Alliances and Networks: Creating Success in the UK Fair Trade Market

Data from a longitudinal study into the key
management success factors in the fair trade industry provide
insights into the essential nature of inter-organizational
alliances and networks in creating the profitable and
growing fair trade market in the UK. Drawing on three case
studies and extensive industry interviews, we provide an
interpretive perspective on the organizational relationships
and business networks and the way in which these have
engendered success for UK fair trade companies. Three
types of benefit are derived from the networks: competitive
developments through virtual integration in which the
organizations remain flexible and small while projecting
size to the market; intellectual developments through the
sharing of intellectual capital with a diverse network of
organizations in many fields; and ideological developments
through an ideological network of like-minded individuals
by which the companies can prevent the co-opting of the
original purpose of fair trade. However, relative success at
leveraging these benefits is influenced by three managerial
factors: partner choice, partner use and partner management.