The purpose of this paper is to explore the sharing of sustainability and social responsibility-centric values along the export-oriented organic dry food supply chain (ODFSC) using an institutional lens.
To understand the perceptions of the shared ethos of the organic food industry along the entire supply chain, the research employed a multi-tier qualitative approach using semi-structured interviews and observations. The study focussed on supply chain actors including farmers and traders from the Indian sub-continent, and traders and retailers based in Europe and North America.
Isomorphism, brought about by the vertical channelling of consumer preferences and values resulted in a higher degree of responsibility within the industry. The responsibility-centric ethos of the supply chain affected the responsibility-orientation of the supply chain actors and their operations.
The research focused mainly on the ODFSC actors in Kerala, a state in India, and this focus of the research could be a significant limitation in generalizing the findings to the rest of the emerging economy context because of cultural and educational differences.
Literature lacks in the studies of sharing of responsibility-centric values in supply chains through an institutional lens and this investigation contributes to the scant literature on isomorphism, shared values and responsible supply chain management.
