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In his 1985 book, Competitive Advantage, Michael Porter introduced the concept of the value chain and described it as “a systematic way of examining all activities a firm performs and how they interact, (necessary) for analyzing the sources of competitive advantage,” and introduced the idea of “linkages,” which was the real breakthrough in management thinking. Thinking of a firm as a series of horizontal and vertical linkages put the spotlight on the silo mentality within which firms operated and how business schools structured curriculum. The silo mentality caused business students unable to see the firm as a holistic entity, an understanding of how all of its parts fit together to develop competitive advantage. Students graduating with a silo mentality perpetuated the silo mentality in business firms. This book draws together existing knowledge to help facilitate the shift of mind necessary to effectively manage the value chain, and introduces a new conception of the value chain, one that has been copyrighted (2006) and provides a new perspective of the value chain commensurate with the demands of the 21st-century global economy.
The U.S. economy is highly dynamic: businesses open and close, workers switch jobs and start new enterprises, and innovative technologies redefine the workplace and enhance productivity. With globalization markets have also become more interconnected. Measuring business activity in this rapidly evolving environment increasingly requires tracking complex interactions among firms, establishments, employers, and employees. Understanding Business Dynamics presents strategies for improving the accuracy, timeliness, coverage, and integration of data that are used in constructing aggregate economic statistics, as well as in microlevel analyses of topics ranging from job creation and destruction and firm entry and exit to innovation and productivity. This book offers recommendations that could be enacted by federal statistical agencies to modernize the measurement of business dynamics, particularly the production of information on small and young firms that can have a disproportionately large impact in rapidly expanding economic sectors. It also outlines the need for effective coordination of existing survey and administrative data sources, which is essential to improving the depth and coverage of business data.
This comprehensive overview of local food systems explores alternative definitions of local food, estimates market size and reach, describes the characteristics of local consumers and producers, and examines early indications of the economic and health impacts of local food systems. Defining ¿local¿ based on marketing arrangements, such as farmers selling directly to consumers at regional farmers¿ markets or to schools, is well recognized. Statistics suggest that local food markets account for a small, but growing, share of U.S. agricultural production. For smaller farms, direct marketing to consumers accounts for a higher percentage of their sales than for larger farms. Charts and tables.
"In this thesis, I investigate the market conditions and structures that hinder and promote firm innovations that result in market transformations, and the strategies that could be used to encourage market shifts towards more equity across SES. In doing this study, I analyze and deconstruct components of market infrastructure, and decision-making structures from firms, consumers and government. I adopt a system dynamics (SD) approach that allows for theory development into generalized statements. These statements are verified by data and policy insights. To motivate the study, I first conduct an empirical investigation set in the food market, which has faced increasing pressure over the past few decades to become more healthful. My research on consumer acceptance of healthful product innovations across SES is in two food categories: yogurts and cereals (Chapter 1). With this, I confirm that consumers respond to economics (pricing), convenience, differentiation and health factors when deciding on foods, and firms vary their strategies across SES regions.Next, I develop a framework of market structure and decision-making and a computational model to investigate market transformations. This framework builds on the empirical study from Chapter 1 by focusing on meso-level interactions among food producers, consumers, and non-producers in this environment. I draw upon extant research on the interactions between for-profit firms, consumers, and other actors in the market that constrain and promote market transformation to provide a logical and internally consistent dynamic framework to analyze market change. In this model, I hypothesize on causal links concerning social exposure and contagion of consumer behavior. I identify three mechanisms shaping market structure: (a) the development of firm capabilities (requiring for-profit actor investments), (b) the building of consumer consideration (through attention and exposure), and (c) the development of built complementary systems and institutions of the market. These three mechanisms serve as inertial forces that constrain market behavior, but they also serve as the means by which solutions to introducing equitable change occur. This model and the analysis provide a thorough framework to explain the differences in food consumption across SES observed in the empirical study in Chapter 1 (the second chapter after the introduction). I then conduct additional tests on sensitivity of market conditions that may differ across contexts in a submodel to support a discussion on model generalization across different contexts. In addition, I address future research and implications to research in market transformation (Chapter 3).Contributions from this thesis can be summarized in three parts. First, I produce a dynamic model that serves as a rigorous framework within which to analyze market-level forces that determine market structure. This model considers actions and decision-making structures from multiple actors. Second, I use this framework both to demonstrate why market actions are not enough to form purposeful market change across SES and to show the utility of multi-actor policy solutions to overcome the identified market barriers. Single-actor strategies typically target only one of the three recognized market mechanisms, while multi-actor, coordinated strategies overcome barriers through two or three of these mechanisms. Third, this framework and model contribute to research in market transformation in multiple lines of management literature, including addressing social issues, firm and individual collective action and innovation. This thesis accomplishes this goal through an inherent advantage of the SD approach because it takes a whole systems view, not favoring one actor over another." --
The Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 directed the U.S. Dept. of Agr. to conduct a 1-year study to assess the extent of areas with limited access to affordable and nutritious food, identify characteristics and causes of such areas, consider how limited access affects local populations, and outline recommend. to address the problem. This report presents the findings of the study, which include results from two conferences of national and internat. authorities on food deserts and a set of research studies. It also includes reviews of existing literature, a national-level assessment of access to large grocery stores and supermarkets, analysis of the economic and public health effects of limited access, and a discussion of existing policy interventions. Illus.
