Purpose

This paper aims to explore the interdisciplinary nature of coordination challenges in the logistic response to food safety incidents while distinguishing the food supply chain positions involved.

Design/methodology/approach

This adopts an exploratory qualitative research approach over a period of 11 years. Multiple research periods generated 38 semi-structured interviews and 2 focus groups. All data is analysed by a thematic analysis.

Findings

The authors identified four key coordination challenges in the logistics response to food safety incidents: first, information quality (sharing information and the applied technology) appears to be seen as the biggest challenge for the response; second, more emphasis on external coordination focus is required; third, more extensive emphasis is needed on the proactive phase in the logistic response; fourth, a distinct difference exists in the position’s views on coordination in the food supply chain. Furthermore, the data supports the interdisciplinary nature as disciplines such as operations management, strategy and organisation but also food safety and risk management, have to work together to align a rapid response, depending on the incident’s specifics.

Research limitations/implications

The paper shows the need for comprehensively reviewing and elaborating on the research gap in coordination decisions for the logistic response to food safety incidents while using the views of the different supply chain positions. The empirical data indicates the interdisciplinary nature of these coordination decisions, supporting the need for more attention to the interdisciplinary food research agenda. The findings also indicate the need for more attention to organisational learning, and an open and active debate on exploratory qualitative research approaches over a long period of time, as this is not widely used in supply chain management studies.

Practical implications

The results of this paper do not present a managerial blueprint but can be helpful for practitioners dealing with aspects of decision-making by the food supply chain positions. The findings help practitioners to systematically go through all phases of the decision-making process for designing an effective logistic response to food safety incidents. Furthermore, the results provide insight into the distinct differences in views of the supply chain positions on the coordination decision-making process, which is helpful for managers to better understand in what phase(s) and why other positions might make different decisions.

Social implications

The findings add value for the general public, as an effective logistic response contributes to consumer’s trust in food safety by creating more transparency in the decisions made during a food safety incident. As food sources are and will remain essential for human existence, the need to contribute to knowledge related to aspects of food safety is evident because it will be impossible to prevent all food safety incidents.

Originality/value

As the main contribution, this study provides a systematic and interdisciplinary understanding of the coordination decision-making process for the logistic response to food safety incidents while distinguishing the views of the supply chain positions.

中文翻译：

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与食品供应链快速响应相关的跨学科挑战

目的

本文旨在探讨食品安全事件物流响应中协调挑战的跨学科性质，同时区分所涉及的食品供应链位置。

设计/方法论/途径

该研究采用了历时 11 年的探索性定性研究方法。多个研究阶段产生了 38 次半结构化访谈和 2 个焦点小组。所有数据均通过主题分析进行分析。

发现

作者指出了食品安全事件物流响应中的四个关键协调挑战：首先，信息质量（共享信息和应用技术）似乎被视为响应的最大挑战；二是更加注重外部协调重点；第三，需要更广泛地强调后勤响应的主动阶段；第四，岗位对食品供应链协调的看法存在明显分歧。此外，这些数据支持跨学科性质，因为运营管理、战略和组织以及食品安全和风险管理等学科必须共同努力，根据事件的具体情况做出快速响应。

研究局限性/影响

本文表明，有必要结合不同供应链立场的观点，全面审视和阐述食品安全事件物流响应协调决策方面的研究差距。经验数据表明这些协调决策的跨学科性质，支持需要更多关注跨学科食品研究议程。研究结果还表明，需要更多地关注组织学习，并在很长一段时间内对探索性定性研究方法进行公开和积极的辩论，因为这在供应链管理研究中并未广泛使用。

实际影响

本文的结果并不提供管理蓝图，但可以帮助从业者处理食品供应链职位决策的各个方面。研究结果帮助从业人员系统地完成决策过程的所有阶段，以设计针对食品安全事件的有效后勤响应。此外，研究结果还可以洞察供应链各个职位在协调决策过程中观点的明显差异，这有助于管理者更好地理解其他职位在哪个阶段以及为什么会做出不同的决策。

社会影响

研究结果为公众增加了价值，因为有效的物流响应可以提高食品安全事件期间决策的透明度，从而增强消费者对食品安全的信任。由于食物来源对于人类生存至关重要，因此显然有必要为食品安全方面的相关知识做出贡献，因为不可能预防所有食品安全事件。

原创性/价值

作为主要贡献，本研究提供了对食品安全事件物流响应协调决策过程的系统和跨学科理解，同时区分了供应链立场的观点。