CALL FOR CHAPTERS

Proposals Due: March 31, 2014 or before

Full Chapters Due: December 1, 2014 or before

A Stakeholder Approach to Managing Food:

Local, National, and Global Issues

Edited by:

Adam Lindgreen, Cardiff University
Martin K. Hingley, University of Lincoln
Robert J. Angell, Cardiff University
Juliet Memery, Bournemouth University
Joëlle Vanhamme, Edhec Business School

 

Introduction

The proposed edited text (‘research anthology’) aims to explore the concept of food production and supply (i.e., from farm gate to plate), bringing together contemporary thinking and research on local, national, and global issues from a stakeholder perspective. The research anthology will comprise a number of sections to represent the challenges, opportunities, conflicts, and cohesions affecting relevant stakeholder groups within food production and supply and their reaction to, engagement with, and co-creation of the food environment. For some, local, national, and global interests may seem at odds. We are in era of growing and pervasive multi-national corporations, and these corporations have a significant influence at all levels. Rapidly growing economies such as China are a focus for the global brand, but is this a scenario of adaptation or homogenization of food? Alongside this trend toward national and global development in food, there is a counter-reaction (especially in developed countries) toward local speciality and culturally bound foods and toward the importance of the inter-connection of local communities and agri-food culture and economy.

Agriculture often has been considered production-, rather than market-, oriented, but in-depth analysis of agricultural businesses shows that the entrepreneurial spirit is alive and well in rural communities with often renewed and engaged connection with consumers and imaginative use of new media. There is an increased focus on consumer needs as a means to identify potential market opportunities and provide customer satisfaction and a need for collaborative supply channel and network engagement to deliver genuine and integrated customer orientation. Within the field of food and agriculture, there are tremendous challenges and opportunities that arise from developing, monitoring, and measuring market orientation programs.

As the global market for and movement of food grows apace, it brings to the fore the considerable and fundamental issues of the cost of choice and the worldwide impact of freer markets in production, marketing, technologies, and labour. Specifically, there are governance, market structural, and ethical consequences that must be considered. Globalized markets are played out against a background of challenges concerning best and economical use of natural resources, giving rise to issues that concern us all: for example, land use, water use, efficient and effective handling, storage, and movement of food. Developments in agri-food may not easily cross national boundaries in terms of market adaption, regulation and, most important, consumer acceptability. Issues that have emerged from developed, western food and agricultural economies (quality, health, food safety, animal welfare, scientific and technological development, environmentalism) are becoming global issues, as is the case for the development of innovative production and food science and systems, centralized supermarket channel power and the brand strength of global companies. From all of the undoubted benefits of the modern agri-food economy, there are also many problem areas to be addressed if we are to realize the best and fairest systems in the delivery of good food choices for all.

In the modern age, the movement of people is rapid, determined not just by historic reasons but also by the creation of regional trade and community blocs, such as the enlargement of the European Union. New member states now are free to seek labour from other member nations of the European Union. Combined with the flight of peoples from war and conflict and the drive of those seeking a better life, these developments have created a climate of mobility on a global scale. Many host nations encourage new entrants because of their shortage of labour or admit people out of compassion for their circumstances. Thus, countries today contain large and diverse ethnic, religious, and cultural populations, many of which continue to grow and expand relative to their respective “host” countries. These influences have and will continue to have profound influence on food supply and the place in the chain where value-adding takes place, as well as the cultural influences that shape food preferences.

Overall objective and topics

The overall objective of this research anthology is to provide a comprehensive collection of cutting-edge theories and research that bring to light the challenges, opportunities, conflicts, and cohesions of a local, national and global food economy.  This central theme will be considered from various stakeholder contexts which may lead to a multi-faceted understanding of food production and supply. Therefore, we imagine the representative topics for this text in the following main categories (with examples of research in each category included, but certainly not limited to those examples only):

 

1. Producers

—     Production issues (e.g., access to machinery, technology utilisation, space and land, etc.)

—     Environmental issues (e.g., climate change, political climate, legislation, etc.)

—     Labour issues (e.g., workforce skills, workforce supply, workforce conditions, etc.)

—     Supply chain issues (e.g., collaboration, co-operation, power, etc.)

—     Food safety, farm protection

—     Food supply

—     Over-population, hunger, food democracy

—     Rural policy and governance, regionalism and food production, homegrown

—     Sustainable food systems

—     Employment in farming (de- and re-peasantisation)

 

2. Manufacturers

—     Operational issues (e.g., system processes, logistics, technology, packaging & labelling, etc.)

—     Labour issues (e.g., workforce skills, workforce supply, workforce conditions, whistle-blowers, etc.)

