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Article
Publication date: 17 July 2009

Sue Hornibrook, Andrew Fearne and Maria Lazzarin

The purpose of this paper is to present a conceptual model of fairness applicable to buyer‐ supplier relationships within supply chains in order to generate a new line of…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to present a conceptual model of fairness applicable to buyer‐ supplier relationships within supply chains in order to generate a new line of empirical research within supply chain management (SCM).

Design/methodology/approach

The paper presents a literature review on organisational justice drawn from the psychology discipline. Fairness within collaborative and long‐term buyer‐supplier relationships is discussed and conceptualised. A number of propositions are presented applicable to buyer supplier relationships within supply chains, given that successful implementation of supply chain strategies depends upon the actions and reactions of individuals across functions, both within and between organisations.

Findings

Some of the assumptions made in the traditional intra‐organisational setting are challenged. A conceptual model of fairness applicable to buyer‐supplier relationships is developed, and supply chain moderating factors that may impact on perceptions of justice, and possible desired organisational as well as supply chain outcomes are identified.

Originality/value

Specifically, a contribution is made to the gaps in the SCM literature on the social implications of SCM by developing a behavioural theoretical approach. Solutions to operational measurement difficulties are offered, together with implications for practising managers to consider when managing supply chain relationships. Opportunities and difficulties for future empirical research are also identified.

Details

International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, vol. 37 no. 9
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0959-0552

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 6 July 2010

Gert Jan Hofstede, Melanie Fritz, Maurizio Canavari, Elsje Oosterkamp and Gert‐jan van Sprundel

This paper aims to develop a hierarchical typology of trust elements for business‐to‐business trade among European companies in the food sector.

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Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to develop a hierarchical typology of trust elements for business‐to‐business trade among European companies in the food sector.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper integrates desk research literature study and a qualitative survey of food industry companies. An extensive literature review about inter‐organizational trust lays a foundation for designing a draft typology based on previous studies, with special attention paid to the influence of culture. Fine‐tuning and validation of the typology is achieved through an exploratory field study based on 18 qualitative in‐depth interviews with key informants in five EU countries, involving practitioners from the fresh fruit and vegetable, grain, meat and olive supply chains.

Findings

A detailed typology of trust is developed. Although it is highly specific to the food industry, it is designed to be neutral to culture and sector, thus allowing the identification of differences in culture when dealing with trust building elements in different sectors in the food supply chain.

Research limitations/implications

Since the buyer's perspective is adopted in this paper, further research is needed to validate the typology on the seller side. The typology developed here must also be tested in practice, for instance within a descriptive research quantitative study, aimed at quantifying the relative importance of the different trust elements.

Practical implications

The typology stimulates the consideration of cross‐cultural or cross‐sector differences in the salience of trust attributes and its construction process confirms that reputation management is an extremely important determinant of success or failure. It can serve as a checklist for any company that is interested in improving its relationships with suppliers or buyers.

Originality/value

The paper adds to the body of knowledge about inter‐organizational trust, providing researchers with a useful tool for conducting experimental research on trust creation mechanisms.

Details

British Food Journal, vol. 112 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0007-070X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 2 September 2014

Henrik Ringsberg

This paper aims to increase our understanding of perspectives on food traceability in four supply chain risk management (SCRM) approaches to ensure food safety. The occurrence of…

6797

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to increase our understanding of perspectives on food traceability in four supply chain risk management (SCRM) approaches to ensure food safety. The occurrence of food safety failures has led to increased attention on food traceability as a means of identifying the causes of deficiencies in supply chains.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper presents a literature review and synthesizes the broader domain of food traceability by analyzing perspectives based on SCRM approaches. In all, 129 published papers were selected and evaluated using content analysis.

Findings

A framework of SCRM approaches on food traceability is presented. Eight perspectives on food traceability are identified and grouped according to four SCRM approaches: food supply chain complexity and unique identification of goods (logistics management); transparency and interoperability (information management); in-house production and outsourcing (production management); and food quality and safety requirements and the monitoring of food characteristics (quality management).

Research limitations/implications

The findings provide an in-depth understanding and research suggestions for the management of traceability to ensure food safety in food supply chains. Conclusions are drawn from secondary sources, thus excluding empirical evaluation.

Practical implications

The implementation of food traceability can result in changes to existing management systems. This paper addresses the perspectives and management challenges that can influence the implication of food traceability to ensure food safety.

Originality/value

Perspectives on food traceability according to SCRM approaches are presented. Food traceability is analyzed using the philosophy of scientific framework and suggestions for further research are offered.

