scholarly journals The Relationship between Environmental Characteristics and Risk Management Practices on Produce Farms: A Systematic Literature Review

Agriculture ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 577
Author(s):  
Dilhani Nisansala Jayawardhana ◽  
Loan Thi Thanh Cao ◽  
Thomas A. Yeargin ◽  
Kristen E. Gibson ◽  
Angela M. Fraser

Produce-associated foodborne disease outbreaks have increased worldwide highlighting the importance of proper implementation of risk management practices (RMP). We determined the relationship between environmental characteristics (i.e., physical resources) of produce farms and implementation of RMP. Following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses principles, we identified 36 studies to include in our analysis. Most study data were collected through surveys administered to growers in developed countries. Quality assessment results showed that studies on this topic should be more rigorously conducted (e.g., powering sample sizes and training data collectors) to yield better quality evidence. Agricultural waters were the most common environmental characteristic assessed, with many farms using unsafe water sources. Hygiene aids (e.g., accessible handwashing facilities), were lacking across many farms. Animal intrusion RMP were the least commonly assessed environmental characteristic. Only one study tested the relationship between on-farm environmental characteristics and RMP implementation reporting a positive relationship between accessible handwashing and worker hygiene practices. Grower knowledge and perception of RMP combined with cost and ease in carrying out RMP might influence the availability of physical resources for proper RMP implementation. These results can inform practical interventions aimed to increase adoption of RMP on produce farms.

2017 ◽  
Vol 28 (4) ◽  
pp. 1136-1159
Author(s):  
Dusan Markovic ◽  
Mrdjan Mladjan

Following the recent wave of globalization, the possession of different types of knowledge became even more important for economic development than the possession of physical resources. The ability of a society to adopt existing and create new knowledge thus gained fundamental importance for its wellbeing. In this paper, we identify important aspects of the relationship between education, creation of knowledge, economic growth, as well as both material and immate?rial wellbeing of a society. We describe potential problems that prevent societies from maximizing the benefit from the effort its members invest in acquiring knowledge. The problems of failure of the national markets for education as well as the global migrations which lead to drain of knowledge towards economically highly developed countries are especially analyzed. In the long run, they lead to a decline in both national competitiveness and different aspects of the immate?rial wellbeing. As the basis for solving these problems we propose a combination of economic theory and the concept of solidarity between more and less devel?oped countries, individuals and societies of their origin, respecting the free will of individuals.


2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (22) ◽  
pp. 207
Author(s):  
Caren B. Angima ◽  
Mirie Mwangi ◽  
Erasmus Kaijage ◽  
Martin Ogutu

The purpose of the study was to establish the intervening effect of underwriting risk (loss ratio) on the relationship between actuarial risk management practices (ARMP) and performance of property and casualty (P & C) insurance underwriters in East Africa. Findings from primary and secondary data gathered from 82 general insurers from Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania show that there is a significant positive relationship between ARMP and non-financial performance and that loss ratio significantly mediates this relationship. The relationship with financial performance was however insignificant. The implication is that P & C insurance firms should keenly watch their loss ratios in order to improve their non-financial performance by correctly underwriting, pricing and reinsuring their risks in order to influence their claims ratio and also have a strategic claims management program in place that controls costs and leads to better firm reputation, which in turn will have ripple effect in increasing business volumes and performance. It is recommended that further empirical studies be carried out to establish other factors that especially influence financial performance.


2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-53
Author(s):  
Dr. James Rurigi Njuguna ◽  
Prof. Roselyn Gakure ◽  
Dr. Anthony Gichuhi Waititu ◽  
Dr. Paul Katuse

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate how financial risk management strategies lead to growth of MFI sector in Kenya.Methodology: The study adopted a correlation survey research design. The population of this study was fifty seven (57) MFIs. The sampling frame was the list of MFIs provided in the AMFI website www.amfikenya.com. A sample of thirteen (17) MFIs was selected using the random sampling approach. A questionnaire and an interview schedule were the main data collection tools. Qualitative data was analyzed using content analysis whereas the quantitative data was analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) where descriptive and regression analysis were conducted to determine the relationship between enterprise risk management strategies and growth of MFIs.Findings: The findings indicated that MFIs had effective financial risk management strategies such as effective credit risk management practices, liquidity risk management practices, interest risk management practices and price risk management practices. In particular, MFIs took into consideration the conditions, characters, capacity, collateral and capital of borrowers. Strict debt collection practices were widely adopted by MFIs. In addition, the concept of Know Your Customer (KYC) policy, seem to have been adopted by MFIs. The relationship between financial risk management strategies and growth was positive and significant. It also shown that sources of funds for MFIs include external sources and internal sources and the most frequently used source of funds are bank loans. The use of banks loans may present various risk exposures to MFIs, the most significant being interest rate risk. However, the ability of MFIs to source funds from various sources indicates that MFIs can apply the pecking order by first exploiting internal sources of funds since they present a lower financial risks and then move on to external sources. However, despite the financial risk exposure accompanied by leverage from external sources, MFIs may also benefit as they may experience higher growth driven by the leverage. It was also found that MFIs had put in place a number of good practices that had emerged to promote responsible and inclusive lending. These include loan size limits, standardized (simple) loan terms, zero tolerance on delinquency, group-based lending. This finding implies that MFIs have put in place effective credit risk management policies which are part of an overall financial risk management strategy. The existence of effective financial risk management practices may have influenced the growth of MFIsUnique contribution to theory, practice and policy: The study recommends that the MFIs to continue practicing effective financial management practices as this would improve the growth of MFIs.


