Avocado and Coffee Supply Chains Specialization in Colombia

Abstract The specialization approach, understood as the process through which firms create specific knowledge and capabilities through learning, is an important factor to understand the voluntary effort they make to acquire the necessary capabilities to compete in a supply chain (SC). From this perspective, specialization is a complex phenomenon that emerges along with learning. Modelling and simulation have proven to be an appropriate methodology for the analysis of such phenomena. Nevertheless, existing models have limitations related to the characterization of their agents and market forces. To overcome these limitations, a characterization of supply chain agents related to coffee and avocado has been proposed based on their innovation capabilities. The objective was to diagnose the capabilities of the actors who compete and collaborate through interaction. The conclusion about the findings understood of how the actors specialize and learn in these supply chains and what their dynamics and behaviours are. It also served as a guide for the policies and strategies to improve the economic and innovative performance of these chains. In addition, through the analysis of the patterns of specialization in SC, it´s shown that they have not accumulated their TCI and, as a result, there is a lack of competitiveness due to the limited adaptation to a competitive environment and satisfaction of market needs.