Food System Dynamics (E-Journals)
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Customer Communication of Regional Quality Efforts: A Case From the Grain Sector
Full text linkUsually, marketing communication efforts in the agrifood sector address the end consumers and concentrate on products that are processed and ready for consumption, thus quality efforts often concentrate on the final product. Moreover, there’s a widespread view that agricultural commodities like wheat aren’t suitable neither for product focused marketing nor branding. However, recent developments in the in agrifood sector challenge this view. The increasing use of biotechnology, the globalisation of markets and changing consumer demands for quality, food safety and process attributes require improved communication concepts and information sharing along whole production chains. This paper considers the development of a quality communication system to support a regional wheat brand and prerequisites for quality management efforts
Supply Chain and Network Performance: Metrics for Profitability, Productivity and Efficiency
Full text linkThe architecture of the firm involves determination of a boundary that encompasses the functions managed by the firm. The past decade has seen substantial reorganization of firms where vertical or horizontal integration has been unbundled into weaker forms of collaborations including value chains and networks. This observation has forced a re-conceptualization of the boundaries of the firm to incorporate such collaborations. These collaborations are virtual and highly dynamic. They emerge and persist when two conditions are met. First, they must enable generation of greater value than might be attained through independent operation and anonymous transactions through markets. Second, the resulting growth must be shared with members in a way that retains their participation. Each of these conditions can be verified only if performance of the collaboration can be established. This paper recognizes the need for “metrics of performance” that are by necessity operationally feasible to measure. While conceptual approaches have been studied in the management literature, this paper considers from theoretic perspectives these issues and derives measures of the performance of the overall collaboration as well as of the participating enterprises. The paper presents a framework that can be applied to both vertical and horizontal collaborations as found in supply chains and networks. The paper offers suggestions on empirical methods for estimation of measures derived
Network Governance at the Firm and Network Level: Goals, Routines, and Social Mechanisms
Full text linkThis article contributes to the general understanding of governance in networks and the achievement of private and common goals. Integrating transaction costs and social network theory, a simple integrated framework is provided for understanding why firms collaborate and under which conditions they establish durable networks that succeed in achieving goals. Network theory is extended by explicitly distinguishing between firm and network level governance, and by identifying governance mechanisms that adapt, coordinate, and safeguard customized exchanges. This way issues as how networks evolve, how they are governed, and ultimately, how collective outcomes might be generated can be better comprehended. This is especially relevant to policy planners and those having a perspective that goes beyond the performance of individual organizations
System Dynamics in Food Quality Certifications: Development of an Audit Integrity System
Full text linkDue to the complex structure of certification schemes the risk of flaws and scandals is generally high. It has further increased by several developments during the last years. With regard to their potential effects, it is questionable whether the certification approaches are actually able to detect deficiencies within the system and thus prevent crises which may lead to its breakdown. Hence, the ability of a standard to meet its objectives of food quality and safety needs to be enforced. In this contribution we launch the implementation of a controlling tool which automatically monitors audit quality based on information of the respective data bases. By analysing possible negative influences, opportunistic behaviour can thus be detected
Agribusiness Firm Reactions to Regulations: The Case of Investments in Traceability Systems
Full text linkThe regulatory framework of food production has changed a lot in recent years. As a result, traceability of food products has become mandatory in the European Union, nonetheless leaving room for more advanced solutions. This study answers the question what exactly determines firms' investments in traceability systems by first developing a theoretical framework - the so-called Tracking and Tracing System Investment Model - and then analyzing empirical data from the German food industry that provide in-depth insights into companies' investment behaviour.Altogether, 234 companies representing more than fifteen different sub‐sectors of the food‐processing industry participated in an online survey. The results show that German food firms can be divided into four clusters based on their dominant motives for investing (or not investing) in traceability systems. Moreover, the results of a partial‐least squares (PLS) analysis provide a good understanding of the major factors influencing the investment behaviour of companies concerning tracking and tracing systems
Prospects for a European Animal Welfare Label from the German Perspective: Supply Chain Barriers
Full text linkThe Federal Government of Germany as well as the European Commission are discussing the establishment of an animal welfare label. This label should enable consumers to make a conscious purchasing decision on animal welfare products. Various studies show that many consumers (in Germany around 20 %) prefer products produced under animal friendly conditions. However, the supply of such products is limited. The following study examines the source of this discrepancy by way of an action-based analytical approach and identifies different barriers within the supply chain that prevent the establishment of a market segment for animal welfare products. Although consumer demand will be decisive for long-term success, first of all the stakeholders of the supply chain must be convinced. If the stakeholders are not prepared to participate in an animal welfare program the diffusion phase can take a very long time or even fail. This study presents such supply chain barriers and interprets them in the light of neo-institutionalism
Managing Network Goals: The Interplay of Network and Firm Levels
Full text linkThis article provides several contributions to the general understanding of governance in networks and the achievement of private and common goals. A simple, integrated framework for understanding why firms collaborate and under which conditions they establish durable networks that succeed in achieving goals is provided. Network theory is extended by explicitly distinguishing between dyadic level governance and network level governance conditions, and by identifying exchange conditions that promote governance.This way issues as how networks evolve, how they are governed, and ultimately, how collective outcomes might be generated can be better comprehended. This is especially relevant to policy planners and those having a perspective that goes beyond the performance of individual organizations
Transparent Food and Consumer Trust
Full text linkNowadays the food market is very complex and anonymous. Consequently, consumer trust in food has become a key issue for food choice. For example, the production process of food is not always transparent for consumers. To provide more transparency and to enhance consumer trust, different initiatives communicating traceability to the consumers exist. Visualised traceability systems such as the initiative ‘Bio mit Gesicht’ allow consumers to gather information about the farmer who has produced the food as well as information about his farm and family.This study explores consumer trust in organic food, the impact of trust in the buying decision and the effectiveness of enhancing consumer trust by communication strategies on traceability. The research is grounded on the general finding that trust is one of the most crucial aspects when consumers decide whether or not to buy organic products. The study consists of two tasks, a quantitative and a qualitative survey. In this paper the focus is laid on the second task, a qualitative survey. The used method is the structure formationtechnique. The aim is to combine an interview with a visualising technique. With the help of this method the factors which influence the decision of consumers to buy or not to buy organic food should become clear. Furthermore, the role of trust in the buying decision will be explored. Moreover, an investigation should be made as to whether or not traceability systems influence consumer trust in organic food. This research is currently being conducted but preliminary results can already be presented.The results of the study will help develop communication strategies for enhancing consumer trust in organic food
Networking in Meat Production Systems: The Influence of Cooperative Structures on Farmers’ Participation
Full text linkIncreasing competitive pressures as well as growing requirements with regard to quality and safety pose a continuous challenge for farmers in European agrifood netchains. Against this background, the significance of network‐wide collaboration has been pointed out in recent years, especially for German livestock farming (Petersen et al., 2007). In the literature, it is generally agreed that participation in specialized networks can be beneficial to the competitiveness of individual farms and firms (Gellynck, Vermeire and Viaene, 2006). (more....