Do sustainability goals impact vertical relations? : A content analysis of the European Food sector GRI report

CSR has become one of the main strategic activities of food firms to show their environmental conduct. Empirical research has not yet fully explored the effects of CSR activities on supply chain coordination. The aim of the paper is to investigate the role of the implementation of CSR activities on the reorganization of vertical relationships within food supply chains. To achieve our goal, we referred to Transaction Cost Economics and we analysed how transaction costs and transaction attributes associated to the adoption of CSR rules impact the level of vertical coordination. To collect data on CSR activities and the related costs we conducted a content analyses on the Global Reporting Initiative reports of European food companies in order to transform qualitative data into quali-quantitative data. Results analysed on the basis of ordinal regression models suggest that all the transaction cost economic variables included in our conceptual framework are relevant in shaping coordination among supply chain partners. More specifically, we find that variables affecting chain coordination due to collaboration on environmental matters relate to: the presence of sourcing standards; effort in discussing with chain partners ways to prevent and manage chain environmental impacts; and costs related to stakeholder feedback collection. The results of the analysis confirm the possibility for firm management to consider CSR as a strategic tool to improve supply chain relationships through an augmented vertical coordination.