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The aim of this paper is to analyse the moderating effect of digital transformation (DT) on the relationship between innovation capacity and the performance of agrifood businesses.

Based on a structured questionnaire, data on 98 agrifood small and medium-sized enterprises operating in Spain were collected. The data were analysed using partial least squares structural equation modelling to test the proposed model and study the moderating effect of DT on the relationship between the innovation capacity and performance of agrifood businesses.

The study finds support for the hypotheses and shows the existence of a direct positive relationship between the DT and performance of agrifood businesses. Developing new practices focussed on customer service and performing actions such as improving sales, promoting a new product or service and including a post-sales service influence the capacity of a business to undertake DT.

Future studies should include other factors in the analysis. For example, the impact of knowledge transfer and research and development (R&D) on agrifood businesses' performance should be studied. Education and training, as well as having a diverse network, can help develop and boost businesses' capacity to use and apply the required innovation. Networks play an important role in learning how to apply DT.

This quantitative study is the first to examine the moderating effect of DT in the Spanish agrifood sector on the relationship between innovation capacity and performance. The study examines the role of the DT of companies and explores the competitiveness and efficiency tools that digitalisation offers. Innovation capacity is crucial for the application of these tools.

The aim of this research paper is to investigate entrepreneurial opportunities through digital technology among agrifood businesses. Specifically, the research paper uses resource bricolage theory to evaluate the various activities that agrifood businesses conduct through digital technology, and whether these businesses realise their full potential from these activities.

Data are gathered from 22 semi-structured interviews with representatives of small agrifood businesses. Maximum variation sampling was used to ensure that respondents were representative of different types of agrifood businesses across the food supply chain. Interview data were analysed through thematic analysis.

Agrifood businesses engage in a range of activities through digital technology, however, findings point to a continuum of different attitudes among respondents towards the adoption of digital technology, ranging from passive to proactive attitudes. Notable themes from the research identified efficiency and productivity, usability, marketing and connectivity as issues in the adoption of digital technology by agrifood businesses. However, these businesses were less likely to engage in cutting-edge technology activities.

This research contributes to emerging research on digital entrepreneurship, but particularly on digital entrepreneurship in the agrifood sector. This builds on existing debates relating to the passive nature of agrifood businesses towards growth opportunities. The use of research bricolage is also a novel theoretical approach to research on this topic. The development of a digital technology adoption continuum provides businesses and policymakers with a deeper understanding of how digital entrepreneurship opportunities can be harnessed.

The paper's aim is to develop a diagnosis of the environment of the agrifood supply chain based on members' perceptions of environmental uncertainty.

Environmental uncertainty is defined as the lack of information about the external environment and is obtained by integrating the perceived dynamism and complexity of the environmental variables. The measurements that are used are the result of applying the Rasch methodology to the information obtained by means of a questionnaire completed by the deciders of firms in the Canary Islands (Spain). Those measures permit the complexity and dynamism perceived by the groups of firms in the supply chain together with the levels of perceived dynamism and complexity of the environmental variables to be jointly positioned on a map.

According to the perceptions of the members of the agrifood supply chain (agriculture, agrifood industry and distribution), the main sources of environmental uncertainty are demand and competitors. The agricultural sector perceives somewhat more uncertainty than agrifood industry sector, while the distribution sector perceives a stable environment.

The paper presents a useful tool for the business population and public institutions to identify which variables are perceived as the most dynamic and complex and how those variables are perceived by each member of the agrifood supply chain.

The paper operationalises the proposal of Duncan by means of a new application of the Rasch methodology. The results reflect the thinking of the members of all sectors of a supply chain. It is one of the first to study the environmental uncertainty perceived in the agrifood supply chain from a strategic perspective as a fundamental antecedent of the promotion of vertical collaboration in the agrifood supply chain.

Many previous studies have indicated that by acting collectively, agrifood SMEs can improve performance and enhance their contribution to local areas. Although collective action between agrifood SMEs proliferates in many southern European countries, relatively few successful cases appear to exist in Greece. The purpose of this paper is to explore the reasons for this, by relating the theoretical conditions of successful collective action to evidence from existing studies on the Greek situation.

