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The characteristics of the EU and Italian food market, dominated by evolving regulations, rise of new emerging countries, globalisation, advances in ICT and technology sector, increase of retailers’ bargaining power, and changes in consumer patterns, affect especially SMEs, which are forced to develop successful strategies in order to survive on the market. Thus, it is useful to understand the potential sources of competitive advantage for SMEs. Following the theoretical model of Resource-based View, we analysed the effect of SME capabilities on performance, by identifying the significant ones playing a leading role to reach a competitive advantage. In particular, four capabilities have been selected, according to literature: innovation, marketing, network, and acquiring information. The analysis is carried out in 67 food SMEs located in Lombardy, a Northern Italian region, by applying a Structural Equation Model. The results revealed that marketing, network and innovation capabilities positively affect the performance. In particular, process innovation should be exploited in SMEs to act incremental innovations. Moreover, adopting appropriate pricing policies and operating a right consumer targeting help SMEs in perform well, also if they spend time in acquiring information about the market and the other agents of the supply chain. Strong vertical relationships, besides facilitating the information flow, allow SMEs to control each stage of the chain and to monitor the quality level of products., Proceedings in Food System Dynamics, Proceedings in System Dynamics and Innovation in Food Networks 2012

In the context of progressive rise of the competition among firms, due to the increasing globalisation, it is interesting to understand the potential sources of competitive advantage in order to set up a successful strategy. The theory of Resource-based View used in this framework examines the connection among internal resources and strategic choices, and how the latter affect firm performance. The firm strategy is determined by available resources and capabilities which are deployed to obtain a good performance. Therefore, strategic choices act in between resources and performance. The purpose of the paper is to evaluate the relationship between strategic choices and performance achieved by food SMEs, based on a set of distinctive resources. This approach is assessed in food SMEs located in Italy, by applying a Structural Equation Model. The results of the empirical analysis showed that, in the food sector, strategic choices based on innovation, product positioning, and chain relationship development have positive effects on performance, but only if distinctive resources and capabilities are considered. Innovation plays a capital role because of its direct as well as indirect effects.

The lifelong learning is a crucial element in the modernization of European education and training systems. The most important actors in the development process of the lifelong learning are the trainers, whose professional characteristics need new competences and skills in the current labour market. The main objective of this paper is to establish an importance ranking of the new competences, capabilities and skills that the lifelong learning Spanish trainers must possess nowadays. A wide study of secondary sources has allowed the design of a questionnaire that organizes the trainer-s skills and competences. The e-Delphi method is used for realizing a creative, individual and anonymous evaluation by experts on the importance ranking that presents the criteria, sub-criteria and indicators of the e-Delphi questionnaire. Twenty Spanish experts in the lifelong learning have participated in two rounds of the e- DELPHI method. In the first round, the analysis of the experts- evaluation has allowed to establish the ranking of the most importance criteria, sub-criteria and indicators and to eliminate the least valued. The minimum level necessary to reach the consensus among experts has been achieved in the second round.

The objective of this work is to analyse the relative importance of three groups of competitive advantage factors on firms’ results of the Spanish agro-food industry. Competitive advantage factors correspond to three aspects: agro-food firms internal sources called, in this study, Potential Resources (RP); agro-food firms relationships with other firms, which are called Specific Firms Relationships (RE); and, the market and industry characteristics plus the industrial localisation, which are included in the so called Market Structure and Industry Location (EMI). Seven hypotheses have been formulated to asses direct and indirect relationships between RP, RE, EMI and economic Results (R) specifying causality directions between explicative indicators for each competitive factor. The seven hypotheses have been combined in a hypothetical model with structural equations defining firms’ competitiveness. A sample of 294 firms has been used and 17 variables related to competitive advantages have been selected. Indicators related to Potential Resources refer to technological levels, development of new products as well as promotion and advertising activities. Agro-food firms’ relationships are taken into account introducing variables accounting for relationships with suppliers, distributors and other firms. The Market Structure and Industry are taken into account considering the concentration degree of the food distribution firms, entry of new firms into the market and product prices, among others. Results have been measured with indicators measuring investment over sales, added value and export intensity. Results indicate that Potential Resources and the Specific Firms Relationships explain better the variability of the Results with a strong relationship between those two groups of variables. Altogether this analysis supports 4 out of the 7 proposed hypotheses. The most important variables influencing results are product and process innovations as well as relationships with suppliers.