Search results

This study aims to understand the effects of brands’ transparent communication (i.e. production transparency and cost transparency) on consumers’ perceptions of a brand’s perceived transparency and authenticity, as well as how such perceptions impact consumers’ attitude, trust and behavioral intentions.

Two between-participants factorial design experiments (n = 176 for Study 1 and n = 169 for Study 2) were conducted to examine consumers’ responses to a brand’s cost transparency and production transparency.

The results revealed that transparency in the focal brand’s communication of production and cost would increase consumers’ perceptions of the brand’s transparency and authenticity because of its perceived information sensitivity. Such positive effects were found to similarly impact consumers’ attitude, trust and behavioral intention toward the brand.

The results point to the importance of brand transparency in marketing communication, specifically as it pertains to the influence that the inclusion of transparent cost and production information can have on consumers’ perceptions of authenticity, trust and attitude, as well as how these perceptions translate into behavioral intention.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is among the first to explore the differences between production transparency and cost transparency in influencing consumer responses and the underlying mechanisms. The findings also expand to the literature on brand transparency and brand authenticity.

The purpose of this research is to examine how consumers interpret and understand sustainable fashion production and how this informs their fashion consumption practice.

The research adopts an interpretivist approach with in-depth interviews with 28 participants. Sampling criterion sought consumers already engaged with sustainable production – professionally working mothers – to explore how their sustainability knowledge was evaluated for sustainable fashion claims. Garment labels that descripted facets of sustainable production were introduced to encourage discourse of sustainable fashion knowledge.

The findings illustrate that sustainable fashion production is not understood and efforts to apply sustainability concepts were often misunderstood which led to scepticism for higher pricing and marketing claims. Despite this, there was concern for the wider implications of sustainability.

Limitations include the small sample from one geographical area (Edinburgh), despite the richness of the data collected.

The research offers practical advice for fashion marketers to educate consumers through effective communication strategies how sustainable fashion concepts improve consumer concerns surrounding fashion production.

The research indicates increased concern for fashion sustainability, something that fashion retailers should be mindful of.

There has been little research examining consumer interpretation of sustainable fashion terminology, and this research adds to understanding how sustainability is evaluated within fashion production.

The author considers the impact of the need to produce transparencies for the overhead projector on the whole reprographic equipment of a college

The objective of this study is to improve the food supply chain performance taking into consideration the fundamental concepts of traceability by combining the current frameworks, its principles, its implications and the emerging technologies.

A narrative literature review of already existing empirical research on traceability systems was conducted resulting in 862 relevant papers. Following a step-by-step sampling process, the authors ended up with 46 final samples for the literature review.

The main findings of this study include the various descriptions of the architecture of traceability systems, the different sources enabling this practice, the common desirable attributes, and the enabling technologies for the deployment and implementation of traceability systems. Moreover, several technological solutions are presented, which are currently available for traceability systems, and finally, opportunities for future research are provided.

It provides an insight, which could affect the implementation process of traceability in the food supply chain and consequently the effective management of a food traceability system (FTS). Managers will be able to create a traceability system, which meets users' requirements, thus enhancing the value of products and food companies.

This study contributes to the food supply chain and the traceability systems literature by creating a holistic picture of where something has been and where it should go. It is a starting point for each food company to design and manage its traceability system more effectively.

When the UK's Milk Marketing Boards (MMB) were disbanded in 1994 the formal link between the farm gate milk price with the milk's end‐use was broken. The purpose of this paper is to examine whether milk prices fell to their “marginal value in the least remunerative use” or whether “the market had put in place some other mechanism for raising the price upwards”.

An on‐line survey of UK milk producers, open to all, conducted in the summer of 2008, explored farmers' knowledge of their milk contract, the use of their milk, and the reasons for choosing their current milk buyer.

A liquid milk price premium (of 1.06ppl.) was earned by farmers who: sold on liquid milk contracts to processors, rather than to one of the three large farmer‐owned co‐operatives; and who recently switched milk buyer. Switching incurred high transaction costs, additional uncertainty, and went against commitments to the co‐operative ideal.

Publication of differences between a buyer's milk price and a benchmark related to how the milk is processed, (a D‐score), cumulative difference values (D_C), 12 and 24 monthly moving average difference measures (D_MA12 and D_MA24 respectively) alongside milk buyers' milk price would improved supply chain transparency, and lower farmers' switching costs. It would also help farmers to treat their milk's final markets, rather than their milk buyer, as their customers.

The paper puts forward practical suggestions that have never been discussed by the UK supply chain, even though they would have direct and indirect benefits to the actors involved.

Muslim consumers have been shocked with the news of cross-contamination issues in the Halal food that they consumed. These issues make them put more effort in ensuring the products that they purchased being monitored throughout the supply chain. In this case, food companies must be prepared to implement systematic traceability system to ensure the authenticity of Halal products and comprehend the importance of Halal industry environmental factors (HIEF) in enhancing integrity of Halal food supply chain and protect from any risk of cross-contaminations. This paper aims to clarify the relationship between the Halal traceability system adoption (HTSA) and HIEFs on Halal food supply chain integrity (HFSCIn).