Drawing from the literature on small firm networks, and previous empirical studies of agrifood SMEs in Europe, the paper identifies six conditions that underpin successful collective action: three contextual (type of market, social cohesiveness, institutional involvement) and three behavioural (market orientation, co‐operative spirit, existence of an initiator).

Relating these conditions to existing evidence on Greek agrifood SMEs, the analysis suggests that socio‐cultural factors and institutional involvement are often barriers to successful collective action. However, the presence of at least some examples of strong agrifood SME networks in Greece indicates that such barriers can be overcome. The paper concludes by identifying the research questions to be tackled by future empirical study of Greek agrifood SMEs.

The paper explores the important phenomenon of small firm networks in the under‐researched country of Greece. In addition, the paper also presents an original synthesis of key conditions under which collective action thrives, drawn from many previous studies of networks and collective action in the agrifood sector throughout Europe.

The aim of this research was to explore the mechanisms underpinning open innovation (OI) success and its sustainability in agrifood businesses. First, the authors explored the importance of 4.0 technologies in data collection from crowds, subsequently examining how new technologies might drive forward the development of collaborative strategies with suppliers. Reductions in resource wasting were observed. The role of 4.0 technologies in increasing supply chain sustainability overall was the main focus of the study.

This research builds on a single inductive case study method. The authors performed an in-depth analysis of data from an Italian agritech distributor. Data – aside from multiple semi-structured interviews – were collected via several different sources. The results have been summarized in an integrated holistic conceptual framework.

The findings show that 4.0 technologies allow for swift information exchanges between consumers, the agritech business and suppliers. As a result, consumers might demand new products and, consequently, the agritech business can arrange new offerings with suppliers, completing the OI and shared value creation circle. Likewise, the possibility of adopting a just-in-time approach of sorts may reduce the wasting of resources. The absorptive capacities and knowledge management capabilities of the agritech business play a fundamental role in OI performance, sustainability and success.

This research seminally explores how 4.0 technologies and knowledge management techniques can enable OI in agrifood businesses. Additionally, the ways in which OI may foster the development of sustainability-orientated supply chain strategies have been conceptualized.

Due to the political, economic and infrastructure barriers and risks that international entrepreneurs (IEs) face when researching an emerging economy's agrifood sector, this research aims to identify the major barriers, analyse their relationships, quantify their importance, classify and rank them. Thus, the IEs will gain a better understanding and vision of their decision-making processes in this era.

To do this, the authors first created a list of barriers to entry for IEs into Iran's rising economy's agrifood industry. Following that, a multi-layer decision-making approach was developed and implemented to accomplish the research objectives. The first stage utilized a hybrid of interpretive structural modelling (ISM) and cross-impact matrix multiplication applied to classification (MICMAC) to depict the level-based conceptual model and classification of the IEs’ obstacles to entry into the agrifood sector. Following that, a hybrid decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL), and analytic network process (ANP) called DANP was utilized to present a causal relationship between the barriers, identify their causes and effects, and also quantify the relevance of each barrier.

After employing the multi-layer decision-making approach, the results demonstrated that fundamental limitations, including infrastructure and technology limitations, are the most critical barriers alongside policy factors encompassing governmental support and access to global or regional economy/market. According to the results, innovation and economic sustainability of the agrifood supply chain also matter. All of these critical barriers are intertwined and should be planned and solved simultaneously. Furthermore, based on DANP results, the sustainability pillars (economy, environment, society), besides the low efficiency of the agrifood sector in Iran, should be investigated further for future policy makings.

A hybrid multi-layer decision-making approach has been used for analysing the barriers of investment in the agrifood sector of the emerging economy of Iran for the international entrepreneurs. Moreover, the authors provide implications and insights for IEs and officials for decision-making in the future.

Intellectual capital (IC) has been shown to play a crucial role in promoting competitive success among cooperatives as well as in other types of organizations. However, cooperatives are rarely included in this line of research. This paper aims to analyze how IC in agrifood cooperatives influences their prominence by fostering responsible research and innovation (RRI), reputation and performance.

