Managing risks from pests in global commodity networks – policy perspectives

Critical risks in global supply networks: A static structure and dynamic propagation perspective

This chapter explores how global brand meanings are formed for B2B brands. We analyse a Danish B2B brand that struggles with an interruption in their brand meanings due to the company going global. We show that brand meanings are co-created by multiple brand stakeholders drawing upon mythologies circulating in and about global commodity networks. The brand meanings are affected by mythologies of globalisation and global production, which intervene with how the brand meanings are perceived by its customers. This study has implications for how we conceptualise B2B brand meanings. Our case study demonstrates the relevance of cultural branding analyses of B2B brands as well as open the frontiers of cultural branding approaches to global B2B contexts.

Emmanuel Kreike. Deforestation and Reforestation in Namibia: The Global Consequences of Local Contradictions. Princeton, N.J.: Marcus Wiener Publishers, 2010. xviii + 224 pp. Maps, Photographs. Bibliography. Index. $88.95 Hardcover. $28.95 Paper. In Deforestation and Reforestation, Kreike draws from his earlier work on the socio-environmental history of Ovamboland to confront modern paradigms of environmental change. Modernizationists view Western conservation science and technology, guided by state authority, as mastering world environments and overturning destructive, irrational indigenous natural resource use. Declinists argue that Western science, capitalism, and commodification have disrupted a pristine nature characterized by indigenous people in harmony with their environments, ushering in environmental decline. Inclinists place faith in indigenous knowledge and resource use to solve environmental problems, eschewing alarmist claims about environmental degradation. They all, in Kreike 's view, posit false dichotomies that separate nature from culture, wilderness from civilization, overlooking historical paradoxes that do not fit neatly into any single framework. Kreike offers historical evidence from Ovamboland, a region bisected by the AngolanNamibian border, to argue for a view of environmental change that is nonlinear, and that accepts the reality of historical paradoxes and contradictions in local environments. Despite the title, there are few forests in this book. Yet the forestry case study perhaps best illustrates Kreike 's main argument. Nineteenth-century European explorers, missionaries, and colonial conquerors entered into a floodplain environment between the Cunene and Okavongo rivers that was densely populated and heavily forested, punctuated by Ovambo grain fields and cattle kraals. One hundred years later, Ovamboland was again heavily forested, although not in the same locales or with the same tree species of the previous century, but rather with fruit trees that had accompanied and facilitated Ovambo migration from Angola into Namibia. In the interval, Ovamboland had gone through decades of caused by the influx of refugees, who used trees to build fortified homesteads and fire to clear floodplain and bush lands for grain crops. Over time Ovambo migrants actively and passively propagated indigenous fruit trees, recreating, but not replicating, the dense forest environment of the previous century. This is a familiar argument in recent African forest history. Depending on the point at which evidence is sought, Kreike argues, one will find dramatic deforestation or spectacular reforestation in the same landscape, challenging linear views of environmental change. Other chapters present similar paradoxes. While many histories see colonialism as integrating African societies into modern international commodity networks, Kreike argues that before colonialism began, Ovambo people were already well-integrated into global commodity networks by supplying tens of thousands of cattle to regional and Atlantic markets. …

Arising from widespread outsourcing and, in particular, offshoring, goods and services are increasingly provided by supply networks that rely on global logistic systems. While the risks and uncertainties involved in this strategy have been widely acknowledged in the literature on interorganizational networks and supply chain management, labor conditions and labor relations—and related human resource management issues—have thus far been neglected. Starting from a perspective that takes into consideration that global supply networks are not only confronted with calculable risks but also genuine uncertainties, we explore the conditions under which labor may constitute a source as well as a means for dealing with risk and uncertainty. The study is based on a review of the relevant interorganizational network and supply chain management literature and is informed by an investigation of International Framework Agreements (IFAs) in 10 European corporations and their supply networks.IFAs—in addition to unilateral codes of conduct—could be used to detect and cope with labor‐related risk and uncertainties. However, our findings reveal that this is not the case. This leads to some tentative theoretical conclusions and implications for dealing with risk and uncertainty in global supply networks.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a tremendous impact on global supply networks, revealing vulnerabilities that were not previously recognized and creating interruptions in the transportation of goods and services around the world. This review research makes an effort to investigate the impact that COVID-19 had on global supply chains, determine the most important things that were learned from it, and suggest ways to better prepare for such events in the future. The research paper investigates a wide range of subtopics, some of which include the vulnerabilities that have been uncovered as a result of the pandemic, the role that technology and digitalization play, the requirement of resilience and agility, the requirement for diverse sourcing and local manufacturing, as well as the importance of working together and effectively managing risk. This study explores these features and provides useful insights into the challenges faced by global supply chains during the pandemic. It also provides unique insights into the problems faced by global supply networks during the pandemic and makes suggestions to strengthen their resilience and adaptation in the event of future disruptions.

