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PurposeThe paper aims to reappraise efficient consumer response (ECR) in the grocery and food industry to determine whether financial and operating performance improves with ECR adoption.Design/methodology/approachThe paper uses a time‐series multiple regression model. The methodology overcomes historical shortcomings in ECR and supply chain management research related to small sample size, one‐tier investigation, and short‐longitudinal focus.FindingsECR adoption has beneficial impacts for both financial and operational performance.Research limitations/implicationsTwo limitations exist. First, determining the actual time of implementation for supply chain management strategies by firms in the food industry is extremely difficult. The method used to classify firms as ECR adopters in this paper is believed to be sound and unbiased, but errors may exist. Second, this analysis does not account for differences in the implementation level for ECR. For simplicity, a binary variable is used to distinguish firms adopting or not adopting supply chain management strategies (ECR). Further study is needed to determine how differences in the level of ECR implementation impacts firm performance.Practical implicationsThe paper overcomes historical shortcomings in ECR performance research. The paper provides academics and practitioners in the food and grocery industry definitive evidence that ECR has beneficial impacts for both financial and operational performance in the food and grocery industry.Originality/valueBy placing greater attention on overcoming historical shortcomings in supply chain management research related to small sample size, one‐tier investigation, and longitudinal study, the paper improves upon previous evaluations of ECR.

ABSTRACTIt is necessary to infuse a consistent supply of improved seed varieties into local sub‐Saharan African crop production to improve low crop yields. The best distribution channel for the improved seed varieties may be small‐scale commercial seed companies, but local entrepreneurs struggle to determine whether such businesses are viable. Using a multi‐echelon supply chain approach, a decision support system (DSS) was designed to help African seed entrepreneurs make informed decisions about small‐scale seed chain businesses. Specifically, entrepreneurs make decisions about where to locate seed enterprises, with which farmers to contract, and where to store seed. Optimization and simulation modeling are used to evaluate infrastructure variables such as distance, transportation cost, and storage loss and cost in three development level areas. Currently, the decision tool is used in Mozambique, Malawi, Kenya, and Tanzania. The model has supported the start‐up of at least 17 small seed companies that are now introducing improved seed varieties into villages and farms. The DSS applies decision science research in a humanitarian application and offers important managerial implications about supply chain infrastructure to nongovernmental organizations and humanitarian groups. Such applications are vital as groups such as USAID, the Gates Foundation, and the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi‐Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) continue to move toward micro‐enterprise, value chain, and market‐oriented development programs.