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Effects of institutional pressures on the governance of food safety in emerging food supply chains: a case of Lebanese food processors

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Abstract

Food safety has become a major development challenge and a key influence on the strategic behavior of food companies. The study seeks to analyze the effect of perceived institutional pressures on the governance of food safety and the effect this may have on food safety performance in emerging food supply chains. The research develops a conceptual framework that links perceived institutional pressures, degree of food manufacturer-supplier relationships, food safety practices, and food safety output. The hypothesized relationships were tested in the Middle Eastern context, where food safety concerns are rising. Accordingly, a survey was carried out to collect data from food quality/safety managers representing 94 food processors across Lebanon. The study finds that perceived institutional pressures have a direct and strong effect on the degree of integration in the agro-food supply chain (i.e., in terms of long-term relationships, strategic information sharing, information technology connection, and logistic integration), and such an integration, in turn, increases the intensity of food safety practices and food safety performance. However, in the absence of strong manufacturer-supplier relationships, perceived institutional pressures do not lead to improved food safety performance. The study suggests that long-term food manufacturer-supplier relationship is necessary if agro-food chain actors are to respond to established regulatory demands, industry practices, and social norms.

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Notes

  1. The rule of thumb to determine the sample size is 10 times the number of maximum arrowheads pointing on a single latent variable.

Abbreviations

GVC:

Global value chain

TCE:

Transaction costs economics

IT:

Information technology

FSMS:

Food Safety Management Systems

HACCP:

Hazard analysis critical control point

BRC:

British Retail Consortium

ISO:

International Organization for Standardization

SQF:

Safe quality food

IFS:

International Food Standard

FSSC:

Food Safety System Certification

IRB:

Institutional Review Board

AUB:

American University of Beirut

PLS-SEM:

Partial least squares structural equation modeling

CR:

Composite reliability

VIF:

Variance inflation factor

HTMT:

Heterotrait–Monotrait ratio

AVE:

Average variance extracted

R2 :

Coefficient of determination

Q2 :

Cross-validated redundancy

IPMA:

Importance-performance map analysis

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Lebanese National Council for Scientific Research (Award No. 103256). There is no conflict of interest to report.

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  1. Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences, American University of Beirut, Riad El Solh, Beirut, 1107 2020, Lebanon

    Gumataw Kifle Abebe

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Abebe, G.K. Effects of institutional pressures on the governance of food safety in emerging food supply chains: a case of Lebanese food processors. Agric Hum Values 37, 1125–1138 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-020-10071-3

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