Open Access
Has the global financial crisis had different effects on innovation performance in the agri-food sector by comparison to the rest of the economy?
(Elsevier, 2016) Zouaghi, Ferdaous; Sánchez García, Mercedes; Gestión de Empresas; Enpresen Kudeaketa; Universidad Pública de Navarra / Nafarroako Unibertsitate Publikoa
Background. The globalization and expansion of financial markets and the current economic crisis are changing the rules. Innovation has ceased to be part of the business strategy in many companies. However, in other companies innovation still plays a fundamental role in the improvement of performance and in maintaining competitive advantages in today's global markets. This is particularly the case in the agri-food industry; we will see here how innovations have become an important instrument for companies in this sector. Scope and approach. The main purpose is to determine the impact of this global financial crisis on the probability of firms introducing technological and non-technological innovations as well as on radical and incremental innovations and the use of innovation inputs. The analysis is based on panel data from the Technological Innovation Panel (PITEC) for Spanish firms between 2008 and 2012. We estimated random-effects Logit and Tobit models. Key findings and conclusions. This manuscript explores that the economic crisis has had a significant and negative impact on firms' innovative performance and on the effort made by the firms in assigning resources for R&D. A crisis affects technological innovations to a greater extent, as well as small companies, those which carry out less internal R&D and cooperation efforts. However, innovating firms are proved to obtain better results both in economic and productive terms. Further to that, the agri-food sector innovative behavior has been less affected by the crisis than the rest of the economic sectors.
Open Access
Food neophobia, life satisfaction and family eating habits in university students
(Escola Nacional de Saúde Pública Sergio Arouca, 2017) Schnettler, Berta; Höger, Yesli; Orellana, Ligia; Miranda, Horacio; Sánchez García, Mercedes; Gestión de Empresas; Enpresen Kudeaketa
El objetivo fue categorizar a los estudiantes universitarios en base a la asociación entre la neofobia alimentaria y los niveles de bienestar subjetivo general (y específico del dominio alimentario), además de la percepción de los estudiantes, en relación con los hábitos alimentarios de la familia. Se realizó una encuesta entre 372 universitarios del sur de Chile. El cuestionario incluyó la Food Neophobia Scale (FNS), Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS), Satisfaction with Food-related Life (SWFL), Health-related Quality of Life Index (HRQOL-4) y Family Eating Habits Questionnaire (FEHQ). El análisis de clústeres distinguió tres tipos de universitarios: el grupo 1 (26,9%) obtuvo las puntuaciones más altas en la FNS, SWLS y SWFL. El grupo 2 (40,8%) tuvo una puntuación alta en la FNS, aunque con puntuaciones más bajas en la SWLS y SWFL. El grupo 3 (32,3%) tuvo la FNS más baja y puntuaciones altas en la SWLS y SWFL. El grupo 2 se destacó por tener una puntuación baja en el componente del FEHQ, referente a la cohesión de la alimentación familiar. Los resultados sugieren que estudiantes neofóbicos y no-neofóbicos tienen niveles positivos de satisfacción con la vida, y con la vida relacionada con la alimentación, y que la satisfacción entre estudiantes neofóbicos está relacionada con los patrones alimentarios de la familia, sobre todo con la cohesión de la alimentación familiar.
Open Access
The reformulation of a beef patty enriched with n-3 fatty acids and vitamin D3 influences consumers' response under different information scenarios
(MDPI, 2020) Beriain Apesteguía, María José; Gómez Bastida, Inmaculada; Sánchez García, Mercedes; Insausti Barrenetxea, Kizkitza; Sarriés Martínez, María Victoria; Ibáñez Moya, Francisco C.; Institute on Innovation and Sustainable Development in Food Chain - ISFOOD
The objective of this study was to investigate the sensory acceptability and willingness to pay (WTP) for a beef patty elaborated with beef from a local breed that was enriched with nutritional ingredients (vegetable oil mixture and vitamin D3). The experiment was conducted under two information scenarios (blind; full: ingredients used to enrich the patties in n-3 PUFA and vitamin D3). An in-home use test was carried out by 180 consumers to study consumer liking of two low-fat beef patties (C: conventional, M: modified). There were no differences in color and odor for the raw patties (p> 0.05). The sensory parameters of the cooked patties were assessed as being similar (p > 0.05) regardless of the information scenario. The sensory parameters remained crucial criteria for product acceptance and repeat purchase. Consumers positively evaluated the M patty. The information provided to consumers on the composition of the product influenced the response of consumers. It was also observed that the higher the education level of the consumer, the higher their scores for M beef patties in the blind scenario. It is thus necessary to implement appropriate marketing strategies in order to highlight the nutritional properties of the modified patties, making them competitive ahead of conventional patties.
