Corporate responsibility, supply chain management and strategy: In search of new perspectives for sustainable food production

Abstract

Purpose

In search of new perspectives on sustainable food production, this paper focuses on three fields of literature, namely corporate responsibility (CR), supply chain management (SCM) and strategy. The purpose of this paper is to identify the recent theoretical developments and then integrate them in a framework for studying and managing corporations.

Design/methodology/approach

Conceiving socio‐cultural and economic systems within the ecosystem, this paper call for research in the food sector that takes the planetary boundaries into consideration and places the essential needs of the world's poor onto the research agenda of CR, SCM and strategy.

Findings

First, a new perspective on CR could be “holistic and beyond responsive”, as it emphasizes the focal actor's role. Second, SCM could be strengthened at its interface with sustainability by the “bottom of the pyramid” view, as it looks for new ways to make business models and operations beneficial for poor communities. And third, in examining the strategies for these two, the strategy‐as‐practice perspective might prove useful, as it is not only limited to organizational practice but also includes the concepts of organizational praxis and practitioners.

Research limitations/implications

This paper argues that these new perspectives are promising avenues for managing and studying business in the food sector, and thus have implications for both academia and industry.

Originality/value

The framework provided in the paper combines three important areas of business research for sustainable development, namely CR, SCM and strategy.

Citation

Gold, S. and Heikkurinen, P. (2013), "Corporate responsibility, supply chain management and strategy: In search of new perspectives for sustainable food production", Journal of Global Responsibility, Vol. 4 No. 2, pp. 276-291. https://doi.org/10.1108/JGR-10-2012-0025