Relations between usage patterns of performance indicators and the role of individual firms in fresh fruit agri-food supply chains

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to report the use of performance metrics among 121 Brazilian agribusiness companies, with the aim of helping accountants and academics to understand the actual use of performance metrics in non-integrated supply chains (SCs). Design/methodology/approach To identify which performance metrics are used among SC partners, four independent clusters representing specific SC roles (input suppliers, farmers, distributors, and retailers) were formed. Data relating to 49 performance metrics were collected by questionnaire and analyzed statistically to isolate common measures. Findings It was found among suppliers, farmers, distributors, and retailers that the performance metrics for return on investment, responsiveness, and response time to clients are not being used whereas customer satisfaction obtained a usage pattern in all roles in the four groups. Hence, it appears that customer satisfaction rather than financial sustainability is the driver for discussion between SC partners. Research limitations/implications Although limited to a sample of firms within Brazil, the findings confirm evidence from similar SCs worldwide. Practical implications These findings suggest that the common metrics approach to measure SC performance may be very difficult to achieve in practice and other alternatives should be investigated by management accountants. Social implications A predominance of customer satisfaction metrics to the exclusion of discussions on financial performance between partners in agri-food SC has implications for the sustainability of the industry and the ability of accountants and managers to negotiate when faced with increasing input costs. Originality/value This study contributes to the accountants’ understanding of how performance measurement works in fragmented SCs, whereas the majority of the literature is concerned with the integrated SCs.