The present paper aims to extend the discussion in the governance literature about whether structural and relational governance mechanisms complement or substitute each other in innovation alliances. Where structural governance mechanisms refer to the division of tasks within the alliance and to upfront contractual and non-contractual input, output and risk-related agreements, relational governance mechanisms refer to trust, using informal norms and rules for coordination purposes. In innovation literature much attention has been paid to relational governance, which is expected to offer more of the flexibility needed for innovation than the regulations in structural governance that are perceived as rigid. However, the authors argue that the essential role of structural governance as a solid basis for creating trust, especially in alliances in which the partners do not know each other, is clearly underexposed in management literature. To fill this gap, a model conceptualizing the innovation alliance from inception to performance was tested using Partial Least Squares, employing a cross-sectional dataset of 94 innovation alliances in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and Austria. The results do indeed show the essential role of structural agreements in creating a platform for trust on which relational governance can strive, while a clear task division can help to reduce the complexity of the inter-organizational innovation process, by reducing the interdependency of the partners. Both structural mechanisms ease communication among the alliance partners, leading to a higher level of knowledge exchange, and ultimately leading to better alliance performance.
{"title":"The interplay of structural and relational governance in innovation alliances","authors":"P. Garbade, S. Omta, F. Fortuin","doi":"10.3920/JCNS2014.X016","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3920/JCNS2014.X016","url":null,"abstract":"The present paper aims to extend the discussion in the governance literature about whether structural and relational governance mechanisms complement or substitute each other in innovation alliances. Where structural governance mechanisms refer to the division of tasks within the alliance and to upfront contractual and non-contractual input, output and risk-related agreements, relational governance mechanisms refer to trust, using informal norms and rules for coordination purposes. In innovation literature much attention has been paid to relational governance, which is expected to offer more of the flexibility needed for innovation than the regulations in structural governance that are perceived as rigid. However, the authors argue that the essential role of structural governance as a solid basis for creating trust, especially in alliances in which the partners do not know each other, is clearly underexposed in management literature. To fill this gap, a model conceptualizing the innovation alliance from inception to performance was tested using Partial Least Squares, employing a cross-sectional dataset of 94 innovation alliances in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and Austria. The results do indeed show the essential role of structural agreements in creating a platform for trust on which relational governance can strive, while a clear task division can help to reduce the complexity of the inter-organizational innovation process, by reducing the interdependency of the partners. Both structural mechanisms ease communication among the alliance partners, leading to a higher level of knowledge exchange, and ultimately leading to better alliance performance.","PeriodicalId":17677,"journal":{"name":"Journal on Chain and Network Science","volume":"132 1","pages":"117-134"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-12-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"85611330","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
German horticulture earns 21.2% of the total production value of German agriculture – on merely 1.3% of the total production area. Despite this important economic standing, agricultural economic research focuses more on other agricultural sectors like meat or milk supply chains. The present study aims to analyze the organization of the horticulture supply chain. In order to fill this gap in research, the impact of various management instruments on performance at an individual farm level as well as in the whole horticultural supply chain get analyzed by using the partial least square method. For this, German vegetable farmers participated in an online survey in 2013. The innovative empirical analysis thereby is based on existing literature and the contingency theory. The results show that the individual farm performance is positively influenced by factor endowment of the farms as well as by trust and business climate between the different levels of the supply chain. In contrast, the external situation of t...
{"title":"Organizing vegetable supply chains: results of a survey of farmers","authors":"M. Kayser, M. Schulte, L. Theuvsen","doi":"10.3920/JCNS2015.X002","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3920/JCNS2015.X002","url":null,"abstract":"German horticulture earns 21.2% of the total production value of German agriculture – on merely 1.3% of the total production area. Despite this important economic standing, agricultural economic research focuses more on other agricultural sectors like meat or milk supply chains. The present study aims to analyze the organization of the horticulture supply chain. In order to fill this gap in research, the impact of various management instruments on performance at an individual farm level as well as in the whole horticultural supply chain get analyzed by using the partial least square method. For this, German vegetable farmers participated in an online survey in 2013. The innovative empirical analysis thereby is based on existing literature and the contingency theory. The results show that the individual farm performance is positively influenced by factor endowment of the farms as well as by trust and business climate between the different levels of the supply chain. In contrast, the external situation of t...","PeriodicalId":17677,"journal":{"name":"Journal on Chain and Network Science","volume":"66 1","pages":"135-146"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-12-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"85641432","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Access to markets is one important strategy which can assist smallholder farmers to move out of poverty. Collective action through farmers' groups has been identified as a strategy to improve the participation of farmers in markets. This study analyzes the determinants of participation and intensity of participation of collective action in production and marketing of avocado in Kenya. Group participation and the intensity were modelled as a binary choice decision and analyzed using logit models. Interviews were conducted with 301 farmers in avocado production zones in Kenya. The result showed that age, education, gender and perceptions on knowledge and improved technology influence farmers' decision to participate in group activities. Occupation, area of residence and farmers' perception on knowledge and improved technology use, and economic benefits had a significant influence on the intensity of participation. We conclude that it is crucial to educate farmers through trainings, workshops and seminars be...
