Power, supply chain integration and quality performance of agricultural products: evidence from contract farming in China

Shaoling Fu, Yuanzhu Zhan, Ouyang Jun, Yalan Ding, Kim Hua Tan, Lingmei Fu

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Abstract

Improving the quality of agricultural products is crucial for facilitating sustainable agricultural development. One widely embraced approach is contract farming, which generates guarantees—necessary for sustaining the continuous operations of vulnerable farmers—while enabling manufacturers to manage the aggregate supply chain risks and prices. Although management researchers have investigated power and quality performance issues between organisations, few have examined their impact on contract farming. This paper extends the literature by examining the relationships between power, supply chain integration and the quality performance of agricultural products, from the perspectives of farm households and agribusiness companies in contract farming. This study proposes and empirically examines a model, applying survey data from 78 agricultural companies and 321 peasant householders in China. The results show that different types of power have different effects on contract farming. In particular, non-economic power significantly and positively affects supply chain integration. Its impact on process coordination is greater than its impact on information sharing. The effect of economic power on supply chain integration is different from the binary perspective. These findings have positive theoretical and practical significance for agribusiness and will help farmers to improve the quality of primary agricultural products and achieve sustainable agricultural development.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1119-1135
JournalProduction Planning & Control
Volume32
Issue number13
Early online date16 Jul 2020
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2021

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This research was supported by the National Planning of Philosophy and Social Science Foundation of China (16BGL128; 19ZDA115; 19BGL256)

Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Keywords

  • Contract farming
  • power
  • supply chain integration
  • quality performance
  • binary perspective

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering
  • Computer Science Applications
  • Strategy and Management
  • Management Science and Operations Research

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