Exploring Digital Trust in the Food Supply Chain in a Worldwide Sample

Relationship quality plays a key role in maintaining the connection among parties in a supply chain. Relationship quality promotes loyalty of the supply chain’s factors. This study applies structural equation modeling (SEM) to point out factors affecting the relationship quality and loyalty between farmers and food companies in the rice supply chain. The research data were collected by stratified sampling with a sample size of 232 farmers associating with food companies in the rice supply chain in the Mekong Delta. The four impacting factors that the study has found out include trust, perceived benefit, support policy, and payment terms. Most importantly, the study has demonstrated that relationship quality has a positive correlation with loyalty among parties in the regional rice supply chain.

Aim/Purpose: The study attempts to analyse the influences of knowledge management capacity on company performance and supply chain practices. It also examines whether supply chain practices significantly and positively impact company performance. Background: Knowledge management capacity is an essential tactical resource that enables the integration and coordination among supply chain stakeholders, but research examining the link between knowledge management capacity and supply chain practices and their impacts on company performance remains scarce. Methodology: The study uses correlation analysis and factor analysis to confirm the theoretical framework’s validity and structural equation modelling to test hypotheses. The data are obtained from 115 halal food firms in China (with a response rate of 82.7%). Contribution: This study’s findings contribute to the Social Capital Theory by presenting the impacts of different supply chain practices on company performance. The findings also suggest the impact of intangible resources on enhancing company performance, contributing to the Resource-based View Theory. These results are a crucial contribution to both academicians and corporate managers working in the Halal food industry. Managers can apply these findings to discover and adopt knowledge management capacity with practical anticipation that these concepts will align with their company strategies. Also, the research motivates managers to concentrate their knowledge management on enhancing companies’ supply chain practices to achieve improved company performance. Findings: This study is an initial effort that provides empirical evidence regarding the relationships among supply chain, knowledge management, and company performance from the perspective of China’s halal food industry. The results prove that knowledge management capacity is the supply chains’ primary success determinant and influencer. Besides, knowledge management capacity positively influences company performance, and supply chain practices directly influence company performance. Recommendations for Practitioners: Managers can apply these study findings to determine and increase knowledge management capacity with practical anticipation that these concepts will align with their company strategies. Also, the research motivates managers to concentrate their knowledge management on enhancing companies’ supply chain practices to achieve improved company performance. Recommendation for Researchers: The study presents a new theoretical framework and empirical evidence for surveying halal food businesses in China. Impact on Society: These results are a significant contribution to the research field and industry focusing on halal foods. Future Research: First, this research focuses only on halal food businesses in China; thus, it is essential to re-examine the hypothesized relations between the constructs in other Chinese business segments and regions. Next, the effect of variables and practices on the theorized framework should be taken into account and examined in other industries and nations.

Food supply chains today are characterized by fixed trade relations with long term contracts established between heterogeneous supply chain companies. Production and logistics capacities of these companies are often utilized in an economically inefficient manner only. In addition, increased consumer awareness in food safety issues renders supply chain management even more challenging, since integrated tracking and tracing along the whole food supply chain is needed. Facing these issues of supply chain management complexity and completely documented product quality, this paper proposes a full lifecycle solution for dynamic capacity markets based on concepts used in the field of Grid [1], like management of Virtual Organization (VO) combined with Service Level Agreement (SLA). The solution enables the cost-efficient utilization of real world capacities (e.g., production capacities or logistics facilities) by using a simple, browser-based portal. Users are able to enter into product-specific negotiations with buyers and suppliers of a food supply chain, and to obtain real-time access to product information including SLA evaluation reports. Thus, business opportunities in wider market access, process innovation, and trustworthy food products are offered for participating supply chain companies.

3 - Chain management issues and good housekeeping procedures to minimise food processing waste

This paper has a conceptual character and explores an approach between transaction cost analysis theory and network theory when applied to supply chains in a broader context: industrial management research. This approach raises the assumptions that fast supply chains, i.e., supply chains made of short time relationships and multiple partners can contribute to destroying trust and collaboration between companies, ending up by stressing actual systems’ arrangements in somehow stable supply chains/network chains. As a consequence, transforming them in distrust arrangements and thus giving birth to new (old) approaches based only on transaction cost analysis theory: opportunism and limited rationality as the continuum for relationships between companies in a globalized world with numerous potential agents/companies that can play several roles. Too high levels of entropy can show this reality: the number of potential players (suppliers, customers or complementors) with theoretically equal probability of establishing partnerships with one focal company in a supply chain or network arrangement is excessive in relation to the number of current suppliers, customers and complementors, and for that reason, the focal company is somehow dissipating energy in identifying several potential players and in a state of giving one way or another equal importance to them all, situation that can affect stable relations with current partners. Theoretically, this will create what looks like strategic fast supply—demand chains or network chains: fast because they are rapidly settle down and fast as they are also rapidly dismantled. Those arrangements are the ones responsible for several possible and fast relations (internalizing resources from the environment and/or externalizing resources to the environment) but, anyway, contributing to loose trust, credibility and running against profitable games with partners already involved with focal companies in stable supply chains.

