This study aims to evaluate critical success factors (CSFs), considering the perspectives of various stakeholders who are involved in enterprise resource planning (ERP) implementation in agricultural processing companies in Central Macedonia (Greece). This evaluation—combined with aspects from the literature—may show how a digital production system can be managed and redesigned to become sustainable for a company. Research was conducted through the use of a specially designed questionnaire that was addressed to various stakeholders in the ERP implementation in agricultural processing companies. Descriptive statistics, Grey Relational Analysis (GRA), and Friedman test methods were used in order for relevant information to be identified and valid conclusions to be drawn. Given the results of the grey relational analysis (GRA), respondents consider 33 out of 37 critical success factors to be “very important”. Friedman test results seem to differ from GRA results in 19 out of 37 factors with regard to their ranking. Based on this, and using two different methods, the most important ERP critical success factors are highlighted. For the objective aim of this paper to be fulfilled, there is a contribution giving insights into stakeholders’ perspectives regarding the management of a digital production system in the field of agricultural processing companies. It also contributes to the literature, as it highlights methods that refer to the evaluation of critical success factors for ERP implementation.

Focusing on sustainability, the new Common Agricultural Policy (2023–2027) sets ambitious goals for water management, as reducing irrigation water use is a vital issue. Cooperation among farmers, relevant authorities, and researchers plays a significant role in achieving these objectives. Therefore, this study applies a multicriteria mathematical programming model to optimize land use, considering water use, profit, labor, and cost. The model was applied to three farmer groups located in Greece and proved to be valuable in the implementation of irrigation water use. Using the same methodology, two additional cases of farmer groups that utilize drylands are presented in complementary ways to investigate how the new CAP affects non-irrigated land uses. Regarding the irrigated case, reducing water usage involves decreasing the land dedicated to crops characterized by high water demand, such as rice, corn, vetch, and clover. This adjustment stems from the necessity to replace irrigated land with non-irrigated land because climate change demands low water consumption for crops and underscores the importance of the new policy framework to promote sustainable agriculture. As for the non-irrigated case, achieving optimal farm planning entails reducing the cultivated areas of vetch, grassland, and sunflower. This result is driven by the need to increase crops receiving primary subsidies, highlighting the necessity for non-irrigated farms to enhance their profitability through the benefits provided by the Common Agricultural Policy. Lastly, it is important to note that this study significantly contributes to guiding decision-makers in achieving alternative agricultural land uses and farm plans while also aiding in the comprehension of the new cross-compliance rules.

Technical efficiency is considered a useful advisory tool for managers whose main goal is to maximize profit and minimize costs. Data envelopment analysis is a widely accepted methodology for technical efficiency estimation in the sector of agriculture. For that reason and with the view to extract useful conclusions regarding farmers’ effective management of inputs, this study aims to present the DEA method through its implementation in a set of farms located in the regional unit of Pieria. To conduct this analysis, relevant data were collected through a survey in which 40 farms participated. The output variable was chosen to be each farm’s total amount of sales, while the inputs were selected in a way to represent the main factors of production, such as (1) land in acres, (2) labor in hours, and (3) variable costs in EUR. The results showed that the examined farms need to reduce the inputs used by 34.6% to operate more efficiently from the point of view of the CRS model. Therefore, farmers should be motivated to reduce the inputs used, something that can be done through the provision of specialized advisory services. This will, of course, be helped by both the local authorities and the policies of the country in which the rational use of inputs seems to be necessary. This study may contribute to the relevant literature, agriculture, and the area since management suggestions are formulated for the farmers of Pieria’s regional unit.

Small accommodation businesses dominate the rural hospitality industry, producing simple or complex tourist products and services in order to be sustainable and competitive. In this paper, a two-stage data envelopment analysis (DEA) model was applied in a representative sample of 151 small accommodation businesses in non-coastal areas in the region of Central Macedonia in Greece. In the first stage, DEA-bootstrapping is applied to estimate point and interval efficiency ratios of accommodation businesses and identify the benchmark accommodations. The double bootstrapping truncated procedure of Simar and Wilson is implemented in the second stage to investigate the role of five business factors in terms of efficiency. The findings suggest that small accommodation businesses, although they are based in areas where tourist resources abound, are inefficient. Moreover, the results of the truncated regression method showed that the business’s size, the operating days, and the variety of activities (simple/complex) affect business’s inefficiency. On the contrary, the business’s age and their engagement in agriculture or not do not affect business’s efficiency. The results are important for rural entrepreneurs and policy makers, and they will also be useful for the adaptation of businesses to increase their efficiency.

Management and utilization of factors of production, in addition to diversification of land use, affect the performance of farms. In this article, it is identified whether the diversification of land use through its disposal to tourism infrastructure has a positive impact on the farms’ income. This identification was conducted by processing technical and economic data and applying bootstrap regression analysis. The research was conducted using a sample of 56 farms active in hospitality alongside agriculture, utilizing possibly uncultivated areas of land. Data collection was carried out by personal visits to the examined farms. The results showed that the performance of the farms is enhanced by tourism activity. At the same time, the results showed that land used for tourism activities has a positive impact on farms’ income. Paid labor also appears to have a positive influence. Although this investigation was executed in the Region of Central Macedonia (Greece), it contributes to strengthening the existing literature on rural tourism and land use. At the same time, it gives alternatives to policy-makers and owner-managers of farms regarding the utilization of the available factors of production with an emphasis on the land one.

Measuring efficiency and determining factors that may influence it are very important steps to improve the businesses’ competitive position, growth, and sustainability. This paper aims to investigate the efficiency of small accommodation businesses located in Greek non-coastal areas and to determine a set of factors that may affect it, from the perspective of the three dimensions of family businesses (family, business, ownership). The method adopted, in order for the research objective aim to be fulfilled, is the two-stage Data Envelopment Analysis model. In the first stage, the efficiency was estimated from a sample of 150 businesses. In the second stage, the influence of various factors on the examined efficiency was investigated by implementing a Bootstrap Truncated regression. The results showed that the majority of the examined businesses presented a low level of efficiency. Regarding the determination of the factors, it occurred that the manager’s age, ownership form, and business type influenced the relative efficiency level in contrast to the factors of the business’s age, the manager’s sex and education level, the state of succession, as well as the manager’s agricultural employment. By fulfilling the aim of this study, a significant contribution to the relative literature and especially to the hospitality field is offered.