Horizontal supply chain collaboration amongst small enterprises: insights from UK brewery networks

Abstract

Collaborating with rival firms is counterintuitive but can lead to mutual benefits if implemented successfully. This research paper investigates how horizontal collaboration amongst small businesses can support supply chain activities and lead to network enhancement. A cross-case analysis of five umbrella organisations, each consisting of multiple breweries, was performed. Their collaborative activities were investigated through semi-structured interviews, site visits, and documentation in this exploratory, qualitative study. The findings contribute to the development of a conceptual framework that shows the linkages between group formation, collaborative activities, and supply chain outcomes. Horizontal initiatives are dependent on the formation of a unifying umbrella organisation and the management resources required to form and sustain the group should not be underestimated. The comparison across five networks included in the study suggests that social mechanisms can lead to network development. However, the relationship between the umbrella organisation and its members needs to be formalised to ensure sustainable operations and the delivery of expected outputs.

Keywords:

• Co-operation
• coopetition
• umbrella organisation
• network governance
• network facilitation
• case study

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 The term SME is used in accordance with references from the literature but the focus of this study is small enterprises. The umbrella organisations that represent each case are comprised almost entirely of small businesses.

Additional information

Funding

This research was conducted under the support of the Co-Growth project, funded by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development - Welsh Government Rural Development Programme.

Notes on contributors

T. I. Ramjaun

Dr Timothy Ramjaun is a Research Associate in Supply Chain & Operations Management at Cardiff Business School. He is a researcher in the discipline of operations management, having transferred from the physical sciences. Prior to his academic career, he worked as a Project Engineer and Supply Chain Specialist within the manufacturing sector, including a position at Jaguar Land Rover. He is currently conducting research in the food & beverage sector, specifically among breweries, to identify opportunities for mutual growth. He has also worked on action research projects to stimulate technology development in businesses. His research interests include inter-organisational collaboration, circular economy and supply chain strategy.

V. S. Rodrigues

Dr Vasco Sanchez Rodrigues is a Professor of Sustainable Supply Chain Management at Cardiff University. His research is innovative and cutting-edged and focuses on challenging areas such as NetZero and food waste prevention and mitigation. Vasco is an industry-led academic who has undertaken successful applied-research projects for leading companies from the retail, food, and drinks, and logistics sectors from the UK, France, USA, Germany, South Africa, South Korea, Colombia, Chile, and Argentina. Furthermore, he has published his research in prime international academic journals such as the International Journal of Operations and Production Management, Industrial Marketing Management, Production Planning & Control, Transport Research Part A, Part D and Part E and Supply Chain Management – An International Journal. Vasco is leading several research projects that together have £3.2 million of external funding. Prior to joining UK academia, Vasco spent six years in BIMBO Organisation, a leading bakery multinational, holding a range of supply chain-based senior management roles. Vasco is also leading the development of executive and professional training courses for organisations such as Ocado, among others, and acts as programme director of the MSc Sustainable Supply Chain Management at Cardiff Business School.

M. Kumar

Maneesh Kumar is a Professor of Service Operations at Cardiff Business School, Cardiff University. He conducts cross-disciplinary research in the area of Operational Excellence including topics such as Lean Six Sigma (LSS), Process/Service Innovation and related Human Factors impacting improvement/innovaiton, Industry 4.0, Circular Economy and Knowledge Management within SMEs, Automotive Industry, Service Industries and Public Sector organisations. This has resulted in publications of over 120 journals and conferences papers, edited books, and conference proceedings. He is an active member of EUROMA and POMS’ College of Operational Excellence. He has initiated a first practice-based forum on Lean Green and Innovation (iLEGO) that brings the practitioner community together to have engaged discussion on synergies and misalignments between the three topics and promote cross-learning between different industries. He has been involved in delivering LSS training up to the Black Belt level and delivered several workshops on LSS application in different types and sizes of industries including Admiral, Principality, Bakkavor Group, Norbert Dentressangle, Norgine Ltd., Centrica, Olympus UK Ltd., Celsa Steel, NHS UK. He is also a regular invited speaker at International Conferences and Seminars on Operations Management, LSS & Operations Excellence.