The role of equipment supplier in a successful manufacturing process of product components is very important. For this reason, the collaboration between OEM and equipment suppliers should rather go into strategic partnership, covering the whole equipment's lifecycle. This paper presents a PLM framework that aims at improving the suppliers' integration in the Product development process by enhancing the vertical collaboration between OEM and equipment suppliers, grouped in a global supplier network, relating to the equipments development project. This framework could improve the innovative capacities and the technical competencies of suppliers, by means of an efficient horizontal collaboration among a new global supplier network and by providing this network an interface to support collaboration with OEM.

Architects of the integrated control strategy (now known as Integrated Pest Management [IPM]) for insect pests envisaged a biologically-based system in which chemical control was to be used only at times and places where natural pest control was inadequate. Another interpretation of IPM accepted by many pest managers puts pesticides at the center of pest management in crops. This paper reviews research achievements which are supportive of IPM (insect forecasting and modeling, field sampling and monitoring, economic thresholds) and pest management methods (conventional and biological insecticides, plant resistance, transgenic plants, biological control, among other methods) for the major arthropod pests of the cool season food legumes. Despite many examples of research outcomes that have been successfully applied, the number of established IPM programs is scarce. For the present, conventional insecticides will continue to play a key role in grain legume production because farmers have few economic alternatives. However, pressures on pulse farmers to implement IPM programs will increase because of modern society’s fear of pesticide residues in food, however minute, and tightened regulations governing pesticide use. Declining budgets for grain legume research, add uncertainty to future progress in IPM in many parts of the world.

This review provides a comprehensive overview of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) and its educational impact. It focuses on the accelerated pace of technological advancements and the urgent need to understand how these changes affect educational systems. The research, which includes empirical studies, theoretical frameworks, and policy literature, employs a thematic analysis to identify key trends and themes using secondary data like books, research findings, and scientific journals related to 4IR. Key findings highlight the increasing demands for new skills in the workforce, ethical considerations, and the necessity for an interdisciplinary approach in education. The study underscores the transformation of education in the wake of 4IR's influence, particularly in automation and artificial intelligence (AI). It emphasizes the importance of adapting educational paradigms to address the challenges and opportunities presented by these technological advancements. The study's major implication is the need for a fundamental shift in learning ecosystems to align with the transformative power of 4IR. This involves adapting to significant changes in the educational landscape, which are necessary to facilitate user ease. Integrating modern intelligent technologies has fundamentally altered production and global supply networks, leading to increased automation, enhanced communication, and smart machines. This transformation underscores the need for educational systems to evolve and prepare for these ongoing changes.

There has been an increasing interest in analyzing the structure of domestic and global supply chains/networks in the past decade. Concerns about potential (systemic) risks resulting from overdependence on global supply networks have been magnified during the lockdowns triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic in the last year. Strengthening local and/or domestic networks may be an adequate approach to overcome the severe economic implications of this overdependence, but it also rises the question of how one can measure the strength of domestic supply/production networks and design an appropriate structure. The objective of this paper is to propose a method for measurement and to provide a first-cut analysis with this method on a sample of economies. Building on ecological network analysis, we borrow the Finn cycling index from its toolbox and show a ranking of countries with respect to the strength of their domestic production networks based on this index. The results suggest that the countries are very heterogeneous both in terms of the level of cycling index and its sectoral decomposition. Using panel-econometric techniques, we point out the role of the openness and structural asymmetry in shaping this strength, also controlling for other macroeconomic characteristics of the economies. The estimates reveal that openness has a negative, while asymmetry has a positive effect on this index, but other country-specific characteristics also play a role in shaping the systemic operation of national economies as measured by the Finn cycling index.

