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The purpose of this paper is to present a conceptual model of fairness applicable to buyer‐ supplier relationships within supply chains in order to generate a new line of empirical research within supply chain management (SCM).

The paper presents a literature review on organisational justice drawn from the psychology discipline. Fairness within collaborative and long‐term buyer‐supplier relationships is discussed and conceptualised. A number of propositions are presented applicable to buyer supplier relationships within supply chains, given that successful implementation of supply chain strategies depends upon the actions and reactions of individuals across functions, both within and between organisations.

Some of the assumptions made in the traditional intra‐organisational setting are challenged. A conceptual model of fairness applicable to buyer‐supplier relationships is developed, and supply chain moderating factors that may impact on perceptions of justice, and possible desired organisational as well as supply chain outcomes are identified.

Specifically, a contribution is made to the gaps in the SCM literature on the social implications of SCM by developing a behavioural theoretical approach. Solutions to operational measurement difficulties are offered, together with implications for practising managers to consider when managing supply chain relationships. Opportunities and difficulties for future empirical research are also identified.

The claimants in these proceedings were a Mr Patrick Mahon and Mr Andrew Kent. The Defendants were partners in the Swiss Bank of Rahn & Bodmer. At the time in which the events giving rise to these proceedings occurred they were respectively, managing director and corporate development manager of TC Coombs, a London‐based firm of stockbrokers over which, at that time, the Securities Association (TSA) had regulatory jurisdiction. The Securities Association subsequently merged with the Association of Futures Brokers and Dealers to become the Securities and Futures Authority (SFA). One of TC Coombs' clients, a Mr Johnson, was under investigation by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) in early 1990. Mr Johnson had been involved in a complex transaction which involved a meeting between him, Mr Kent and Dr Rhan from the Swiss Bank at the bank's offices. Unsuccessful criminal proceedings centred around that transaction were brought against the claimants but the judge in those proceedings ruled that the claimants had no case to answer.

Farm assurance has become a market qualifier for livestock producers supplying UK supermarkets. However UK producers perceive that food safety and welfare standards imposed on UK producers are not imposed to the same extent on livestock producers overseas, whose share of the UK market has grown steadily over the past decade. In light of these challenges this paper aims to examine the perceived role and value of farm assurance along the length of the red meat supply chain, in order to determine the potential for turning a supply chain cost into a supply chain benefit and increasing returns to UK producers.

Quantitative and qualitative data were collected from the key supply chain stakeholders (primary producers, processors, retailers and consumers) in the red meat industry.

The research indicates that the potential benefits of price premiums and preferential market access have not been fully captured. Findings indicate that this is due to a misalignment of the perceived value of farm assurance amongst supply chain members and the fact that consumers have a limited understanding and awareness of farm assurance. However the potential for increased benefits exists as when offered the choice between farm‐assured and non‐farm assured meat, consumers express a distinct preference and willingness to pay for the former.

This research is timely as there has been little attempt to assess the perceived value of farm assurance along the length of the supply chain where the views of consumers are integrated with the rest of the value chain for red meat.

Value chain analysis (VCA) can expose strategic and operational misalignments within chains, and the consequential misallocation of resources, and hence opportunities for improvements which create value and economic sustainability. This paper's purpose is to argue why and how VCA needs to integrate the social and environmental aspects of sustainability in pursuit of sustainable competitive advantage.

Based on a review of existing methods and case studies, the paper proposes three dimensions of VCA, which illustrate the flaws in narrow tools, and the need to broaden the boundaries of VCA, the interpretation of “value” and relationships along the chain in order to highlight opportunities for creating sustainable value chains.

To date VCA has largely focused on economic sustainability and paid inadequate attention to social and environment consequences of firm behaviour and the (re) allocation of resources within and between firms in the chain. This risks producing recommendations which either ignore the competitive advantage offered from improving environmental management and social welfare, or have such detrimental external consequences as to render any proposals unsustainable when exposed to government or broader (public) scrutiny.

VCA variants need to be developed which incorporate all three pillars of sustainability. Some initial experiences are presented and ideas for future research and applications proposed.

The development of sustainable VCA tools should identify business opportunities consistent with Porter and Kramer's imperative for value chains to create shared value between business and society.

Adopting the broader dimensions identified will allow VCA to become more widely applicable, and more relevant in business scenarios where there is a growing imperative to include social and environmental impacts into “mainstream” business strategies.

The paper aims to show how a collaborative approach to demand management can improve customer service to the benefit of both supermarkets and suppliers in sectors characterised by volatile consumer demand.

