The interorganizational structures necessary to implement and achieve the logistical performance improvements identified in the Efficient Consumer Response (ECR) initiative and related supply chain management concepts are difficult to develop. Firms continue to struggle to implement integrated...

A number of past authors have argued that vertical coordination strategies lie along a continuum running from spot markets to vertical integration. However, the strategies that make up the middle of this continuum have remained ill defined and the sense in which the continuum is truly a...

Fundamental changes are underway in the U.S. agri-food system, changes that are altering traditional marketing relationships. Parts of the food system are becoming tightly integrated, such as the poultry subsector and, increasingly, the pork subsector. The tightening of vertical linkages has...