{"title":"Determinants of participation and intensity of participation in collective action: evidence from smallholder avocado farmers in Kenya","authors":"A. Gyau, M. Mbugua, J. Oduol","doi":"10.3920/JCNS2015.0011","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3920/JCNS2015.0011","url":null,"abstract":"Access to markets is one important strategy which can assist smallholder farmers to move out of poverty. Collective action through farmers' groups has been identified as a strategy to improve the participation of farmers in markets. This study analyzes the determinants of participation and intensity of participation of collective action in production and marketing of avocado in Kenya. Group participation and the intensity were modelled as a binary choice decision and analyzed using logit models. Interviews were conducted with 301 farmers in avocado production zones in Kenya. The result showed that age, education, gender and perceptions on knowledge and improved technology influence farmers' decision to participate in group activities. Occupation, area of residence and farmers' perception on knowledge and improved technology use, and economic benefits had a significant influence on the intensity of participation. We conclude that it is crucial to educate farmers through trainings, workshops and seminars be...","PeriodicalId":17677,"journal":{"name":"Journal on Chain and Network Science","volume":"131 1","pages":"147-156"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-09-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"79631908","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Agricultural producer organisations face tight competition in global food and agricultural markets. The opportunities for cooperatives to acquire growth capital are restricted to member contributions, which poses a financial handicap in competition against investor-owned firms. Innovative cooperative structures have emerged as a response to the competitive pressures. For many, gaining access to growth capital from investors has been the reason for departing from the traditional cooperative organisational structure. This study examined whether farmers, as members and owners of agricultural producer cooperatives, are willing to invest in cooperative growth. By using the members of two large Finnish meat producer cooperatives as a sample we were able to utilise the variability in investor-owned firm structures, in which the members have both direct and indirect ownership in two layers of the agricultural producer organisation. A questionnaire study was conducted, including a contingent rating task in which f...
{"title":"Survey evidence of members’ willingness to invest in agricultural hybrid cooperatives","authors":"E. Alho","doi":"10.3920/JCNS2014.0006","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3920/JCNS2014.0006","url":null,"abstract":"Agricultural producer organisations face tight competition in global food and agricultural markets. The opportunities for cooperatives to acquire growth capital are restricted to member contributions, which poses a financial handicap in competition against investor-owned firms. Innovative cooperative structures have emerged as a response to the competitive pressures. For many, gaining access to growth capital from investors has been the reason for departing from the traditional cooperative organisational structure. This study examined whether farmers, as members and owners of agricultural producer cooperatives, are willing to invest in cooperative growth. By using the members of two large Finnish meat producer cooperatives as a sample we were able to utilise the variability in investor-owned firm structures, in which the members have both direct and indirect ownership in two layers of the agricultural producer organisation. A questionnaire study was conducted, including a contingent rating task in which f...","PeriodicalId":17677,"journal":{"name":"Journal on Chain and Network Science","volume":"48 1","pages":"41-58"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-09-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"91388287","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This special issue of the Journal on Chain and Network Science on ‘Agricultural cooperatives in netchains’ includes new research on three research themes: (1) explanation of why are cooperatives particularly important in certain food netchains; (2) willingness of farmers to invest in their cooperative’s netchain; and (3) the role of ambidexterity in the emergence of multi-stakeholder cooperatives. The issue is organized into six papers; one editorial and five research papers. The findings reported in this issue inform scholarly work on agricultural cooperatives through multiple theoretical lenses and empirical approaches. They also have important managerial and public policy implications.
