The impact of power on the depth of sustainability collaboration in the supply chain network for Australian food retailers

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of supplier power within supply chain networks (SCN) on the depth of sustainability collaboration with their focal firms. A web-based survey was applied to two large Australian retailers' SCNs which resulted in receiving 67 completed questionnaires. A cluster analysis was conducted to create a suppliers' power taxonomy. ANOVA and Tukey tests were also used to explain the mean differences in the depth of collaborative relationships. This paper identifies four quadrants for suppliers based on their power at both network and node levels, highlighting the impact of power on the depth of collaboration in each quadrant. The results also indicate that the depth of collaboration between the focal firm and its suppliers increases when the suppliers' power increases at the network level and decreases at the node level.