The study opted quantitative research approach by using the self-administrated questionnaires. The questionnaires were distributed during Malaysia International Halal Showcase (MIHAS) 2014 and Halal Fiesta Malaysia (HALFEST) 2014. 127 Malaysian Halal food and beverages companies have been involved in the study. Most of the respondents are the general manager or owner of the company, Halal executives, quality assurance managers, operation managers and sales manager.

The study found that there is a significant relationship between HTSA and HIEF on HFSCIn. The study also found that the highest adoptions of Halal traceability system are among the producer and end user, while the highest contributions in influencing the HIEF are the economic and socio-cultural factors.

This study only focused on Halal food industry particularly the food and beverages category. Thus, future study can explore further on every category in food industry such as raw materials and ingredients; poultry, meat and dairy; fast food and premises and make comparison between pharmaceutical, cosmetics and health care in Halal industry. In addition, the sample size (N = 127) can be considered small; therefore, it is recommended that in future the subject matter be explored with a much larger sample to allow generalization of the result.

This study provided, perhaps for the first time, an analysis of the relationship between traceability adoptions and HIEF on HFSCIn.

Using the PC‐based control system 4CONTROL, the manufacture of RF cages for radio frequency instruments at Rohde & Schwarz in Germany has been almost completely automated. CAD systems, production planning and machine control across three sites have been integrated into the company IT networks to achieve virtually paperless production. Manufacturing times have been reduced from 15 to three days.

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted all manufacturing sectors from basic products to luxury goods including the automobile industry. This has necessitated a new line of research on competency building, transparency, and sustainability in automotive supply chains. In this study, the authors examine the competencies required to improve the automotive supply chain routine operations to address the parts supply crisis from multitier suppliers in the post-COVID-19 environment. The authors also propose a list of competencies required in the automotive supply chains to deploy the transparency for sustainability (TfS) framework on a long-term basis.

The authors have adapted a cross-case study process using intervention-based research and a design science approach for use in this study and used multiple sources for data collection such as published literature, operational experience, and critical opinions of original equipment manufacturer representatives. The research design includes interviews with global OEMs practitioners as one of the relevant sources of information.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak on automotive manufacturing operations and global supply chains is unprecedented. The TfS framework cycle has been validated using the real-world semiconductor supply crisis which deals with multitier sustainable supply chain management (MTSSCM), and the authors found that there are competency gaps when compared with existing literature. The list of key competencies identified along with the formulation of design propositions to facilitate both the supply crisis and collaboration among automotive firms to enhance their business performance were also presented.

The COVID-19 pandemic is impacting the automobile sector significantly. This situation has created many opportunities and obstacles, but this paper only considers the automotive semi-conductor shortage situation, which may be resolved in the near future when there are more installed capacities. Therefore, it is unclear whether the proposed responses will result in long-term solutions. Further adjustments may be needed to revisit the TfS framework. The research paper only addresses the automotive side of the current supply crisis, but more sustainability issues may arise in the future, which need to be dealt with separately.

Research findings may prove particularly interesting to global automotive vehicle manufacturers, suppliers and policy makers who are seeking to understand multitier supply networks to resolve the current challenges associated with the post-COVID-19 pandemic situation.

In addition to contributing to developing competency requirements, this study enhances the evolving research stream of MTSSCM by linking it to wider research applications of intervention-based research coupled with design science.

Traceability of food is of paramount importance to the increasingly sustainability-conscious consumers. Several tracking and tracing systems have been developed in the AgriFood sector in order to prove to the consumers the origins and processing of food products. Critical challenges in realizing food's traceability include cooperating with multiple actors on common data sharing standards and data models.

This research applies a design science approach to showcase traceability that includes preharvest activities and conditions in a case study. The authors demonstrate how existing data sharing standards can be applied in combination with new data models suitable for capturing transparency information about plant production.

Together with existing studies on farm-to-fork transparency, our results demonstrate how to realize transparency from field to fork and enable producers to show a complete bill of sustainability.

The existing standards and data models address transparency challenges in AgriFood chains from the moment of harvest up to retail (farm-to-fork) relatively well, but not what happens before harvest. In order to address sustainability concerns, there is a need to collect data about production activities related to product quality and sustainability before harvesting and share it downstream the supply chain. The ability to gather data on sustainability practices such as reducing pesticide, herbicide, fertilizer and water use are crucial requirements for producers to market their produce as quality and sustainable products.

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the impacts of using gamification techniques to improve transparency of production assignments and worker performance and to increase the engagement of construction workers.

The research strategy is based on design science research. A web tool called Gamified Construction Project System was designed, implemented and evaluated through empirical studies.

The effectiveness of game mechanics used in the GamifiedSystem, such as the point system, the badge, the leaderboard and the feedbacks loops, improved the communication of weekly tasks, rules and policies through better information transparency; the system also motivated the workers to be more engaged and to improve their performance to win the game.

The main contribution of this study is the incorporation of gamification techniques in the visual management construction field and the adherence of the workforce to production tasks and rules.