2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 36-50
Author(s):  
Joash Watema ◽  
John Tulirinya

The study aimed to establish the relationship between project implementation, risk management practices and project success for projects implemented by NGOs in Iganga Municipality. The study used a quantitative, correlational and cross-sectional survey design. The sample consisted of 117 respondents who included project managers, their assistants, and accountants of 45 projects implemented by NGOs in Iganga Municipality. Data was collected using a self-administered questionnaire and analysed using statistical packages for social scientists (SPSS). This study discusses project implementation and risk management practices as the issues involved in project success and or failure. The study concluded that project implementation and risk management practices were significant in improving project success. This study recommended that NGOs in Iganga Municipality need to put much emphasis on project implementation and risk management practices as a way of improving project success as their correlation is significant.


2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (106) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
مصطفى منير اسماعيل ◽  
سعدون محسن سلمان

Organizations nowadays, whether public or private organizations, productive or service (such as banks), face major challenges as a result of rapid and continuous changes, and in front of these challenges traditional management operations and tools become unable to make the organization able to work, which makes it imperative for these organizations to follow the methods and management practices, including the proposed knowledge risk management and strategic direction so that it can elevate its actions at the level of developments in reality, in the sense that these organizations and in the light of environmental developments to characterize their strategic direction as an intellectual approach characterized by modernity and entrepreneurship and through its operations and methods, it is able to raise the level of performance of the organization and enhance its position in its economic sector. In order to explain the expected relationships and links between the variables of research, a number of questions were formulated, which reflect these links, and most importantly: What are the reality of the strategic direction in its conceptual environment and its intellectual links with knowledge risk management and organization's effectiveness. The research aimed at achieving a set of goals related in essence to uncover the relationship between the knowledge risk management and the strategic direction and its impact on the effectiveness of the organization by identifying the nature of this relationship as the main objective. The most important conclusions reached by the research was the pursuit of the studied bank's administration towards the formulation of its mission is clearly written and its eagerness to agree that mission with the activities practiced in its usual day at the operational level and the future of renewable horizon at the strategic level.


2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 215-247
Author(s):  
Yoel Modesto Gonzalez-Bravo

This article explores adjustments to the traditional political risk management practices followed by Multinational Corporations (MNCs) in their international operations to incorporate an increasingly concerning risk arising from the more frequent imposition of economic sanctions on developing countries over the last ten years for political purposes. In order to identify the main determinants of this risk and its consequences, a literature review is conducted, highlighting the models proposed by Tsebelis (1990) and Kakutami (2017) as the main frameworks to understand the dynamics for sanctions impositions, their frequency and the management of this risk by traditional MNCs from developed countries. Kakutami’s model is further enhanced in this article with a game theoretical model to understand the dynamic behavior of MNCs under this context, considering evidences of a growing presence in international markets of MNCs from developing countries, whose motivations for their expansion are explored. Finally, different political risk mitigating strategies are reviewed to explore their suitability to MNCs, with particular emphasis on the use of insurance to cover this risk and its effects on MNCs’ willingness to engage with sanctioned countries. As a general finding, from a reputational point of view, MNCs should take a more active role in their network analysis to identify their direct and indirect exposure to this risk, given the more frequent imposition of sanctions with an extraterritorial reach.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (18) ◽  
pp. 10225
Author(s):  
K. Kareemulla ◽  
Pandian Krishnan ◽  
S. Ravichandran ◽  
B. Ganesh Kumar ◽  
Sweety Sharma ◽  
...  