—     Cost-control issues (e.g., wastage, minimum wage, economies of scale, etc.)

—     Food safety issues (e.g., traceability, hygiene, contamination, etc.)

—     Genetically modified food products

—     New technology

—     Food confidence

—     Food scandals

—     Food security

—     Traceability

—     Procurement

—     Ready-meal supply

—     Food born disease spread by production workers

 

3. Distributors

—     Transportation issues (e.g., pollution, food miles, preservation, technologies, etc.)

—     Storage issues (e.g., preservation, packaging & labelling, technologies, etc.)

—     Logistics, supply chain management

—     Agricultural networks

 

4. Retailers

—     Marketing and promotional issues (e.g., merchandising, information & labelling, advertising, etc.)

—     Forecasting issues (e.g., supply & demand, seasonality, etc.)

—     Competition/alternative supply issues (e.g., store formats, food hubs, farmers markets, home grown, etc.)

—     Power issues

—     Food waste

—     Innovative local food retail outlets

—     Geography

—     Structural and spatial changes in retailing

—     Experiential marketing

5. Consumers

—     Societal issues (e.g., cultural preferences, demographic differences, etc.)

—     Food access issues (e.g., food deserts, online/offline divide, food prices, etc.)

—     Consumption and waste issues (e.g., recycling, food waste, over-consumption, etc.)

—     Nutrition and health issues (e.g., diet-related illness, portion size, five-a-day, etc.)

Regardless of the specific topic, we would like to receive two types of contributions:

 

1.       Literature reviews that survey critical points in current literature relevant to the topic. Literature reviews should describe, summarize, and critically evaluate previous work relating to the topic. These reviews must make a significant contribution to our understanding of the topic by providing integrative framework(s) and/or paths for further research.

 

2.       Conceptual, methodological, or empirical studies, including meta-analyses, qualitative studies, experiments, or surveys, that contribute in some of the following ways:

i.         A conceptual study might improve conceptual definitions of original constructs, develop an improved theoretical rationale for existing linkages, identify and conceptually define additional constructs to include within existing conceptual frameworks, or develop theoretical linkages along with an accompanying rationale that suggest more comprehensive integrative frameworks for understanding the topic.

ii.       Methodological entries might examine changes in the design of prior studies or modifications in experimental procedures that, for example, enhance the validity of statistical conclusions or increase the experimental realism of the experiment.

iii.      An empirical study could examine how, at a practical level, organizations deal with the complexities in food production and supply resulting from stakeholders’ varying demands and perspectives. Such examinations should span the corporate, organizational, and managerial levels, as well as different functional departments.

The text will be published in English. To ensure an engaging text for the target audience (see below), chapters should be accessible; something similar to Harvard Business Review’s style would be ideal. Although the methodology should be described, especially in empirical papers, the focus should be less pronounced than it would be in traditional academic articles; part(s) of the methodology even might appear in an appendix. All chapters should include theoretical contributions and implications. The editors will be happy to discuss whether a particular chapter is of an appropriate style.

Target audience

This text will target various different readers, including the following: academics who teach and/or research in food supply and production; doctoral students in the discipline; practitioners who want to know more about food production and supply, especially in terms of managerial consequences for organizations; and others who could benefit from the research presented in such an anthology, including consumers, financial investors, policymakers (e.g., government, city councils), civil societies, and the media (e.g., journalists, writers).

Submission process

Potential authors are invited to submit, on or before March 31, 2014, a brief two- to five-page long proposal that clearly explains the intended contributions of their chapter, as well as their intended methodology/approach. Chapters submitted must not have been published, accepted for publication, or under consideration for publication anywhere else. Proposals should be submitted via e-mail in a single Word file attachment to:

 

LindgreenA@cardiff.ac.uk

AngellRJ@cardiff.ac.uk

The first page of the proposal must contain the title of the intended chapter, as well as the names and full contact details of all authors.

Full chapters should be submitted via e-mail in a single attached Word file to:

 

LindgreenA@cardiff.ac.uk

AngellRJ@cardiff.ac.uk

no later than by December 1, 2014. Final submissions should be approximately 5,000-6,000 words in length, excluding references, figures, tables, and appendices. All chapters will be double-blind reviewed; authors therefore should not identify themselves in the body of their chapter. Each submitting author will be requested to assist in the reviewing process by reviewing one chapter (and subsequent revisions, if any).

Questions

Please address any questions to:

 

Professor Adam Lindgreen, LindgreenA@cardiff.ac.uk

Dr. Rob J. Angell, AngellRJ@cardiff.ac.uk

---

The Hardware and Software Behind ELMAR Is Paid for with AMA Dues Please Support ELMAR by joining the AMA or renewing your membership