtuous circle as a conceptual framework.
Labelling fish products to fulfil Norwegian consumers’ needs for information
Authors: Altintzoglou Themistoklis , Helen Nøstvold Bjørg
Published: November 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to examine how Norwegian consumers consider information during making the decision to buy and consume fish products.

Design/methodology/approach

– Validated questionnaires, adapted based on a pre-study, were completed by Norwegian volunteers. Participants were randomly recruited by telephone and were at least 50 per cent responsible for the food in the household. The survey included questions about: first, use of and trust in information sources; second, use of and interest in information cues; third, objective and subjective knowledge; and fourth, fish consumption and buying behaviour.

Findings

– The results of this study (n=713) led to three consumer segments: “Label trusters” (40 per cent), “Info skippers” (19 per cent) and “Info seekers” (41 per cent) with significant (p<0.001) differences in use of and trust in information sources and reactions to information cues. Particular needs of these clusters regarding product labelling were identified.

Social implications

– Increased product visibility and simplified product packaging with selective and targeted information for each consumer group will lead to a better differentiation of fish products in a competitive market and hence to an increased consumption of health-promoting fish by the Norwegian population.

Originality/value

– This manuscript is one of the few that shows how particular types of labelling could be summarised, minimised or moved in order to reach potential consumers with a better presented product that carries information in more strategic placement than what one can find on current seafood packaging.
The adaptive change of the Italian Food Bank foundation: a case study
Authors: Santini Cristina , Cavicchi Alessio
Published: November 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to examine the case of the Italian Food Bank Foundation, highlighting how ongoing global and European challenges are pushing the organization to adapt and change. The paper aims to identify the new role that the Italian Food Bank should play in response to these new challenges.

Design/methodology/approach

– A case study was developed. Data were collected through the combination of a survey and in depth interviews with people working for the organization.

Findings

– Although the Food Bank has done a lot to improve its delivery of food aid and to respond to changing needs, it appears that the organization has not pursued a clearly defined strategy, and thus it should adopt a strategic mindset.

Originality/value

– The paper provides details on the Italian Food Bank and the importance of adaptation to and management of change. Moreover this is the first attempt to describe the work of the Fondazione Banco Alimentare Onlus for an international readership.
Rising use of “food aid” in the United Kingdom
Authors: Lambie-Mumford Hannah , Dowler Elizabeth
Published: November 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to present the findings from two recent reviews on food aid use in the UK and discuss their implications and the challenges they posed for researchers, policy makers and the voluntary and community sector.

Design/methodology/approach

– The paper draws on two research reviews conducted in 2013 and 2014.

Findings

– Whilst it is possible to draw important insights into key drivers of food aid use, how food aid is draw on by recipients and some of the perceived outcomes of the provision from the research that is available, ultimately the reviews highlight the emergent and largely unsystematic nature of the UK evidence base. The lack of agreed definitions and measures of food insecurity/food poverty further limits the knowledge base. Even where such evidence may be forthcoming, in terms of implementing effective solutions to the need for food aid, UK researchers, policy makers, NGOs and others face considerable challenges in terms of identifying responsibilities for addressing the causes of this need, which the most effective scale for response may be (local or national) and finally, overcoming a highly complex and not necessarily co-ordinated policy framework.

Originality/value

– The paper provides a critical overview of the state of knowledge on food aid in the UK.
Structure, agency, and notions of career success
Authors: Afiouni Fida , M. Karam Charlotte
Published: November 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to explore notions of career success from a process-oriented perspective. The authors argue that success can be usefully conceptualized as a subjectively malleable and localized construct that is continually (re)interpreted and (re)shaped through the interaction between individual agency and macro-level structures.

Design/methodology/approach

– The paper employs a qualitative methodology drawing on 32 in-depth semi-structured interviews with female academics from eight countries in the Arab Middle East.

