Assessing the Impact of Fair Trade Coffee: Towards an Integrative Framework

This article presents an impact assessment framework that allows for the evaluation of positive and negative local-level impacts that have resulted from “responsible trade” interventions such as fair trade and ethical trade. The framework investigates impact relating to (1) livelihood impacts on primary stakeholders; (2) socio-economic impacts on communities; (3) organizational impacts; (4) environmental impacts; (5) policies and institutional impacts; and (6) future prospects. It identifies relevant local-level stakeholders and facilitates the analysis of conflicting interests. The framework was developed in the context of, and is applied in this article to, the fair trade coffee industry in northern Nicaragua. It was designed, however, so that it can be applied across commodity sectors and responsible trade initiatives. It is able to do this by accommodating for differences in the social, environmental, political and institutional contexts of different areas, and by taking into account the distinct nature of an initiative’s overall objectives, different levels of intervention, and the full range of stakeholders involved.     

The Fair Trade Idea: Towards an Economics of Social Labels

The concept of Fair Trade is applied to the marketing of a variety of goods. In recent years it has met a continually increasing interest among consumers. Different Fair Trade organizations are trying to accomplish an improvement in working and living conditions in developing countries by means of Fair Trade certificates and by paying a price markedly above world market standard. This is meant to lead to the attainment of basic social standards, especially in agricultural production. The article deals with how Fair Trade works and whether the social aims can be achieved by the application of this trade concept. Our main result is that even though efficiency of redistribution through the Fair Trade institutions is lower than through traditional relief organizations, the Fair Trade concept provides an additional incentive to support better living conditions in the Third World. Moreover, it provides a stimulus for producers to reorganize the production process in a socially more acceptable manner even when this is not rewarded by the Fair Trade company.

Fair Trade Coffee and Human Rights in Guatemala

This paper explores how the fair trade coffee market translates consumer action and shopping habits into the promotion of human rights in distant locales. This process does not occur through direct producer–consumer contact. Instead, it is channeled through two interrelated avenues. First, the fair trade certification system which requires producer groups to be democratic, transparent, and accountable and second, the relationships between producers and coffee roasters and importers, who, in this specific commodity chain, act as conduits for consumer actions and intentions. These two facets of the fair trade consumer market promote and protect the secure organizational space that is necessary for producer initiated community development. This freedom to identify and fulfill economic and social development goals through cooperation also reaffirms existing cultural traditions of service and mutual aid among producers. These key components of human rights compliance are critically important in countries such as Guatemala with its history of violent repression, structural inequality, and cultural discrimination against indigenous populations and community organizers. The analysis emerges from ongoing ethnographic research on a group of indigenous, fair trade coffee producers in Guatemala and their relationships with outside buyers and certifiers.

Do Ethical Values Work? A Quantitative Study of the Impact of Fair Trade Coffee on Consumer Behavior

This study investigates the large French fair trade (FT) market and the importance of FT coffee within it, in an attempt to identify some general features of FT consumers. On the basis of 7,587 transactions, the authors also determine the impact of FT characteristics on customer behavior. The main result is somewhat surprising: FT coffee purchases seem to involve a temporary commitment as FT coffee consumers appear less loyal than traditional coffee consumers. The authors derive some business and academic implications.     

An Exploration of Consumer Attitudes and Purchasing Patterns in Fair Trade Coffee and Tea

This study aims to understand the consistency between attitudes toward ethical brands and consistency with the respondents’ recent purchase behavior. A study of 202 respondents was carried out in order to observe consistency between claimed ethical attitudes and self-reported purchase behavior across three product categories. Panel data (n = 8000) was utilized to provide a large sample on which a duplication of purchase analysis could be conducted. Results suggest many consumers claim to have ethical attitudes, but their reported purchases suggest their behavior is not consistent. Consumers who purchase fair trade brands are just as likely to purchase other, non–fair trade brands.     

Towards an Integrative Model of Small Firm Internationalisation

Firm internationalisation has long been regarded as an incremental process, wherein firms gravitate towards psychologically close markets and increase commitment to international markets in a gradual, step-wise, manner through a series of evolutionary stages. However, much of the recent literature provides clear evidence of rapid and dedicated internationalisation by born global firms. Typically, these are smaller entrepreneurial firms that internationalise from inception, or start to shortly thereafter. Their main source of competitive advantage is often related to a more sophisticated knowledge base. In addition, the authors have found evidence of firms supporting this born global pattern of behaviour but also evidence of firms that suddenly internationalise after a long period of focusing on the domestic market. These born-again globals appear to be influenced by critical events that provide them with additional human or financial resources, such as changes in ownership/management, being taken over by another company with international networks, or themselves acquiring such a firm. Based upon the extant literature and our own research, we propose an integrative model that recognises the existence of different internationalisation pathways. We then explore differences in behaviour due to the firm's internationalisation trajectory and discuss the strategic and public policy implications.     

国际公平贸易运动:一个南北贸易的新潮流

公平贸易作为南北贸易的一种新型贸易形式,走过了70多年的发展历程,并取得了瞩目的成绩。公平贸易促进了南方国家的可持续发展,其产品成为南方国家小生产者和劳动工人开辟北方国家市场的主要工具。本文从公平贸易的发展历程、公平贸易网络和成员组织、公平贸易的参与者和运作机制三个方面展现出公平贸易的全貌,并对公平贸易在原则、标签、消费市场、发展中国家长期比较优势方面所面临的挑战进行分析。     

Demystifying Fair Trade in France: The History of an Ambiguous Project

In France, Fair Trade arrived on the scene in the late twentieth century, and since then has passed through several experimental phases before becoming an enduring “realistic” economic alternative. To understand the transformation, this article defines Fair Trade as a social construct issues and tensions of which change depending on the point of entry. By conducting a secondary analysis of several data sets from varied sources, including documentary material, interviews, and observations, the authors trace the history of Fair Trade in France, define its introduction as a system, describe its institutionalization, and contribute to a greater understanding of how its ideals have changed and become more professional over time. The analyses reveal that the term “Fair Trade” has become ambiguous, spanning divergent and conflicting ideas and projects, including opening and closing conventional market systems and alter-globalization and anti-globalization.     

