STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT OF FOOD NETWORKS: ARE NETWORK GOALS NECESSARY AND ACHIEVABLE?

Nowadays food products are increasingly produced in vertically cooperating supply chain networks. The questions of how such networks have to be designed and governed have been addressed in several well known articles. However, questions dealing with chain strategy and management are not discussed satisfyingly. In particular, the importance of network goals for the network’s strategy and management is undisclosed. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to provide the theoretical elaboration on the possible role of network goals in strategic chain management. Specifically, the following questions are inquired. First, what are the network goals? Second, how can these goals affect chain management?Supply Chain Networks, Network Goals, Chain Management, Agri-Food Business, Agribusiness,

SUCCESS FOR THE WHOLE FOOD CHAIN: TESTING THE MODEL OF NETWORK SUCCESS IN UKRAINE

Supply Chain Networks, Network Goals, Alignment of Interests, Alignment of Actions, Agribusiness,

Chain Management: All about Success

Nowadays food products are produced in vertically collaborating networks. The questions of how such chain networks have to be designed and which governance structure fits best have been addressed in several well known articles. However, questions dealing with chain strategy and management are not discussed satisfyingly. Neither is the understanding of what is success of chain management distinguished.Chain management, Network goals, Success, Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Farm Management, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Industrial Organization,

The importance of network goals for strategic chain management

Nowadays food products are increasingly produced in supply chain networks that involve numerous firms. Due to their pyramidal-hierarchical structure, such networks possess a focal company that coordinates the network. The managerial task of the focal company is to work out collective strategy that addresses cooperation and coordination problems at the firm, dyadic and network levels. These strategies must take into account that at each level specific goals must be achieved. Though the focal company is a strategy setting unit that sets network goals, other network actors may perceive these goals as firm-level goals of the focal company. Therefore, conflicts may occur in supply chain networks.Supply chain networks, focal company, network goals, Agribusiness,

Why Do Farms in Russia Engage in Corporate Social Responsibility? An Assessment of Survey Results

This article presents the results of an analysis of the institutional, organizational and individual (personal) drivers of socially responsible activities of Russian agricultural enterprises. Assessment of the results of a farm survey in Russia reveals notable positive effects of farm size (in terms of land area), access to local labor, and insecure land use conditions on enterprises' engagement in corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities. Moreover, individually owned farms tend to have more CSR affinity than corporate farms. Additionally, livestock-specialized farms are more likely to engage in CSR than pure crop-producing farms

Mission Impossible: Vertical Collaboration in Ukraine

Food products are increasingly being produced in vertically coordinated networks. While one could argue that supply chain networks and their management are of greater interest in the developed countries, in-depth interviews with agribusiness experts provide evidence that the interest in supply chain management is even greater in the transitional economies. A study of food businesses in Ukraine reveals a number of challenges and barriers supply chain networks face in the transitional economies, the most significant of which are cooperation and coordination issues

Network Governance at the Firm and Network Level: Goals, Routines, and Social Mechanisms

This 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.network governance, social network theory, governance mechanisms., Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Food Security and Poverty, Industrial Organization, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods,

Integration of Small Farmers into Value Chains: Evidence from Eastern Europe and Central Asia

The economic breakdown of the early transition process weighed heavily on food supply relationships in the Eastern European and Central Asian (EECA) countries. Small and medium-sized farm suppliers and processors suffered from lack of necessary production inputs whereas processors and retailers faced problems of insufficient quantity and quality of supplies. At the same time, changes in consumer demand as well as the accompanying entry of foreign investors in the retail and processing sectors necessitated significant and lengthy reforms and adjustments in the structure of food commodity chains to overcome these problems. Based on an extensive literature overview and a synthesis of five case studies conducted upon the assignment of Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, the current chapter demonstrates how small and medium-sized food processors manage to install effective procurement systems in weak institutional environments of EECA. The chapter also identifies the factors that drive small farmer-processor business linkages and their integration into national and international value chains in order to develop options for support and assistance

Warum setzen sich landwirtschaftliche Betriebe in Russland für unternehmerische Sozialverantwortung ein? Eine Analyse von Umfrageergebnissen

Der Beitrag analysiert die institutionellen, organisatorischen und individuellen (persönlichen) Triebkräfte für ein sozial verantwortliches Vorgehen russischer landwirtschaftlicher Betriebe. Eine Analyse von Umfrageergebnissen in Russland ergibt, dass die Betriebsgröße (der bewirtschafteten Flächen), der Zugang zu lokalen Arbeitskräften und unsichere Landnutzungsverhältnisse erhebliche positive Effekte auf ein Engagement für unternehmerische Sozialverantwortung (corporate social responsibility, CSR) haben. Dabei neigen Einzel- und Familienbetriebe eher zu unternehmerischer Sozialverantwortung (CSR) als größere landwirtschaftliche Gesellschaftsunternehmen. Darüber hinaus zeigen Betriebe, die sich auf Viehwirtschaft spezialisiert haben, mehr Engagement für CSR als reine Ackerbaubetriebe

Der wachsende Lebensmittelmarkt in Russland: Kampfarena zwischen internationalen und einheimischen Handelsriesen

Russland ist einer der größten und am schnellsten wachsenden Einzelhandelsmärkte unter den Ländern Mittel- und Osteuropas. Die allgemein steigende Kaufkraft der ca. 143 Millionen russischen Einwohner und eine wachsende Mittelschicht, die als Zielgruppe für international tätige Produzenten und Handelsunternehmen immer interessanter wird, sorgen in den letzten Jahren für ein bemerkenswertes Wachstum im Lebensmitteleinzelhandel. Allein in der Hauptstadt Moskau leben mehr als 12 Millionen Menschen, was sie zur größten Metropole Europas macht. Gemäß dem A.T. Kearney 2009 Global Retail Development Index bleibt Russland stark und hält weiterhin die zweite Position unter den 30 Top-Märkten weltweit. Betrachtet man den russischen Markt für Lebensmittel, so stellt man fest, dass die quantitative Versorgung der Bevölkerung zum größten Teil sicher gestellt ist. Im Gegensatz dazu treten auf der qualitativen Seite große Defizite auf. Häufig sind noch nicht einmal Fragen der Lebensmittelsicherheit – z. B. Hygienestandards – geklärt. Hieraus leitet sich die Frage nach Verbesserung der Lebensmittelqualität und insbesondere selbst qualitativen Basisansprüchen nicht genügen. Andererseits lässt sich jedoch auch feststellen, dass selbst im Massensortiment qualitativ hochwertige Produkte vermarktet werden. In diesem Kontext nehmen insbesondere internationale Handelskonzerne eine Vorreiterrolle ein. Hierbei ist zu bemerken, dass diese ihre Qualitätsstrategien nach Russland »exportieren« und diese dann von dort ansässigen russischen Unternehmen kopiert werden