Sustainable Purchasing Strategy in the Food Industry
DISSERTATION
of the University of St. Gallen,
Graduate School of Business Administration,
Economics, Law, and Social Sciences (HSG)
to obtain the title of
Doctor of Business Administarion/Oeconomics
submitted by
Jens Hamprecht
from
Germany
Approved on the application of
Prof. Dr. Daniel Corsten
and
Prof. Fritz Fahrni, PhD
Dissertation No 3132
Difo Druck GmbH, Bamberg 2005
The University of St. Gallen, Graduate School of Business
Administration,Economics, Law, and Social Sciences (HSG) hereby
consents to the printing of the present dissertation, without hereby
expressing any opinion on the views herein expressed.
St. Gallen, November 17, 2005
The President:
Prof. Ernst Mohr, PhD
SUSTAINABLE PURCHASING STRATEGY IN THE FOOD INDUSTRY I
Preface
This thesis has one author but numerous people who supported its development.
Throughout the past years, I have enjoyed tremendous support by academics,
industry partners, and my friends and family.
Without the guidance of Prof. Dr. Daniel Corsten this thesis would not have been
marked by the theoretical aspirations that have been motivating me throughout the
entire research process. He has encouraged me to follow new paths in the process of
theory development while ensuring academic rigueur. Prof. Fritz Fahrni supported
me in a research methodology linking theory development with in-depth studies of
the industry. My choice of a thesis addressing corporate sustainability also reflects
his valuation of long-term oriented value creation.
Prof. Dr. Volker Hoffmann of ETH Zurich and Prof. Dr. Sanjay Sharma of Wilfrid
Laurier University each contributed to the development of my thesis at decisive
moments. Dr. Jost Hamschmidt of the oikos foundation enabled me to establish
contact with the world-leading scholars of my research field and to discuss my ideas
and results with them. Nadine Darmadi of the Rotterdam School of Management
provided great support in conducting the Migros and Nestl case studies.
Dr. Hans Jhr of Nestl provided me with an invaluable opportunity of gaining
hands-on experience in the management of sustainability. Throughout my entire
collaboration with him, I have benefited from a steep learning curve of what
sustainability means in a specific industry and how it can be firmly integrated in
existing management systems. I am also very thankful to his colleagues at Nestl,
particularly Eduard Bruckner, Patrick Leheup, Evelyn Meier, and Manfred Noll who
have each supported my work significantly.
Prof. Dr. Frank Straube and Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Stlzle provided me with the time
and the resources for writing this thesis.
Dr. Jrg Hofstetter provided me with important guidance regarding the presentation
of my results. All my colleagues at the Kuehne Institute for Logistics made my time
in St.Gallen a pleasant experience.
Finally, I want to say thank you to my parents, to Fred, to my four grandparents and
to my friends for their caring support throughout my entire education. Thank you to
Tanja for helping me in the finalization of this thesis.
St. Gallen, December 2005 Jens Hamprecht
II SUSTAINABLE PURCHASING STRATEGY IN THE FOOD INDUSTRY
Index
I INTRODUCTION..................................................................................................................................1
I.1 RELEVANCE OF THE RESEARCH: MANAGERIAL PERSPECTIVE ...............................................................1
I.2 RELEVANCE OF THE RESEARCH: THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVE...............................................................2
I.3 EMPIRICAL SETTING AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS..................................................................................4
I.4 STRUCTURE OF THE STUDY ..................................................................................................................5
I.5 DEFINITION OF A SUSTAINABLE PURCHASING STRATEGY ......................................................................8
II THEORETICAL BASIS......................................................................................................................11
II.1 INSTITUTIONAL THEORY ...............................................................................................................11
II.1.1 Introduction to institutional theory.........................................................................................11
II.1.2 Introduction to institutional entrepreneurship .......................................................................14
II.2 RESOURCE-BASED VIEW ...............................................................................................................17
II.2.1 Introduction to the resource-based view (RBV) .....................................................................17
II.2.2 The problem of defining value in resource-based research ...................................................18
II.2.3 Complementary strategies ......................................................................................................21
II.2.4 Non-linearities........................................................................................................................24
II.2.5 Exogenous contingencies........................................................................................................26
II.2.6 Summary of the resource-based approaches to value maximization......................................28
II.3 INTEGRATION OF INST. ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND A CONTINGENT RESOURCE-BASED VIEW............29
II.4 INTEGRATION OF A SOCIAL CONTRACT THEORY ............................................................................35
II.4.1 Scope of institutional and normative research streams..........................................................40
II.4.2 Definition of normative legitimacy: perspective of institutional theory and institutional
entrepreneurship ....................................................................................................................41
II.4.3 Definition of normative legitimacy: perspective of a normative theory .................................43
II.4.4 Critique of ISCT .....................................................................................................................44
II.4.5 Integration of a moral evaluation in institutional research ...................................................45
III RESEARCH MODEL .........................................................................................................................49
III.1 SPECIFICATION OF THE RESEARCH MODEL ....................................................................................49
III.2 ADOPTION OF A SUSTAINABLE PURCHASING STRATEGY ................................................................52
III.3 OUTCOME OF A SUSTAINABLE PURCHASING STRATEGY.................................................................56
IV THEORY VERIFICATION - CASE STUDIES................................................................................70
IV.1 METHODS .....................................................................................................................................70
IV.1.1 Case study design ...................................................................................................................72
IV.1.2 Case selection.........................................................................................................................74
IV.1.3 Data collection .......................................................................................................................76
IV.1.4 Data analysis ..........................................................................................................................77
SUSTAINABLE PURCHASING STRATEGY IN THE FOOD INDUSTRY III
IV.2 MIGROS CASE STUDY....................................................................................................................78
IV.2.1 Narrative account...................................................................................................................78
IV.2.2 Analysis ..................................................................................................................................91
IV.3 UNILEVER CASE STUDY ................................................................................................................96
IV.3.1 Narrative account...................................................................................................................96
IV.3.2 Analysis ................................................................................................................................107
IV.4 FROSTA CASE STUDY .................................................................................................................112
IV.4.1 Narrative account.................................................................................................................112
IV.4.2 Analysis ................................................................................................................................117
IV.5 NESTL CASE STUDY .................................................................................
