Abstract
The Spanish olive oil sector is the world leader in terms of olive oil production. This sector primarily comprises companies in the social economy, especially cooperatives, which account for more than 75% of production. The emergence of second-tier cooperatives has enabled the implementation of one of the recurring recommendations by scholars, namely enhancing the commercialization of olive oil through greater concentration and integration of supply. This improved commercialization is made possible in part by the greater capacity of these companies to invest in information and communication technologies (ICTs) and human capital specialized in managing these ICTs. The use of the Internet gives these companies access to a market of unparalleled dimensions. In light of this situation, this study examines the factors that explain a higher level of online sales activity by these firms. To do so, fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) is used. The results show that age, size, the management’s ICT training, social network activity, and outsourced ICT management are associated with greater online sales of olive oil by second-tier cooperatives.
Highlights
The olive grove is a true native crop of the Mediterranean basin
The greater competitiveness generated by the increase in olive oil production at world level and the structural deficiencies of the Spanish olive sector have led a large group of cooperative societies to create second-degree cooperative societies from which carry out, jointly, the marketing of their products in order to achieve greater profitability
The hypotheses put forward in the theoretical framework are accepted, which indicates that the Information and communication technologies (ICTs) training of management, the age of the company, the presence and use of virtual social networks and the size of the organisation are factors which together have a relevant explanatory capacity for the level of online sales in organisations
Summary
The principal produce of olive groves consists of olive oil and table olives, which are staples of the Mediterranean diet. The benefits and attributes of olive oil are driving consumption of this product, olive oil represents only 4% of total consumption of oils and fats worldwide (Vilar and Cárdenas, 2016). This sector is strategic because of its major role in the agricultural sector of the main olive-oil-producing countries. The predominant sales format among producers is bulk sales, which has prevented them from capturing a large amount of the additional value created by the commercialization of bottled oil
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