Purpose

In this paper, the authors integrate the psychological ownership theory with the concept of commitment to contribute to the discussion on agricultural supply chain management. The purpose of this study is to examine how farmers experience their commitment to the business relationship with the processor and how this is conveyed through the routes of psychological ownership.

Design/methodology/approach

The empirical data are based on 14 in-depth face-to-face Finnish farmer interviews. To understand the farmers’ routes to psychological ownership, the critical incidents technique was used.

Findings

According to the three routes to psychological ownership – control, profound knowledge and self-investment – the authors argue that farmers mainly consider their routes to be more or less blocked because of the asymmetrical power and information distribution in the business relationship with the processor. Furthermore, based on farmers’ perceptions of psychological ownership, the authors provide a farmer typology that reflects in the farmers’ willingness to commit to the business relationship. The identified types are named as satisfied, captives and leavers.

Originality/value

By integrating the theory of psychological ownership with the concept of commitment, this study provides a more robust understanding of how farmers experience their commitment to the business relationship, thus, contributing to the literature on supply chain management in the agri-food business context. Implementation of these findings can help business partners to proactively improve their business relationships through the perceived level of commitment and to deal with critical incidents influencing the effectiveness of the whole chain.

中文翻译：

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管理不对称的供应链关系：农业食品部门的心理所有权和承诺

目的

在本文中，作者将心理所有权理论与承诺的概念相结合，以对农业供应链管理的讨论做出贡献。本研究的目的是研究农民如何体验他们对与加工商的业务关系的承诺，以及这是如何通过心理所有权的途径传达的。

设计/方法/途径

实证数据基于 14 次深入的面对面芬兰农民访谈。为了了解农民获得心理所有权的途径，使用了关键事件技术。

发现

根据心理所有权的三个路径——控制、深厚的知识和自我投资——作者认为，由于与加工者的业务关系中的权力和信息分配不对称，农民主要认为他们的路径或多或少地被阻塞了。此外，基于农民对心理所有权的看法，作者提供了一种农民类型学，反映了农民对商业关系承诺的意愿。识别出的类型被命名为满意的、俘虏的和离开的。

原创性/价值

通过将心理所有权理论与承诺概念相结合，本研究提供了对农民如何体验他们对业务关系的承诺的更强有力的理解，从而为农业食品业务背景下的供应链管理文献做出贡献。实施这些调查结果可以帮助业务合作伙伴通过感知承诺水平主动改善他们的业务关系，并处理影响整个供应链有效性的关键事件。