The rapid changes taking place in the structure and governance of national and regional agri-food markets in developing countries seriously affect the ability of agriculture, especially small-scale agriculture, to contribute to economic growth and sustainable development. Reconnecting Markets is the second volume of case examples from the Regoverning Markets programme (2005-2008). It focuses on the keys to inclusion of small-scale farmers and rural SMEs into dynamic national and regional markets. The cases document specific arrangements that appear to have played a positive role in supporting greater inclusion, such as public policies and business initiatives, collective action by farmers and support from development agencies.
Globalization of the food supply has created conditions favorable for the emergence, reemergence, and spread of food-borne pathogens-compounding the challenge of anticipating, detecting, and effectively responding to food-borne threats to health. In the United States, food-borne agents affect 1 out of 6 individuals and cause approximately 48 million illnesses, 128,000 hospitalizations, and 3,000 deaths each year. This figure likely represents just the tip of the iceberg, because it fails to account for the broad array of food-borne illnesses or for their wide-ranging repercussions for consumers, government, and the food industry-both domestically and internationally. A One Health approach to food safety may hold the promise of harnessing and integrating the expertise and resources from across the spectrum of multiple health domains including the human and veterinary medical and plant pathology communities with those of the wildlife and aquatic health and ecology communities. The IOM's Forum on Microbial Threats hosted a public workshop on December 13 and 14, 2011 that examined issues critical to the protection of the nation's food supply. The workshop explored existing knowledge and unanswered questions on the nature and extent of food-borne threats to health. Participants discussed the globalization of the U.S. food supply and the burden of illness associated with foodborne threats to health; considered the spectrum of food-borne threats as well as illustrative case studies; reviewed existing research, policies, and practices to prevent and mitigate foodborne threats; and, identified opportunities to reduce future threats to the nation's food supply through the use of a "One Health" approach to food safety. Improving Food Safety Through a One Health Approach: Workshop Summary covers the events of the workshop and explains the recommendations for future related workshops.
Mathematics is playing an ever more important role in the physical and biological sciences, provoking a blurring of boundaries between scientific disciplines and a resurgence of interest in the modern as well as the classical techniques of applied mathematics. This renewal of interest, both in research and teaching, has led to the establishment of the series: Texts in Applied Mathematics ( TAM). The development of new courses is a natural consequence of a high level of excitement on the research frontier as newer techniques, such as numerical and symbolic computer systems, dynamical systems, and chaos, mix with and reinforce the traditional methods of applied mathematics. Thus, the purpose of this textbook series is to meet the current and future needs of these advances and encourage the teaching of new courses. TAM will publish textbooks suitable for use in advanced undergraduate and beginning graduate courses, and will complement the Applied Mathematical Sciences (AMS) series, which will focus on advanced textbooks and research level monographs. About the Authors Daniel Kaplan specializes in the analysis of data using techniques motivated by nonlinear dynamics. His primary interest is in the interpretation of irregular physiological rhythms, but the methods he has developed have been used in geo physics, economics, marine ecology, and other fields. He joined McGill in 1991, after receiving his Ph.D from Harvard University and working at MIT. His un dergraduate studies were completed at Swarthmore College. He has worked with several instrumentation companies to develop novel types of medical monitors.