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International audience; The development of digital technologies is one of the solutions being implemented to empower the food industry, especially now, when the sector is struggling to meet sustainable development goals by 2030. The attention of digital solutions has been widely given to its use at the production segment of the food value chains; that is, on-farm activities. We argue that digital technologies can enhance productivity and resilience along the entire food value chain, while increasing sustainability in this domain. Our results show complete digitalization of food value chains in France, driven by innovative start-ups, with some stages more digitalized than others. Indeed, digital technologies are shown to support the three dimensions of sustainable development goals: economic, social, and environmental. However, their benefits should be equally accessible to all actors in this field, and we therefore suggest further research.

This article evaluates the impact of public export support programs on the internationalization of early internationalizing small businesses. We build and test a conceptual model of the link betwee...

International audience; We study the relationship between Bitcoin and commodities by assessing the ability of Bitcoin to act as a diversifier, hedge, or safe haven against daily movements in commodities in general, and energy commodities in particular. We focus on energy commodities because energy, in the form of electricity, is an essential input in the Bitcoin production. For the entire period, results show that Bitcoin is a strong hedge and a safe-haven against movements in both commodity indices. We further examine whether that ability is also present for non-energy commodities and our analysis show insignificant results when energy commodities are excluded from the general commodity index. We also account for the December 2013 Bitcoin price crash and our results reveal that Bitcoin hedge and safe-haven properties against commodities and energy commodities are only present in the pre-crash period, whereas in the post-crash period Bitcoin is no more than a diversifier. In addition to uncovering the time-varying role of Bitcoin, we highlight the dissimilarity in the dynamic correlations between the extreme downward and extreme upward movements.

International audience; Interpersonal influence today includes an extension in cyberspace in the form of e–word-of-mouth (eWOM), thereby transforming customers into information producers. Companies nonetheless continue to experience difficulty in encouraging customers to engage online respecting company brands or to participate in co-creating value and promoting company products via the Web. This research examines how customer psychological empowerment, namely the extent to which customers feel that they exert power in the marketplace, potentially enhances brand engagement. Using structural equation modeling, each of a qualitative and quantitative study has been conducted at a French ski resort (N = 753). Findings demonstrate that customers engage for three reasons: belief that they can help companies without resorting to the venting of negative feelings (punishment), brand attachment, and reciprocity based on the perceived sincerity of online comments penned by other customers.

International audience; Natural gas is the key non-renewable source of energy for a low-carbon economy. The research applies heterogeneous panel techniques to investigate the impact of natural gas consumption on economic growth across a panel of top 15 natural gas consumers of the developing world. We establish long-run dynamics with cross-sectional dependence and heterogeneity across the sample countries. The long-run output elasticities suggest that the natural gas consumption and trade variables have significant positive effect on the output in a panel of developing economies. Further, we establish feedback relationship among gas consumption, output and trade in the short-run. Given the significance of natural gas as the low-emission source of energy, we suggest governments and policy advisers of these major natural gas consumers to focus on developing pipeline infrastructure for adequate supply, reforming natural gas sector with a competitive price structure to combat excess demand in individual natural gas market. With trade integration, majority of these countries need to incorporate these initiatives to improve the technologies such as combined cycle power plant technology and value-added chemical production technology to achieve sustainable economic growth.

International audience; This research examines sustainability assurance practices and more specifically whether media pressure influences companies’ decision to implement a voluntary sustainability assurance. The sample consists of companies listed on the French SBF 120 over a period of four years (2007–2010). The study conducts logistic regressions with longitudinal panel data to empirically test the influence of explanatory factors on the use of sustainability assurance. It appears that the variables related to media pressure explain the establishment of sustainability assurance. Moreover, the size of the company, the industry and the positioning of companies in corporate social responsibility also influence the use of assurance of sustainability information. On the theoretical level, the research contributes to a better understanding of practices of sustainability assurance by offering an explanatory model of this practice. On a managerial level, it contributes to the understanding of corporate behavior. This research may allow users of sustainability information to judge the relevance of sustainability reporting.

