Trust in the US-EU fruit and vegetable chain: Do US exporters understand EU importers?

Research on organizational and inter organizational trust has become an important field in management and marketing literature, as it is perceived as a pivotal aspect of business transactions. However, clarifications are still needed on the issue of whom we trust; is the person whom we are trading with trusted, or the organization, or just the product‐quality? Not only has this question not been answered within this field of research, neither have cultural differences have been described to any great extent. Additionally, if the perceived factors important to establish trusting relationships may or may not be the same on the buyers and the sellers side in international business transaction in food chains. The primary objective of this research study therefore is to identify how well US exporters understand the elements of trust that establish strong relationships with EU importers. The Analytical Hierarchy Process was used to evaluate the importance of different trust elements in interviews conducted with US exporters and EU importers of fruits and vegetables. Results are compared, providing both a picture of the important facets of trust, as well as whether the partners understand the perspectives of the other partner

Importance of trust building elements in B2B agri-food chains

In marketing literature, trust is perceived as a pivotal aspect of business transactions. However, trust is still a concept that needs to be clarified. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to measure the importance of trust building elements in establishing a trustful relationship between trading partners in business transactions, and in the food and beverage sector. Required data was collected by 151 computer aided, qualitative expert interviews with SME business leaders in ten different countries. For the evaluation of the trust building elements, the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) was applied using a predefined, hierarchical structure. The analysis of the data demonstrates that the product related elements are the most important factors in explaining trust creation in business relationships, whereas relationship aspects and the market environment are of less importance. Results concerning trust creation in business relationships further indicate that there are some important differences between cultures and sectors. The estimation of the importance of trust elements in interorganizational relationships will be useful for the implementation in b2b e-business applications simply because it will help to identify the trust building elements that should be the first considerations when integrating e-commerce applications into business procedures

Importance of trust building elements in business-to-business agri-food chains

In marketing literature, trust is perceived as a pivotal aspect of business transactions. However, trust is still a concept that needs to be clarified. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to measure the importance of trust building elements in establishing a trustful relationship between trading partners in business transactions, and in the food and beverage sector. Required data was collected by 151 computer aided, qualitative expert interviews with SME business leaders in ten different countries. For the evaluation of the trust building elements, the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) was applied using a predefined, hierarchical structure. The analysis of the data demonstrates that the product related elements are the most important factors in explaining trust creation in business relationships, whereas relationship aspects and the market environment are of less importance. Results concerning trust creation in business relationships further indicate that there are some important differences between cultures and sectors. The estimation of the importance of trust elements in interorganizational relationships will be useful for the implementation in b2b e-business applications simply because it will help to identify the trust building elements that should be the first considerations when integrating e-commerce applications into business procedures

Importance of Trust Building Elements in Business-To-Business Agri-Food Chains

In marketing literature, trust is perceived as a pivotal aspect of business transactions. However, trust is still a concept that needs to be clarified. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to measure the importance of trust building elements in establishing a trustful relationship between trading partners in business transactions, and in the food and beverage sector. Required data was collected by 151 computer aided, qualitative expert interviews with SME business leaders in ten different countries. For the evaluation of the trust building elements, the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) was applied using a predefined, hierarchical structure. The analysis of the data demonstrates that the product related elements are the most important factors in explaining trust creation in business relationships, whereas relationship aspects and the market environment are of less importance. Results concerning trust creation in business relationships further indicate that there are some important differences between cultures and sectors. The estimation of the importance of trust elements in interorganizational relationships will be useful for the implementation in b2b e-business applications simply because it will help to identify the trust building elements that should be the first considerations when integrating e-commerce applications into business procedure

Perceived risks in cross-border transactions in agri-food chains

Nowadays, agri-food chains are more global than ever and are characterized by increased imports and exports and global sourcing of products, resulting in increased cross-border transaction risks. The objective of this paper is to identify the typical risks regarding agri-food supply chains involved in cross-border transactions and to assess their importance as perceived by agri-food managers. The analysis takes into consideration four different agrifood value chains (meat, grain, olive oil, fresh vegetables and fruits). Following an explorative approach and a qualitative technique, a series of face to face in-depth interviews was conducted. Results indicate that risk perception may be quite different across countries, value chains, tiers of the supply chain, as well as across respondents. The prevalence of Market dynamics risks was pointed out in most of the interviews, yielding the impression that many operators identify the market as the most difficult environment. Differences in risk perception between fresh produce (fruit/vegetables and meat) and processed food chains (grain and olive oil) are probably interrelated to the different degree of integration within these supply chains, the different level of standardization achieved and the different causes of risks that are inherent to the nature of the product