This insight paper is based on face‐to‐face interviews conducted with key representatives from the two businesses involved, to gain insight into the nature of the problem, the approach adopted and the benefits achieved.

Supermarket buyers have neither the time nor the capability to manage demand effectively at store level, resulting in excessive waste and lost sales, which hurt both the supermarket and their suppliers. Giving access to internal demand management systems to trusted suppliers can have significant impacts on service levels and supply chain performance.

The insights presented are specific to one supermarket supply chain but the lessons are generic.

The paper demonstrates the impact which delegation of responsibility for demand management to those with product‐specific expertise can have in supermarket supply chains.

The paper provides insight for supermarket buyers and account managers in commodity sectors to improve the efficiency of their demand management processes through greater collaboration.

To highlight key success factors in supply chain projects.

The paper presents insights from a number of supply chain projects in which IT has played an important part in the business solution.

Successful supply chain projects have four things in common: the right leadership, the right focus, the right approach and effective communication of KPIs to all stakeholders engaged in the project.

The focus of the paper is on supply chain projects with a significant IT component, but the key success factors identified are common to the majority of supply chain projects.

Companies must not assume that investment in IT is, by itself, a solution to their supply chain solutions. A lack of leadership, focus and communication will invariably result in sub‐optimal outcomes which are all too frequently attributed to the complex nature of the project or the inflexibility of the software when in most cases the problems are internal to the businesses involved and the project management process.

This paper provides practical tips for improving the likelihood of getting the most out of IT‐based supply chain projects.

This article presents a conceptual framework for the analysis of vegetable supply chains in a South East Asian context and the role wholesale markets play in these chains. Following a review of the literature on food marketing systems in developing countries and preliminary fieldwork in South East Asia, a holistic framework is proposed, including what are perceived to be the critical factors in the development of improved fresh food marketing systems: domestic legal and policy factors, international trade policies and food markets, history, geography, and cultural and social norms. The particular role of trust and collaboration among stakeholders in the Ho Chi Minh City vegetable marketing system is highlighted.

The primary purpose is to examine the factors that affect the use of nutritional facts, nutrient content claims and health claims on food label use in the United Kingdom.

The paper reports the results of a survey of over 300 face‐to‐face interviews with shoppers of Asda, Morrisons and Sainsbury – three of the major supermarkets in the UK.

Product class involvement factors, individual characteristics, health‐related factors (nutritional knowledge, health locus of control, perceived need of dietary change), situational, attitudinal and behavioral factors were found to be significant factors affecting the use of nutritional information and nutritional and health claims on food labeling. While the use of nutritional information and health claims increases with the stated importance of “nutrition” and “family preferences”, it is less likely among shoppers for whom “taste” is an important driver of food purchasing behaviour. There is also evidence of mistrust in health claims, as indicated by the negative relationship between the consideration of such claims and the stated importance of “quality” and perceived need to “change dietary quality” – the more discerning shoppers are the least likely to consider health claims.

The study provides evidence that a wider range of product class involvement factors is necessary to predict the use of nutritional information and nutritional and health claims on food labeling. It also offers a conceptualization of health‐related factors to include health locus of control as a predictor of the acquisition of nutrition and health information.

Retailer loyalty card marketing intelligence presents actual customer purchasing preferences, competitor activities and performance. Typically, extant literature implies that larger firms with formal marketing planning approaches will be more able to leverage it, structured as it is within a formalized statistical format. Small business literature on the other hand emphasizes their more informal approach to marketing planning. The purpose of this paper is to consider, for the first time, the potential relationship between retailer loyalty card marketing intelligence and small business market orientation.

A conceptual model is developed which diagrammatically interprets how retailer loyalty card marketing intelligence can relate to small business market orientation. Propositions provide a basis for further discussion with applied and research implications.

A pertinent aspect of the conceptualization is the role of small business owner‐manager insight and intuition within an experiential learning context. A complementary relationship is posited in the leveraging of retailer loyalty card marketing intelligence to enhance small business market orientation, which with higher levels of entrepreneurship orientation can lead to positive organizational outcomes, such as facilitating more successful and informed engagement with larger suppliers.

The paper addresses the increasing pressure small businesses face in dealing with retailer loyalty card marketing intelligence. Generally, literature has yet to adequately address marketing planning implications for firms. The informal/formal tension when considering small businesses presents a particularly interesting area of conceptual development, integrating market orientation literature and also recent developments which point to interaction between market and entrepreneurship orientations. This paper therefore provides a basis for a new small business research agenda in an area which is highly topical and important, with a synthesis of the extant literature in developing a conceptualization and propositions. The conceptualization and propositions can facilitate the development of new research and thinking in this potentially fruitful area of future enquiry.