| Autor: |
Lena Westerlund Lind, Jerker Nilsson |
| Rok vydání: |
2015 |
| Předmět: |
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| Zdroj: |
British Food Journal. 117:2501-2514 |
| ISSN: |
0007-070X |
| DOI: |
10.1108/bfj-11-2014-0378 |
| Popis: |
Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to explain institutional changes in the Swedish meat industry after major external events. Design/methodology/approach - Analysis based on secondary data sources and interviews with people involved when the dominant meat co-operative in Sweden underwent major changes. Findings - The decline in the Swedish meat industry is interpreted using the theory of institutional change presented by Aoki (2007, 2011). The country's former national agricultural policy created a specific set of norms and values. Co-operatives were considered to be indispensable. The co-operative sector was large and hierarchically organised. Therefore, external signals did not create sufficient endogenous processes within the co-operatives. Co-operative adaptation to rising competitive pressure took place only reluctantly and belatedly. Hence many farmer-members defected and the major co-operative faced finally insurmountable problems. A strong ideological conviction caused the once dominant co-operative to collapse and much of the Swedish meat industry to disappear. Originality/value - This study shows that strong ideology (here a conviction about the advantages of politically governed co-operatives) can hamper endogenous processes within an organisation. Management may ignore outside influences, to the extent that even a large industry is impaired. Other large, hierarchically structured and top-governed organisations with a strong ideology may behave in a similar way. |
| Databáze: |
OpenAIRE |
| Externí odkaz: |
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