Fair Trade Consumption: In Support of the Out-Group

Two sets of self-transcendence values – universalism and benevolence – act as a source of motivation for the promotion of the welfare of the other rather than the self. This article sought to determine the exact nature of the interaction between these sets of values and the consumption of fair trade products. In an earlier study, universalism values were found to have a significant influence on fair trade consumption whereas benevolence values did not, despite their shared goal and values theory. Additionally, there was supporting evidence in the extant literature that benevolence values should influence fair trade consumption behavior. This study took a closer look at the individual values that make up the value categories universalism and benevolence to better understand and describe this universalism–benevolence distinction in fair trade consumption. It was established that perhaps group membership has an influence on the decision to buy fair trade products. Specifically, it seems that an overriding sense of responsibility to one’s own group – the in-group – prevents some consumers from identifying with, empathizing with, and subsequently sharing resources with fair trade producers; members of out-groups in far-flung corners of the globe. It appears that the universalism–benevolence distinction in fair trade consumption might also be described as an in-group–out-group distinction.     

Assessing the Quality of the Conference Hotel Service Product: Towards an Empirically Based Model

This is the report of a study which has sought to take steps towards increasing both our knowledge of how consumers assess the service product offered by conference hotels, and, at the same time, our understanding of the dimensions of service quality and how they may be measured. The authors seek to show how their approach to measuring service quality was developed and refined. Some preliminary findings of the final stage of the study are presented, which identify the key elements that go to make up the perceived quality of the conference hotel service product, utilising the notion of ‘net service quality’.     

Fair Trade and the consumer interest: a personal account

Abject poverty and rampant consumerism are twin ills of global capitalism. This short paper serves to encourage discussion on the role of Fair Trade in healing those ills. After describing the benefits of Fair Trade for producers, a paradox concerning the joys and blights of contemporary consumption is presented. Drawing on an autoethnographic method, the author indicates how Fair Trade resolves this paradox in the consumer interest.     

Fair Trade: Three Key Challenges for Reaching the Mainstream

After nearly 20 years of work by activists, fair trade, a movement establishing alternative trading organizations to ensure minimal returns, safe working conditions, and environmentally sustainable production, is now gaining steam, with increasing awareness and availability across a variety of products. However, this article addresses several major remaining challenges: (a) a lack of agreement about what fair trade really means and how it should be certified; (b) uneven awareness and availability across different areas, with marked differences between some parts of Europe and North America that reflect more fundamental debates about distribution; (c) larger questions about the extent of the potential contribution of fair trade to development under the current system, including limitations on the number and types of workers affected and the fair trade focus on commodity goods.     

2004年跨采洽谈会新特点

根据我们对跨国采购商的调查,刚刚进入中国和尚未进入的采购商对参加跨国采购洽谈会的兴趣较大,原因在于他们急于建立自身的采购网络。针对这方面的需求,并贯彻“进出口并举、内外联动”的外经贸政策,今年洽     

广交会:品牌效应铸就辉煌

新年伊始,笔者就第95届广交会的筹备情况采访了中国机电产品进出口商会展览部刘永强副处长,据介绍,琶洲展馆经过第94届试运行后,本届将要全面投入使用。第95届广交会将如期在琶洲展馆和流花路展馆两地分两期同时举办,本届广交会展览毛面积54万平方米,展览净面积24.3万平方米,展位总体规模为27000个(含两期户外展场     

Canton Fair:Foreign Trade Enterprises Fight Against Difficulties

The 110th Chinese Export Commodities Fair, also called Canton Fair, was held in Pazhou International Exhibition Center in October this year which marks the tenth anniversary of China’s accession to the WTO. China’s foreign trade enterprises are facing a grim situation featured     

Ethical Value-Added: Fair Trade and the Case of Café Femenino

The complex global business environment has created a host of problems for managers, none of which is more difficult to address than bullying in the workplace. The rapid rate of change and the ever-increasing complexity of organizational environments of business throughout the world have increased the opportunity for bullying to occur more frequently. This article addresses the foundations of bullying by examining the ‘nature’ (i.e., bullying behavior influenced by the innate genetic make-up of an individual) and the ‘nurture’ (i.e., individuals learn to be bullies and environments allow the behavior to perpetuate) arguments for the occurrence of bullying behavior. In addition, guidelines are presented for managers in global organizations to use in assessing and monitoring bullying activities in global organizations.     

跨国公司模块化发展的整合性框架及启示

结合基本动因、基本内容和绩效表现的跨国公司模块化发展整合性框架显示,跨国化环境的形成、贸易投资自由化以及广泛应用的技术进步是跨国公司模块化的外部动因,供求方面的模块化经济效应是跨国公司模块化发展的内部动因.全球价值链模块化、能力要素模块化、组织结构模块化分别是跨国公司模块化发展的表现、实质和支撑.而跨国公司模块化发展的绩效突出表现在提升利用与转移存量核心能力的效率、提高开发与获取增量核心能力的效率以及增强对抗跨国经营风险的能力.