Purpose
The aim of this paper is to explain the organizational changes along supply chains when a geographical brand, i.e. a place name that has value for commercial purposes, becomes a geographical ...indication (GI).
Design/methodology/approach
Using a case study research design, this paper compares GI vs non-GI supply chains in the European Union and describes the organizational changes that occur in supply chains when a GI is adopted.
Findings
When a GI is adopted, an additional “public” level of governance is added along the supply chain that forces it to reallocate and specialize quality controls between the public and private levels of governance to avoid redundancies and to adopt more market-oriented mechanisms of governance in dyadic relationships. The paper argues that these changes occur because the private and public levels of governance complement one another.
Research limitations/implications
More aspects of supply chain management (the power balance or relationship stability) and a more systematic longitudinal analysis using supply chains in various agrifood industries should be considered to generalize the conclusions. An econometric analysis formally testing the main conclusions (propositions) is also required.
Practical implications
The changes needed to successfully adopt a GI are identified, and an explanatory map of these changes is offered.
Originality/value
The structural governance tensions created by the use of common-pool resources within supply chains are explored. It is hypothesized, first, that when a “common-pool resource”, namely, a geographical name, is used in a supply chain, some type of public level of governance that promotes cooperation is required to preserve its value. Second, this public level of governance complements the dyadic mechanisms of governance, requiring the specialization and reallocation of quality controls and the move toward more market-oriented transactions.
Although franchise and management contracts constitute the dominant way of organizing business-to-business relationships within hotel chains, no study has compared their relative performance. This ...paper aims to explain their differences and assess their impact on online scores, currently a key performance indicator in the hotel industry. We argue that franchises are less effective than management contracts for operating upscale hotels due to the relative advantages that the latter have in transferring and enforcing tacit knowledge, typically embedded in skilled staff and very relevant in such quality-tier hotels. Conversely, franchising is better for large hotels because, first, its incentive structure better addresses managerial shirking (typically more severe as hotel size increases) and, second, it offers advantages when the standardization of business procedures is key to success (as is true for large establishments). Our empirical findings broadly support these arguments in a dataset of 467 Spanish hotels, also providing evidence that no single organizational solution fits all situations.
•Franchising and management contracts are the most favored organizational solutions in modern hotel strategy.•These B2B relationships differ in how tacit knowledge is transferred and how shirking is prevented.•Performance differences exist in online scores between franchised and managed hotels.•Management contracts prove more effective than franchising for upscale hotels.•Franchise agreements seem more effective than management contracts for operating large hotels.
This study examines whether geographical indications (GIs) truly enhance producer quality, which is a main regulatory justification for the GIs’ existence. We compare the quality of wine producers ...with and without GIs and test for the effectiveness of GIs based on (a) the strictness of GIs’ production standards and (b) GIs’ organizational characteristics as a collective brand. We argue that GIs encourage producer quality because they attenuate free‐riding problems, provide incentives to invest and facilitate knowledge sharing. Focusing on the Spanish wine industry, the results reveal that except for wineries with the lowest GI category (i.e., protected geographical indication), GI wineries show higher quality than non‐GI wineries. We also observe that more stringent categories increase quality but at a decreasing rate. Regarding the influence of organizational features, we found that collective action problems seem to be relevant. First, above a certain threshold, the number of producers affiliated with a GI decreases the wine producer's average quality (i.e., it shows an inverted U‐shaped relationship with quality). Second, GIs covering very large geographic areas are found to be less effective. EconLit Citations: L15, Q12, Q18.
Abstract
Cooperatives are a widely prevalent organizational form in the agrifood sector that have been extensively examined in the literature. The primary objective of this literature review is to ...evaluate approaches taken in studying the performance of these organizations, with a specific focus on whether these analyses have duly recognized the multifaceted nature of cooperatives, characterized by having multiple objectives. Second, the review examines research comparing cooperatives with other types of organizations to ascertain whether, despite operating in the same markets, such analyses have acknowledged that these organizations pursue vastly different objectives. Finally, this literature review also ascertains whether studies have considered the influence of organizational innovations (e.g. allowing capitalist investors or share transferability) on cooperatives' performance. Correctly approximating how to measure the performance of agrifood cooperatives is critical to understanding their success and evolution and, significantly, whether they benefit from innovations in property rights and governance.
