Abstract
Socially responsible supply networks remains a nascent research area in operations management. This paper examines societal needs, social impacts, and strategic behaviours of farmer-producer organisations (FPOs), and their emerging role in developing socially responsible supply chains in India. The concept of a ‘Digital FPO’ is also introduced.
While agriculture contributes to c.14% of India’s GDP, and remains the source of income for c.60% of households, small and marginal farmers are beset with issues linked to the continued fragmentation of land and difficulties in accessing markets on their own. The concept behind the FPO is that farmers can form collectives that then benefit from economies of scale and enable better bargaining capacity. It is estimated that 4000 FPOs are now in operation across various regions of India (i.e., growth of 2000% in the past five years).
It is argued that societal pressures have increased complexities and presented ambiguous challenges that many (current) environmental and supply chain management techniques may not adequately address. A key issue this research looks to address is how to balance the often conflicting pressures created by the need for sustainable development e.g., overall industry and FPO-level economic performance versus environmental degradation and social disruption (and other unintended consequences).
Previous research on multi-organisational network ‘concepts of operation’ and supply network ‘stages of emergence’ in technology commercialisation are extended, to develop an Institutional-Socially Responsible Supply Network framework in order to (i) promote capacity building across FPO networks (ii) establish linkages between FPO networks and markets; (iii) facilitate the adoption of technology matrix interventions; and (iv) provide design criteria for new forms of FPO.
While agriculture contributes to c.14% of India’s GDP, and remains the source of income for c.60% of households, small and marginal farmers are beset with issues linked to the continued fragmentation of land and difficulties in accessing markets on their own. The concept behind the FPO is that farmers can form collectives that then benefit from economies of scale and enable better bargaining capacity. It is estimated that 4000 FPOs are now in operation across various regions of India (i.e., growth of 2000% in the past five years).
It is argued that societal pressures have increased complexities and presented ambiguous challenges that many (current) environmental and supply chain management techniques may not adequately address. A key issue this research looks to address is how to balance the often conflicting pressures created by the need for sustainable development e.g., overall industry and FPO-level economic performance versus environmental degradation and social disruption (and other unintended consequences).
Previous research on multi-organisational network ‘concepts of operation’ and supply network ‘stages of emergence’ in technology commercialisation are extended, to develop an Institutional-Socially Responsible Supply Network framework in order to (i) promote capacity building across FPO networks (ii) establish linkages between FPO networks and markets; (iii) facilitate the adoption of technology matrix interventions; and (iv) provide design criteria for new forms of FPO.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | 23rd Cambridge International Manufacturing Symposium Proceedings |
| Publisher | University of Cambridge |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 27 Sep 2019 |