Selected Aspects and Determinants of the Slovak Agro-Food Companies' Innovativeness

Moravčíková, Danka; Tkáč, Filip; Mušinská, Kristína

doi:10.3389/fsufs.2021.720730

Cited by 4 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 18 publications

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“…The findings of this empirical research paper are supported by the body of literature dedicated to the topic of agri-food value chain management with a particular focus on the strategic actions for value creation along the chain links, hence contributing to building sustainable economic competitiveness [3,34,[76][77][78][79][80]82,[143][144][145][146][147][148][149]. To provide more literature evidence that supports the main highlights of this empirical paper, findings are convergent towards the following:…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 68%

Deliver Smart, Not More! Building Economically Sustainable Competitiveness on the Ground of High Agri-Food Trade Specialization in the EU

Constantin

Sapena

Apetrei

et al. 2023

Foods

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Competitiveness has always been a multifaceted illusive concept, which has made it a real challenge for scholars and practitioners to find the most suitable measurement tools to completely encapsulate all the complex nuances of competitiveness. This becomes even more of a challenge when approached in relation to particular economic sectors. The agri-food sector is no exception, especially when considering all its interconnections with the other sectors: water, energy, transport, waste. All of them impact the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Similarly, scholars have been debating the meaning of sustainability for decades, some even arguing that it is a political, subjective, and, in some cases, self-contradictory concept. As far as the sustainability of agricultural competitiveness is concerned, the literature is still developing. It is much more focused on fostering environmental competitiveness, and less attention was paid to the strategies designed to capitalize on sustainable economic competitiveness—a concept that has attracted divergent opinions in the literature, mainly due to ambiguity. Thus, instead of falling into the pitfall of vagueness, this paper was aimed at bringing its contribution to this field by undertaking the research objective of exploring a single facet of sustainable agricultural competitiveness: the economic facet. Hence, this paper proposes the construction of the sustainable economic competitiveness index (SECI) with direct application for agri-food value chains. It consists of three attributes: (a) factor endowments, resource independence; (b) agricultural chain performance; and (c) national agricultural chain strategies and policies. In this study, SECI was tested against the cereal chain for a selection of EU countries, based on the data taken over from FAOSTAT and INTRACEN Trade Map, in the case of the 2011–2020 period. Various statistical and econometric methods were used to test the robustness of SECI. Results stand as proof that building sustainable agricultural economic competitiveness relies on a mix of strategic actions. The key vector in this mix is that trade flow patterns and policies must be calibrated in accordance with national factor endowments in order to achieve high levels of SECI. To add more managerial implications, this paper argues for the smart delivery of agri-food products with high added value instead of focusing on exporting big volumes of raw agricultural materials with little added value.

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 68%

Deliver Smart, Not More! Building Economically Sustainable Competitiveness on the Ground of High Agri-Food Trade Specialization in the EU

Constantin

Sapena

Apetrei

et al. 2023

Foods

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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Drivers of innovation in the agro-food micro, small and medium enterprises of Uganda

Ajer

Ngare

Macharia

2023

JADEE

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PurposeWith focus on Uganda, this study assessed the factors influencing agro-food micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) innovations. Kampala, Wakiso, Mukono and Jinja districts were the locations of the research.Design/methodology/approachPrimary cross-sectional data was collected using structured questionnaire for a sample of 521 agro-food MSMEs in Uganda. Descriptive statistics, exploratory factor analysis and hierarchical regression analysis were used to examine the data in SPSS.FindingsThe findings indicate that MSME innovation levels were usually high, at roughly 80%. The presence of rules that encourage innovation and reward creative people would enhance innovation that is customer-focused. On the other hand, policies and principles that encourage innovation and the conduct of internal product and process improvement research would promote system-focused innovation.Research limitations/implicationsEncouraging agro-food MSMEs to develop policies that support innovation would improve the overall level of innovation, while building the capacity of agro-food MSMEs to conduct product and process improvement research would increase the level of systems-focused research.Originality/valueThis study assessed the drivers of innovation in agri-food MSMEs in a developing country. The uniqueness of this study is in assessing the effects of innovation support services on customer-focused and systems-focused innovations.

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Mixing Up Apples and Pears Can Work – Case Study of an Innovative Model of Social Enterprise From Slovakia

Chreneková

Bumbalová

Jarábková

2022

European Countryside

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Social enterprises have the potential to address diverse issues, even when they fall off the radar of formal institutions e.g., by establishing partnerships that are new locally and nationally. The analysis offers a conceptual description of a model of social enterprise established by a regional self-government authority, that blends dual education and social economy and serves as an innovative agent of change. Case research was the approach used. The research revealed that the motivation behind the enterprise was social integration, increasing attractiveness of agriculture for young people and regional self-sufficiency. The partnership was recognized as the key element of the model design. The model brings social, economic and environmental change to employees and students but also to the whole environment. Such a model could be replicated and such collaboration could be put on the map of social enterprises.

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Selected Aspects and Determinants of the Slovak Agro-Food Companies' Innovativeness

Cited by 4 publications

References 18 publications

Deliver Smart, Not More! Building Economically Sustainable Competitiveness on the Ground of High Agri-Food Trade Specialization in the EU

Deliver Smart, Not More! Building Economically Sustainable Competitiveness on the Ground of High Agri-Food Trade Specialization in the EU

Drivers of innovation in the agro-food micro, small and medium enterprises of Uganda

Mixing Up Apples and Pears Can Work – Case Study of an Innovative Model of Social Enterprise From Slovakia

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