{"title":"Agricultural cooperatives in netchains","authors":"C. Iliopoulos, M. Cook, F. Chaddad","doi":"10.3920/JCNS2016.X003","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3920/JCNS2016.X003","url":null,"abstract":"This special issue of the Journal on Chain and Network Science on ‘Agricultural cooperatives in netchains’ includes new research on three research themes: (1) explanation of why are cooperatives particularly important in certain food netchains; (2) willingness of farmers to invest in their cooperative’s netchain; and (3) the role of ambidexterity in the emergence of multi-stakeholder cooperatives. The issue is organized into six papers; one editorial and five research papers. The findings reported in this issue inform scholarly work on agricultural cooperatives through multiple theoretical lenses and empirical approaches. They also have important managerial and public policy implications.","PeriodicalId":17677,"journal":{"name":"Journal on Chain and Network Science","volume":"66 1","pages":"1-6"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-09-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"89370998","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Cooperatives operate in many different parts of the agri-food chain. Animal breeding, as one of these areas, has not yet been subject to intensive research. In the literature, cooperatives are often claimed to produce a lower quality product than comparable investor-owned firms. Is this the case in dairy cattle breeding as well? In order to address this question, we examine the inter- and intra-organisational coordination and structure of the supply chain for cattle breeding in Germany by means of a property rights model. In a short-term perspective, the profit maximisation of the cooperative member follows the model of perfect competition. In addition, we show the existence of a quality coordination problem in breeding associations in the long run. This problem is presumed to be counteracted by the dual system of price-setting which allows the cooperative to provide incentives to its members.
{"title":"Organisation of German livestock production from the bottom up: a new institutional economic analysis of dairy cattle breeding","authors":"J. Höhler, R. Kühl","doi":"10.3920/JCNS2014.0005","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3920/JCNS2014.0005","url":null,"abstract":"Cooperatives operate in many different parts of the agri-food chain. Animal breeding, as one of these areas, has not yet been subject to intensive research. In the literature, cooperatives are often claimed to produce a lower quality product than comparable investor-owned firms. Is this the case in dairy cattle breeding as well? In order to address this question, we examine the inter- and intra-organisational coordination and structure of the supply chain for cattle breeding in Germany by means of a property rights model. In a short-term perspective, the profit maximisation of the cooperative member follows the model of perfect competition. In addition, we show the existence of a quality coordination problem in breeding associations in the long run. This problem is presumed to be counteracted by the dual system of price-setting which allows the cooperative to provide incentives to its members.","PeriodicalId":17677,"journal":{"name":"Journal on Chain and Network Science","volume":"169 1","pages":"7-18"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-09-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"76171388","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
S. A. P. Perdomo, A. Farrow, J. Trienekens, S. Omta
The Sub-Saharan African smallholder agricultural sector faces multiple and usually complex challenges, which can potentially be overcome by collective action. Smallholder farmers and other value chain stakeholders can tackle temporal, structural and contextual challenges by joining multi-level innovation networks to benefit collectively from shared information, knowledge, improved capacities and economies of scale in a process of innovation. Ambidexterity is a capability of innovation networks to balance exploration and exploitation dynamics in an innovation process, and is applicable at multiple levels: individuals, leaders, champions, teams and clusters. In the paradigm of open innovation, these levels become intertwined in hybrid social structures of innovation netchains. The objective of this paper is to describe the roles and identify the stakeholders that play those roles in an innovation process. We present case studies on farmer groups who participate in collective action and we compare multi-stak...
{"title":"Stakeholder roles for fostering ambidexterity in Sub-Saharan African agricultural netchains for the emergence of multi-stakeholder cooperatives","authors":"S. A. P. Perdomo, A. Farrow, J. Trienekens, S. Omta","doi":"10.3920/JCNS2014.0007","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3920/JCNS2014.0007","url":null,"abstract":"The Sub-Saharan African smallholder agricultural sector faces multiple and usually complex challenges, which can potentially be overcome by collective action. Smallholder farmers and other value chain stakeholders can tackle temporal, structural and contextual challenges by joining multi-level innovation networks to benefit collectively from shared information, knowledge, improved capacities and economies of scale in a process of innovation. Ambidexterity is a capability of innovation networks to balance exploration and exploitation dynamics in an innovation process, and is applicable at multiple levels: individuals, leaders, champions, teams and clusters. In the paradigm of open innovation, these levels become intertwined in hybrid social structures of innovation netchains. The objective of this paper is to describe the roles and identify the stakeholders that play those roles in an innovation process. We present case studies on farmer groups who participate in collective action and we compare multi-stak...","PeriodicalId":17677,"journal":{"name":"Journal on Chain and Network Science","volume":"25 1","pages":"59-82"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-09-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"75180690","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
For years, scholars and policy makers have ar gued that cooperatives, particularly agricultural cooperatives, exhibit organizational inefficiencies primarily caused by individual member behavior that is often independent and non-cooperative conflicting with the formation of effective coalition building. This free riding tendency creates significant challenges for a continued joint collaboration between and among member patrons. Yet, agricultural cooperatives have a long history of surviving as successful business enterprises. This paper presents a framework that proposes generic solutions effective as design principles in addressing the negative consequences of high organization costs, thus leading to sustainable common group interest activities.
