Open Access
Innovation models in the agri-food sector. An example of development of a new raw meat product
(2016) Zouaghi, Ferdaous; Cantalejo Díez, María Jesús; Sánchez García, Mercedes; Tecnología de Alimentos; Elikagaien Teknologia; Universidad Pública de Navarra / Nafarroako Unibertsitate Publikoa
Las principales aportaciones de esta tesis en el campo de la innovación en las industrias alimentarias se resumen en cuatro puntos: El primer estudio muestra la importancia de la innovación en los sectores agroalimentarios como mecanismo clave para su crecimiento e incluso para sobrevivir en tiempos económicos difíciles. Además, supone la influencia ejercida por diferentes fuentes de innovación para mejorar el desempeño innovador de las empresas en los próximos años. El segundo trabajo también contribuye a la Teoría de Recursos y Capacidades, destacando el papel de la capacidad de absorción de la empresa tales como los conocimientos y las habilidades, los cuales parecen ser factores clave para la utilización eficaz y la integración del conocimiento externo necesario para obtener mayores resultados de innovación. El tercer capítulo analiza las implicaciones de las técnicas de procesamiento de alimentos así como sus futuras aplicaciones o integración en la cadena de suministro de alimentos con el objetivo de producir alimentos seguros que respondan a las necesidades del mercado y a las expectativas del consumidor. El cuatro estudio agrega los beneficios de las innovaciones en las tecnologías de envasado en atmósfera modificada para proporcionar una mejor calidad sensorial de los nuevos productos cárnicos para llegar a mercados potenciales y satisfacer las demandas del consumidor.
Open Access
Factores determinantes de la rentabilidad económica de empresas innovadoras agroalimentarias: un análisis multinivel con datos longitudinales
(Universitat Politècnica de València, 2014) Zouaghi, Ferdaous; García Álvarez-Coque, J. M.; Sánchez García, Mercedes; Gestión de Empresas; Enpresen Kudeaketa
Este estudio tiene como objetivo investigar el papel de los factores internos de la empresa y las características del entorno macroeconómico como la ubicación geográfica (factor territorial) en la rentabilidad económica de las empresas de la Comunidad Autónoma Valenciana. Para ello, se analizaron 215 empresas innovadoras del sector agroalimentario, las cuales operan en 46 sistemas de trabajo locales (LLS) durante el periodo 2006-2012. Se aplica un modelo jerárquico en tres niveles para determinar la importancia relativa de los efectos tiempo, empresa y territorio sobre la rentabilidad económica. Los resultados muestran que las características de la empresa son las más importantes en la explicación del rendimiento de las empresas.
Open Access
Alliances types and new product development in agri-food firms: the moderating effect of firm internal capability
(Universitat Politécnica de València, 2015) Zouaghi, Ferdaous; Gestión de Empresas; Enpresen Kudeaketa
In today's dynamic business environment, agri-food firms have attempted to achieve greater supply chain collaboration (upstream, horizontal and downstream alliances) to leverage valuable knowledge from university, public research institutions and clients. This finding corroborates our understanding how firm¿s benefits from of these alliance for achieving new products. Results indicate that an agri-food firm needs to have an adequate level of internal capability to benefit more from their partner's alliances.
Open Access
Creating value via strategic alliances in EU food sector: the role of intellectual capital in knowledge exploration
(Universidad Miguel Hernández, 2017) Zouaghi, Ferdaous; Sánchez García, Mercedes; García Martínez, Marian; Gestión de Empresas; Enpresen Kudeaketa; Institute for Advanced Research in Business and Economics - INARBE
Co-operation may become necessary in food sector because internal resources are insufficient to monitor their partners. This study examines how EU food SMEs uses their networks and how SMEs managers can operationally leverage the value created by strategic alliances into commercially viable products. More importantly, we emphasize that the effects of collaboration partners on innovation performance can be achieved not only directly, but also via the indirect effect of firm¿s intellectual capital to enhance cross-border knowledge transfer. Using two waves of the European Community Innovation Survey (Cis-2010 and Cis-2012), those research findings are expected to provide SME food firms the availability to better reorganize their external knowledge needs when different partners are involved.
Open Access
Navigating firm financial distress in turbulent times: the impact of the institutional context
(Wiley, 2024-08-08) Zouaghi, Ferdaous; García Marco, María Teresa; García Martínez, Marian; Institute for Advanced Research in Business and Economics - INARBE; Universidad Pública de Navarra / Nafarroako Unibertsitate Publikoa, PJUPNA2024-11704
This paper explores the impact of environmental practices on firm financial distressduring the COVID-19 pandemic in both emerging and developed countries. Analysinga sample of 12,181 firm observations from 2016 to 2021, our results indicate thatadopting of environmental practices leads to reduced financial distress and morecrisis-resilient economies. The mitigating effect of environmental practices is morepronounced in developed countries. This study provides crucial implications for gov-ernments and policymakers, emphasizing the importance of encouraging firms toadopt environmental practices to reduce the likelihood of default.