Corporate reporting is a key tool in managing stakeholder relationships. It is useful for developing corporate legitimacy especially as large listed companies are increasingly asked to report on different dimensions of their performance (economic, social and environmental). Our paper thus investigates corporate reporting regarding employees in large listed Australian companies by questioning how they take into account their national and industrial contexts to develop legitimacy. We analyse corporate reporting of employees in 60 Australian companies listed on the Australian Stock Exchange top 100 companies in 2009. First we found that companies report to develop their pragmatic legitimacy by providing information on the benefits valued by employees such as health and safety or career development. They also attempt to improve their moral legitimacy by communicating on anti-discrimination policies or business ethics. Lastly they try to enhance their cognitive legitimacy by reporting against areas such as hea...

International audience; Compensation and control systems offer much for study. In this paper, we provide directions for future research by considering the system of influences that operate to shape salesperson behavior in the presence of formal and informal systems attempting to influence behaviors and outcomes. By applying vertical dyad linkage theory to the issue of control, we illustrate how the field remains fertile for continued study to improve the understanding of how incentives influence sales managers, salespeople, and customers. Of particular interest is the interplay between superiors and subordinates across sales force management layers and in the context of compensation/control. Further, the chain of linkages extends to customers, also providing fruitful opportunities for research.

International audience; For economic, legal, or strategic reasons, manufacturers of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) are increasingly managing end-of-life product cycles by choosing a recovery option: refurbishing, remanufacturing, and recycling. Reverse logistics is a process in which manufacturers collect their used products for possible revalorization, recycling, or disposal.Some authors consider that this activity is an opportunity to achieve a triple bottom line - economics, environment, and social - benefit. However, beyond hypothetical assumptions, little empirical research provides practical knowledge about the way such a challenge can be met. The aim of this article is thus to provide some grounding for this proposal.Based on an IBM Montpellier case study, this article examines how an integrated reverse logistics model can enable companies to meet three main objectives:(1) Provide economic opportunities through the resale or reuse of machines and parts, (2) successfully deal with environmental challenges such as waste management and legislation compliance, and (3)achieve an important social challenge in terms of local job preservation.

International audience; This investigation studies the accounting treatment of the carbon emission allowances of EU Emissions Trading System participants to explore whether the auctioning allocation system implemented in 2013 led to changes in accounting practices. This investigation adds to Allini, Giner, and Caldarelli (2018. “Opening the Black Box of Accounting for Greenhouse Gas Emissions: The Different Views of Institutional Bodies and Firms.” Journal of Cleaner Production 172: 2195–2205.) by performing a comparative study of how emission allowances are recorded in the 2011 and 2016 financial statements of a large sample of the highest emitters in the system that operate in eight different industries. We also update the analysis of the role of local standards in shaping carbon accounting practices in a context characterised by the lack of IFRS prescription. We found that auctioning did not modify accounting practices as they continue to be ‘messy’ and often absent. The high level of non-disclosure and the prevailing use of the ‘net method’ conceal the burden of allowances from users of financial statements. Additionally, we report that firms’ carbon accounting practices are more aligned with their local standard when it allows a limited representation of the financial impact of allowances. Therefore, current accounting practices are far from enabling an adequate assessment of the financial impact and risks resulting from carbon markets.

Our study examines the relationship between information alignment (IA), collaboration (CO) and supply chain agility (SCAG) under the moderating effects of artificial intelligence driven big data analytics capability (AI-BDAC) and intergroup leadership (IGL). We have grounded our theoretical model in the resource based view (RBV) and contingency theory and further tested our research hypotheses using multi-informant data collected using a web-based pre-tested instrument from 613 individuals working in 193 humanitarian organisations drawn from 24 countries located on various continents across the globe. We tested our research hypotheses using variance based structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM). Our study offers interesting results which help to advance the theoretical debates surrounding technology-driven supply chain agility in the context of humanitarian settings. We further provide some directions to managers engaged in disaster relief operations, who are contemplating using emerging technologies to enhance collaboration and supply chain agility. Finally, we have outlined the limitations of our study and offer some future research directions.

