David Sparling

The relationship between economic value added and the stock market performance of agribusiness firms

This article examines the relationship between economic value added (EVA) and the stock market performance of 17 publicly traded companies in the Canadian food processing sector. The research is motivated by the increased popularity of EVA in corporate finance and by the claims that high EVA causes incremental gains in share price values. Using1996 annual reports to compute EVA, and daily stock prices for 1994 through 1998, we attempt to correlate EVA with a variety of measures including accounting return on assets (ROA), return on equity (ROE), share price, the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) returns and risk, and others. Results find little support for the conjecture that high-EVA firms lead to higher shareholder value, however, because the management logic that has popularized EVA is so logical and fundamental to common practices in corporate finance that we resist dismissing EVA as a valued paradigm. Rather, we suggest that market volatility and other factors mask the short-run increments to shareholder wealth from EVA-implemented strategies. lEconLit citations: G30, Q13.r

Simulations and supply chains: strategies for teaching supply chain management

The Beer Game is one of the most popular simulations used to introduce students to the challenges of managing supply chains. While the basic simulation serves as a useful introduction to the problems, it does not take the next step of helping students or managers plan to surmount those problems and manage an efficient supply chain. This paper suggests a strategy for taking that next step, helping students move toward solutions of supply chain problems. The strategy builds supply chain teaching modules or an executive development program around modified Beer Game simulations. This paper also provides the tools for accomplishing both an introductory and a more advanced simulation. These simulation‐based programs have proved highly effective and popular in undergraduate, graduate and executive development programs.

Murgo Farms Inc.: HACCP, ISO 9000, and ISO 14000

Murgo Farms Inc., addresses the challenges of choosing between the Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP), International Organization of Standardization (ISO) 9000, and ISO 14000 systems for a business with grain farming, elevator and spraying enterprises. Murgo has recently entered markets that are more quality oriented and wishes to expand its activities in those markets. The President wonders whether HACCP or ISO 9000 might help that expansion. However, the company is also faced with significant environmental risks due to its spraying and manure spreading activities and its proximity to a local municipal water source. There are good reasons for Murgo to consider each of the systems, but there is also the question of whether the benefits for implementing any system are sufficient to do so immediately.

Factors affecting biotechnology innovation in Canada: analysis of the 2001 biotechnology use and development survey

Advancement in biotechnology requires continued innovative activity by firms. To grow, biotechnology firms must understand the factors affecting their innovative activity. Such understanding also informs policy makers, and supports the development of policies promoting ones biotechnology sector. This study explores factors, which determine innovative activity within the Canadian biotechnology industry. Innovative activity is measured as the natural log of the number of products/processes a firm has at different stages of the innovation spectrum. A model is developed to regress this measure on several determinants of innovation. Significant drivers of innovation include: collaborative arrangements, transfer of intellectual property, firm size and age, whether the firm was in the agricultural or human health biotechnology sectors and whether the firm focused on development or commercialisation. Generally speaking, these factors all contributed to firms having more products/processes either under development, undergoing clinical trials or regulatory approval, or on the market.

Regulation and the financial performance of Canadian agribusinesses

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationships between regulatory changes, returns on equity and stock market valuations for Canadian food and non-food agribusinesses. Design/methodology/approach - Two empirical approaches are employed. First, an event study is used to evaluate the impact of official regulatory announcements on the stock market valuations of selected Canadian agribusinesses. Next, an approach introduced by Mishra Findings - The event study demonstrates that official regulatory announcement dates do not correspond with abnormal stock market returns for Canadian firms, while the Du Pont model yields mixed evidence with respect to their accounting profits. Research limitations/implications - This paper only considers publicly traded companies. As a result, survivorship bias may exist. Future research should include privately held and cooperative firms. Social implications - Food regulations can influence firm profits and shareholder wealth, so understanding how government actions influence agribusiness is important when considering the total costs of current and future food policy. Originality/value - The interaction between policy and the financial performance of Canadas publicly traded agribusinesses is an under-researched area and no studies have examined Canadian data. The results of this study are valuable to both policy makers and researchers.

Greening Manufacturing Supply Chains – Introducing Bio-based Products into Manufacturing Supply Chains

Launching a new technology involves more than innovation within an organization. It often requires innovations in downstream firms adopting the technology and greater interaction and knowledge exchange among supply chain partners. This paper examines the introduction of new bio-based products into existing supply chains, the location of the innovations needed to successfully commercialize the product, the nature of relationships among chain members and the impact of modularization on bio-based product introductions.

Rol-Land Farms-Passing the Mantle

Succession planning for family farms is a complicated process, since the business is usually tied to the family home, heritage, and history. Family farming operations are also becoming larger, more valuable, and more complex to manage. Rol-Land Farms is a successful mushroom and specialty crop production and distribution company with 250 employees and annual sales of C

Innovation and commercialisation in the Canadian bioproducts industry

12M. Hank Vander Pol, the driving force behind Rol-Land for three decades, is considering retirement. The transition will not be easy. Three Vander Pol families are involved in the business and no obvious successor is in sight.

Further thoughts on the relationship between economic value added and stock market performance

Industrial biotechnology is an emerging industry in which firms are developing novel alternatives to petroleum-based goods. Canadian-based firms have an opportunity to capitalise on the availability of biomass from Canadian agriculture and Canada’s broad resource base. However, complexity of the product development process coupled with immaturity of this industry means little is currently known about these firms, their innovation activities and decision making. This study uses data from the 2003 and 2006 bioproduct development surveys to examine the Canadian bioproducts industry, focusing on factors conducive to innovative activity for bioproduct producing firms. Several factors are important in facilitating innovation, such as intellectual property, collaborations, focus on bioproducts relative to other business activities, the dominant product type and region in which the firm operates.