A causal model to analyze factors related to collaboration in the supply chain of agri-food products

Collaboration in the supply chain, especially the agri-food supply chain, is very important because of its impact on reducing costs, increasing profits, and implementing quality assurance standards. There are several factors related to collaboration in the supply chain. The purpose of this article is to identify and investigate the factors related to collaboration in the agri-food supply chain and finally to present a causal model of these factors. After studying the literature, 6 main factors were identified including, “collaborative activities”, “sharing of information and knowledge” , “ members relationships” , “financial performance” , “non-financial performance” , “supply chain disruptions” which include 43 indicators related to collaboration in the agri-food supply chain. By receiving experts' opinions and implementing the Fuzzy DEMATEL method, the relationships between the main factors were determined and a causal model was drawn. The statistical sample of this research includes 15 experts in the field of agriculture and food production, who were selected by snowball sampling. The findings showed that the most influential factor is the members relationships of the supply chain, which has an effect on five other factors, and the financial performance is strongly influenced by 5 other factors. Also, the smooth flow of information along with the joint efforts of the members has an effective role in raising the quality of members relationships and strengthens trust and the implementation of commitments, which will ultimately lead to the re-sharing of more accurate information.