Risk management of Chinese food companies; a management perspective

Abstract

This study investigated the current situation of food risk management (FRM) in Chinese companies and the factors that influence the effectiveness of risk management measures. FRM is considered from the perspective of food company managers in 161 food companies surveyed in the Provinces of Henan and Hubei, Central China. Results suggest that the current FRM situation in China is poor, and the most important factor influencing the effectiveness of FRM measures is the financial resource allocated to FRM. Other affecting factors include the level of corporate social responsibility (CSR) engagement of the company and the company size (measured by the number of employees). The better the CSR, the better the FRM; the larger the company, the less effective the FRM measures are. The study provides some suggestions for policy-making and further research.

Keywords:

• risk management
• food company
• affecting factors
• corporate social responsibility
• China

Acknowledgement

The authors would like to thank the financial support from Henan Science & Technological Innovation Talent Fund (094100510013), Henan Soft Science Fund (092400440039) and from Humanities and Social Science Research Project (2012-DZ-046) and Soft Science Project (13A630500) of the Educational Department of Henan Province.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. 5-point Likert scale is a psychometric scale commonly involved in research that employs questionnaires. It is simply a statement which the respondent is asked to evaluate according to any kind of subjective or objective criteria, generally the level of agreement or disagreement is measured. It is considered symmetric or ‘balanced’ because there are equal numbers of positive and negative positions (Cohen, Manion, and Morrison 2000; Likert 1932).