Details

Supply Chain Management: An International Journal, vol. 19 no. 5/6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1359-8546

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 October 2005

Susan A. Hornibrook, Mary McCarthy and Andrew Fearne

For supermarkets in the UK and the Republic of Ireland, the strategic importance of own label or retail brands is crucial, with sales of fresh beef almost exclusively sold under…

3201

Abstract

Purpose

For supermarkets in the UK and the Republic of Ireland, the strategic importance of own label or retail brands is crucial, with sales of fresh beef almost exclusively sold under the retail brand. Given safety and quality issues, this study seeks to understand pre‐pack consumers' perceptions of risk associated with beef in the Republic of Ireland.

Design/methodology/approach

Building on previous qualitative research, and using a survey methodology and adopting a perceived risk theoretical framework, face‐to‐face interviews with purchasers of pre‐pack beef from supermarkets were conducted in Cork, Waterford and Limerick.

Findings

The results confirm that for these particular beef purchasers, food safety and health issues are still the main concerns. However, perceptions of risk are reduced through loyalty to supermarkets, confirming that the investment by retailers in supply chain policies and strategies has paid off in terms of reducing customers' perceptions of risk associated with food safety.

Research limitations/implications

One limitation of the research is that perceptions of risk and coping strategies are specific to the product category; therefore, results cannot be generalised to other categories.

Practical implications

The findings demonstrate that a more focussed approach to marketing beef could include strategies based upon understanding particular aspects of perceived risk.

Originality/value

A deeper understanding of consumers' risk perceptions and risk reducing strategies is necessary as consumers' perceptions of risk can both respond to and influence the strategies adopted at both firm and industry level. In particular, an understanding of perceived risk is particularly necessary for retailers following an own brand strategy in general.

Details

International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, vol. 33 no. 10
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0959-0552

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 14 August 2007

Andrew Cox, Daniel Chicksand and Tong Yang

The purpose of this paper is to show that a proactive sourcing strategy can be just as important as a proactive marketing strategy in achieving sustainable competitive advantage.

5825

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to show that a proactive sourcing strategy can be just as important as a proactive marketing strategy in achieving sustainable competitive advantage.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper reports on action research carried out in the UK beef industry, with a focus on the food service supply chain. The methodology is inductive and qualitative, using a multi‐case, multi‐site approach. The supply chains presented in the case were analysed from farm gate to consumer, interviewing multiple participants at each stage of the supply chain.

Findings

This study offers some partial support for configuration‐based approaches. However, the case also raises some doubts about the validity of configuration thinking, as it is not the complexity or ambiguity of the relationships that is key in the case, but the fact that brand ownership and contracts create property rights for their owner that create a relatively permanent power resource for Pioneer, the case study company, in its market struggle with its customers and competitors. This interpretation supports the power and property rights views of strategic management rather than the configuration approach.

Research limitations/implications

The research is based upon in‐depth knowledge of the UK beef and red meat industry. It would be beneficial if further in‐depth studies could be undertaken in other agri‐food supply chains to further validate the findings.

Practical implications

Although the focus of this article has been upon choosing appropriate sourcing strategies, the case study has also illustrated the importance for business managers of linking this sourcing strategy with a firm's marketing, and more specifically its branding strategy.

Originality/value

The paper analyses the key differences in demand, supply and power and leverage characteristics in the food service beef supply chain to highlight the need for government agencies, think‐tanks and industry participants to have a more robust understanding of industries before advocating the adoption of any one approach for all UK agri‐food supply chains. This paper should be of value to researchers in this area and to managers responsible for strategy formation in UK agri‐food supply chains.

Details

Supply Chain Management: An International Journal, vol. 12 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1359-8546

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 August 2005

Andrew Fearne, Rachel Duffy and Susan Hornibrook

To explore the nature and scope of good and bad practice in the relationships that UK supermarkets have with their suppliers of own‐label products in the main commodity sectors…

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Abstract

Purpose

To explore the nature and scope of good and bad practice in the relationships that UK supermarkets have with their suppliers of own‐label products in the main commodity sectors (meat, dairy, fresh produce).

Design/methodology/approach

The paper presents the results of a postal survey of supermarket suppliers, which formed part of a wider study of corporate social responsibility in UK supermarket supply chains.

Findings

The results demonstrate the heterogeneity in relationships between supermarkets and their suppliers of own‐label products in the main commodity sectors the extent to which retail and supply chain strategy is likely to influence the way in which supermarkets deal with suppliers. Best practice was most evident in the two supermarket supply chains where supply base rationalisation has virtually ceased and the adoption of lead suppliers and sole suppliers has been most evident in recent years.

Research limitations/implications

Postal survey limited to suppliers in three commodity sectors, where buyer power is greatest. Would expect different results for relationships with branded suppliers.

Practical implications

With supermarkets coming under increasing scrutiny over the way they treat suppliers, the conceptual framework and survey instrument represent a mechanism for independent assessment of supply chain relationships in sensitive markets, which could be used constructively to encourage the more widespread adoption of good practice and the elimination of bad practice in supermarket relationships.

