Bridging institutional voids via supplier development in base of the pyramid supply chains

Abstract

The different institutional environments in which base-of-the-pyramid (BoP) actors and supply chain (SC) partners do business make institutional voids salient. This is due to varying or missing institutional arrangements, which, in emerging countries, can cause market failure along the SC. This paper suggests using supplier development (SD) as a way of cooperation that has the potential to bridge institutional voids. The feasibility of the developed framework is explored using empirical data from a case study of the local dairy SC in Kenya. It thereby contributes to research on institutional voids and BoP SCs. In fact, direct and indirect SD can contribute to fill institutional voids. Direct SD is outstanding due to the omnipresent resource scarcity in the BoP context. This research is novel because it explicitly connects SD with institutional voids and consequently emphasises the potential and importance of SD in the BoP context.

Keywords:

• Base of the pyramid
• institutional voids
• supplier development
• dairy supply chain
• Kenya

Acknowledgements

We thank our former student Marianne Schmidt for her contribution to data collection in Kenya.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

The empirical research for this paper is based on the RELAOD (Reduction of Post-Harvest Losses and Value Addition in East African Food Value Chains) funded by the German ministry of research [Grant number 031A247A-D].

Notes on contributors

Carolin Brix-Asala

Carolin Brix-Asala works currently as a project manager for the Nuremberg Metropolitan Region, Germany. In her academic career, she worked as a research assistant at the department of supply chain management at the University of Kassel in the RELOAD project (reduction of post-harvest losses in East Africa). She has been involved in research on Base of the pyramid population and their inclusion in supply chains. Local and international food supply chains were focus of her field stays in Kenya and Uganda. She also conduced field research in Ghana about informal valorisation/recycling of water sachets (plastic bags with drinking water).

Stefan Seuring

Stefan Seuring is full professor of supply chain management at the University of Kassel. Stefan is one of the globally leading authors on sustainable supply chain management, but also covers topics on supply chain strategy and digitisation. Stefan has collaborated interdisciplinary in research project with colleagues from agriculture, engineering and political sciences. He successfully supervised 25 PhD students. In 2016, Stefan Seuring was listed among the 27 globally most-influential researchers in logistics and supply chain management by a panel of French Researchers. In 2018, Web of Science and Clarivate Analytics listed him as a highly cited researcher.