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The emergence of a standards market : multiplicity of sustainability standards in the global coffee industry
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Reinecke, Juliane, Manning, Stephan and von Hagen, Oliver (2012) The emergence of a standards market : multiplicity of sustainability standards in the global coffee industry. Organization Studies, Vol.33 (No.5-6). pp. 791-814. doi:10.1177/0170840612443629
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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0170840612443629
Abstract
The growing number of voluntary standards for governing transnational arenas is presenting standards organizations with a problem. While claiming that they are pursuing shared, overarching objectives, at the same time they are promoting their own respective standards that are increasingly similar. By developing the notion of ‘standards markets’, this paper examines this tension and studies how different social movement and industry-driven standards organizations compete as well as collaborate over governance in transnational arenas. Based on an in-depth case study of sustainability standards in the global coffee industry, we find that the ongoing co-existence of multiple standards is being promoted by the interplay between two countervailing mechanisms: convergence and differentiation. In conjunction, these mechanisms are enabling the emergence and persistence of a market for standards through what we describe as meta-standardization of sustainable practices. Meta-standardization leads to convergence at the ‘rules of the game’ level, but allows also differentiation at the attributes level, which is enabling parties to create and maintain their own standards. Our study helps to advance the understanding of transnational governance by explaining the dynamics of competing and collaborating non-state actors in constituting a standards market.
| Item Type: | Journal Article | ||||
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| Subjects: | H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor J Political Science > JZ International relations |
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| Divisions: | Faculty of Social Sciences > Warwick Business School > Industrial Relations & Organisational Behaviour Faculty of Social Sciences > Warwick Business School |
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| Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): | Coffee industry, Fair trade associations, Standardization, Coffee industry -- Political aspects, Commercial policy -- International cooperation, Sustainability | ||||
| Journal or Publication Title: | Organization Studies | ||||
| Publisher: | Sage Publications Ltd. | ||||
| ISSN: | 0170-8406 | ||||
| Official Date: | May 2012 | ||||
| Dates: |
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| Volume: | Vol.33 | ||||
| Number: | No.5-6 | ||||
| Page Range: | pp. 791-814 | ||||
| DOI: | 10.1177/0170840612443629 | ||||
| Status: | Peer Reviewed | ||||
| Publication Status: | Published | ||||
| Access rights to Published version: | Restricted or Subscription Access |
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