Root‐knot nematodes (RKNs) induce inside the vascular cylinder the giant cells (GCs) embedded in the galls. The distinctive gene repression in early‐developing GCs could be facilitated by small RNAs ...(sRNA) such as miRNAs, and/or epigenetic mechanisms mediated by 24nt‐sRNAs, rasiRNAs and 21‐22nt‐sRNAs. Therefore, the sRNA‐population together with the role of the miR390/TAS3/ARFs module were studied during early gall/GC formation. Three sRNA libraries from 3‐d‐post‐inoculation (dpi) galls induced by Meloidogyne javanica in Arabidopsis and three from uninfected root segments were sequenced following Illumina‐Solexa technology. pMIR390a::GUS and pTAS3::GUS lines were assayed for nematode‐dependent promoter activation. A sensor line indicative of TAS3‐derived tasiRNAs binding to the ARF3 sequence (pARF3:ARF3‐GUS) together with a tasiRNA‐resistant ARF3 line (pARF3:ARF3m‐GUS) were used for functional analysis. The sRNA population showed significant differences between galls and controls, with high validation rate and correspondence with their target expression: 21‐nt sRNAs corresponding mainly to miRNAs were downregulated, whilst 24‐nt‐sRNAs from the rasiRNA family were mostly upregulated in galls. The promoters of MIR390a and TAS3, active in galls, and the pARF3:ARF3‐GUS line, indicated a role of TAS3‐derived‐tasiRNAs in galls. The regulatory module miR390/TAS3 is necessary for proper gall formation possibly through auxin‐responsive factors, and the abundance of 24‐nt sRNAs (mostly rasiRNAs) constitutes a gall hallmark.
Root knot nematodes (RKN) are root parasites that induce the genetic reprogramming of vascular cells into giant feeding cells and the development of root galls. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) regulate gene ...expression during development and plant responses to various stresses.
Disruption of post-transcriptional gene silencing in Arabidopsis ago1 or ago2 mutants decrease the infection rate of RKN suggesting a role for this mechanism in the plant-nematode interaction. By sequencing small RNAs from uninfected Arabidopsis roots and from galls 7 and 14 d post infection with Meloidogyne incognita, we identified 24 miRNAs differentially expressed in gall as putative regulators of gall development. Moreover, strong activity within galls was detected for five miRNA promoters.
Analyses of nematode development in an Arabidopsis miR159abc mutant had a lower susceptibility to RKN, suggesting a role for the miR159 family in the plant response to M. incognita. Localization of mature miR159 within the giant and surrounding cells suggested a role in giant cell and gall. Finally, overexpression of miR159 in galls at 14 d post inoculation was associated with the repression of the miR159 target MYB33 which expression is restricted to the early stages of infection.
Overall, these results implicate the miR159 in plant responses to RKN.
Although the supply chain (SC) management literature has extensively analyzed how features of SC relationships affect quality performance, it barely considers the role played by SC governance in ...managing and promoting quality performance. This study examines how quality performance is affected by two SC governance decisions in agri-food chains: (i) the adoption of a geographical indication (GI), and (ii) the creation of co-operative (co-op) ownership structures. Focusing on the wine industry, the study first examines how GIs encourage quality by improving vertical adaptation and leveraging resources (e.g., knowledge) of all SC members. Second, it analyzes how co-ops' collective action and horizon investment problems may hinder the delivery of high-quality products. The paper also examines how the effectiveness of GIs in promoting quality is contingent on the ownership structure of agri-food chains. Data from 327 wine producers and quality scores for 1951 bottled wines are used to test the hypotheses. The results reveal that on average, the quality of wineries is positively associated with the adoption of the most stringent GIs. Second, although co-ops are negatively correlated with final quality compared to investor-owned firms (IOFs), this disadvantage is moderated when co-ops are certified under the most stringent GIs. However, these GIs are not related to wine quality within IOFs, suggesting that quality certifications are more effective when used within suitable governance structures.
