What Drives the Food Safety Certification: A Qualitative Comparative Analysis of Food Companies in China

Food safety is related to health and quality of life. Therefore, the social responsibility of the food industry to ensure food safety has received increasing attention. Influencing factors and mechanisms of participation in food safety certification are important issues in this field. Existing studies on factors affecting food safety certification mainly focus on the impact of a single or few factors. In this study, listed Chinese food companies were selected, and the fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis method was utilized to explore the matching mode of various factors to encourage companies to obtain food safety certification. The following results were obtained. (1) State-owned companies tend to achieve food safety certification. (2) Companies with high media attention are inclined to achieve food safety certification. (3) In state-owned companies, when the company size is small, a higher degree of food safety concern in the mission statement can encourage the company to achieve food safety certification, and when the company size is large, higher media attention can encourage the company to achieve food safety certification. (4) In non-state-owned companies, when food safety concerns are highlighted in the mission statement and media attention is relatively high, the company will gain food safety certification. This study provides new perspectives on food safety-related research and suggestions for government and the public sector to supervise food safety issues in enterprises.

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Configurations of factors affecting triage decision-making

Management Decision ◽

10.1108/md-10-2017-0999 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 56 (10) ◽

pp. 2148-2171 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Cristina Ponsiglione ◽

Adelaide Ippolito ◽

Simonetta Primario ◽

Giuseppe Zollo

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Comparative Analysis ◽

Fuzzy Set ◽

Qualitative Comparative Analysis ◽

Organizational Factors ◽

Public Hospitals ◽

Content Type ◽

Factors Affecting ◽

Triage Decision ◽

The Impact

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the configuration of factors affecting the accuracy of triage decision-making. The contribution of the work is twofold: first, it develops a protocol for applying a fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) in the context of triage decision-making, and second, it studies, through two pilot cases, the interplay between individual and organizational factors in determining the emergence of errors in different decisional situations. Design/methodology/approach The methodology adopted in this paper is the qualitative comparative analysis (QCA). The fuzzy-set variant of QCA (fsQCA) is implemented. The data set has been collected during field research carried out in the Emergency Departments (EDs) of two Italian public hospitals. Findings The results of this study show that the interplay between individual and contextual/organizational factors determines the emergence of errors in triage assessment. Furthermore, there are some regularities in the patterns discovered in each of the investigated organizational contexts. These findings suggest that we should avoid isolating individual factors from the context in which nurses make their decisions. Originality/value Previous research on triage has mainly explored the impact of homogeneous groups of factors on the accuracy of the triage process, without considering the complexity of the phenomenon under investigation. This study outlines the need to consider the not-linear relationships among different factors in the study of triage’s decision-making. The definition and implementation of a protocol to apply fsQCA to the triage process in EDs further contributes to the originality of the research.

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How Does Mission Statement Relate to the Pursuit of Food Safety Certification by Food Companies?

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph17134735 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 17 (13) ◽

pp. 4735

Author(s):

Quan Lin ◽

Yutao Zhu ◽

Yue Zhang

Keyword(s):

Food Safety ◽

Food Processing ◽

Mission Statement ◽

Mission Statements ◽

Corporate Image ◽

Safety Certification ◽

Substantial Control ◽

The Impact ◽

The Relationship ◽

Majority Shareholder

Food safety has long been a major public concern in China. One question of the food processing industry’s emphasis on food safety social responsibility is whether a food processing company should pursue food safety certification for its products. As part of their corporate image, some food processing companies focus on food safety in their corporate mission statements. To enhance the legitimacy of a mission statement, as a guide for a firm, can provide food companies the legitimacy of perhaps pursuing food safety certification. However, we find that under different equity natures, the pressures on the normative legitimacy of the firm are different and the impact of mission statements on the acquisition of food safety certifications is also different. By analyzing the mission statement of companies in the Chinese food industry, we find that firms with a mission focusing on food safety concerns are more willing to pursue food safety certification. Moreover, compared to the firms with more distributed shareholder ownership, in firms where a majority shareholder has substantial control, the relationship between mission statements and the possession of food safety certification is stronger; compared to non-state-owned enterprises, in state-owned enterprise (SOEs), the relationship between firm mission statements of and the acquisition of food safety certification is stronger.

