Determining factors of the innovative behavior of cooperatives: an analysis of the case of Castilla y Le��n

Cooperatives have a long historical experience in the Spanish economy and have demonstrated their ability to compete against traditional firms in the market. To maintain this capability, while taking advantage of the competitive advantages associated with their idiosyncrasies as social economy enterprises, they should take into consideration that the economy is increasingly globalized and increasingly knowledge-based, especially with regards to technological content. As a consequence, the innovative capacity appears to be a key aspect in order to be able to challenge competitors. This article characterizes the innovative behavior of cooperatives in the region of Castile and Leon and analyses the internal and external factors affecting their innovative performance, based on data from a survey of 581 cooperatives. The results of the empirical analysis, which is performed by multivariate binary logistic regression on various types of innovation, lead us to identify the size of the organizations, the existence of planning, the R & D activities and the human capital as the main determining factors.

What is social innovation? The paradigm shift and its relationship with Social Work

Innovation is a fundamental part of social work. In recent years there has been a shift in the innovation paradigm, making it easier to accept this relationship. National and supranational policies aimed at promoting innovation appear to be specifically guided by this idea. To be able to affirm this hypothesis, it is necessary to review the perception that social workers have of their duties. It is also useful to examine particular cases that show how such social innovation arises.

De la cooperativa agroalimentaria a la "learning netchain". Hacia un planteamiento teorico interorganizativo e interpersonal

Se propone un planteamiento te��rico/conceptual para determinar si las relaciones interorganizativas e interpersonales de la netchain de las cooperativas agroalimentarias evolucionan hacia una learning netchain. Las propuestas del trabajo muestran que el mayor grado de asociacionismo y la mayor cooperaci��n/colaboraci��n vertical a lo largo de la cadena est��n positivamente relacionados con la posici��n horizontal de la empresa focal m��s cercana del consumidor final. Esto requiere una planificaci��n y una resoluci��n de problemas de manera conjunta, lo que est�� positivamente relacionado con el mayor flujo y diversidad de la informaci��n/conocimiento obtenido y diseminado a lo largo de la netchain. Al mismo tiempo se necesita desarrollar un contexto social en el que fluya la informaci��n/conocimiento y las nuevas ideas de manera informal y esto se logra con redes personales y, principalmente, profesionales y con redes internas y, principalmente, externas. Todo esto permitir�� una mayor satisfacci��n de los socios de la cooperativa agroalimentaria y de sus distribuidores y una mayor intensidad en I+D, convirti��ndose la netchain de la cooperativa agroalimentaria, as��, en una learning netchain.

Cooperativism, entrepreneurship and economic development: a linking theoretical model

Cooperatives, as a kind of firms, are considered by many scholars as an remarkable alternative for overcoming the economic crisis started in 2008. Besides, there are other scholars which pointed out the important role that these firms play in the regional economic development. Nevertheless, when one examines the economic literature on cooperatives, it is detected that this kind of firms is mainly studied starting from the point of view of their own characteristics and particularities of participation and solidarity. In this sense, following a different analysis framework, this article proposes a theoretical model in order to explain the behavior of cooperatives based on the entrepreneurship theory with the aim of increasing the knowledge about this kind of firms and, more specifically, their contribution to regional economic development.

El surgimiento de HTML5; un nuevo paradigma en los est��ndares Web

Gracias al crecimiento, expansi��n y popularizaci��n de la World Wide Web, su desarrollo tecnol��gico tiene una creciente importancia en la sociedad. La simbiosis que protagonizan estos dos entornos ha propiciado una mayor influencia social en las innovaciones de la plataforma y un enfoque mucho m��s pr��ctico. Nuestro objetivo en este art��culo es describir, caracterizar y analizar el surgimiento y difusi��n del nuevo est��ndar de hipertexto que rige la Web; HTML5. Al mismo tiempo exploramos este proceso a la luz de varias teor��as que a��nan tecnolog��a y sociedad. Dedicamos especial atenci��n a los usuarios de la World Wide Web y al uso gen��rico que realizan de los Medios Sociales o "Social Media". Sugerimos que el desarrollo de los est��ndares web est�� influenciado por el uso cotidiano de este nuevo tipo de tecnolog��as y aplicaciones.��

The effectiveness of corporate Web in small and m��diumsized business: an analysis of Web Usability

Internet and the Web have changed the way that companies communicate with their publics, improving relations between them. Also providing substantial benefits for organizations. This has led to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to develop corporate sites to establish relationships with their audiences. This paper, applying the methodology of content analysis, analyzes the main factors and tools that make the Websites usable and intuitive sites that promote better relations between SMEs and their audiences. Also, it has developed an index to measure the effectiveness of Webs from the perspective of usability. The results indicate that the Websites have, in general, appropriate levels of usability.

Adaptaci��n del sector tur��stico al cambio clim��tico en Espa��a. La importancia de las acciones a escala local y en empresas tur��sticas

El 5�� Informe del IPCC (Panel Intergubernamental de Cambio Clim��tico, 2014) se��ala que el turismo ser�� una de las actividades econ��micas que mayores efectos negativos experimentar�� en las pr��ximas d��cadas debido al calentamiento t��rmico del planeta. En Espa��a, el turismo es una fuente principal de ingresos y de creaci��n de puestos de trabajo en su econom��a. De ah�� que sea necesaria la puesta en marcha de medidas de adaptaci��n a la nueva realidad clim��tica que, en nuestro pa��s, va a suponer cambios en el confort clim��tico de los destinos e incremento de extremos atmosf��ricos. Frente a los planes de adaptaci��n al cambio clim��tico en la actividad tur��stica, elaborados por los gobiernos estatal y regional, que apenas se han desarrollado en Espa��a, la escala local muestra interesantes ejemplos de acciones de adaptaci��n al cambio clim��tico, desarrolladas tanto por los municipios (energ��a, transporte, vivienda, planificaci��n urban��stica) como por la propia empresa tur��stica (hoteles, campings, apartamentos). Medidas de ahorro de agua y luz, fomento del transporte p��blico y de las energ��as limpias, creaci��n de zonas verdes urbanas y adaptaci��n a los extremos atmosf��ricos destacan como acciones de mitigaci��n del cambio clim��tico en los destinos tur��sticos principales de nuestro pa��s.

Of Marx and Makers: an Historical Perspective on Generative Justice

In Marxist frameworks ���distributive justice��� depends on extracting value through a centralized state. Many new social movements���peer to peer economy, maker activism, community agriculture, queer ecology, etc.���take the opposite approach, keeping value in its unalienated form and allowing it to freely circulate from the bottom up. Unlike Marxism, there is no general theory for bottom-up, unalienated value circulation. This paper examines the concept of ���generative justice��� through an historical contrast between Marx���s writings and the indigenous cultures that he drew upon. Marx erroneously concluded that while indigenous cultures had unalienated forms of production, only centralized value extraction could allow the productivity needed for a high quality of life. To the contrary, indigenous cultures now provide a robust model for the ���gift economy��� that underpins open source technological production, agroecology, and restorative approaches to civil rights. Expanding Marx���s concept of unalienated labor value to include unalienated ecological (nonhuman) value, as well as the domain of freedom in speech, sexual orientation, spirituality and other forms of ���expressive��� value, we arrive at an historically informed perspective for generative justice.��