•Supply Chain governance decisions are related to quality performance by altering participant incentives.•The average quality of wineries is positively associated with the adoption of the most stringent GIs.•Cooperatives are related to the delivery of lower-quality products.•The relative benefits of the most stringent geographical indications for improving quality are intensified in cooperatives.
This article studies how the choice of the mechanism of governance affects online ratings of hotels, empirically exploring the conditions under which various governance mechanisms improve (or damage) ...them. We emphasize that no governance mode is universally superior. However, when the mechanism of governance fits hotel characteristics, online ratings improve. We argue that such characteristics (i.e., hotel category, size, and age) determine the severity of agency problems (e.g., managerial shirking and free-riding) and the performance of governance choice. We test several organizational fit hypotheses on a data set of 2,328 hotels operating in Spain. Our results support the fit argument, because they show the superiority of franchise and management contracts (i.e., hybrids) for enhancing online ratings, as opposed to vertical integration, when category rises and size increases. Furthermore, we find evidence that maintenance does not appear to be a major problem in leasing.
Root-knot nematodes differentiate highly specialized feeding cells in roots (giant cells, GCs), through poorly characterized mechanisms that include extensive transcriptional changes. While global ...transcriptome analyses have used galls, which are complex root structures that include GCs and surrounding tissues, no global gene expression changes specific to GCs have been described. We report on the differential transcriptome of GCs versus root vascular cells, induced in Arabidopsis by Meloidogyne javanica at a very early stage of their development, 3 days after infection (d.p.i.). Laser microdissection was used to capture GCs and root vascular cells for microarray analysis, which was validated through qPCR and by a promoter-GUS fusion study. Results show that by 3 d.p.i., GCs exhibit major gene repression. Although some genes showed similar regulation in both galls and GCs, the majority had different expression patterns, confirming the molecular distinctiveness of the GCs within the gall. Most of the differentially regulated genes in GCs have no previously assigned function. Comparisons with other transcriptome analyses revealed similarities between GCs and cell suspensions differentiating into xylem cells. This suggests a molecular link between GCs and developing vascular cells, which represent putative GC stem cells. Gene expression in GCs at 3 d.p.i. was also found to be similar to crown galls induced by Agrobacterium tumefaciens, a specialized root biotroph.
• Root-knot nematodes (RKNs; Meloidogyne spp.) induce new post-embryogenic organs within the roots (galls) where they stablish and differentiate nematode feeding cells, giant cells (GCs). The ...developmental programmes and functional genes involved remain poorly defined.
• Arabidopsis root apical meristem (RAM), lateral root (LR) and callus marker lines, SHORT-ROOT/SHR, SCARECROW/SCR, SCHIZORIZA/SCZ, WUSCHEL-RELATED-HOMEOBOX-5/WOX5, AUXIN-RESPONSIVE-FACTOR-5/ARF5, ARABIDOPSIS-HISTIDINE PHOSPHOTR ANSFER-PROTEIN-6/AHP6, GATA-TRANSCRIPTION FACTOR-23/GATA23 and S-PHASE-KINASE-ASSOCIATED-PROTEIN2B/SKP2B, were analysed for nematode-dependent expression. Their corresponding loss-of-function lines, including those for LR upstream regulators, SOLITARY ROOT/SLR/IAA14, BONDELOS/BDL/IAA12 and INDOLE-3-ACETIC-ACID-INDUCIBLE-28/IAA28, were tested for RKN resistance/tolerance.
• LR genes, for example ARF5 (key factor for root stem-cell niche regeneration), GATA23 (which specifies pluripotent founder cells) and AHP6 (cytokinin-signalling-inhibitor regulating pericycle cell-divisions orientation), show a crucial function during gall formation. RKNs do not compromise the number of founder cells or LR primordia but locally induce gall formation possibly by tuning the auxin/cytokinin balance in which AHP6 might be necessary. Key RAM marker genes were induced and functional in galls. Therefore, the activation of plant developmental programmes promoting transient-pluripotency/stemness leads to the generation of quiescent-centre and meristematic-like cell identities within the vascular cylinder of galls.
• Nematodes enlist developmental pathways of new organogenesis and/or root regeneration in the vascular cells of galls. This should determine meristematic cell identities with sufficient transient pluripotency for gall organogenesis.
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