The impact of maturing food safety culture and a pathway to economic gain

• Published in: Food control Vol. 98; pp. 367 - 379
• Main Authors: Jespersen, Lone, Butts, John, Holler, Greg, Taylor, Jeff, Harlan, Dave, Griffiths, Mansel, Wallace, Carol A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01.04.2019
• Subjects: Cost of poor quality; Economic impact; Food safety culture; Food safety culture dynamic model; Food safety maturity model; Food safety culture dynamic model; Cost of poor quality; Economic impact; Food safety culture; Food safety maturity model
• ISSN: 0956-7135; 1873-7129
• DOI: 10.1016/j.foodcont.2018.11.041

Research into the connection between organizational effectiveness and culture has been documented since the early nineteen nineties. A connection between economic performance and organizational culture has been established directly linking strong cultural drivers to economic performance in both the finance and retail sectors. This research proposes a similar association between food safety culture, the measures of maturity and cost of poor quality. Through data collected at five multi-national food companies, this association is explored, and an improved food safety maturity model suggested. The authors also propose a dynamic model of food safety culture, segmenting it into 4 building blocks: I. Organizational effectiveness, II. Organizational culture norms, III. Working group learned and shared assumptions, and behaviours, and IV. Individual intent and behaviours; and discuss the crucial role of actions between building blocks as part of the pathway to realizing economic gain. •Explores organizational culture, effectiveness, and performance in the food industry.•Demonstrates theoretical economic gain from building food safety culture maturity.•Refines and strengthens a food safety culture maturity model for practical application.•Proposes a dynamic model of food safety culture building block and interactions.•Empirical study of culture performance within five global food manufacturing companies.