Abstract
To date, there are only few works in the strategic management literature considering sustainable development as well as competitive strategies. The contribution extends existing work by a systematic analysis on the compatibility of activities for sustainable development and competitive strategies in the food industry. Activities for sustainable development are categorized according to the two dimensions of “effects on costs in the long term” and “effects on food product quality”. The purpose of this contribution is to theoretically examine the compatibility of activities for sustainable development and competitive strategies in order to derive practical guidance for strategy executives in the food industry. Michael E. Porter’s concept of generic competitive strategies as well as the idea of hybrid strategies are applied to systematically analyze the compatibility. Furthermore, it is revealed that there is presently a lack of empirical findings regarding the potential success of hybrid strategies in the food industry within the context of sustainable development. The contribution provides guidance on choosing generic competitive strategies and appropriate supporting activities within the context of sustainable development. It is shown that companies in the food industry who follow the idea of sustainable development uncompromisingly will often have problems to successfully establish the competitive strategy of cost leadership.
Highlights
It is revealed that there is presently a lack of empirical findings regarding the potential success of hybrid strategies in the food industry within the context of sustainable development
It is shown that companies in the food industry who follow the idea of sustainable development uncompromisingly will often have problems to successfully establish the competitive strategy of cost leadership
The contribution made by this paper is to show which activities for sustainable development are suitable for which generic competitive strategies in the food industry
Summary
Significant research efforts in the area of economics and management have been devoted to ecological topics and aspects of sustainable development (Bansal, 2005; Constantatos, & Herrmann, 2011; Elkington, 1994; Gladwin, Kennelly, & Krause, 1995; Keong, 2005; Molina-Azorín, Claver-Cortés, López-Gamero, & Tarí, 2009; Porter, & van der Linde, 1995; Shrivastava, 1995; Yu, Ting, & Wu, 2009). It is shown that companies in the food industry who follow the idea of sustainable development uncompromisingly will often have problems to successfully establish the competitive strategy of cost leadership. The contribution made by this paper is to show which activities for sustainable development are suitable for which generic competitive strategies in the food industry.
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