Chain governance structures: the European traditional food sector

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of the paper is to identify chain-level, product-, and country-specific characteristics of chain governance structures in the traditional food sector in the European Union (EU). Design/methodology/approach – The approach combined taxonomy compilation: selecting chain governance structures, Selecting determining variables and assigning values to them; and pilot testing: individual interviews with 54 companies across Belgium, Italy and Hungary representing cheese, beer, white pepper and meat chains. The number of participants is 54. Findings – It was found that the chains varied largely in terms of their complexity. Besides chain-level, product-, and country-specific differences, the retailers' size is a determining factor of the applied governance structure. Research limitations/implications – The research only considers traditional food chains. Practical implications – The paper provides guidance for selecting an appropriate governance structure given the characteristics of the chain, the products or the country. Originality/value – The paper compiles a taxonomy providing important insights to determining variables of the application of governance structures. Further, it analyzes chain-level, product-, and country-specific differences.