International audience; A growing body of literature argues that improving energy efficiency is an essential step that firms must take to mitigate climate change issues. It is assumed that corporate social responsibility (CSR) in general plays a prominent role in firms’ policies, and this paper specifically investigates the effects of the individual CSR dimensions on SMEs’ energy efficiency improvement. Based on data from a sample of 146 thousand SMEs, and using logit model, and fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis, the study reveals that high activities in social, environmental and economic CSR dimensions are associated with high energy efficiency. Specifically, the environmental CSR dimension has the highest contribution to improving energy efficiency. Furthermore, this study indicates that energy efficiency improvement can be achieved by large SMEs provided they have developed simultaneously the environmental, social, and economic CSR dimensions. In doing so, this study answers to recent calls for more research on CSR-energy efficiency relationship and addresses with greater precision why it matters to relate the role of the CSR dimensions and energy efficiency. Furthermore, this study can be of value to policymakers who are called to promote CSR practices of SMEs in order to foster their energy efficiency.

International audience; Travelers increasingly consider electronic word of mouth (e-WOM) from online review platforms when making their accommodation decisions. Theory predicts that e-WOM increases sales, but little is known regarding the role that branding plays in the relation between e-WOM and hotels\textquoteright financial performance. This study relied on financial data (including Revenue per Available Room\textemdashRevPAR\textemdashand sales profitability) and 34,164 online customer reviews gathered from TripAdvisor (as a proxy for e-WOM) based on panel data from 221 hotels, including not-branded and branded chain hotels in France from 2005 to 2013. The results show that the volume of reviews has no effect on RevPAR growth for branded chain hotels and a positive effect on RevPAR growth for not-branded chain hotels. In addition, the direct effect of the valence of online reviews and its interaction effect with the yearly and cumulative volume of online reviews on RevPAR growth and sales profitability is shown to apply to not-branded chain hotels but not to branded chain hotels. This study contributes to the e-WOM literature by revealing the role of a brand in e-WOM\textquoterights impact on hotel financial performance. Based on our results, managers of branded chain hotels should know that they might find it difficult to leverage e-WOM to achieve higher RevPAR growth and greater sales profitability, as their economic advantages derive from their brand instead of e-WOM.

International audience; In 2004, the IASB adopted the mandatory annual impairment-test-only of goodwill (IAS 36) instead of amortization of goodwill. We present and discuss the academic literature regarding the association between the goodwill impairment, under this new standard, and the revision of investors\textquoteright expectations about a company\textquoterights future cash flows. The academic literature highlights that, in some specific cases, IAS 36 may help investors to revise their expectations. More precisely, goodwill impairment seems relevant when: (a) there is strong asymmetry of information between managers and investors, (b) managers disclose detailed information in the notes regarding their own assumptions about future cash flows, and (c) managers do not manage earnings and provide reliable information to investors. In many cases, goodwill impairment is probably useless for investors because they are able to revise their expectations based on public information, or because they cannot trust the accounting numbers and additional information in the notes about the impairment test, which are provided by (undisciplined) managers. More research is, however, needed to understand in which circumstances impairment-test-only is more useful, as well in which cases it is less adequate. Our analysis relates to the current post-implementation review and should be useful to standard-setters. Before any modification, we argue that standard-setters should carefully consider the economic and the institutional contexts when issuing a new accounting standard.

International audience; Companies often use sales contests to achieve short-term objectives to motivate salespeople and to boost sales. However, sales contests also may encourage salespeople to adopt less relational behaviors and limit their ability to manage customer relationships, as manifested in their customer listening practices. Therefore, this study, based on a natural field experiment, examines the effects of a sales contest on customer listening. In so doing, four dimensions of customer listening (passive, active, adaptive, and assertive listening), associated with a process of listening (Hearing, Processing, and Responding), were identified. The study helps clarify the effect of a sales contest on these four dimensions of customer listening by telesales agents. The results reveal that this sales contest exerts negative effects only on the active and passive customer listening, not on the adaptive and assertive customer listening. The study sheds light on how sales contests influence important behaviors such as customer listening, as well as on the nature of customer listening itself.