Sustainable food supply chains: the impact of automatic replenishment in grocery stores

The aim of this study is to empirically investigate the impact of automatic replenishment on food waste metrics in grocery stores. The work has been designed as a case study focusing on the replenishment process among various stores and a single warehouse. Food waste metrics of products ordered through an automatic replenishment program are compared against products ordered manually. Specifically we contrast food waste, remaining shelf life and availability at the stores for a variety of products with different shelf life. The study suggests that by utilising an automatic replenishment program the stores can reduce their level of food waste by up to 20% and their products have a longer remaining shelf life without compromising on-shelf availability. The study also indicates that the impact of the automatic replenishment program is dependent on the product’s shelf life. Those products with a shelf life of between 51 and 110 days experience the highest impact, while products with a shelf life below 30 days experience a low or even negative impact. The study extends the current understanding of automatic replenishment programs. The key point for practitioners is to apply appropriate replenishment programs according to the product characteristics and especially the shelf life.     

Wie wissenschaftlich fundiert sind Coaching-Weiterbildungen?

This contribution focuses on the examination of how scientifically founded the concepts of coaching trainings are. We examined those trainings, which are certified, by checking their curricula. We analysed if trainings integrate theories and concepts that are scientifically founded. Our results show that only few trainings include such concepts. In addition, concepts are not related to scientific publications and only few make reference to authors and models. Based on this study the scientific foundation of curricula and therewith the qualified trainings is highly questionable.     

Transporting attachment and biobehavioral catch-up to Norwegian child welfare services: A feasibility study

Transportation of evidence-based programs (EBPs) to a new cultural setting is often preferred over the comprehensive process of developing a new program. Intervention fidelity has been suggested as a predictor of successful transportation. The present study examined whether fidelity and parent behavior improved when implementing the U.S.-developed Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-up (ABC) intervention in Norwegian child welfare services (CWS). 11 child welfare workers received training and supervision to become ABC parent coaches. Fidelity was assessed through video-recordings of parent coaches' in vivo feedback at each home-visit session. Parent sensitive behavior was assessed using video-recordings of parent–child interactions, recorded before each ABC session. Mixed effects modeling showed that ABC fidelity increased over the course of training and supervision. Furthermore, parent behavior improved over the course of families' exposure to the intervention. These demonstrate that an EBP transported to a novel cultural setting can obtain promising levels of fidelity and intervention outcomes.