Open Access
Knowledge drivers, business collaboration and competitiveness in rural and urban regions
(Springer, 2020) García-Álvarez Coque, José María; Roig Tierno, Norat; Sánchez García, Mercedes; Mas Verdu, Francisco; Gestión de Empresas; Enpresen Kudeaketa; Gobierno de Navarra / Nafarroako Gobernua, PI035 BINACS
Many rural regions are characterised by low technology-intensive activities. Their predominant focus is often on primary, agri-food, and natural resources and services sectors, and there is a competitive gap with respect to urban regions. The objective of this article is to determine the contribution of the innovation system to regional development, distinguishing between rural and urban regions. Qualitative comparative analysis was used to study 256 EU NUTS 2 regions. The analysis helped identify 'recipes' of drivers of regional competitiveness in rural and urban regions. These innovation recipes consist of varying combinations of private and public R&D expenditure, the presence or absence of top-ranked universities and the percentage of SMEs that collaborate in innovation activities. In rural regions, excellence in higher education combined with strong public and private R&D offers an important recipe for regional competitiveness. Alternative pathways include the presence of business collaboration as a driver of competitiveness.
Open Access
Comportamiento del consumidor navarro frente a los alimentos de nueva generación: alimentos transgénicos y alimentos funcionales
(Gobierno de Navarra, Departamento de Economía y Hacienda, 2003) Sánchez García, Mercedes; Barrena Figueroa, Ramo; Gestión de Empresas; Enpresen Kudeaketa
El mercado alimentario está siendo sometido en los países desarrollados a profundos cambios tanto desde el punto de vista de la oferta como de la demanda. El principal objetivo de este trabajo se centra en el análisis del proceso de aceptación por parte de los consumidores navarros de dos nuevas categorías de alimentos basadas en la aplicación de nuevas tecnologías en la industria agroalimentaria: los alimentos transgénicos (OGM) y los alimentos funcionales. La principal fuente de información será una encuesta personal dirigida a sendas muestras representativas de los adquirentes de alimentos para el hogar residentes en Navarra y en Madrid, lo que permitirá la comparación de los comportamientos observados entre ambas Comunidades Autónomas diferenciadas de forma importante en su estructura tanto de hábitat como de consumo alimentario. Los resultados se iniciarán con la presentación de los principales cambios observados en las actitudes de los consumidores hacia la influencia de la alimentación en su salud. En segundo lugar, se tratará de medir el desarrollo potencial de estos mercados- alimentos transgénicos y funcionales- basados en el riesgo percibido o en la confianza percibida hacia estas categorías de productos. Desde el punto de vista metodológico fundamentalmente se realizan análisis multivariantes de carácter descriptivo tanto para resumir la información (análisis factorial), como para detectar los patrones de los consumidores (análisis cluster), con el fin de analizar las variables de comportamiento más relevantes en el futuro desarrollo de estos mercados. Para finalizar, se propondrán algunas sugerencias de actuaciones comerciales a realizar por los diferentes agentes de la cadena alimentaria para garantizar la seguridad del consumidor y se describirán las principales limitaciones y algunas posibles ampliaciones del estudio.
Open Access
Agri-food 4.0: drivers and links to innovation and eco-innovation
(Elsevier, 2023) Calafat-Marzal, Consuelo; Sánchez García, Mercedes; Marti, L.; Puertas, R.; Gestión de Empresas; Enpresen Kudeaketa
Digital transformation affects all stages of the agri-food value chain. Digitalisation is being combined with innovations and eco-innovations to gain a competitive advantage and ensure greater sustained competitiveness. However, not all technologies have been implemented in the same way and at the same pace by the different companies in the agri-food sector. The aim of this research is to identify the internal and external drivers of digitalisation in agri-food companies and to develop a synthetic index to rank companies based on those drivers, before examining the relationship between the position in the ranking and innovation. The results reveal that the decisive drivers are management support and competitive pressure rather than external support from government policies or suppliers. Higher ranking companies in terms of the digitalisation process are more proactive in introducing product and radical innovations and are the most eco-innovative and thus sustainability-oriented. Finally, results show that the digitalisation of the sector is marked by the depth of technology implementation, specifically IoT, big data and artificial intelligence. Blockchain technology does not currently make a difference as it is not widely used.
Open Access
Geographical and cognitive proximity effects on innovation performance: which types of proximity for which types of innovation?
