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1 – 10 of 63Luis Fernando Pérez and Miguel I. Gómez
The purpose of this research is to study the Colombian avocado export industry, identify key insights associated with creating and sustaining the avocado value chain, and to…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this research is to study the Colombian avocado export industry, identify key insights associated with creating and sustaining the avocado value chain, and to understand the impact of the public policies affecting this industry.
Design/methodology/approach
The approach consists of two case studies to shed light on the opportunities and challenges of developing a sustainable avocado value chain in Colombia. One case deals with a vertically integrated business (Arcángel Miguel) while the other focuses on an association of small growers (Asohass). The analysis was informed by a series of interviews with key actors along the avocado supply chain to uncover the business strategies to move avocados to destination markets. The authors compare and contrast approaches to business development, international expansion, and role of public policies.
Findings
The authors found that the strategies followed by these organizations differ in means but aim for the same objective: maximize profits, improve environmental performance, and enhance the social wellbeing of growers. The authors found that each type of business model requires distinct public policies to succeed and different strategies to appropriately allocate efforts. The findings are relevant to other high-value crops and other Latin American countries with similar geographical and social characteristics.
Research limitations/implications
These insights underscore the need of public policies tailored to the specific needs of the different actors in the value chain. The current emphasis on certifications and export markets works well for large agribusinesses, but smallholder growers need policies tailored to new investments in physical, human, and social capital.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the literature on avocado value chains in Latin America, emphasizing the challenges faced by the emergent Colombia avocado sector, a country that only began exporting this commodity in 2010.
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Haya Al-Dajani, Nupur Pavan Bang, Rodrigo Basco, Andrea Calabrò, Jeremy Chi Yeung Cheng, Eric Clinton, Joshua J. Daspit, Alfredo De Massis, Allan Discua Cruz, Lucia Garcia-Lorenzo, William B. Gartner, Olivier Germain, Silvia Gherardi, Jenny Helin, Miguel Imas, Sarah Jack, Maura McAdam, Miruna Radu-Lefebvre, Paola Rovelli, Malin Tillmar, Mariateresa Torchia, Karen Verduijn and Friederike Welter
This conceptual, multi-voiced paper aims to collectively explore and theorize family entrepreneuring, which is a research stream dedicated to investigating the emergence and…
Abstract
Purpose
This conceptual, multi-voiced paper aims to collectively explore and theorize family entrepreneuring, which is a research stream dedicated to investigating the emergence and becoming of entrepreneurial phenomena in business families and family firms.
Design/methodology/approach
Because of the novelty of this research stream, the authors asked 20 scholars in entrepreneurship and family business to reflect on topics, methods and issues that should be addressed to move this field forward.
Findings
Authors highlight key challenges and point to new research directions for understanding family entrepreneuring in relation to issues such as agency, processualism and context.
Originality/value
This study offers a compilation of multiple perspectives and leverage recent developments in the fields of entrepreneurship and family business to advance research on family entrepreneuring.
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Sandra Flores-Ureba, Clara Simon de Blas, Joaquín Ignacio Sánchez Toledano and Miguel Ángel Sánchez de Lara
This paper aims to define the efficiency achieved by urban transport companies in Spain concerning the resources they use, considering the type of management used for…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to define the efficiency achieved by urban transport companies in Spain concerning the resources they use, considering the type of management used for implementation, public-private, and size.
Design/methodology/approach
This study consisted of an analysis of the efficiency of 229 public-private urban transport operators during the period 2012–2021 using Data Envelopment Analysis, the Malmquist Index and inference estimators to determine productivity, efficiency change into Pure Technical Efficiency Change (PTECH), and scale efficiency change.
Findings
Based on the efficiency analysis, the authors concluded that of the 229 companies studied, more than 35 were inefficient in all analysed periods. Considering the sample used, direct management is considered significantly more efficient. It cannot be concluded that the size of these companies influences their efficiency, as the data show unequal development behaviours in the studied years.
Originality/value
This study provides arguments on whether there is a significant difference between the two types of management in the urban transport sector. It also includes firm size as a study variable, which has not been previously considered in other studies related to urban transport efficiency. Efficiency should be a crucial factor in determining funding allocation in this sector, as it encourages operators to optimize and improve their services.
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Esteban Lafuente and Miguel Á. García-Cestona
This paper investigates how past performance changes, prior CEO replacements and changes in the chairperson impact CEO turnover in public and large private businesses.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper investigates how past performance changes, prior CEO replacements and changes in the chairperson impact CEO turnover in public and large private businesses.
Design/methodology/approach
We analyze 1,679 CEO replacements documented in a sample of 1,493 Spanish public and private firms during 1998–2004 by computing dynamic binary choice models that control for endogeneity in CEO turnovers.