The increasing threat to sustainable agriculture is a major concern of planners worldwide. Human population growth together with increasing food requirements and competition for land use is leading to land scarcity for agricultural purposes. Farm size influences the extent of the adoption of mechanization and modern methods of farm management practices, which in turn results in increased productivity, production efficiency and agricultural income. We studied changes in macroeconomic factors such as dependency on agriculture, growth of the sector, the pattern of landholdings and tenure rights across major agriculturally important countries, as well as the priority of agriculture for the national economy (i.e., the share of agriculture in the national income) and its relationship to changes in farm size. The data on the percentage of area under farming, population growth, size of the agricultural workforce and other social dimensions from 24 countries of different geographical sizes were analysed. We used parameters such as the extent of changes in cropland, family-owned land, the agricultural workforce and their productivity, number of holdings and their distribution, women-headed holdings and finally total and per capita agricultural income, and measured the changes over time and space. The published data from national and international sources were used to establish the relationship between farm size and farm efficiency measured through the selected parameters. The results clearly establish that the size of farm holdings had an inverse relationship with the population dependent on agriculture, share of agriculture in national income and tenure rights. Australia had the largest average agricultural landholding (3243 ha), while India and Bangladesh had the lowest (1.3 and 0.3 ha, respectively). The inequality in the distribution of farmland ownership was greater in developed countries than in developing countries. Female farmland ownership was less than 20% in most developing countries and the relationship between the number of farm households and farm outcomes was found to have weakened over time. India, a developing as well as an agriculturally important country, was subjected to detailed analysis to understand the spatiotemporal dynamics of the size, distribution and ownership patterns of agricultural landholding.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Berenger Yembi Renault ◽  
Justus Ngala Agumba ◽  
Nazeem Ansary

Purpose Demographics are perceived to influence risk management practices (RMPs) in construction. However, empirical evidence supporting this perception is lacking in the South African Construction Industry (SACI), especially within small and medium enterprises (SMEs). This study, therefore, aims to investigate the influence of demographic characteristics on RMPs. Design/methodology/approach This study followed a positivist research philosophy, using a questionnaire survey for data collection. In total, 225 questionnaires were distributed, of which 187 were returned from conveniently sampled respondents, which included owners and senior managers of construction SMEs organizations in Gauteng province in South Africa (SA). In total, 181 questionnaires were usable, yielding a response rate of 80.44%. Data from the survey were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics i.e. multiple regression analysis (MRA). The outputs were represented using percent and regression coefficients values, respectively. Findings In total, 42 practices were established from the literature review and grouped into 9 major RMPs. The data analysis suggested that understanding the organizational environment, defining objectives, resource requirements, risk measurement, risk identification, risk assessment, risk response and action planning, communication and monitoring and review are reliable and valid practices. Findings from MRA established that demographic characteristics i.e. experience in the construction industry (CI), education level and the number of employees in the organization are not good predictors to determine the use of RMPs. Research limitations/implications The study was limited to the data acquired from the SACI and to a lesser extent, construction SMEs in Gauteng. Therefore, the findings cannot be generalized to all SMEs in SA. Though neighboring and developing countries can use the RMPs identified in this study, the results cannot be directly used in developed countries without adequate substantiation. Practical implications The current study provides useful information to assist construction organizations to pay more attention to risk management implementation. The RMPs established in this paper are reliable and valid in projects undertaken by SMEs, and therefore, may be used by top management and/or the risk task team of these enterprises for effective project risk management. Originality/value The study presents findings of an investigation of the influence of demographics on RMPs from the perspectives of construction SMEs, an area less explored. This work advances knowledge of RMPs in the SME sector. It, therefore, adds value to researchers and industry practitioners on the theme where no agreement has been attained relating to key factors and practices that should constitute a risk management model.


2018 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 395-404
Author(s):  
Himanshu Joshi

The current article takes account of the existing status of risk management practices of the Indian publicly listed companies and establishes the relationship of their risk management programme with the firms’ financial characteristics such as capital structure, assets’ size, asset tangibility, profitability and valuation multiples. To establish the relationship, a risk management score is constructed using publicly disclosed information for Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) Sensex 30 companies. Results suggest that companies with more comprehensive risk management programmes are likely to enjoy lower costs of debt and have a higher propensity to invest in intangible assets. These firms with more comprehensive risk management programmes also demonstrate more stable cash flows, sales and net operating profit. It is also evident that firms that are deeply indulged in risk management activities are likely to have higher financial leverage as higher leverage increases a firm’s total risk, and their risk management activities act to balance that risk. Consequently, firms with extensive risk management activities can endure higher debt in their capital structure; hence, a risk management programme works as a substitute of equity capital.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
George Mihaylov ◽  
Ralf Zurbruegg

PurposeThis article examines the relationship between financial risk management and succession planning in family businesses. Motivated by the Theory of Planned Behaviour, we hypothesize that the use of professional risk management practices is associated with an increased likelihood that businesses adopt professionalized approaches to succession planning. We then investigate if succession planning professionalization is, in turn, positively related to the financial performance of family businesses.Design/methodology/approachWe apply binary probit and ordered dependent variable regressions to unique data generated from a survey sample of Australian family businesses. To check the robustness of our results to potential endogeneity concerns we apply difference tests to propensity score matched sub-samples from our original cohort of respondents.FindingsThe results show that, in contrast to verbal or absent succession arrangements, formal written succession plans are both positively associated with the use of financial risk management practices and with superior financial performance in family businesses.Originality/valueOur arguments and findings suggest that active financial risk management provides a platform for planning succession in family businesses, and that this links with improved short-term financial performance. In light of the critical role that succession plays in ensuring long-term business sustainability, our findings provide important and novel insights into the conditions under which family businesses are most likely to use formal professionalized succession planning.


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