Together We E-Export: Horizontal Cooperation Among Austrian Food Companies in Global Supply Chains and the Role of Electronic Business Tools

Literature Review

Companies in the agribusiness and food industries have to co-operate to achieve mutual benefits (Diabat, Govindan, & Panicker, 2012; Trienekens, Wognum, Beulens, & van der Vorst, 2012). As consumers are becoming increasingly knowledgeable about products and more demanding about price and food quality, organizations have turned to supply chain management in order to create and deliver value to customers as well as reduce cost (Van der Vorst, Dongen, Dongen, Nouguier, & Hilhorst, 2002). Successful implementation of supply chain management implies that supply chain parties from fork to farm should cooperate in order to coordinate activities and gain mutual benefits (Bezuidenhout, Bodhanya, & Brenchley, 2012).