Originality/value

This paper presents the results of the first attempt anywhere to empirically measure fairness in relationships between supermarkets and their suppliers. Further research is necessary but the results of our early work are extremely encouraging.

Details

International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, vol. 33 no. 8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0959-0552

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 16 July 2019

Ruth Yeoman and Milena Mueller Santos

Organizations are increasingly required to take up extended responsibilities for social and environmental outcomes, including in global value chains. To address these challenges…

Abstract

Organizations are increasingly required to take up extended responsibilities for social and environmental outcomes, including in global value chains. To address these challenges, the organization must call upon stakeholders to engage, contribute, and innovate, and in turn, this requires the organization to have a stronger social basis for its relationships. An integrative model of global value chain management based on social cooperation shifts the focus from corporate reputation to value chain reputation, from a firm-centric view of corporate reputation to a multistakeholder conception of value chain reputation. This approach conceptualizes reputation as a dynamic and potentially vulnerable organizational feature which cannot always be managed by public relations but requires a more stable notion grounded in something more permanent in the organization’s character, history, and the quality of its relationships with stakeholders. We consider the prospects for attending to organizational integrity as a stabilizing force for its public reputation. Integrity may be adopted as a hypernorm for motivating stakeholders who share a concern for the organization’s reputation. Co-creating reputation depends upon a social bond of cooperation developed by stakeholders caring about the organization and in turn, the organization caring about its stakeholders. This socialized understanding of reputation-building is grounded in an ethic of care and manifested through joint purposes, boundary-crossing processes, collaboration practices, and a division of labor into which value chain members are integrated and brought into relation with one another. We propose a model of global value chain management that discusses organizational capabilities required for such an approach.

Details

Global Aspects of Reputation and Strategic Management
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78754-314-0

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 25 October 2018

Leigh Sparks

The UK food retailing sector has undergone a radical transformation over the last 70 or so years. It has become a sector dominated by very large businesses with considerable power…

Abstract

The UK food retailing sector has undergone a radical transformation over the last 70 or so years. It has become a sector dominated by very large businesses with considerable power over both the upstream and downstream supply chain. The scale and power of those leading retailers has attracted considerable academic focus and political attention. In the first two decades of the twenty-first century, global concern has emerged via a number of grand challenges including sustainability. Retailers have increasingly sought to address issues of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainability, both to stave off criticism and for reasons of operational efficiency. The scale of the UK’s leading food retailers thus becomes a two-edged sword; should these retailers be co-opted in the fight for global sustainability or radically challenged as the cause of many of the problems? This chapter reviews the changing roles of food retailers, their steps in CSR and then poses the question as the future role of retailers in this changing environmental landscape.

Details

Food Retailing and Sustainable Development
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78714-554-2

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 14 October 2004

John Godfrey

Public external examinations were woven into the fabric of the education system of New South Wales (NSW) during the first three decades of the 20th century. By the late 1920s…

Abstract

Public external examinations were woven into the fabric of the education system of New South Wales (NSW) during the first three decades of the 20th century. By the late 1920s examination results had become the fetish and goal of most teachers and pupils in the state. In the early 1930s a reaction to this state of affairs developed; examination reform became a lively issue of debate. Central to the debate was the issue of the examination which marked the close of general adolescent education: the Intermediate Certificate (IC) examination. The agitation for IC modification began in the 1930s and did not cease until the 1960s. It began in the dissatisfaction of the 1930s, developed through the 1940s when opinion crystallized, survived the stagnation in educational reform of the late 1940s and early 1950s, quickly revived during the professional and public discussion surrounding the hearing and deliberations of the Committee Appointed to Survey Secondary Education in New South Wales (Wyndham Committee) and finally ceased with its abolition in the mid 1960s.

Details

History of Education Review, vol. 33 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0819-8691

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 17 April 2008

Kit Fai Pun and Patricia Bhairo‐Beekhoo

Almost every country around the world has been focusing on food safety in intense and multifaceted ways. The use of Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points (HACCP) is widely…

Abstract

Almost every country around the world has been focusing on food safety in intense and multifaceted ways. The use of Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points (HACCP) is widely accepted as a food safety management system. This paper investigates the success factors of HACCP practices with reference to the domains of food production, processing and delivery. A literature review of food safety and management articles was conducted. Using the keywords search, the online Emerald Database was used and a total of 102 journal articles were identified between 1994 and 2007. The study examined a list of 20 success factors. Results show that “food regulations”, “role of the industry”, “government policies and interventions”, “training on food safety and hygiene”, and “food contamination and/or poisoning” share the spotlight as being the most critical factors for HACCP practices in organisations. Future research could investigate a holistic paradigm that incorporates the success factors and aligns HACCP measures for attaining safety performance goals.

Details

Asian Journal on Quality, vol. 9 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1598-2688

Keywords

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