This paper illustrates a new diamond shape architecture based on multi agents for supply chain in an uncertain environment. There are many situations in which a convincing answer to a query cannot be found in the supply chain of a company such as disruptions or sanctions, etc. Thus there is a need of connection between different supply chains of different companies in a particular industry. The proposed architecture addresses a Meta information agent as the core of the architecture in order to connect information agents of various supply chains in a same industry and keep information flowing through them. The brokering method has been used to establish this connection. Fuzzy query approach is considered to tackle uncertainty problems. The results show that our proposed approach is more reliable than other architectures and can increase the flexibility and responsiveness of a supply chain.

PurposeThis paper explores how firms develop and mature sustainable supply chains (SSCs) in developing nations (DNs). The primitive resources, infrastructures and understanding of SSCs in DNs often hinder both the ability of SSCs to mature and their effectiveness in delivering environmental, social and economic goals. The purpose of this paper is to address these issues.Design/methodology/approachThrough the supply chain life cycle (SCLC) lens, the authors analyzed an embedded case study of a Vietnamese end-to-end food supply chain (using 32 semi-structured interviews and archival data) and interviewed senior leadership of three other food companies in early 2019. A post hoc study including five reinterviews in the same Vietnamese case company's supply chain also further validated the study in 2021.FindingsThe authors’ analyses reveal that changes in DN stakeholders' behaviors can quickly move firms' SSCs along the SCLC closer toward a mature stage, in which firms and their network stakeholders can create more sustainable value. They also identify strategies for firms to consider when developing their SSCs to activate these behavioral changes.Originality/valueWhile many authors discuss SSCs' benefits for the environment and society, few assess how firms can design and operate SSCs effectively given the limited resources, infrastructures and SSC knowledge in DNs. This paper offers a compelling framework focusing on engaging various DNs' stakeholders to understand the life cycle of SSCs in less developed countries, in order to accelerate DNs' firms through early development toward a more SSC.

Purpose – Lean management and Six Sigma concepts are derived from two different points of view, but it is evident that the role of employees is crucial in both concepts. The purpose of this paper is to survey which employees’ behaviour dimensions can lead organization to better concepts integration and how Lean Six Sigma activity contributes to employees’ performance. Design/methodology/approach – Research methodology is designed to empirically check, on large sample of companies in multinational company supply chain, if employees’ factors are both predictor and response variables of Lean Six Sigma concept. To check stated hypothesis factor, reliability and multiple regression analysis are used. Findings – The first finding of this study is that reward system and training are significant predictors of Lean Six Sigma activities. The second part of findings shows that Lean Six Sigma dimensions, such as Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control/Define, Measure, Analyze, Design, and Validate, 5S and Kanban positively influences employees’ performance, described by employee satisfaction, absenteeism, salaries and benefits, employees’ commitment and employee turnover rate. Research limitations/implications – Poka-Yoke application is not found as a significant predictor of employees’ performance. Accordingly, to explore that interesting finding, possible future research topic is more detailed analysis of Poka-Yoke application in similar supply chains. A longitudinal analysis using structural equation is possible direction of future work, too. Practical implications – This survey answers the need for Lean and Six Sigma unified methodology achievement in soft factors area and gives applicable results for companies in supply chain that produces low-volume, high-complexity products. Originality/value – Original and valuable conclusion is that employees’ factors are both predictor and response variables of Lean Six Sigma concept application.

Severe injuries from product movement in the U.S. food supply chain

This chapter discusses supply chain management responses used by companies in the food supply chain during the recent COVID-19 pandemic. The chapter first discusses the relevant literature on supply chain resilience. The chapter subsequently reviews supply chain responses in relation to different supply chain resilience capabilities, and then discusses the theory and practice of supply chain capabilities in food supply chains.

