Nilsson, Jerker and Westerlund Lind, Lena
(2015).
Institutional changes in the Swedish meat industry.
British Food Journal. 117
:10
, 2501-2514
[Research article]
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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/BFJ-11-2014-0378
Abstract
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.
Authors/Creators: | Nilsson, Jerker and Westerlund Lind, Lena | ||||||
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Title: | Institutional changes in the Swedish meat industry | ||||||
Series Name/Journal: | British Food Journal | ||||||
Year of publishing : | 2015 | ||||||
Depositing date: | 15 February 2015 | ||||||
Volume: | 117 | ||||||
Number: | 10 | ||||||
Page range: | 2501-2514 | ||||||
Number of Pages: | 14 | ||||||
Publisher: | Emerald | ||||||
ISSN: | 0007-070X | ||||||
Language: | English | ||||||
Publication Type: | Research article | ||||||
Refereed: | Yes | ||||||
Article category: | Scientific peer reviewed | ||||||
Version: | Published version | ||||||
Full Text Status: | Public | ||||||
Agris subject categories.: | E Economics, development, and rural sociology > E10 Agricultural economics and policies | ||||||
Subjects: | (A) Swedish standard research categories 2011 > 5 Social Sciences > 502 Economics and Business > Business Administration | ||||||
Agrovoc terms: | Sweden, corporate culture, cooperatives, agricultural and rural legislation, abattoirs | ||||||
Keywords: | Sweden, Institutional change, Co-operatives, Agricultural policy, Conversion, Slaughterhouse | ||||||
URN:NBN: | urn:nbn:se:slu:epsilon-e-3199 | ||||||
Permanent URL: | http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:slu:epsilon-e-3199 | ||||||
Additional ID: |
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ID Code: | 13015 | ||||||
Faculty: | NJ - Fakulteten för naturresurser och jordbruksvetenskap | ||||||
Department: | (NL, NJ) > Dept. of Economics | ||||||
Deposited By: | SLUpub Connector | ||||||
Deposited On: | 04 Feb 2016 14:26 | ||||||
Metadata Last Modified: | 09 Sep 2020 14:17 |
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