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The Effects of Organisational Features on Media Attention for Public Organisations

Policy & Politics ◽

10.1332/030557318x15407316633243 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 47 (2) ◽

pp. 245-264 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Jan Boon ◽

Heidi Houlberg Salomonsen ◽

Koen Verhoest

Keyword(s):

Comparative Analysis ◽

Fuzzy Set ◽

Qualitative Comparative Analysis ◽

Primary Task ◽

Media Attention ◽

Configurational Approach ◽

The Media ◽

Public Organisations ◽

The Impact

This article seeks to explain the frequency and tone of media attention for public organisations. Expectations are formulated on the impact of fundamental organisational features on the frequency and tone of coverage of public organisations. A fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) is used to analyse the nuanced interplay between legal independence, primary task and organisational size. The results show that this configurational approach is necessary to understand which public organisations appear in the media and how. Legal independence, task and size do not operate independently, but combine in explaining the media attention for public organisations.

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Assessing the Risk of Democratic Reversal in the United States: A Reply to Kurt Weyland

Political Science and Politics ◽

10.1017/s1049096521000329 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-6

Author(s):

Matias López ◽

Juan Pablo Luna

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Comparative Analysis ◽

Boolean Algebra ◽

Qualitative Comparative Analysis ◽

The United States ◽

American Democracy ◽

Institutional Dynamics ◽

The Public ◽

Original Analysis ◽

The Impact

ABSTRACT By replying to Kurt Weyland’s (2020) comparative study of populism, we revisit optimistic perspectives on the health of American democracy in light of existing evidence. Relying on a set-theoretical approach, Weyland concludes that populists succeed in subverting democracy only when institutional weakness and conjunctural misfortune are observed jointly in a polity, thereby conferring on the United States immunity to democratic reversal. We challenge this conclusion on two grounds. First, we argue that the focus on institutional dynamics neglects the impact of the structural conditions in which institutions are embedded, such as inequality, racial cleavages, and changing political attitudes among the public. Second, we claim that endogeneity, coding errors, and the (mis)use of Boolean algebra raise questions about the accuracy of the analysis and its conclusions. Although we are skeptical of crisp-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis as an adequate modeling choice, we replicate the original analysis and find that the paths toward democratic backsliding and continuity are both potentially compatible with the United States.

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Research on the Relationship between Shared Leadership and Individual Creativity-Qualitative Comparative Analysis on the Basis of Clear Set

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13105445 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (10) ◽

pp. 5445

Author(s):

Muyun Sun ◽

Jigan Wang ◽

Ting Wen

Keyword(s):

Comparative Analysis ◽

Environmental Factors ◽

Shared Leadership ◽

Management Practices ◽

Qualitative Comparative Analysis ◽

Necessary Condition ◽

The Individual ◽

The Impact ◽

The Relationship ◽

Sufficient And Necessary Condition

Creativity is the key to obtaining and maintaining competitiveness of modern organizations, and it has attracted much attention from academic circles and management practices. Shared leadership is believed to effectively influence team output. However, research on the impact of individual creativity is still in its infancy. This study adopts the qualitative comparative analysis method, taking 1584 individuals as the research objects, underpinned by a questionnaire-based survey. It investigates the influence of the team’s shared leadership network elements and organizational environmental factors on the individual creativity. We have found that there are six combination of conditions of shared leadership and organizational environmental factors constituting sufficient combination of conditions to increase or decrease individual creativity. Moreover, we have noticed that the low network density of shared leadership is a sufficient and necessary condition of reducing individual creativity. Our results also provide management suggestions for practical activities during the team management.