Findings

– Findings of this study provide an empirical validation of the suggested Career Success Framework and moves toward an integrative model of objective and subjective career success criteria. More specifically, the findings showed that women's definitions of success are: first, localized in that they capture considerations relating to predominant institutions in the region (i.e. family and gender ideology); second, subjectively malleable in that they capture women's agency embedded in specific macro-level structures; and finally, process oriented in that they reflect a dynamic interaction between the structure agency as well as the subsequent actions, strategies, and behaviors women adopt to alleviate tension and reach their personal notions of career success.

Practical implications

– The authors suggest that there may be value in customizing human resource management policies in the region around the salience of family and community service. Moreover, organizations can play a pivotal role in supporting women to work through the experienced tensions. Examples of such support are mentoring programs, championing female role models, and designing corporate social responsibility initiatives geared toward shifting mandated gender structures in the region. Finally, the authors argue that organizations could benefit by supporting women's atypical patterns of career engagement to allow for interactions with wider circles of stakeholders such as the community. This requires organizations to rethink their career success criteria to allow for the integration of non-traditional elements of career.

Social implications

– Adopting a more process-oriented view of career success avoids reification by drawing attention to local macro-level structures as well as individual agency. It also suggests that existing norms for how “success” is understood are only one element in a wider process of what it means to be “successful”, thereby opening space for more diverse and localized conceptualizations.

Originality/value

– This paper provides a more process-oriented consideration of career success, highlighting the importance of understanding how perceived tensions shape an individual's behaviors, actions, and career strategies. The value of this contribution is that it allows us to better understand the complex interaction of structure and agency in shaping an individual's notions of career success.
Role models: expatriate gender diversity pipeline or pipe-dream?
Authors: Shortland Susan
Published: November 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to examine the extent to which – and how – female expatriate role models support women to take up expatriate assignments in the male-dominated oil and gas industry.

Design/methodology/approach

– The research uses data from a census survey of female expatriates supported by semi-structured interviews with a stratified sample of the survey respondents, triangulated with interviews with human resource (HR) professionals and analysis of organizational policy relevant to expatriation.

Findings

– Potential assignees value the information that women role models can provide on living in challenging, masculine locations. Role models are particularly important to women undertaking unaccompanied assignments and also when assignment periods exceed traditional lengths. Current female expatriates do not view themselves as role models, despite HR professionals recognizing their value in inspiring women's expatriation.

Research limitations/implications

– This research was set in a sector with very few female expatriate role models. Further research is needed to understand the influence of role models on women's expatriation in different sectors and organizations with greater female role model representation.

Practical implications

– Training for current assignees, time to be set aside within work duties and communications links to enable current and returned female expatriates to connect with potential assignees are needed to widen expatriate gender diversity.

Originality/value

– This research contributes to theory by linking the importance of role models to women's career stages. It proposes a new theoretical contribution by linking role model importance to the types of assignments women undertake. Practical suggestions for organizations are given to widen expatriate gender diversity via support for role models.
The empirical study on patient loyalty
Authors: Sumaedi Sik , Gede Mahatma Yuda Bakti I , Rakhmawati Tri , J. Astrini Nidya , Widianti Tri , Yarmen Medi
Published: November 2014

Purpose

– The purpose this paper is to investigate the simultaneous effects of satisfaction, perceived value, and trust on loyalty in healthcare services.

Design/methodology/approach

– This research used a quantitative research methodology. The data collection was performed using a survey method. The respondents of this study are 165 patients in a healthcare institution in Bekasi, Indonesia. Multiple regression analysis was carried out to analyze the data.

Findings

– The results demonstrated that trust has a positive influence on patient loyalty. However, this research also found that satisfaction and perceived value has no significant impact on patient loyalty.

Research limitations/implications

– The research was conducted only in one healthcare service institution in Bekasi using convenience sampling. Thus, the findings need to be further examined in different context in order to ensure their stability.

Practical implications

– The findings can be used as valuable information for healthcare service institution managers in their efforts to improve patient loyalty.

Originality/value

– This paper fills a literature gap by developing and testing a patient loyalty model that includes not only satisfaction, but also perceived value and trust.