Integration analysis according to a Netchain analysis approach: the case of grainpasta chain in Apulia region

Journal title ECONOMIA AGRO-ALIMENTARE
Author/s Alessandra Castellini, Annalisa De Boni, Michele Moretti, Rocco Roma
Publishing Year 2014 Issue 2014/2
Language Italian Pages 17 P. 61-77 File size 114 KB
DOI 10.3280/ECAG2014-002004
DOI is like a bar code for intellectual property: to have more infomation click here

Below, you can see the article first page

If you want to buy this article in PDF format, you can do it, following the instructions to buy download credits

Article preview

FrancoAngeli is member of Publishers International Linking Association, Inc (PILA), a not-for-profit association which run the CrossRef service enabling links to and from online scholarly content.

In the last decade, the durum wheat-pasta production chain was been, with the other food chains, vulnerable to prices volatility, that became stronger in the last five years due to the unfavourable economic condition. The supply chains internal competition and the unwillingness to cooperation, directly linked to lack of trust between actors on different levels, represent barriers for the efficiency this economic structure (the chain), that have to deal with the actual economic condition and the global market competition. The Italian durum wheat-pasta production chain is characterized by a high level of vertical integration for the downstream stages (mills and pasta industries) and by a farms-pasta industries contracts increase; whereas very high is the upstream stage firms’ fragmentation. The study aims to examine the Apulian durum wheat-pasta production chain, by means of the netchain analysis methodology, to point out its organisational set-up and its degree of integration and evaluate the horizontal and vertical existent relationships. The geographical location of the study is due to the importance that durum wheat has for the Region; that is in the first place of the national production ranking (almost the 20,65% in 2011), and have a great territory specialisation (almost the 87,68% of cereals regional uaa). The study started from the analysis of a quality product chain that can be considered as a best practice into the area because both the final product (dry pasta) is made from local durum wheat flour only, and the whole chain are certified ("Prodotti di qualità di Puglia" and dnv Business Assurance). The results obtained, show an high horizontal integration for farms. However, they are able to create ties only with selling cooperatives. The latter on the other hand, show the capability to promote cohesion between farms and mills for the supply of high quality raw materials. This chain, observed for its peculiarity of being a best practice, show the relevance of pasta industries in promoting strong horizontal and vertical relationships, and theirs importance in improving chain market competitiveness. Further studies are still necessary, since a more comprehensive analysis of the entire Apulian chain, considering also those one located into areas with an higher number of pasta industries (eg. Emilia-Romagna), can provide essential information that can be used to drive innovation in chain governance at the regional or national level.