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Factors affecting transaction costs in megaprojects: a qualitative comparative analysis

International Journal of Managing Projects in Business ◽

10.1108/ijmpb-08-2020-0267 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽

Author(s):

Dedong Wang ◽

Hui Li ◽

Yongqiang Lu

Keyword(s):

Comparative Analysis ◽

Transaction Costs ◽

Qualitative Comparative Analysis ◽

Asset Specificity ◽

Necessary Condition ◽

Content Type ◽

Factors Affecting ◽

Relational Contract ◽

Factors Influencing ◽

Project Costs

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to examine the factors influencing the transaction costs (TCs) in megaprojects to provide a basis for controlling project costs.Design/methodology/approachThis study selects six factors influencing the TCs in megaprojects from the perspective of TC theory and relational contract theory (RCT) through literature review. On the basis of crisp-set qualitative comparative analysis (QCA), this study tests combined factors influencing the TCs and the interaction between them.FindingsResults show that in megaprojects, TCs are affected by combination factors. The combination of asset specificity, uncertainty, transaction frequency and trust and the combination of asset specificity, reputation and trust will control TCs in certain situations. In the configuration leading to high project TCs, the combination of environmental and behavioral uncertainties is a necessary condition.Originality/valueThis paper fills up the research gap in the field of megaproject TCs, and researchers can focus on this field in the future.

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Main Factors for Understanding High Impacts on CSR Dimensions in the Finance Industry

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su12062395 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (6) ◽

pp. 2395 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Belen Lopez ◽

Alfonso Torres ◽

Alberto Ruozzi ◽

Jose Antonio Vicente

Keyword(s):

Corporate Governance ◽

Comparative Analysis ◽

Qualitative Comparative Analysis ◽

Financial Sector ◽

High Impact ◽

Financial Firms ◽

Finance Industry ◽

Corporate Social ◽

High Degree ◽

The Impact

The objective of this study is to explore empirically the dimensions that generate high impact in the finance industry to better understand its contribution from a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) perspective. We analyze data concerning impacts of finance sector firms certified by B Corp in order to identify the combinations that are necessary and/or sufficient to obtain a recognition of their high impact generation. The methodology followed to identify the impact dimensions is fsQCA, (fuzzy set Qualitative Comparative Analysis), a qualitative comparative analysis method applied to a sample of finance firms (n-181). The results indicate that financial sector firms exhibited four combinations focusing on different impact dimensions. Specifically, the first route indicates that a high degree of focus on customers and communities is sufficient to obtain a high impact score. The second path signals that the combination of the impacts on customers and corporate governance could lead to the same result, while in the third pathway the focus would be on the employees. Finally, the fourth route indicates that some financial firms focus strongly on their communities, corporate governance and their employees, but very weakly on the environmental dimension. Consequently, diverse combinations of CSR dimensions characterize financial sector contributions to impact generation and sustainable development.

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Learning or Relaxing: How Do Challenge Stressors Stimulate Employee Creativity?

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su11061779 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 11 (6) ◽

pp. 1779 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Yongbo Sun ◽

Xiaojuan Hu ◽

Yixin Ding

Keyword(s):

Comparative Analysis ◽

Emotional Exhaustion ◽

Self Efficacy ◽

Qualitative Comparative Analysis ◽

Situational Factors ◽

Employee Creativity ◽

Paired Samples ◽

The Impact ◽

The Relationship ◽

Positive Effect

As important situational factors in the workplace, challenge stressors play an important role in stimulating employee creativity. This study used self-efficacy and emotional exhaustion as intervening processes to delve into the impact of promotion and depletion mechanisms of challenge stressors on employee creativity. According to the theory of resource conservation, the study explores the moderating effect of learning and relaxing at work on the promotion and depletion mechanisms of challenge stressors. Fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis was conducted to analyze the effect of a combination of factors on employee creativity. A total of 240 valid paired-samples were collected from employees of three enterprises in information technology, finance, and evaluation services industries. This study drew the following conclusions. Challenge stressors have a direct positive effect on employee creativity, self-efficacy and emotional exhaustion have partial mediating effects on the relationship between challenge stressors and employee creativity, learning positively moderates the relationship between challenge stressors and self-efficacy, and qualitative comparative analysis reveals three configurations that improve employee creativity.

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