{"title":"Generic solutions to coordination and organizational costs: informing cooperative longevity","authors":"M. Cook, C. Iliopoulos","doi":"10.3920/JCNS2016.X001","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3920/JCNS2016.X001","url":null,"abstract":"For years, scholars and policy makers have ar gued that cooperatives, particularly agricultural cooperatives, exhibit organizational inefficiencies primarily caused by individual member behavior that is often independent and non-cooperative conflicting with the formation of effective coalition building. This free riding tendency creates significant challenges for a continued joint collaboration between and among member patrons. Yet, agricultural cooperatives have a long history of surviving as successful business enterprises. This paper presents a framework that proposes generic solutions effective as design principles in addressing the negative consequences of high organization costs, thus leading to sustainable common group interest activities.","PeriodicalId":17677,"journal":{"name":"Journal on Chain and Network Science","volume":"50 1","pages":"19-27"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-07-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"79794619","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
We use recent data from 253 smallholder producer organisations (SPOs) in Ethiopia, Malawi and Senegal, factor and regression analysis to define organisational health, understand its determinants and relate health to performance. We find that latent health evolves according to a life cycle and that start up incentives and design rules are important determinants of an organisation’s progression through this life cycle. Health, in turn, is found to explain SPO performance measured in terms of profits. Healthier and more profitable SPOs are those with an economic justification at establishment, those initially pursuing defensive objectives and those SPOs that have put in place a strategy for capital formation. More educated presidents contribute to the health of an SPO but it is also shown that when the president of the SPO is female, profits are lower while the organisation is not healthier.
{"title":"Organisational health and performance: an empirical assessment of smallholder producer organisations in Africa","authors":"F. Wouterse, G. Francesconi","doi":"10.3920/JCNS2016.X002","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3920/JCNS2016.X002","url":null,"abstract":"We use recent data from 253 smallholder producer organisations (SPOs) in Ethiopia, Malawi and Senegal, factor and regression analysis to define organisational health, understand its determinants and relate health to performance. We find that latent health evolves according to a life cycle and that start up incentives and design rules are important determinants of an organisation’s progression through this life cycle. Health, in turn, is found to explain SPO performance measured in terms of profits. Healthier and more profitable SPOs are those with an economic justification at establishment, those initially pursuing defensive objectives and those SPOs that have put in place a strategy for capital formation. More educated presidents contribute to the health of an SPO but it is also shown that when the president of the SPO is female, profits are lower while the organisation is not healthier.","PeriodicalId":17677,"journal":{"name":"Journal on Chain and Network Science","volume":"7 1","pages":"29-40"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-06-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"87272788","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Aleksan Shanoyan, R. Ross, H. Gow, H. C. Peterson, Roy T. Black
This paper presents an empirical examination of investment responses to external facilitation of supply chain linkages between agricultural producers and processors. Specifically, it analyzes the impact of participation in the USDA Marketing Assistance Program (MAP) facilitated formal marketing channel on farm-level investments in tomato production. The analysis involves mixed method approach utilizing a case of the USDA MAP in the Armenian vegetable industry and the survey data from 427 Armenian tomato growers. The main results indicate that the tomato growers linked to USDA MAP facilitated formal marketing channel (i.e. processors) invested significantly more in expanding tomato planting area compared to growers in informal channel (i.e. direct-to-consumer markets, middleman, and barter). The lessons from the USDA MAP’s supply chain facilitation strategy and the results of quantitative analysis provide insights on incentive structures and enforcement mechanisms for designing more effective supply chain ...
{"title":"Third-party facilitation of supply chain linkages: evidence from the Armenian vegetable industry","authors":"Aleksan Shanoyan, R. Ross, H. Gow, H. C. Peterson, Roy T. Black","doi":"10.3920/JCNS2015.0007","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3920/JCNS2015.0007","url":null,"abstract":"This paper presents an empirical examination of investment responses to external facilitation of supply chain linkages between agricultural producers and processors. Specifically, it analyzes the impact of participation in the USDA Marketing Assistance Program (MAP) facilitated formal marketing channel on farm-level investments in tomato production. The analysis involves mixed method approach utilizing a case of the USDA MAP in the Armenian vegetable industry and the survey data from 427 Armenian tomato growers. The main results indicate that the tomato growers linked to USDA MAP facilitated formal marketing channel (i.e. processors) invested significantly more in expanding tomato planting area compared to growers in informal channel (i.e. direct-to-consumer markets, middleman, and barter). The lessons from the USDA MAP’s supply chain facilitation strategy and the results of quantitative analysis provide insights on incentive structures and enforcement mechanisms for designing more effective supply chain ...","PeriodicalId":17677,"journal":{"name":"Journal on Chain and Network Science","volume":"57 1","pages":"83-93"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-05-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"79213752","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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