Keywords: Netchain analysis, grain-pasta chain, Apulia region

Jel codes: L14

  1. Acciani, C., De Boni, A., Fucilli, V., & Roma, R. (2009). L’organizzazione dei sistemi di produzione secondo la teoria dei networks: il caso dell’Alto Salento. Rivista di Economia Agro-alimentare, 11(2), 41-61. DOI: 10.3280/ECAG2009-002003
  2. Castellini, A., Mauracher, C., & Ragazzoni, A. (2011). Dalla catena del valore le chiavi per le decisioni strategiche nelle filiere della pesca. Rivista di Economia Agro-Alimentare, 13(1-2), 39-66. DOI: 10.3280/ECAG2011-001003
  3. Chinnici, G., & Pecorino, G. (2008), “Le imprese della filiera del grano duro in Puglia”. In: Consorzio “Gian Pietro Ballatore” per la Ricerca su Specifici Settori della Filiera Cerealicola Osservatorio della Filiera Cerealicola Siciliana – Quarto rapporto - La filiera del grano duro in Sicilia. Palermo, giugno 2008.
  4. Christopher, M. (2005). Supply chain management. Creare valore con la logistica. Torino: Pearson Education Italia.
  5. De Blasi, G., De Boni, A., Roma, R., & Trevisan G. (2012). The Social Capital for Adriatic small pelagic fish value-enhancing: a network analysis. NewMedit, 11(1), 27-32.
  6. De Blasi, G., De Boni, A., & Roma, R. (2011). Capitale sociale e redditività della filiera della pesca in Puglia. Rivista di Economia Agro-alimentare, 13(1-2), 179-199. DOI: 10.3280/ECAG2011-001009
  7. Dyer, J.H., & Singh H., (1998). The Relational View: Cooperative Strategy and Sources of Interorganizational Competitive Advantage. The Academy of Management Review, 23(4), 660-679.
  8. Garcia Perez, A.M., & Garcia Martinez, M. (2006). The Agri-Food Cooperative Netchain. A Theoretical Framework to Study its Configuration, Paper prepared for presentation at the 99th eaae Seminar ‘Trust and Risk in Business Networks’, Bonn, Germany, February 8-10, 2006. http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/bitstream/7747/1/sp06pe01.pdf
  9. Granovetter, M. (1985). “Economic action and social structure: the problem of embeddedness”, American Journal of Sociology, 91, 481-510. DOI: 10.1086/228311
  10. Hameri, A., & Pálsson, J., (2003). Supply chain management in the fishing industry. The case of Iceland. International Journal of Logistic Researches and Applications: A leading Journal of Supply Chain management, 6(3), 137-149. DOI: 10.1080/1367556031000123098
  11. Hinrichs, C.C. (2000). Embeddedness and local food systems: notes on two types of direct agricultural market. Journal of Rural Studies, 16, 295-303. DOI: 10.1016/S0743-0167(99)00063-7
  12. Hofstede, G.J. (2003). Transparency in netchains, Paper presented at efita conference, Debrecen, Hungary, 5-9 of July.
  13. Katz, M.L, & Shapiro, C. (1985). Network externalities, competition and compatibility. American Economic Review, 75, 424-440.
  14. ismea (2010). Le tendenze dei prezzi nelle diverse fasi della filiera del Frumento Duro. www.ismea.it (visitato il 19-01-2013).
  15. Ismea (2011). Scheda settore: CEREALI. www.ismea.it (visitato il 19-12-2012).
  16. Istat www.istat.it (visitato dicembre 2012 e gennaio 2013).
  17. Ismea-Italmopa (2011). L’approvvigionamento dell’industria molitoria. Giugno 2011.
  18. Italmopa (2011). Annuario Molini e Pastifici, www.italmopa.com (visitato il 28/01/2013).
  19. Lazzarini, S.G., Chaddad, F.R., & Cook, M.L. (2001). “Integrating supply chain and network analyses: the study of netchains”, Chain and Network Science, 1(1), 7-22. DOI: 10.3920/JCNS2001.x002
  20. Malassis, L., & Padilla, M. (1986), Economie agro-alimentaire, vol. III: L’èconomie mondiale. Paris: Ed. Cujas.
  21. Nijhoff-Savvaki, R., Trienekens J.H., & Omta, O. (2008). Netchain Innovation For Sustainable Pork Supply chains in an EU context. Contributed paper presented at iamo forum “Agri-Food Business: Global Challenges – Innovative Solutions”. 25-27 June 2008, Halle (Saale), Germany. www.iamo.de (ultimo accesso 27/12/2012).
  22. Nijhoff-Savvaki, R., Trienekens, J.H., & Omta, O. (2012). Drivers for innovation in niche pork netchains: a study of United Kingdom, Greece, and Spain. British Food Journal, 114(8), 1106-1127. DOI: 10.1108/00070701211252084
  23. Nooy, W., Mrvar, A., & Batageli, V., (2005). Exploratory Social Network Analysis with Pajek, New York: Cambridge University Press. DOI: 10.1017/CBO9780511806452
  24. Opsahl, T., Agneessens, F., & Skvortez, J. (2010). Node centrality in weighted networks: Generalizing degree and shortest path. Social Networks, 32, 245-251. DOI: 10.1016/j.socnet.2010.03.006
  25. Schumpeter, J.A. (1934), The Theory of Economic Development. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.
  26. Talamini, E., & Ferreira, G.M.V. (2010), “Merging netchain and social network: Introducing the social netchain concept as an analytical framework in the agribusiness sector”. Afr. J. Bus. Manage, 4(13), 2981-2993.
  27. Taylor, D.H. (2005). Value chain analysis: an approach to supply chain improvement in agri-food chains. International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management, 35(10), 744-761. DOI: 10.1108/09600030510634599
  28. Terrill, L.F., & Carley, K.M. (2005). Relating Network Topology to the Robustness of Centrality Measures. casos Technical Report, May 2005 CMU-ISRI-05-117.
  29. Wasserman, S., & Faust, K. (1994). Social network analysis: methods and applications (structural analysis in the Social Sciences). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. DOI: 10.1017/CBO9780511815478

  • La filiera siciliana della pasta: un'applicazione della netchain analysis Luca Altamore, Simona Bacarella, Pietro Columba, Chiara Ferrarella, Ylenia Oliveri, Veronica Valdesi, in ECONOMIA AGRO-ALIMENTARE 1/2016 pp.83
    DOI: 10.3280/ECAG2016-001006

Alessandra Castellini, Annalisa De Boni, Michele Moretti, Rocco Roma, L’analisi dell’integrazione attraverso un approccio di Netchain analysis: il caso della filiera molitorio-pastaria in Puglia in "ECONOMIA AGRO-ALIMENTARE" 2/2014, pp 61-77, DOI: 10.3280/ECAG2014-002004