Global supply networks are becoming increasingly fragmented and complex. At the same time, societal pressures surrounding the environmental accountability of firms are growing, with an increasing number of environmental scandals related to supply networks. Traditional governance frameworks of green supply chain management (GSCM) may be insufficient to deal with this new reality, because they do not consider supply network structure/complexity, and how these factors interact with different governance mechanisms. Our study takes into account the complex interplay between GSCM governance mechanisms, supply network structure/complexity, and environmental performance. We introduce a series of theoretical propositions grounded in an extensive review of the GSCM, supply networks, network complexity, and organizational design literatures. In particular, we argue that supply network structure and complexity directly affect GSCM effectiveness, but that these effects will be contingent upon the type of governance mechanism applied (formal or informal).

Gender equity remains critical for sustainable supply chains. As organisations integrate sustainability from compliance-driven obligations into strategy and innovation, the potential for sustainable supply chain management to catalyse gender equity and responsible marketing has never been greater. This chapter explores how technology, transparency, and stakeholder engagement identify, measure, and address gender disparities across global supply networks. The narrative uses empirical evidence and case studies to show why and how a persistent focus on gender equity is vital and a key driver for transformative marketing and long-term value creation. Integrating technology-driven transparency in sustainable supply chain management enables rigorous gender-disaggregated data collection and verification. At the same time, collaborative frameworks and policy innovations create pathways for systemic change. The analysis concludes by outlining research directions and practical policy, practice, and scholarship recommendations in the inclusive, sustainable global value creation era.

Maritime ports are critical nodes in global supply network. Marine terminals provide the interface and connection between waterside and landside transport modes for the movement of cargo and passengers. These terminals are exposed to variety of organizational and environmental risks that may disrupt its services and potentially result in large amounts of direct and indirect financial losses. Maritime security investments must consider many perspectives, but the base purpose is to maintain a normal flow of maritime freight and passengers for business continuity. Security investments are made to reduce the risk of service disruptions and to restore operations to prior levels of service following a disruption. It is impractical to provide 100% security against all kinds of disruptions. Hence, resiliency options are needed which will, in case of any disruptive event, aide the facility to bounce back to normal operational capacity with a faster recovery time. An economic resiliency assessment (ERA) framework helps evaluate alternative course of actions and its resiliency benefits for marine terminals. This paper uses a systems thinking approach to create an ERA framework for evaluating cost and benefits for the maritime security investments options. ERA framework template can be applied to many other marine terminals or supply networks to help decision-makers create investment strategies for allocation of available finance in maritime security and business continuity plan.

Big Data Analytics (BDA) has become a transformative force in supply chain management, enabling organizations to derive actionable insights from diverse and voluminous data. By integrating advanced analytical techniques, companies can enhance operational efficiency, bolster predictive accuracy, and improve overall decision-making. This paper provides a comprehensive review of BDA applications within supply chain information systems, covering fundamental concepts, tools, and techniques while examining key challenges such as data quality, security, and organizational change management. Through an exploration of real-world case studies and best practices, the paper emphasizes the crucial role BDA plays in driving innovation and resilience across global supply networks. It concludes with recommendations on effective implementation strategies, alongside insights into future directions—particularly the rise of autonomous decision-making and digital twin technologies. The findings underscore BDA’s potential to reshape supply chain processes, offering a competitive advantage to organizations willing to adopt and invest in data-driven capabilities.

Freight exchanges are a major role in the global supply network, facilitating the exchange of transport services between companies and institutions.The article indicates the significant aspects of transport exchanges operating on the market in Poland and makes a comparative analysis of selected market exchanges on the domestic market.Characterized platforms, selected on the basis of criteria such as popularity and size of the exchange, operation on the Polish market, services provided and high positioning in internet search engines.

Supply Chain 4.0 represents a transformative shift in the way businesses manage and optimize their supply chains. Powered by technologies such as blockchain, cloud analytics and advance Security solutions will change the way that businesses manage and optimize their supply chain. The key objective of this transformation is to have efficient, transparent and agile supply processes, which can adapt quickly to dynamic market conditions. With blockchain technology, supply chain partners can achieve a high level of trust and transparency, as it enables secure, decentralized, and immutable record-keeping. With the help of cloud-based analytics, it becomes easy to collect, process and visualize the data in real time which leads to predictive analytics, enhanced decision making and increased operational efficiency. Simultaneously, strong security solutions are essential to safeguard confidential asset data and cyberattacks to ensure supply chain reliability and quality. By combining the two, supply chain stakeholders can achieve real-time innovation with the ability to drive seamless start-to-finish visibility, rapid decision-making, and a resilient supply chain. I outline how a handful of digitized supply chain elements are interconnected and work together as Supply Chain 4.0 to further deliver supply chain innovation and competitiveness in the global supply network in the future.