Findings
The results reveal that different performance horizons (short- and long-term) explain the dissimilar rate of CEO turnover between public and private firms. Private firms exercise monitoring patience and path dependency characterizes the evaluation of CEOs, while public companies' short-termism leads to higher CEO turnover rates as a reaction to poor short-term economic results, and alternative controls—ownership and changes in the chairperson—improve the monitoring of management.
Originality/value
Our results show the importance of controlling for path dependency to examine more accurately top executives' performance. The findings confirm that exposure to market controls affects the functioning of internal controls in evaluating CEOs and shows a short-term performance horizon that could be behind the recent moves of public firms going private or restraining shareholders' power.
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Miguel Gil, Kajsa Thor and Adam Gemheden
This study explores the relationship between innovation and tradition in family firms. By examining how these firms manage the potential tension between these two elements, the…
Abstract
Purpose
This study explores the relationship between innovation and tradition in family firms. By examining how these firms manage the potential tension between these two elements, the study aims to understand better how innovation and tradition coexist and support long-term survival across generations.
Design/methodology/approach
This study has a constructivist standpoint and follows a qualitative methodology. By conducting a comparative case study, the data are collected from semi-structured interviews with 10 participants in 4 case companies located in Sweden. The data are analysed using thematic analysis.
Findings
This study found that managing the tension between innovation and tradition is carried out through four mechanisms: forward thinking through heritage, paradoxical thinking, operational control and governance. Moreover, the study further shows the great importance of the concept of intergenerational learning in family firms in managing tension.
Originality/value
The findings from this study contribute to the existing literature in family firms concerning managing tradition and innovation by providing a novel conceptualisation of the mechanisms embedded in this process. Moreover, the article proposes a grounded model, which could be used in research and practice when dealing with similar issues.
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Amaia Maseda, Txomin Iturralde, Gloria Aparicio, Lotfi Boulkeroua and Sarah Cooper
In order to deepen our knowledge of governance of family firms, the purpose of this paper is to focus our attention on the relation between family owners who are members of the…
Abstract
Purpose
In order to deepen our knowledge of governance of family firms, the purpose of this paper is to focus our attention on the relation between family owners who are members of the board of directors and firm performance. Also, this study sheds more light on how the generation in charge of the family firm affects that relationship, as generational involvement may be a unique predictor of governance behavior in these firms.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors applied a cross-sectional ordinary least squares regression model to test the hypotheses on a sample of 313 non-listed Spanish family SMEs. The authors suggest the possibility of a non-linear relationship between the percentage of ownership by family members of the board of directors and firm performance, and specifically, the authors propose an S-shaped effect that implies two breakpoints.
Findings
The authors find not only that an inverted U-shaped relationship exists, but also an S-shaped relationship between family board members’ ownership and firm performance in family SMEs. Nevertheless, the results are different in comparing first-, second- and later-generation family firms.
Originality/value
This is one of the few empirical studies that examine the relationship between family board ownership and firm performance in the context of non-listed family SMEs. The authors consider that the influences of family directors on the board of directors as well as the concentration of family ownership on the board of directors are worth studying in non-listed family SMEs. Moreover, previous studies have focused mainly on large listed family firms but not on unlisted ones.
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Lluis Mas, Paul Bolls, Emma Rodero, Miguel Barreda-Ángeles and Ashley Churchill
The purpose of this study is to determine how sonic logo’s acoustic features (intensity, pitch and pace) based on melodic tunes with no voice orient the response of consumers…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to determine how sonic logo’s acoustic features (intensity, pitch and pace) based on melodic tunes with no voice orient the response of consumers, attract attention, elicit levels of pleasantness and calmness and transmit brand personality traits.
Design/methodology/approach
A within-subject experimental factorial design is applied to measure emotional arousal (indexed as electrodermal activity) and enhancement on perceptual processing (indexed as heart rate), as well as self-reported factors, namely, calmness/excitement, pleasantness and brand personality scales.
Findings
Results show a significant increase on electrodermal activity associated with fast-paced sonic logos and a decrease in heart rate in slow-paced long sonic logos. Also, fade-up, pitch-ascending fast sonic logos are defined as more exciting and descending-pitch sonic logos as more pleasant.
Research limitations/implications
The use of sonic logos with no voice does limit its implications. Besides, the use of three variables simultaneously with 18 versions of sonic logos in a laboratory setting may have driven participants to fatigue; hence, findings should be cautiously applied.
Practical implications
First, sonic logos are best processed in a fade-up form. Second, fast pace is recommended to orient response, whereas slow pace is recommended to transmit calmness. Practitioners may opt for fast-paced sonic logos if the design is new or played in a noisy environment and opt for slow-paced sonic logos in already highly recognized sound designs.
Originality/value
To the best of authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to combine psychophysiological measures and self-reported scales in a laboratory experiment on how sonic logo’s acoustic features orient response, transmit emotions and personality traits.
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