Special issue on value in food and agriculture

British Food Journal

ISSN: 0007-070X

Article publication date: 15 February 2011

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Citation

(2011), "Special issue on value in food and agriculture", British Food Journal, Vol. 113 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/bfj.2011.070113baa.002

Publisher

:

Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2011, Emerald Group Publishing Limited


Special issue on value in food and agriculture

Article Type: Call for papers From: British Food Journal, Volume 113, Issue 2

The British Food Journal announces the call for papers for a special issue on ``Value in food and agriculture''. The deadline for submission is 1 July 2011. The journal is included in the ISI Citation Index.

Purpose of the special issue

In food and agriculture, upstream and downstream alike, the creation of value is paramount to any company's survival (Kotler and Keller, 2008), and even more so at a time where dramatic changes in business and industrial marketing's context are leading to fundamental changes in what companies should be analyzing, creating, and delivering (Doyle, 2000; Hunt, 2000).

Despite the considerable amount of literature on the topic, there is a general feeling among academics and practitioners that we have only just begun to understand what is meant by ``value'' (Anderson and Narus, 1998). Many different angles of value have been investigated (cf. British Food Journal, Vol. 100 No. 1, 2008). Two virtually distinct research streams are identified in the literature (Lindgreen and Wynstra, 2005): one focusing on the value of the object of exchange (goods and services) and one focusing on the value of the process of exchange (the relationships, networks, and interactions in which the company is embedded). However, holes remain to be filled, and new fields need to be explored (Lindgreen and Hingley, 2008).

The overall objective of the special issue is to provide a comprehensive collection of cutting-edge theories and research on ``value'' as analyzed, created, and delivered by business and industrial marketing organizations and as perceived and experienced by their customers, suppliers, and other important stakeholders (cf. Lindgreen et al., 2009). When we combine these themes (i.e. analysis, creation, delivery, and experience) with the ``goods and services'' and ``relationships, networks, and interactions'' themes, we obtain eight potential areas for future research. On that basis, specific topics may include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • The interaction of food retailers' value appraisals and food suppliers' value propositions; and how this interaction triggers the development of new food products or services.

  • The biases, if any, of different business functions in what the food or agricultural entity needs to analyze, create, and deliver in terms of food and agricultural product offerings.

  • The qualities of relationships and interactions vis-à-vis different relationship phases in food and agriculture.

  • The interaction processes, and interfaces, between suppliers and customers and the creation of value in an agri-food supply chain and network context.

  • Applications of value chain analysis (VCA) to local, national, and international food and agricultural contexts.

  • The critical supplier and retailer capabilities in developing new or improved food products and managing the supplier-retailer interaction.

  • The value outcomes (purchasing, marketing, performance) of different marketing and purchasing orientations in food and agriculture.

  • The contribution of intra-firm coordination (of various business functions) and inter-firm co-ordination (between the company and various stakeholders) to value; and how value is delivered through said co-ordinations in food and agriculture.

  • The involvement of supplier, customer, and network stakeholders in co-creation of value.

  • The value proposition and how it develops along the product life cycle.

  • The value of corporate responsibility and sustainability in a business-to-business/wider stakeholder context.

  • The way in which value in, and of, experiential marketing is developed in retailer-to-consumer food markets.

  • The role of viral marketing/word-of-marketing in value creation and delivery.

  • The ideal portfolio configuration in terms of services and products as categories and also service and product as strategies for designing market offerings that are of value to customers in food.

  • The importance of processes in designing new food and agricultural product and service offerings for which customers are really willing to pay.

  • The successful versus unsuccessful de-commoditization initiatives and transition paths to facilitate the introduction of extra service-based value to the business offering in the food market.

  • The costs and benefits of customer relationship management (CRM) initiatives that require the cooperation of multiple functions within a company.

  • The analysis, creation, and delivery of value in a local versus global context, or how local, national and global value may be created in cohesive network arrangements

  • Cases of successful value creation – and failures.

  • Value analysis, creation and delivery in particular settings.

Preference will be given to empirical papers (both qualitative and quantitative), although theoretical papers that offer comprehensive frameworks of value in food and agriculture are also welcomed. As the British Food Journal is widely read by an academic and business readership, all submissions should include implications for practitioners. Papers must deal with their chosen topic in the setting of food and agriculture.

Processes for the submission of papers

Submissions to the British Food Journal are made using ScholarOne Manuscripts, the online submission and peer review system. Registration and access is available at: http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/bfj

Papers submitted must not have been published, accepted for publication, or presently be under consideration for publication elsewhere. Submissions should be between 4,000 and 6,000 words in length. For additional guidelines including the requirement for a structured abstract, please see the ``Notes for Contributors''from a recent issue of the British Food Journal or visit: www.emeraldinsight.com/info/journals/bfj/jourinfo.jsp Authors should not identify themselves in the body of their paper.

Please address questions to the Guest Editor:

Dr Martin HingleyDepartment of Business Management and Marketing,Harper Adams University College, Newport, Shropshire TF10 8NB, UKTel: +44 1952 820 280E-mail: mhingley@harper-adams.ac.uk

References

Anderson, J.C. and Narus, J.A. (1998), ``Business marketing: understand what customers value'', Harvard Business Review, Vol. 76 No. 6, pp. 53-65.

Doyle, P. (2000), Value-Based Marketing: Marketing Strategies for Corporate Growth and Shareholder Value, John Wiley & Sons, Chichester.

Hunt, S. D. (2000), A General Theory of Competition, Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, CA.

Kotler, P. and Keller, K.L. (2008), Marketing Management, 13th int. ed., Prentice-Hall, London.

Lindgreen, A. and Hingley, M.K. (2008), ``Value analysis, creation, and delivery in food and agriculture business-to-business marketing and purchasing'', British Food Journal, Vol. 110 No. 1, pp. 5-10.

Lindgreen, A., Vanhamme, J. and Beverland, M.B. (Eds) (2009), Memorable Customer Experiences: A Research Anthology, Gower Publishing, Aldershot.

Lindgreen, A. and Wynstra, F. (2005), ``Value in business markets: What do we know? Where are we going?'' Industrial Marketing Management, Vol. 34 No. 7, pp. 732-48.

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