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Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to present a decision-making framework for outsourcing levels of logistics activities. These are: execution level of basic activities (such as transportation, warehousing); value-added activities; planning and control level of activities (such as transportation and inventory management); and strategic decision-making level of activities (distribution network design). Design/methodology/approach - The research design comprises three stages. Literature review was undertaken to study outsourcing theories. Successively, case studies on three food manufacturers were conducted resulting in a framework for make-or-buy decision. Finally, an exploratory survey was undertaken to examine the determinant factors for outsourcing the different activities. Findings - Results indicate that logistics activities at different levels are outsourced for different reasons. Three main determinant factors are identified: asset specificity, core closeness and supply chain complexity. This implies that the evaluation of outsourcing different activities requires insights of three theories, namely transaction cost, resource-based and supply chain management theory. Research limitations/implications - The research and resulting framework are based on three small cases. Furthermore, there are few companies that outsource higher levels of activities, which limits the statistical assessment of the survey results. Practical implications - The framework can support the decision-making process for outsourcing different logistics activities in food industry. Originality/value - The key contribution of this paper is that it creates a comprehensive framework for outsourcing of both basic and advanced logistics activities specifically for the food industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a research agenda on innovation through (international) food supply chains and networks in developing countries. It derives major topics from a multi-perspective view on international food chains (economic, technology, social/legal and environment) and from different theoretical streams dealing with chains and networks (Supply Chain Management, Industrial Organization theory and Network Theory). Three agri-supply chain projects in developing countries (Thailand, South-Africa, Ghana) are analyzed to identify focus areas in supply chain development projects and important gaps. These projects were collaborative actions between companies and research institutes to initiate international supply chain development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper focuses on the perceived quality of information exchange between government and business (G2B) in the field of environmental reporting in the Dutch agrifood industry. It seems most important for environmental performance enhancement (a concept that includes the quality of information given to stakeholders in our view) that companies are entangled in a network of intermediary institutions (branch organizations, covenants, existence of chain leaders etc.). It seems that that these mediating institutions are very instrumental in translating the governmental message to the companies. The companies choose the (related to the development of internal care) improvement of electronic reporting as the most promising innovation for the G2B communication. This shows that the companies still have a long way to go towards chain oriented care systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]