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This article aims to analyse the European pig sector and its transformations (e.g. vertical integration and phase specialization).In particular, we will both explore the specialization and territorial concentration of pig production, and the significant changes which have taken place in the trade among European Union countries. Using the network analysis (betweenness centrality, node strength and community detection) applied to Eurostat and fao datasets on production and trade in the period 2000-2016, we will show the emergence of national players and international connections that lead to a larger continental market. Finally, this evidence will be used in the discussion and conclusion to raise wider concerning the working of agrifoodvalue chains, in terms of social, economic and environmental sustainability, as well as regulation. This calls for more interdisciplinary analyses of value chains.

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Routines and capabilities are patterns of actions, entailing both stability and change, according to which organizational behavior is investigated and that rest at the base of firms’ competitive advantage. Research in organizational theory recently started to disentangle the micro-foundations of these collective concepts in order to better grasp the mechanisms by which individuals influence the generation and evolution of routines and capabilities. In the present work we seek to contribute to this literature by investigating how the acquisition of a radical new body of knowledge via recruitment impacts on the evolution of the routines and dynamic capabilities of the firm. By means of a multiple case study research on mechatronics companies located in Northern Italy, the study examines if and how the insertion of graduates in a discipline new to the company modified its routines and the dynamic capabilities. In other words we explored whether the introduction of a new body of knowledge embodied in new graduates produced changes on the organization and functioning of the hosting R&D department and/or it also shaped the overall firm’s development strategies, thus overcoming the expected inertia. The results are important for both managing change to increase the company’s competitive advantage as well for the policy implications which can be derived.