Food and drink supply chains are complex, continually changing systems, involving many participants. They present stakeholders across the food and drinks industries with considerable challenges. Delivering performance in food supply chains offers expert perspectives to help practitioners and academics to improve their supply chain operations. The Editors have identified six key challenges in managing food and drinks supply chains. Each section of the book focuses on one of these important issues. The first chapters consider the fundamental role of relationship management in supply chains. The next section discusses another significant issue: aligning supply and demand. Part three considers five different approaches to effective and efficient process management, while quality and safety management, an issue food companies need to take very seriously, is subject of the next section. Parts five and six review issues which are currently driving change in food supply chains: the effective use of new technologies and the desire to deliver food sustainably and responsibly. With expert contributions from leaders in their fields, Delivering performance in food supply chains will help practitioners and academics to understand different approaches in supply chain management, explore alternative methods and develop more effective systems. Considers the fundamental role of relationship management in supply chains including an overview of performance measurement in the management of food supply chains Discusses the alignment of supply and demand in food supply chains and reviews sales and operations planning and marketing strategies for competitive advantage in the food industry Provides an overview of the effective use of new technologies and those that will be used in the future to deliver food sustainably and reliably

2 - Green supply chain

Purpose: This study aims to design metrics and implement supply chain performance measurements of upstream textile companies in Indonesia using the Green Supply Chain Operation Reference (SCOR) perspective approach. Methods: The design and measurement approach uses Green SCOR based on metrics developed by APIC. The weighting of level one and level two assessment metrics using the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) method is based on the results of questionnaires from 20 upstream textile companies spread across the island of Java. Results and discussion: The main findings show that supply chain performance in the upstream sector of textile companies in Indonesia can be classified as good if measured using a supply chain performance metric design with the Green Supply Chain Operations Referendum approach. Opportunities to improve performance in the plan, source, make, delivery, and return aspects using Green SCOR's best practices in the textile industry. Implications of the research: The study's limitations did not include the financial aspects of the company, so it cannot provide a complete picture of the company's supply chain performance. Originality/value: The knowledge gained from this study is an important reference for managers of upstream textile companies to improve the company's green supply chain performance in the future. Managers can set improvement priorities based on the results of performance measurements on the dimensions of reliability, responsiveness, flexibility, and environmental aspects based on the metrics designed by the researcher. In addition, the design of this metric can be used by companies in the medium and downstream textile industry to improve the overall green supply chain performance of the textile industry.

The market globalization and production globalization of automotive industry make the customers, marketing network, suppliers and other related resources are also included in the scope of management, not only the enterprise itself. Then manufacturing companies use Internet to create a virtual company's extended supply chain to meet these demands. Electronic commerce technologies represent one mechanism to manage boundary spanning activities in the supply chain, and it promotes the company's supply chain process reengineering, also is conducive to improve organization structure refinement and operational performance. This paper constructs the automotive e-commerce supply chain model, and analyzes the functions of this model. Finally, a case about automotive e-commerce supply chain management is given to prove this model. The case study indicates that the given model is effective and is suitable for automotive industry. This paper contributes to the e-commerce supply chain management practices in automotive industry.

Purpose To support advanced manufacturing companies in precisely evaluating the maturity of their digital supply chains and identifying improvement opportunities, we developed the digital supply chain maturity model (DSCMM). This model is grounded in the supply chain operations reference digital standard framework and incorporates a multidimensional, multilevel set of assessment indicators. Design/methodology/approach The first step involves identifying the primary assessment dimensions and corresponding secondary indicators to construct a comprehensive supply chain maturity assessment index system. Next, the ordered weighted averaging operator and the entropy weight method are applied in a combined approach to determine indicator weights. Finally, the digital supply chain maturity level is defined, and the cloud model is applied to a selected case company to assess the maturity level of its digital supply chain. Findings A representative advanced manufacturing enterprise was selected for in-depth analysis. The empirical findings confirm that the DSCMM model provides an accurate and reliable method for assessing the digital supply chain maturity of advanced manufacturing companies. Research limitations/implications The model proposed in this paper is primarily founded on the SCOR DS model. However, as the understanding of digital supply chain concepts deepens and related terminologies are standardized, it becomes clear that continuous improvement of the assessment model is essential. Future empirical research will include additional case studies to verify the model's applicability. Social implications This study offers tools and methods enabling advanced manufacturing companies to assess their digital supply chain maturity level and identify areas for future improvement by analyzing current gaps. It can effectively support the continuous optimization of a company's supply chain management, which is essential to remain competitive in a fiercely competitive market environment. Originality/value A structured, standardized, and systematic digital supply chain maturity assessment model for advanced manufacturing enterprises is proposed. This model enables firms to accurately assess their digital supply chain capabilities, identify gaps and determine specific directions and pathways for further enhancement. It ensures the continuous improvement of a company's digital supply chain maturity.