A theoretical model was developed based on a literature review, and a quantitative study was conducted, including a representative sample of the current most prominent Spanish agrifood cooperatives. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to examine the validity of constructs, path relationships and recent advances in the predictive model assessment.

This study’s findings show the specific role of human capital (HC) for enhancing social and structural capital in cooperatives. It was concluded that there is a need to revise and reconsider the role-played by IC in the cooperative movement.

The main practical contribution is to offer a specific vision of IC for agrifood cooperatives in order to maximize their market prominence. Since the study was conducted in Spain and based on a cross-sectional research approach, even though the new methodological tool partial least squares (PLS) predict was used, the authors cannot affirm whether IC will have the long-term expected effects as assumed in this research and in all contexts of the agrifood industry.

This is the first empirical study that has examined IC in agrifood cooperatives in Spain, with attention focused on the role of HC as a predictor of market success.

This study aims to explore and analyze the application of blockchain technology (BKCT) in agrifood supply chain management (AFSM).

A systematic literature review (SLR) using Scopus, Emerald and Web of Science covering publications from 2016 to 2021 (till June). Out of 429 papers, 89 papers were shortlisted from journals based on citation analysis. The citation analysis was followed by a content analysis was for an in-depth analysis.

Regarding the application of BKCT in the agrifood supply chain, the study highlights the issue of food safety, traceability, transparency, eliminating intermediaries and integrating Internet of things (IoT) with BKCT as prominent applications in the agrifood sector. The study also uses the case of honey supply chain to use the explored applications in the agrifood sector and provides a traceability solution based on blockchain integrated with IoT. The challenges of BKCT as identified in the study are scalability, privacy, security, lack of regulations and lack of skills and training.

The review considers only academic papers obtained from specific databases with their relevance based on number of citations.

The study contributes to filling the existing research gap through this SLR on the application of BKCT in AFSCM. The content analysis further assists in exploring the benefits and challenges of BKCT in the agrifood sector. Thus, the academic articles selected aid in this process.

The purpose of this research is to analyze the ability of agrifood systems to construct “customized competitiveness” strategies that can allow firms to meet the specific and constantly changing demands of foreign markets.

The research performs a comparative analysis of three case studies of agrifood systems in Argentina: lemon, pork, and dairy products. The authors obtained primary data from 79 semi-structured interviews with key persons in each agrifood system carried out online between March 2020 and February 2021. Secondary data was obtained from databases, academic studies, and reports from business associations and public agencies.

The authors find wide disparities in the development of customized competitiveness strategies between the studied agrifood systems (higher in lemon, lower in dairy products, and incipient in pork). The authors attribute the disparity to the varying degrees in which these systems are capable of coordinating their own actions and their interactions with State agencies.

The paper provides comparative evidence about the role of private coordination in the ability of agrifood systems to construct customized competitiveness strategies.

This study examines how accounting tools and techniques are used to create and support membership and reporting boundaries for a multi-entity sustainability scheme. It also considers whether boundary setting for this initiative helps to connect corporate activity with planetary boundaries and the SDGs.

A case study of a national agrifood sustainability scheme, analysing extensive documentary data and multi-entity sustainability reports. The concept of partial organising is used to frame the analysis.

Accounting, in the form of planning, verification, target setting, annual review and reporting, can be used to create a membership and a reporting boundary. Accounting tools and techniques support the scheme's standard-setting and monitoring elements. The study demonstrates that the scheme offers innovation in how sustainability reporting is managed. However, it does not currently provide a cumulative assessment of the effect of the sector's activity on ecological carrying capacity or connect this activity to global sustainability indicators.

Future research can build on this study's insights to further develop our understanding of multi-entity sustainability reporting and accounting's role in organising for sustainability. The authors identify several research avenues including: boundary setting in ecologically significant sectors, integrating global sustainability indicators at sectoral and organisational levels, sustainability controls in multi-entity settings and the potential of multi-entity reporting to provide substantive disclosure.

This paper provides insight into accounting's role in boundary setting for a multi-entity sustainability initiative. It adds to our understanding of the potential of a multi-entity reporting boundary to support connected measurement between corporate activity and global sustainability indicators. It builds on work on partial organising and provides insight into how accounting can support this form of organising for sustainability.