This paper is concerned with the role of network administrative organizations (NAOs) in the development of social capital in inter-organizational networks aiming at supporting their members to innovate in the food sector through interacting with one another. A multi-case study approach is used...

Market orientation (MO) – which is the propensity of a firm to collect and utilise information from the market – is an important leverage of competitive advantage. This paper helps to better understand why some owner-managers engage with market intelligence why others simply do not. The...

The present paper aims to give insight into critical issues contributing to the successful building of viable and sustainable regional netchains, focussing on chain governance mechanisms (coordination mechanisms, quality management systems, information systems) and social embedding. It uses...

The present paper aims at answering the question how cluster organization functions are implemented in a high-tech, a medium to high-tech and a low to medium-tech cluster. Data were collected by semi-structured interviews from three clusters in the Netherlands, an agri-food cluster (as an...

Firms in the agri-food industry are embedded in a system of institutions, regulations and policies that shape their economic environment and affect their conduct and performance. Changes in this system can propose new challenges for the firms that need to adequately and efficiently change and...

A common feature among networks is the focus on innovation but the approach to driving innovation and to supporting companies’ innovation work differs widely between networks. Some networks strive to be THE forum of an industry, and these networks generally focus on promoting innovations that...

The last two decades food logistics systems have seen the transition from a focus on traditional supply chain management to food supply chain management, and successively, to sustainable food supply chain management. The main aim of this study is to identify key logistical aims in these three...

The idea of sustainable management has recently gained growing attention in the agribusiness sector. This is mainly due to a widespread discontent with the industrialization of agricultural production and food processing and growing public pressure on agribusiness firms to implement more...

This paper aims at analysing which kinds of currently labelled information are of interest and actually used by consumers, and which additional kinds could improve consumer choices. We investigate the attitude of consumers with respect to innovative strategies for the diffusion of product...

Production, processing, distribution, and consumption of a wide variety of products in the food sector have different ranges of environmental impacts. Methodologies used in environmental impact assessment differ in which set of impact categories is covered and which models are used to assess...