The promise of digitalisation is enormous and nowhere is it more critical than in its potential to transform food supply chain. Consumers have become more educated and are demanding realtime updated information on foods they consumed through digital media. They are also increasingly demanding to know if the foods they consuming are environmentally and socially sustainable or not. As a result, food product traceability, safety, and sustainability issues have become crucial concerns to food retailers, distributors, processors, and farmers. Digitalisation allow food supply chains to be highly connected, efficient, and responsive to customer needs and regulation requirements. However, digitalising a traditional food supply chain is challenging and resource demanding. This is more so for developing countries where moving food from farms to consumers can take months as it travels through an array of middlemen. Unfortunately, little is available in the existing literature on food supply chain digitalisation. So far, current researchers mainly explore the benefits of digitalisation. Using cases in three companies, this paper explores the practices, challenges, and opportunities faced by Thailand food manufacturers in digitalising their food supply chains. A framework for food supply chain digitalisation is proposed and its implications for research and practices are discussed.
This paper investigates the development of the Social Enterprise (SE) in Thailand. Emerging from the non-profit sector in the 1970s, Thailand is now experiencing the development of new state-private policy interventions to stimulate development of SE. We combine the work of Kerlin on the socio-economic environment with the theories of market creation from economic sociology. We pinpoint for the first time the key institutions, networks, cognitive framings and policy initiatives of SE emergence and development in Thailand. In addition, we identify a new country type Social Enterprise Semi Strategic Diverse model form, we term an Authoritarian State-Corporate model.
This study contributes to the growing interest in hybrid organisations, sustainable business models and inclusive value chain development (IVCD). Recent work has identified that of some 570 million farmers in the world, more than 475 million farmers are smallholders in low-middle-income countries experiencing increasing food insecurity and rural poverty. Research argues that there is a lack of research that provides work on appropriate solutions for smallholders. This paper answers this call by a qualitative study of ten case studies, which draws on hybrid organising, sustainable business model and IVCD research to identify the novel business model characteristics that hybrid organisations use to create and manage more inclusive value chains for smallholders. These hybrid organisations are designed to create a value proposition that delivers sustainability upgrading for smallholders via both product, process and governance upgrades, empowers smallholders to achieve development goals and creates multiple value for social impact. We therefore identify the important characteristics of the hybrid business model to provide appropriate solutions for smallholders and overcome the challenges identified in the inclusive value chain development literature.
Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to explore the key influential factors and their implications on food supply chain (FSC) location decisions from a Thailand-based manufacturer's view. Design/methodology/approach -In total, 21 case studies were conducted with eight Thailand-based food manufacturers. In each case, key influential factors were observed along with their implications on upstream and downstream FSC location decisions. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and documentations. Data reduction and data display in tables were used to help data analysis of the case studies.Findings -This exploratory research found that, in the food industry, FSC geographical dispersion pattern could be determined by four factors: perishability, value density, economic-political forces, and technological forces. Technological forces were found as an enabler for FSC geographical dispersion whereas the other three factors could be both barriers and enablers. The implications of these four influential factors drive FSC towards four key patterns of FSC geographical dispersion: local supply chain (SC), supply-proximity SC, market-proximity SC, and international SC. Additionally, the strategy of the firm was found to also be an influential factor in determining FSC geographical dispersion. Research limitations/implications -Despite conducting 21 cases, the findings in this research are based on a relatively small sample, given the large size of the industry. More case evidence from a broader range of food product market and supply items, particularly ones that have significantly different patterns of FSC geographical dispersions would have been insightful. The consideration of additional influential factors such as labour movement between developing countries, currency fluctuations and labour costs, would also enrich the framework as well as improve the quality and validity of the research findings. The different strategies employed by the case companies and their implications on FSC location decisions should also be further investigated along with cases outside Thailand, to provide a more comprehensive view of FSC geographical location decisions. Practical implications -This paper provides insights how FSC is geographically located in both supply-side and demand-side from a manufacturing firm's view. The findings can also provide SC managers and researchers a better understanding of their FSCs. Originality/value -This research bridges the existing gap in the literature, explaining the geographical dispersion of SC particularly in the food industry where the characteristics are very specific, by exploring the internationalization ability of Thailand-based FSC and generalizing the key influential factorsperishability (lead time), value density, economic-political forces, market opportunities, and technological advancements. Four key patterns of FSC internationalization emerged from the case studies.
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