Gerhard Schiefer

Environmental control for process improvement and process efficiency in supply chain management - the case of the meat chain

Abstract Integrated process management has to deal with economic, quality and environmental aspects and link them to management decisions on the organization, control and improvement of processes. The incorporation of quality and especially environmental aspects into established economic management approaches is a complex step towards the formulation of an integrated process management concept. The consideration of environmental aspects asks for an extension of management initiatives from an enterprise orientation to a supply chain orientation. However, there is still little experience in the transfer of theoretical concepts into an approach, which is suitable for the management of processes in individual enterprises, and the coordination of activities throughout supply chains. The paper integrates environmental management into a principal management loop for integrated process management and translates the management loop into a management strategy suitable for implementation in chains with a lower (first) level of coordination intensity. This scenario is typical (but not exclusively) for most agri-food production chains which are under heavy pressure to move towards integrated process management systems. The principal management strategy is demonstrated for meat chains which had been analyzed in a number of case studies on the implementation of environmental management concepts in industry.

Information management in agri-food chains.

The establishment and management of information infrastructures in chains and beyond is a prerequisite for the implementation of the emerging comprehensive requirements on tracking, tracing and quality assurance in agriculture and the food sector. They support the guarantee of food safety and the focus on consumers’ quality needs. The challenge for the sector is the agreement on, and the implementation of, appropriate information infrastructures. The paper discusses the issue by extending the classical enterprise information hierarchy by two additional information layers that cross the enterprise boundaries and form a sector-wide information network.

ICT and quality management

The concept of quality management marks a major shift from traditional farm management through its emphasis on process management, process improvement, and customer links to improve customer defined quality of products and services and of process efficiency. This management concept aims at the survival and success of enterprises in sectors with competitive markets. It applies to the agri-food sector as a whole and, increasingly, to the farming sector as well. The shift in management concepts challenges traditional IT management support and requires a new view on management support needs and, consequently, on the requirements for IT management support. This paper analyses the present state of IT management support, specifies support requirements in quality management, and outlines a framework for new challenges in IT applications development.

A multi-level cost–benefit approach for regulatory decision support in food safety and quality assurance scenarios

In complex policy decision situations where policy objectives cannot be reached alone through the aggregate actions of individual actors, the classical approaches for measuring the effects of regulatory initiatives such as cost–benefit analysis do not provide the information necessary for decision support. This paper discusses a framework for a multi-level analysis approach that could provide decision support in multi-level policy decision situations.

Food Innovation Dynamics and Network Support

The food sector is facing major challenges in assuring food security and safety while respecting societys environmental and social concerns in its drive toward sustainability in a world with increasing population, increasing urbanization, increasing requirements on higher-value diets but with limitations and reductions in the availability of resources such as land, water, or energy. The sector will depend on innovative approaches that may change the present infrastructure, organization, production, distribution, or retail but also the sectors offering of consumer products. The diversity and creativity of small and medium-sized enterprises may play an important role in realizing inventions, especially if supported by appropriate network organizations that facilitate knowledge exchange and interaction with experts and research. However, moving from inventions to innovation depends on the relevance of drivers and needs and the availability of enablers that facilitate the uptake of inventions by the sector on a broad scale. The chapter will discuss these issues in the light of emerging technologies and network experiences and provide examples of ongoing inventions that have the potential for reaching innovation status.

Vertical and Horizontal Information Portals: Cooperation Models for Sector and Chain Information Services

Information portals are means for the delivery of information services to interestedgroups. The complexity of the agri-food sectors requires a differentiatedinfrastruc-ture of information portals which serves different categories ofinformation interests. Enterprises information needs build on enterprise-specificinformation and on information with interest for groups of enterprises which are onthe same stage of the food production process or which cooperate within a verticalproduction chain. The paper discusses various information delivery alternatives andoutlines models for the design of an information delivery infrastructure for sectors ofthe agri-food production chain.

Food supply networks: trust and e-business.

1: Trust in the agri-food sector: A typology with a cultural perspective2: The main cross-border food trade streams within and to Europe3: The analysis of procurement risk perceptions within traditional cross-border transactions in food supply networks4: Trust building elements in traditional cross-border transactions in food supply networks5: The role of social networks to build inter-organizational trust in the agri-food sector6: The introduction of ICT in the agricultural supply chain: an overview7: An analysis of the role of e-market places in food networks8: A typology of trust when we introduce information technology9: The creation of trust in e-business cross-border transactions in food supply networks

An Evaluation of Expert Systems Technology for Decision Support

Abstract Upon its development, expert system technology has been heralded as a major breakthrough for decision support. However, despite the design of many prototype applications, the utilization of the technology in management support systems is still low if compared with initial expectations and the technology’s perceived potential. The paper analyses the different elements of the technology that have been discussed as advances for decision support, evaluates them in a decision support reference system, identifies the principal comparative advantages of expert systems in decision support, and analyses the validity of various limitations of expert system technology that have been discussed in literature. The discussion includes references to the situation in agricultural economics research and concludes with recommendations for future research activities.

Revival of Rural Development: the Urban-Rural Continuum or the Thuenen Model Revisited

Present trends towards urbanization are a challenge to rural development. However new opportunities in food markets, the use of renewable resources and the organization of ecosystem services, due to a.o. emerging developments in technology and logistics, may allow a (partial) reversal of the trend if supported by appropriate initiatives of research, policy and the business community.

Editorial: Food System Dynamics

The food system involves all actors, activities, resources, and environments that produce and provide food to people wherever they are. It serves basic human needs and is as such of core relevance for human survival. It is global in production, consumption, and environmental impacts. But it is also deeply rooted in the social, cultural, natural, political, and legal environments of society. It needs to serve a diversity of consumer needs and lifestyles and has to cope with an organizational complexity where, a.o. small scale farms or enterprises interact with globally active industry or retail groups and where rural sites of production are remote from the urban and ever growing centers of consumption.