Ideological Challenges to Changing Strategic Orientation in Commodity Agriculture

Abstract

Why do some firms not change their strategic orientation despite economic incentives to do so? Most current literature on changing strategic orientations has focused on an antecedents and outcomes approach to business orientations. Intimated, but rarely addressed, are the notions that (1) strategic orientations may be thought of as ideologies and (2) such ideologies are likely to contend with each other. Taking such a perspective may be helpful in discussing why it is challenging to transition to more sustainable strategic orientations even in the presence of financial incentives to do so. In assessing the transition to organic production and marketing in a commodity agriculture context, the authors find that contending ideologies restrict its adoption. In addition, they suggest that strategic orientations are not adopted or contested solely within firms but also among them. The authors find that ideological contestation among firms in this context takes the form of a marketplace drama between a chemical, productionist orientation and an organic orientation in which protagonists mobilize several forms of legitimacy.

Truly Sustainability or Hypocrisy: The Effects of Corporate Sustainable Orientation on Consumers’ Quality Perception and Trust Based on Evidence from China

“…On the contrary, those enterprises or farmers in the process of adopting green production or transforming to green production are often under pressure from the rate of return on investment and from other conventional farmers. Sometimes, they are not recognized and cooperated with, and are even considered as idealists [37,38]. On the other hand, under the influence of regulatory and normative system elements, if there are some factors that are not conducive to green agricultural production (such as transportation and storage difficulties, solidified production concepts), the green production behaviors of enterprises and farmers will also be hindered [38].…”

Legitimacy as a Barrier: An Analysis of Brazilian Premium Cocoa and Chocolate Legitimation Process

“…Regarding the relationship between the concepts above, three types of legitimacy support institutions (Humphreys, 2010a(Humphreys, , 2010bScott, 2008;Suchman, 1995): regulative, normative, and cultural-cognitive. Regulative legitimacy regards laws and rules, being legally sanctioned by an organization such as the government (Humphreys, 2010b;Press et al, 2014;Scott, 2008).…”

“…Many consumption studies using institutional theory have approached the legitimacy construction (Humphreys, 2010a(Humphreys, , 2010b(Humphreys, , 2014Kates, 2004;Press & Arnould, 2011;Press et al, 2014;Scaraboto & Fischer, 2013). These works have made room in the field for the use of institutional theory, yet some issues still deserve further investigation.…”

“…Previous research on the subject has explored the creation and the change of markets. Some examples include the studies of stigmatized industries (Humphreys, 2010b), marginalized consumers (Scaraboto & Fischer, 2013), the connection between consumers and brands (Kates, 2004), the creation of a specific market (Humphreys, 2010a), and the changes in strategic orientations (Press Arnould, Murray, & Strand, 2014). However, little is known about how actors build legitimacy when it involves confronting another legitimacy already established.…”

Using of Eye Tracker in HORECA Segment: Visual Proposal of Chosen Communication Tool on Restaurant Guests Decision

“…Many studies have suggested that quality service delivers additional value (regulatory controls on consumer safety, service quality, environmental pretention etc.) to satisfy the needs of consumers as a profit by Press et al (2014). Šimo and Rovný (2010) use, the agribusiness covers the supply of agricultural inputs, the production and transformation of agricultural products and their distribution to final consumers.…”