Paper info

Inter-Organizational Information Feedback Flows in Chains: A Chain Case Study Theoretical Framework

Christine Storer

The paper was published at the 17th IMP-conference in Oslo, Norway in 2001.

A consumer perceived food contamination crisis in Japan was the catalyst for a focus on chainmanagement in an Australian food chain. The results of case study research of the interorganisationalfeedback systems of five organisations in the Australian food processor centredchain are presented.Using a grounded theory approach, propositions of how the inter-organisational informationfeedback systems (IOIFS) in chains operate are presented. It is proposed that the nature ofthese IOIFS will be related to expected future outcomes as measured by chain objectives(organisational commitment to developing long-term relationships with suppliers andcustomers). In addition, the nature of the inter-organisational information feedback will berelated to the current outcomes as measured by the strength of the relationship and perceivedperformance. Outside environmental factors that impact on the relationships may also havean effect such as the: nature of the product, competition and uncertainty in the market; powerand dependency in the relationship; industry experience and duration of the relationship; aswell as personal characteristics.