Open Access
An extended behavior model for explaining the willingness to pay to reduce the air pollution in road transportation
(Elsevier, 2021) Sánchez García, Mercedes; Zouaghi, Ferdaous; Lera López, Fernando; Faulín Fajardo, Javier; Enpresen Kudeaketa; Ekonomia; Estatistika, Informatika eta Matematika; Institute on Innovation and Sustainable Development in Food Chain - ISFOOD; Institute for Advanced Research in Business and Economics - INARBE; Institute of Smart Cities - ISC; Gestión de Empresas; Economía; Estadística, Informática y Matemáticas
Road transportation constitutes a key sector in developed countries, as an essential catalyst for economic and social activities. Nevertheless, it is relevant to emphasize the negative impacts of this activity identified in Economics as negative externalities. At the European Union, road transportation is the main cause of the air pollution impact on the population. Thus, this study explores the factors that influence the willingness to pay (WTP) on behalf of the citizens to reduce air pollution generated by road transport. In doing so, we propose two fundamental theoretical frameworks to explain individual behavior towards the environment actions: the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) and the Value-Belief-Norm (VBN) models. A questionnaire survey with 1,612 residents was used to collect data in 65 localities located in the Spanish Pyrenees and performing a statistical analysis with the resulting data relied on application of Structural Equation Models (SEM). Moreover, the survey results highlight the importance of psychological aspects as predictors of proenvironmental behaviors. Our empirical results provide a novel contribution about how governments and educational policies can enhance the positive attitude towards environmental actions, unifying the struggle in favor of environmental protection from early childhood.
Open Access
Capturing value from alliance portfolio diversity: the mediating role of R&D human capital in high and low tech industries
(Elsevier, 2017) García Martínez, Marian; Zouaghi, Ferdaous; Sánchez García, Mercedes; Gestión de Empresas; Enpresen Kudeaketa; Universidad Pública de Navarra / Nafarroako Unibertsitate Publikoa
Research has demonstrated the value of external linkages to augment in-house R&D efforts; however, very little is known about how managers can operationally leverage the potential benefits of open innovation to create an innovative edge. This paper examines the value of alliance portfolio diversity and whether R&D human capital is the pathway through which alliance portfolio diversity influences innovation novelty. We reason that the absorptive capacity of R&D human capital determines a firm's potential gains from highly diverse alliance portfolios. Using data from the Spanish Technological Innovation Panel (PITEC) for the period 2005–2012, results support the curvilinear (inverted U-shaped) association between alliance portfolio diversity and firm innovation performance reported in studies, suggesting that not only too little, but also too much alliance portfolio diversity may be detrimental to firm innovation performance. Findings emphasise the value of alliance portfolio diversity in high-technology industries to achieve explorative performance objectives, given the technological complexity, market uncertainty and the divergent skill sets required for breakthrough innovations in these sectors. Further, we find evidence that R&D human capital plays an important role in innovation novelty by partially mediating the relationship between alliance partner diversity and firm innovation performance, emphasising the importance of internal capabilities to harness external knowledge assets. This study provides valuable insights to managers aiming to increase the effectiveness of their alliance portfolios.
Open Access
Product/process definition, technology adoption and workforce qualification: impact on performance
(Taylor & Francis, 2019) Bello Pintado, Alejandro; García Marco, María Teresa; Zouaghi, Ferdaous; Enpresen Kudeaketa; Institute for Advanced Research in Business and Economics - INARBE; Gestión de Empresas
This paper analyses the impact of manufacturing technologies (MTs) and workers' qualifications on labour productivity and flexibility, taking into account the product-process (P-P) strategy adopted by the company. This allows for a discussion about the well-known P-P matrix initially proposed by Hayes and Wheelwright (1994) in order to evaluate options of production systems. The empirical analysis is performed by means of a panel of data of 13 years for the Spanish manufacturing industry, which includes a total of 7741 observations. The results indicate a complementary effect between technology and skills to overcome the trade-offs of production systems.
Open Access
Casting a wide net for innovation: mediating effect of R&D human and social capital to unlock the value from alliance portfolio diversity
(Wiley, 2019) García Martínez, Marian; Zouaghi, Ferdaous; Sánchez García, Mercedes; Enpresen Kudeaketa; Institute for Advanced Research in Business and Economics - INARBE; Gestión de Empresas; Universidad Pública de Navarra / Nafarroako Unibertsitate Publikoa
This paper examines the performance effects associated with different alliance portfolio configurations in terms of geographical location and partner type. Based on these distinctions, the authors hypothesize that more diverse alliance portfolios enable firms to gain and exploit innovation opportunities. Additionally, the mediating effects of R&D human and social capital on the R&D alliance portfolio diversity-innovation performance relationship are explored. The authors reason that the absorptive capacity of R&D intellectual capital determines a firm's potential gains from highly diverse alliance portfolios. From panel data of manufacturing firms in Spain for the period 2008-2013, the results confirm the inverted U-shaped relationship between alliance portfolio diversity and firm innovation performance, implying that both insufficient and excessive alliance portfolio diversity may be detrimental to firm innovativeness. Additionally, R&D human and social capital partially mediates the R&D alliance diversity-innovation performance relationship, emphasizing the importance of internal capabilities to leverage the benefits of highly diverse alliance portfolios. These findings add a dynamic dimension to the conceptualization of alliance portfolios and how firms create value by balancing explorative and exploitative alliances.
Open Access
Study of modified atmosphere packaging on the quality of ozonated freeze-dried chicken meat
(Elsevier, 2016) Zouaghi, Ferdaous; Cantalejo Díez, María Jesús; Tecnología de Alimentos; Elikagaien Teknologia; Gobierno de Navarra / Nafarroako Gobernua; Universidad Pública de Navarra / Nafarroako Unibertsitate Publikoa
The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of different modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) conditions on the physicochemical and sensory properties of ozonated freeze-dried chicken meat stored at 21 ± 1 °C for 28 days. To this end, 14 MAP treatments were performed to obtain the most suitable packaging atmosphere.High concentrations of O2in MAP promoted loss of redness and increased the pH values. Moreover, when the concentration of CO2in MAP was more than 40%, high values of textural parameters and low scores of sensory hardness and chewiness were achieved. The 20%CO2/80%N2 gas combination was found to be the most effective treatment for best maintaining the physicochemical and sensory quality of ozonated dried chicken samples similar to that of raw meat.