(Wiley, 2024) García Martínez, Marian; Zouaghi, Ferdaous; Sánchez García, Mercedes; Gestión de Empresas; Enpresen Kudeaketa; Universidad Pública de Navarra / Nafarroako Unibertsitate Publikoa
The purpose of the paper is to explore the multi-dimensional and intersecting nature of proximity to drive innovation performance. Applying a multidimensional proximity framework, the study provides a deeper understanding of the importance of substitution and overlap mechanisms in the relation between geographical and cognitive proximity dimensions in innovation performance. The paper further analyses the moderation effect of organisational innovation in this relationship. Multivariate analysis proves the interaction effects between geographical and cognitive proximity, where cognitive proximity both substitutes and complements geographical proximity. However, external knowledge search for innovation along proximity dimensions differs depending on the type of innovation. Our findings corroborate the proximity paradox caused by lock-in effects with the optimal level of proximity influenced by the interdependencies between proximity dimensions. This inverse U-shaped relationship is flatter for firms that have adopted organisational innovation. External knowledge linkages should be tailored to the favourable characteristic of proximity to enhance firm innovation performance.
Open Access
Did the global financial crisis impact firms' innovation performance? The role of internal and external knowledge capabilities in high and low tech industries
(Elsevier, 2018) Zouaghi, Ferdaous; Sánchez García, Mercedes; García Martínez, Marian; Gestión de Empresas; Enpresen Kudeaketa; Universidad Pública de Navarra / Nafarroako Unibertsitate Publikoa
This paper examines the role exerted by internal innovation efforts and external knowledge assets as dynamic capabilities to overcome adverse economic conditions. Additionally, we examine the differential impacts of the financial crisis in high and low-tech industries. Using panel data of manufacturing firms in Spain for the period 2006–2013, our results show that maintaining strong internal and external knowledge capabilities enables firms to mitigate the effects of the financial crisis. Findings emphasize the value of human capital, by enabling internal capabilities, as a coping mechanisms in low-tech sectors during the financial downturn. Similarly, open innovation allows firms to minimise the resources limitations and risk surrounding innovation, particularly during the financial crisis. This study provides valuable insights to managers aiming to develop strong internal knowledge bases to remain competitive under uncertain financial conditions.
Open Access
Business strategies, profitability and efficiency of production
(Instituto Nacional de Investigacion y Tecnologia Agraria y Alimentaria (INIA), 2013) Alarcón Lorenzo, Silverio; Sánchez García, Mercedes; Gestión de Empresas; Enpresen Kudeaketa
The strategy choices of market-oriented companies are a topic now under wide investigation in the analysis of business performance antecedents. The purpose of this study is to examine the outcomes of the combination of three different organizational strategies (market orientation, innovativeness and entrepreneurial orientation) on business performance indicators. Models using profitability and efficiency indicators are proposed with the specific aim of obtaining a deeper analysis of the relative roles played by each. The empirical work takes place in the agro-food industry in the Ebro Valley, one of Spain’s most competitive regions. The estimates from profitability quantile and truncated regressions of the efficiency scores reveal that market orientation has a positive effect on economic and productivity performance. The impact of pro-active, innovation-seeking, and risk-averse entrepreneurship is nevertheless more debatable, despite some influence of these entrepreneurial styles on observed performance values. This enables conclusions regarding the possibility of combining a market-oriented business culture with innovation and entrepreneurial activity with a view to obtaining business performance gains.
Open Access
Effects of food-related health concerns and risk perception on the consumption frequency of fresh vegetables
(Universidad Nacional de Cuyo (Argentina), 2019) Adasme Berríos, Cristian; Sánchez García, Mercedes; Mora, Marcos; Díaz Osorio, José; Schnettler, Berta; Lobos, Germán; Gestión de Empresas; Enpresen Kudeaketa
Consumir vegetales frescos sin duda trae beneficios a la salud, sin embargo, este tipo de productos también pueden contener elementos biológicos, químicos y tecnológicos que afecten la salud de las personas por falta de inocuidad de los alimentos. Con base en estudios previos, desarrollamos un modelo conceptual para explicar las principales relaciones entre la preocupación en salud ligada a los alimentos (FHC) y la percepción de riesgo (RP) sobre la frecuencia de consumo de hortalizas frescas (CFFV) desde el punto de vista de la inocuidad alimentaria. Se aplicó un cuestionario estructurado a 1028 consumidores en las zonas Centro y Centro Sur de Chile, donde se concentran los principales sistemas de producción agrícola del país. A través de un modelo de ecua-ciones estructurales se determinó el efecto moderador de RP sobre la relación entre FHC y CFFV, lo que significa que CFFV es menor si RP está presente en las mentes de las personas. Impactando el efecto directo de FHC en CFFV. Por último, los resultados sugieren que la reducción de los riesgos asociados con la producción y comerciali-zación de hortalizas frescas, mejorará la preocupacióndebe mejorar los sistemas de vigilancia de las hortalizas frescas comercializadas en el mercado local.